JIM MORRILL The Charlotte Observer

Today, after a wonderful introduction from Kelly Mirt, we had the pleasure to hear from Jim Morrill, political reporter for The Charlotte Observer. Jim is a native of the Chicago area, graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Illinois and in 1999 was a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University. He joined The Observer in 1981 and

has seen Charlotte grow from a sleepy, roll up downtown at 5 PM town to what CNN has recently called Charlotte, one of 10 big booming US cities.

Jim commented after our applause, “we clearly must not be the readers who comment daily on line about the papers stories” and he hoped the many folks in our audience he knows, that he has not misquoted them too many times! This is the first time he has spoken to a Rotary Club as he has covered many political speakers at Rotary Clubs in the past…he hopes to one day graduate to the “wine table”!

Having spent his entire 35 years with The Observer on Tryon Street and with the recent move to the NASCAR Building, Jim shared several comments in letters he had received along the way. “Your article in today’s Observer is a gross example of ignorance feeding on itself; you liberals don’t give a damn about the American people; Ha-ha, great job you liberal idiot; this is probably the furthest you will go in journalism, the Pulitzer never in reach and you don’t have much money and you were geeky and fat as a kid”……he chimed “ok you got me there!”

He commented on what a year it has been for political reporters, they could all retire on just HB2 and Donald Trump! Trump got 1% in the polls one year ago and is now the nominee….a socialist Bernie Sanders pushed Hillary Clinton almost to the end…..the FBI has Clinton under investigation and her Foundation has taken in millions from foreign countries perhaps looking for favors….probably the strangest year in politics he has ever seen.

Jim gave us a brief history of local and state political changes he has seen in his 35 years. Demographically, the city has grown substantially and become much more diverse. There has been a big influx of African Americans to the city and departure of many people to the suburbs. In 2001, Charlotte became a majority-minority city. This has led to another change, the rise of democrats in Charlotte. After the early 80’s, republicans would dominate the mayor’s office for 20 years. Anthony Foxx became the first democrat since Harvey Gantt and now it seems the democrats have a lock on city government. The State has gone the opposite way. Jim Martin was just the 2nd republican governor elected in the 20th century in 1985 as the democrats were well into their 2nd century of control. That all changed in 2010 when republicans took control and with redistricting, that is not

REPORTER June 21, 2016

likely to change anytime soon. This all has led to another change, an increase in polarization, tribal politics. You see this Nationally; you see it in the State and in the relationship between Charlotte and the General Assembly. Many think the Great State of Mecklenburg has returned. Much has to do with rural versus urban. The legislature was long dominated by conservative democrats and now they are Republican. Urban areas in the State are becoming more blue!

Then there is the media. Newspapers have all shrunk over the last 20 years with The Observer down to 100,000 daily paper circulation from over 200,000. Readership is said to be over 1 million thanks to the on line options. The cable news channels are 24/7 media that can trivialize the news and cater to partisan audiences…Fox, MSNBC, CNN to name a few. The Internet has changed our lives and how we receive news…..digital companies play a role also….WOW.

Jim commented briefly on the election: Trump is finding the general election audience is different from the primary electorate, division in the party and he fired his campaign chairman this week looking for a more seasoned campaign strategist. NC will again be a contested state as it was in the last 2 presidential elections. McCrory will have an uphill battle thanks to HB2 and may not carry Charlotte this next time. Senator Burr should be re-elected and has been mentioned as a possible VP candidate. Democrats need just 5 seats to take back the US Senate as Republicans are defending 24 of 34 seats up in 2016. Any way you slice it, the Fall of 2016 will be one of the most interesting election times in history. Jim wrapped up his very informative presentation by taking a few questions from the Club.

Speaker Write Up: George MacBain; Head Table: Tom Bartholomy, Kelly Mirt; Invocation: Pender McElroy; Visitors & Guests: Herb Harriss; Photos: Bert Voswinkel; Piano: Em Syrewicze. CLUB NEWS Welcome new Rotarians….Cindy Wolfe introduced Bob Moore, who serves as Charlotte Metro retail banking manager for Bank of the Ozarks. Bob, our club’s golf tournament will be held 09/27…Tim Newman will contact you. bmoorejr@bankozarks.com; Phil Van Hoy introduced John Powell, a second generation native Charlottean. John runs Powell Real Estate Services and is a State-Certified General Real Estate Appraiser. He is the Managing Member of NBP&F, LLC, his family’s commercial real estate interests. john@pres.us.com. Katie Tyler recognized donations recently made to The Rotary Foundation. Each of these folks took advantage of the District’s point challenge. New Paul Harris Fellows: Glenn Paton, Ben Pendry, Em Syrewicze, Michael Orzech, Shannon Eckard, Susan Nestor, Tom Blocker, Wil Bosbyshell; Level 2: Chris Thomas; Level 3: Cynthia Marshall, Dick Reiling; Level 5: Bill Loftin. DG Ineke Wilson provided a brief background on the Presidential Citation. Goals are set by the Rotary International president and include achievement for membership, Foundation giving, online tool adoption, humanitarian service, new generations, and public image. Charlotte Rotary achieved Gold level Presidential Citation, which was only awarded to 20 Districts in the world. The Rotaract Club at Queens University of Charlotte was the only Rotaract Club to achieve Presidential Citation. Quite an honor. Travis Vance attended the Southland Young Professionals Summit last weekend at GA Tech. 100 young professionals (only 4 from District 7680) from the Southeast and Caribbean met to discuss how Rotary can become more attractive to prospective younger members.

Dot and Tony Marciano celebrated the marriage of their daughter over the weekend. Congratulations to Maria Marciano and William Ortiz. If you are interesting in serving as a host family for Franziska Matusche during August-November, please contact Ed Wadsworth. Franziska is from Germany and will be attending Charlotte Country Day. Ed would also like someone to serve as chair to help our two exchange students organize projects at Charlotte Country Day and Myers Park High School. These projects would be included in the club’s count to complete 100 Service Projects. APPROVE FOR MEMBERSHIP (comments to Rotary Office by 6/28/16) Mitzi Ellis Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Health Services, Non-Profit) Sponsor: John Tabor Endorsed: Luther Moore, Sandy Osborne Umberto Torresan DuPont de Nemours (Science and Engineering, Business Development) Sponsor: Tony Zeiss Endorsed: Natalie English, Sandy Osborne 100 SERVICE PROJECTS NEW PROJECT Mike McLaurin is in need of volunteers before, during and after the Hickory Grove 4th of July Parade. Any amount of time you can work will be appreciated. Contact Mike at 704-807-5537, mikemclaurin@outlook.com. http://hickorygroveparade.org/ ONGOING -Allenbrook Elementary School: North Star Reading Partners with a commitment to read to a 3rd grade student one hour a week. Eric Davis: eric.davis@wellsfargo.com. -Platelet Donation (on-going): Register at the American Red Cross or Community Blood Center of the Carolinas to donate platelets. 41 donations to date! -Cotswold Farmers Market: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0548afaa2da5fe3-volunteer UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS (07/06/16 – 07/12/16) 07/07 Gunda Knese, Angela Wagner 07/09 Rex Reynolds, Charlie Bones 07/10 Ron Kimble 07/12 Harry Workman UPCOMING ANNIVERSARIES (07/06/16 – 07/12/16) 07/06 Phyllis & Bill Gill 07/07 Penny & Charlie Bones 07/09 Barbara & Tom Robertson, Gunda & Hugo Knese 07/10 Cynthia & Tom Marshall 07/11 Anja & David Zimmerman Visitors & Guests 18 Club Members 152 Total 170 (56%) MEMBERSHIP 06/30/2015 319 06/21/2016 319 Net Increase: New Members: Reinstated Ben Pendry, Bob Moore, John Powell

Resignations: Paul Schmidt Visitors: Andrea McGowan, Mike Walker, Jennifer Stuebbe, Katie Hallaway, Ruth Samuelson, Chris Davidson, Maggie Akers, Rochelle Rivas, Jennifer Braun, Umberto Torresan, Charles Jonas, Jason Gray, Psalms White, Ed Woodall, Ivan Mothershed, John Mahaffey, Andrew Morton UPCOMING LUNCHEONS (www.charlotterotary.org and click on the events tab) 06/28 – Club Social (evening) – SMS Catering 6-8PM (no lunch meeting) 07/05 – President’s Changeover, Tom Bartholomy and Natalie English 07/12 – NO MEETING 07/13 – Club Social – Charlotte Knights All-Star Luncheon, Charlotte Convention Center

Photos from our luncheons and other events can be found on Flickr Click here

charlotterotary.org 704.375.6816 1850 East 3rd Street | Suite 220 | Charlotte, NC 28204 USA Rotary Club of Charlotte