Annexation opponents taking buses to Raleigh to lobby with legislators

By Mark Wineka

Salisbury Post

Rowan and Davidson County opponents of North Carolina's law on involuntary annexation will be filling two charter buses Wednesday and traveling to Raleigh for a daylong lobbying effort with legislators.

The Rowan-Davidson contingent is part of an organized effort expected to draw at least a dozen anti-annexation groups from across the state.It is purposely being held the same time as the N.C. League of Municipalities' annual Town Hall Day.

The N.C. League of Municipalities strongly supports the existing 1959 law governing how cities and towns can involuntarily annex land outside their corporate limits.

About 100 people — including some Davidson County residents opposed to a Lexington annexation — are expected to travel in the two buses from here.

The bus riders will leave at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday from the Office Depot parking lot in Salisbury.

In all, some 120 people from the two counties are expecting to travel to Raleigh, said Mark Davis, president of the Good Neighbors of Rowan County.

The Good Neighbors group, which recently fought Salisbury's recent annexation attempt of the N.C. 150 area, organized the buses, but riders are paying their own way.

Jeff Matthews, a Neel Estates resident and a treasurer for Good Neighbors, said participants Wednesday will be demonstrating and making their case to legislators to have the 1959 law changed and speak for passage of a statewide annexation moratorium during the current short session.

Matthews, who plans to attend, said the annexation opponents should be in Raleigh into the early evening.

He said plans are in the works for "an impromptu motorcade" of all the anti-annexation groups from the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh to the Legislative Office Building.

Matthews said Wednesday will be a "truly grass-roots effort" to communicate and have a show of force by the citizenry.

There are several planned events for participants outside of efforts to talk with legislators, Matthews added.

Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka @salisburypost.com.