Anthony Pecoraro: Bypassing voters may be illegal

Regarding the Feb. 1 news article “Wake may skip voters to issue school bonds”: The Wake County commissioners may issue limited obligation bonds to fund new school construction, in order to protect the ultra-expensive “transit plan” referendum. According to the report, the commissioners doesn’t “want to confuse or overburden constituents.”

So they plan to just sneak a major debt increase through. Surely, the taxpayers have a right to be heard on this.

After a careful reading of the N.C. Constitution (Article V) and the General Statutes, a good case can be made that bypassing the voters this way may be against the law.

Apparently the commissioners rely, incorrectly, on the theory they are not pledging the “full faith and credit” of the county. Should the courts agree this action is illegal, it is possible the commissioners may possibly be held personally responsible for such a scheme to bypass the voters.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Anthony Pecoraro: Bypassing voters may be illegal."