July 31 - Debbie breaks up with Pat

July 31, 2013

You could call this my breakup letter...

Dear Governor McCrory,

Do you really think a plate of cookies will mollify protesters? Really? Was that just a joke or do you really not understand?

Well, I have to say, your actions have inspired me. They have inspired me to help get people registered to vote, make sure they have the proper identification and, if necessary, take the day off from work so I can haul them to the polls to vote for someone who will talk to the public, not offer cookies.

Very sincerely,
Debbie Leonard

July 31 - Nancy's final offer

July 31, 2013

Dear Pat,

I know I was going to quit writing you every day back when the legislative session ended, but as the old saying goes, "the hits just keep on coming"! I have been asking your help with several things over the last month, from whether to wash my hair (I did) to what fruit to buy (cherries) to how to plan for my overload of classes this fall (still working on it). But I just saw this video that CNN posted titled "House Dances with Joy Over Their Accomplishments". At last I think I have finally hit on something I can do to help you out when the house returns to work in Raleigh next spring.

I saw in the video that you had a woman playing the fiddle and there were a couple of house members dancing. I didn't recognize them, so I don't know where they are from, but I really don't think they looked like they were from North Carolina! The fiddler, too, was wearing a pretty fancy dress, so I wonder if she actually considers herself a "violin" player. I say that not only because of the dress, but because she didn't really play in a true bluegrass or old-time style.

Anyway, back to my point. I think that having a dance is a great idea and it's something that people have historically gotten together and done after a long hard day - or week - of work. Did you know that in addition to teaching at one of our state universities, I also can teach people how to square dance and clog dance? I am positive I could help the entire legislature be able to enjoy some good North Carolina music and dance! If we got a big enough space, without all the chairs and tables in the way, we could all dance together. But even where they were, everyone could get up and dance by their seats. I think the first lesson would be to help people clap on the beat, rather than just randomly clapping.

As glad as I was to see those two people dancing, I was a little concerned about whether or not they had really done enough work so that they could really enjoy their dancing. Maybe that's why no one else was up? Did they realize that they really had more work to do? The article posted with the video made some reference to Nero. You know, I took a history class in college where we read a text about Nero. The class was "The Life and Times of Jesus". From what I remember, Nero was a very important governor (just like you!) who set things up so that it was a very comfortable life for him and for his friends. I can't remember all the details, but I don't think it turned out so well for him, even though him and his friends were dancing and playing their fiddles at the time. Jesus, who was living at the same time, though, was gathering lots of followers around him who really wanted to hear what he had to say about helping the poor (since they were the poor) and making sure that everyone had enough. One of Jesus's big ideas was that everyone should love everyone else, no matter what! And, you show your love by helping out people who need help! Nero didn't get it, though. Still, it seems that we have almost as many followers of Nero as we do of Jesus these days.

Anyway, if you are interested in having your legislature work together, just get in touch with me and we can set up a square dance for the start of the next session. I have to warn you, though. The first thing we'll do is all hold hands in a circle and circle to the left. I don't know if this legislature can go left. That could be a problem.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Nancy

July 30

July 30, 2013

Dear Pat,

I know that I hinted the other day that I was finished writing you, but I saw a couple of news stories that I wanted to ask you about. First off, someone posted a "top ten" things the republicans have done... I was hoping it would enlighten me to the top ten accomplishments you all have gotten done in this last legislative session. Turns out that one of them was very positive, at least for me. That was the start of Moral Mondays. I'm sure you saw a bunch of us coming to your office yesterday. My pastor was even one of them who knocked on your door after the rest of us had dispersed. By then they said you weren't there, or they didn't have an appointment, or something like that, but I hope you got their message. They enlarged the voter restriction bill for you so that you could read it more easily. The woman who brought it to you was 92 years old, so I'm sure she knows how helpful large print can be! You seem to be around my age, and I know I always know where my reading glasses are! Anyway, hopefully you read the bill before you signed it.

The other things on the top ten weren't that positive, though. You can read them yourself - too embarrassing to post here. The website they were on was called "addicting info". If you can't find it yourself maybe one of your aides or your secretary can help you.

I was going to let that all slide, I mean as the old saying goes "it's water under the bridge", but a couple of things happened last night and then this morning that made me want to write again. Let's start with last night:

I watch TV most evenings, and when my husband lets me choose, I choose to watch the Rachel Maddow show. She had a guest host last night, Melissa Harris-Perry, who I think has come to a Moral Monday at least once, by the way. Anyway, North Carolina was the lead story! She wasn't very complimentary of what has been going on here. She had someone from Duke come to try to explain it. I know that the folks at Duke are largely outsiders, but this woman seemed to have a good idea of what was going on here. I hope if you saw this you thought about what you could do to help them change their story.

Later, though, I tuned in to the Colbert Report. I like to get both sides of the story, after all. Well, North Carolina was featured there as well! This time, Mr. Colbert gave you a "tip of the hat" for the very liberal gun bills that were just passed. He even had some animation showing how this could help kids on playgrounds. So, a hearty congratulations to you on that accomplishment! You and the legislature can't say you didn't do anything liberal!

Finally, I noticed this morning that there were several folks standing outside of your house. They were wearing pink, and wanted to talk to you about your campaign promise. It seems like you want to break that promise, but you must have learned some manners, because you brought out a plate of cookies to the men and women who were out there. They didn't take to that very kindly, of course. I think they would rather have you invite them in to the house so they could ask you about your promise that you made in that gubernatorial debate where you said you wouldn't add any restrictions to abortion laws. I think you could have just explained to them that you made that promise before you actually got the job. I know how that is - you don't really know what a job requires before you really start it! Turns out that you have people who have control over what you do! I think they're the same ones who helped you get into office, but now you can see why they wanted you to get into office. You see, they needed someone like you who looked earnest and nice, but would do whatever they said. I think you can find out more about them by looking up "Pope", "ALEC", or "Koch" on the Internet.

That's all I had to talk about with you today. I hope you can get caught up on all your letter-writing, and I am still sincere in my invitations to you to come visit my church and/or come speak in any of my classes.

Thanks,

Nancy

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July 29

July 29, 2013

Dear Pat,

I hope you are having a good morning. I have a lot to do this morning before I head down to Raleigh to walk over to see you. But I can certainly take a few minutes to write to you. My husband just left for work a few minutes ago and he needs me to clean the kitchen, fold the clothes, and clean out the spare bedroom for his friend to stay in tonight. If I'm going to come down to see you, I had better get started!

You may not have opened a newspaper or looked at the TV this morning, but you are prominently featured in several articles I have seen. I must say, your photograph looks very nice. You look so earnest and approachable. But you know me and my old sayings by now. The one I'm thinking of again is "you can't judge a book by its cover". I mean, it's great to be good-looking, but it's what people do that counts. Don't you think?

When I first started writing you these letters, I was hoping for guidance from you for the many choices I have to make from day to day, since you didn't seem to think that women could make their own choices. Now, though, I see that it goes much deeper than that - you don't think anyone should have very many choices. Take me, for example. If I want to continue to live in my house (I do) and eat (I do), then really, I don't have many choices about how to spend my money. I have to pay my mortgage and other household bills, pay my health care costs, and buy groceries. There is very little left for a yacht, which is too bad since I could get a tax break there. I also don't get to choose how to spend my time. I have students to teach - and more classes since all the budgets have been slashed in the university system. So, most of my time is taken up working. Good thing I like my job. I've been used to 45 - 50 hours a week, but now it will be about 50 -60 hours a week. Not all of that is teaching, planning and grading, of course. There is also research and service to do!  That can take up a lot of time as well. But you have certainly helped one of my professional organizations set our agenda for the year! Thanks!

But even men don't get choices. They have to work as hard as I do to pay all their bills. If they don't have a drivers' license or some other photo id, then they won't be able to vote anymore. If they have children, they will need to choose whether to stay in NC or go somewhere schools are funded, but I guess once that choice is made, they'll be done with that. I bet you didn't know that the new laws would affect everyone! Some men may just feel affected because they have women in their lives they care about!

So, I guess that instead of answering each of the women who have been writing you individually, you have instead just made all our choices for us by signing all these bills into law. Shows some efficiency on your part. And you probably won't have to worry about businesses trying to relocate here or anything like that since all this bad press is likely to scare them off.

Good job, Pat!

I don't know if I will feel compelled to write you again. The goal was to write you for a month, but you have honestly worn me out. So I'll leave you with one more old saying, "When the horse you are riding dies, it's time to get off."

Hope to see you this afternoon!

Nancy

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July 28

July 28, 2013

Dear Pat,

I had a nice morning at church. You know that they say that when churches are meeting it’s the most segregated hour in our country. Well, it’s not like that at my church. We’re a small congregation, and predominately made up of African Americans, but more White people like me are finding a welcome community there. I wanted to tell you, though, about a couple of things that we talked about this morning. I don’t know if you attend church anywhere or not, or even if you believe in God. Really, that is not any of my business in terms of how well you do your job.

This morning our pastor talked about the Lord’s Prayer. You might or might not be familiar with it, but in any case, he pointed out something that I think can be useful to all of us no matter our belief. He noticed that the prayer uses the pronouns “we” and “us” a whole lot. That makes the prayer really a prayer that everyone gets what they need – daily bread, forgiveness, and so on. That’s really why I’m not one of those people that want to see bad things happen to you, but I am willing to share things I notice and things that I know to try to help you out in your job.

I know you have had the opportunity to meet a couple of people from my church already when they were arrested, but they didn’t see you. One was my pastor, and one was a friend of mine who sings in the choir with me. I know that they would join me in my invitation to you to visit my church some Sunday as well. We are very friendly people, and I know most would be interested in talking to you. I hope you take me up on this or speaking to my classes since you didn’t make my family reunion. Maybe next year when you’re not so busy.

As I’ve mentioned before, I teach future teachers. It is an awesome job and a great responsibility that I’m not giving up no matter how difficult you make it for me. I’ve noticed a couple of bills you have signed or are fixing to sign that you may want to take a second look at. First, what is the purpose of requiring that cursive writing be taught in the schools? It isn’t tested, and while it might be nice to learn, I have found that if you don’t have a test for something then it doesn’t really get a lot of attention from teachers. Will a test be developed? I really hope not since it’s not really a skill that people need when they get out of school. They need to sign their name, but that doesn’t even have to be cursive. I know that you understand the importance of computer use since you are requiring schools to do away with all print textbooks in the next few years, so I’m having trouble understanding the need for cursive even more. Please help me with that!

I was concerned that you are going to sign into law, if you haven’t already, a bill that will require seventh grade teachers to lie to their students! I don’t know if you know many seventh graders, but I have to say that this is ingenious on your part! I teach a class called “teaching adolescents” where we talk about adolescent development and seventh graders are just at that age where they don’t believe hardly anything an adult tells them! That’s what makes teaching teenagers so tricky. But if we tell them a lie – like that abortions cause miscarriage – then they for sure will not believe that! Great idea!

Finally, I don’t know if you read your local newspaper, but I do. The News and Observer is saying a lot of things about you these days, so I hope you take a look! They have a lot of facts on their side, so I hope you pay attention. One thing they said was that you haven’t read the entire voter ID bill, but that you are still going to sign it. Would you like me to come read it to you? I can definitely do that, and then we can set up tutoring sessions so that I can help you be able to read things on your own in the future. As I said the other day, it’s really not a good idea to sign things without reading them! You can get into trouble in the future when you do things like that!

Well, I need to leave soon for my second job. I play music in a bar on Sunday afternoons. I don’t make much money, but every little bit helps!

Take care,

Nancy

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July 27

July 27, 2013

Good afternoon, Pat,

I know you are probably taking some time off this weekend, and waving goodbye to the legislature as they leave town till next May. It does leave you in the unfortunate position of staying in Raleigh and seeing what the consequences of all that bill-passing and signing will be. I just want to warn you that I don't think it will be very pleasant for you in the coming months.

I don't get the day off, of course. I am working non-stop to prepare for all my fall classes. I believe I mentioned to you that I have to take on a lot bigger teaching load this fall due to the under-funding of the universities. It doesn't look like you did anything to improve on that, either. I guess the good news is that since you are undervaluing public education in general that not that many people will be going into teaching, so we won't need as many classes - or faculty members - at the university level. I'm sure lots of my colleagues are looking for jobs in other states, especially the ones who were recruited here from other states and don't have tenure yet, and don't yet feel as "at home" in North Carolina as I do. I plan on staying in the UNC system, because even if you don't care about the children of the state, I do! Even though we are not paying teachers enough money so that they can get off food stamps, or not take that second job, we still have some awesome and dedicated teachers - and they deserve the best information they can get about how to teach. Of course, some of the best and brightest will leave NC or leave teaching, but they will still probably be making a difference in people's lives. At the very least, I hope that I have given them some tools to live a better, more caring life no matter what they choose to do.

One thing I sincerely want to thank you for is putting me in a position to get to know more about the Reverend Dr. William Barber. I don't know if you have gotten to spend any time with him, but I hope you do at some point. He is a very kind, caring, and intelligent man, and his ability to speak succinctly and eloquently about issues is hard to match. You could take a lesson from him, I think! If you get to ever sit down with him, I think the first thing he could help you with is the idea of "truth", and what it means to "tell the truth". It seems to be something that is confusing to you and I think he'd be a great help to you.

Alas, this coming Monday may be the last chance we have to meet for a while. My semester will be starting up soon and Dr. Barber is taking his "Moral Monday" meetings to other parts of the state. (Maybe you can get the schedule and go to one or two of them.) Anyway, I will be at the march this Monday. It would be terrific to see you and we can talk about some of the issues I have raised in previous letters and we can also set a date for you to come speak to my classes. I have five of them, but I bet I could get them all to meet together for you.

Well, have a good weekend. I will try to write tomorrow, but I, too, have another job and have to get to it Sunday afternoon when I get home from church.

Take care,

Nancy

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July 26

July 26, 2013

Dear Pat,

I have really enjoyed writing you every day, even though I have yet to hear back from you. I also have been following the news very closely and haven't heard you really address any of my concerns publicly, either. I want to tell you a bit about my personal struggles and choices I have to make today, but then I want to talk to you as a friend and a fellow state employee.

First of all, I had to make a visit this morning to my doctor to address some "female issues". I drove my car, since I don't have a motorcycle, but since I didn't need an abortion, I hope this was all right. I wish you had been there with me, though. My doctor told me I was fine, really, and to try to cut back on my coffee intake. Do you think she's right? As I mentioned in an earlier letter, she is a woman and is African-American, so I understand if you think I can't trust her. I can come to your office for a second opinion. I did make an appointment for my annual exam in late August, but if you can fit me in earlier at your office, that would be fine.

I also went out to my garden this morning to check on our tomatoes. There are a couple that seem like they are close to ripe. Should I leave them on the vine to see if they ripen more by tomorrow, or bring them in and put them on the window sill? Sometimes if they are perfectly ripe the squirrels get them first. What do you think I should do?

Now on to your big day today. I hope you have time to read this email before you sign anything. As I have always been told, you should read agreements very carefully before you sign your name to them. You don't know when it may come back to haunt you! I know the legislature was up late last night working on lots of things for you to sign. I know about some of them, but there is one that I want you to pay close attention to since it could save both your job and mine! I'm talking about the legislature's wish to remove the extra pay for teachers who have master's degrees. I know that if there isn't that promise of extra pay that many teachers will just stick with the bachelor's degree. That will lead to my job becoming unnecessary, and probably it will make people think you shouldn't keep your job either! I know you say you are interested in saving people's jobs - and I know that old saying "charity begins at home" - so maybe you can do some things to save your job as well as mine!

Another law that I hope you read very carefully before you sign it has a very misleading title. You know there is another old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover"? Well, this is called the "motorcycle safety bill". I know I have written you about this before, and maybe you think that with all the folks protesting the legislature would have made the bill just about motorcycle safety. But there are still parts of that bill that have to do with women's health! Read it carefully - I know that you made a campaign promise about abortion regulations, and I'm afraid if you sign this bill you might be thought to be going back on your promises!

One thing you have done for us since you took office is make people all over the country take notice of North Carolina! I wish it were for other reasons, but another old saying is "any publicity is good publicity". I guess you think that is a true saying.

If you sign all these bills without reading them, I don't know what to say! Don't say I didn't warn you! If you have trouble reading and comprehending what you have read, please don't hesitate to call on me. Helping people with problems like that is kind of a specialty of mine.

Thank you for your time,

Nancy

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July 25

July 25, 2013

Dear Pat,

I know you think we women can't be trusted to make choices for ourselves, and I can see that you are about to be handed a budget from your legislature that will certainly take away a lot of our choices. I hope that you don't become too busy making all the choices for us from now on, since it looks like you are also taking away some important choices from some men, too!

I know I'm just a woman, but I do know how to read, however I hope you can help me with my reading comprehension. Here are some questions I have at this point:

I see that you are cutting taxes. That sounds like a good thing to lots of people, but as I understand it, my paychecks, and yours, come from taxpayer dollars. On the other hand, it does say that you are raising taxes on a whole lot of people, and just a few wealthy people are getting tax cuts. It seems like I'll be making less money and paying more in taxes if I figure it right. I need some explanation of this. If my math is wrong I need to know, since I will be teaching a class in the fall to prepare people to teach math. Again, I invite you to come speak to my students any time! Please help me understand the math here!

The new taxes, according to what I read in the News and Observer, seem to actually hurt the public schools. I know that North Carolina got a "Race to the Top" grant from the federal government a few years ago. Did we already win that race? Or did we decide to just let Alabama or Mississippi pass us on purpose? I think that if you approve this budget, it will put lots of people out of work. I know you have heard about the classroom assistants, but the teachers will probably have to spend more time at their second jobs and may have to end up staying there and giving up teaching. Since your plan is to keep everyone at the same pay as they have been making for the last five years, you can just have teachers who teach for a year, and then move to another state to make that second-year teacher money. That should be good, though, since the teachers will be near the age of their students and won't have experienced teachers around to confuse them. Do I have that right?

I've already talked to you about the voter id bill. I heard that you might get sued over that one. In fact I'd be surprised if you don't get sued over several things in the budget. I hope you have plenty of good lawyers.

Well, I will close now. Turns out that because my university has less money to operate with, as I mentioned the other day, I have to nearly double the number of classes I'm teaching this fall. So, I had better get busy with my day! I will write you later if I need to figure out how to fit everything in my syllabi.

The good news is that our garden is still producing good vegetables! That is saving us a lot of money at the grocery store.

Thank you for your time,

Nancy

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July 25

Dear Governor McCrory,

As the legislative session is coming to a close, there is so much I would like to say but I have found that I am out of words to express my feelings.

As I look at the path of destruction wreaked by you and your fellow Republicans, I can only shake my head in disbelief and sadness.

I have written you numerous letters and have yet to get a response. Don't confuse my use of humor and satire to mean that I don't expect to hear back. You are my governor and you are responsible to me.

The only thing left to say is if I were your Mama, I would put you and your friends in time out. Hopefully the voters will see things my way in 2014 and begin the process for me.

Very sincerely,

Debbie Leonard

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July 23 - 24

July 23, 2013

Dear Pat,

I almost forgot to write you today. I was just so stunned at how busy you have been that I got the vapors and had to rest. Of course, while I was resting I was planning some of my fall classes. But I didn't have very many choices to make. For one of my classes, I just have men enrolled, so I will probably let them make most of the choices in that class. Do you think I can just let them grade each other? They are both school teachers in Wake County, so I know they will have tons of time on their hands, since they won't have to bother with classroom assistants or waste their time spending any extra money they might have gotten in the way of a step increase.

Once again, I didn't see you last night. I heard that everyone went home early. Was that because MSNBC was there? I'm not sure, but if you rushed home to see if you saw yourself on tv, you probably didn't since you went home early. See how that works? I did see a picture of a very famous Republican there - Abraham Lincoln. Except he seemed to be crying in that picture, like you might have made him sad.

But you are all smiles today! You signed a tax reform bill and I want to thank you for doing that. I think it's far safer to put more money in the hands of just a few people. If I had any extra money I would probably blow it on food or health care expenses. Better for Art Pope and his friends to keep it.

Hey - now that the Lottery money is going into the general fund, I suppose you will be renaming it from the "Education Lottery". If you need a new graphic I know a very good graphic designer who lives in the Asheville area who has been having a hard time getting enough work since the economy got worse. You should think about hiring him. Let me know if you want his contact information.

Well, I am going to the ball game tonight. The USA is playing Cuba. I know that one country has a very high literacy rate and very good health care provided for all of its citizens. It's also an island near Florida. Sounds like a nice place, doesn't it?

I hope you have a good evening. I promise to write earlier tomorrow, but I need to take my car in to get looked at. It's only 16 years old, and I need it to reach at least 300,000 miles before thinking about a different one!

Talk to you soon,

Nancy

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July 24, 2013

Dear Pat,

I need to write to you first thing this morning, since there are lots of questions I have and I know you will guide me in the right direction! Also, I am worried about you and how things are going for you over in Raleigh. You have had a busy week governoring.

First thing every morning, I get up and make my coffee. I just use organic, fairly-traded coffee, and I try to buy coffee that is roasted in NC. I want to help the local economy as well as the people who grow the coffee in other countries. Does that seem like the right thing to do? Most of the roasters in NC are small business owners, so I imagine they will be getting huge tax breaks soon.

Anyway, after I have a cup of coffee I look at my computer to see what is going on in the world. (My husband was sleeping in this morning, so I didn't have to tend to his needs right away.) One page I always look at over morning coffee is facebook. I have over a thousand friends, and they live all over the world, so they are pretty good at keeping me informed. A lot of them are talking about you and what is happening in North Carolina, even if they don't live here. They seem pretty surprised that things have gotten to the point that they have. I'm sure you can explain, though, about how bad teacher tenure and any raises for teachers can be. I mean, it will keep teachers out of teaching if they know there isn't any job security. And of course the main problem with education is the teachers, right? I know this for sure. I'm a teacher educator, if I haven't mentioned that before. I reckon that over the years I have trained about a thousand teachers. Most of them are still teaching in North Carolina, far as I know. So, I do want to apologize for contributing to the problem of having teachers who are university-trained. I know that as you and the legislature take over the functioning of education and of teacher training that you can do a better job than I have done. I saw that editorial cartoon from the Charlotte paper, so I know this is at the top of your mind!

Another thing I noticed was that you all have some new lawn art in front of the legislative building. Pink flamingos are certainly a popular lawn decoration, but I don't understand why you needed so many! It looks like Florida now! I know you don't want to be associated with them while you deal with the important issue of voter fraud! They have had a lot of problems with their elections lately. Of course, we have, too, or else you wouldn't be signing that important voting rights law. Have you caught that one person who tried to vote illegally? I hope you catch them soon! They say you're more likely to be struck by lightening than have voter fraud. But I have a cousin in Chatham County who has been struck three times by lightening, so there are probably still a couple of cases you haven't heard about yet. I'm sure if all the voters had to stand in one long line on Election Day then that one illegal voter would just leave the line. The rest of us would wait, of course. And never mind that we all need photo id. Those of us who drive already have one. The other people who are too poor, too old, or too disabled to have a photo id and will have to pay to get one shouldn't be able to vote anyway! If we make it easier for all the people to vote, then who knows what could happen! Don't worry. I'll still be your pen pal if you want. You can just send me your Mecklenburg County address when you get a chance.

Well, my husband has actually gotten up and is ready to leave for work. He asked me to empty the dishwasher, so I had better get up and get that done. If I run into any questions about that, I'll let you know.

Still anxiously awaiting your responses to my letters,

Nancy

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July 24

Dear Governor McCrory,

Good morning! I must apologize for not writing to you yesterday but I am visiting a friend out of state and I was just so relaxed to be away from North Carolina, I mean home, that I didn’t even take out my computer.

I was just doing a little browsing through the news articles today and I noticed a very unflattering editorial about you in the Raleigh News & Observer. The article claims that you lack leadership and that you make claims that you are failing to keep. They say that you wrote a letter to the NY Times (congratulations!) touting “collaborative, problem solving focused leadership” but, try as they might, journalists are unable to find evidence of this.

Now we all know about journalists…they are trouble makers for sure, but maybe if you would just show them the money, i.e., the evidence of all of this collaborative and focused problem solving, maybe they would quit writing bad things about you. After all, you are the governor of North Carolina. Just let them know that we are progressive down here, like in the way we are progressing our teacher’s pay right down to the bottom of the scale.

But I think I understand the real problem as put forth in this editorial. The last two sentences say “Republicans, including McCrory, said they were going to accomplish things. So far, they’ve broken the eggs, but they haven’t delivered the omelette.” What do they expect? Everyone knows that cooking is women’s work!

Sincerely,

Debbie Leonard

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July 22

July 22, 2013

Dear Pat,

I'm sorry that you missed our family reunion over the weekend. We had plenty of food and the weather was great! My mom got kind of mad that I invited you. I think she's a little upset with what you have been doing lately. However, I told her that if you had come, we would have been able to talk to you about our situations and maybe you would have understood some of our problems living in North Carolina these days. Oh well. That's water under the bridge.

I have so much to do today, so I will try to make this brief as possible (you know that never works, though). However, I have a few things I want to mention. First of all, thank you for taking away some choices I have had to make in the past. I have been working for the state university system for 18 years now, and in this, my 19th year, I will be teaching almost double the number of courses that I have ever taught! Used to be when I taught extra courses I got extra money, but of course that ended several years ago. Anyway, I will be spending most of my time preparing those courses over the next couple of weeks. We have to have everything from August to December pretty much planned in detail before we start teaching. Our students and our superiors expect and need that information. We aren't allowed to make stuff up as we go along.

That brings me to my second comment - I'm kind of confused, but it looks like you all in Raleigh might be making stuff up as you go along. It looks like what you said you all had planned and what is really happening are two different things! For instance, I read in the paper this morning that there is a bill that would end teacher tenure, and would also give people vouchers if they want to send their kids to private schools. I guess that's because their tax money should follow their kids to their schools? I wonder if the vouchers will be enough to cover the tuition at the private schools so that all families can take advantage of this? Of course, they would need transportation and meals provided, too. I know you've thought of all of that, though. But in my case, I don't have kids. So is there some way that I could get my tax money back since I don't need to send my kids to public schools? I mean, why is it to my benefit for my neighbors' kids to be educated?

While I'm planning my classes, though, I would really like your advice on what to tell them about a few things. You could come in and guest lecture - I know you would be a popular speaker! My classes meet either 4 - 7pm or 7 - 10pm, so it would be convenient for you to come after work. My students need to know why they might want to stay in North Carolina after they receive their teaching licenses. Or do you recommend that they go somewhere they could actually get ahead and save a bit of money? It's a dilemma for me to figure out - on the one hand, I think there will still be schools in NC even if they have very little funding. But the American Dream includes things like job security and every now and then a bit more money added to one's salary. Those things aren't available here any more. So, we really need your input and thoughts on this!

I know this is a lot to take in and consider! It is for me, anyway, but I'm just a girl. Tell you what. I'll come down to Raleigh this afternoon with a few of my friends and we can discuss it. Just respond to this email and we can figure out a place to meet up. It gets really crowded down there on Halifax Mall and I'm afraid we might miss each other without a plan.

See you soon!

Nancy

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July 22

Dear Governor,

Good morning! I'm very busy today but I just wanted to let you know that I got up early and fixed my husband sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast! He really enjoyed it too.

You may have noticed I left your name off of my salutation; this was not actually an oversight. I was reading in the news this morning about how Sen. Berger and Rep. Tillis have made some "back room deals" to trade ending teacher tenure for allowing vouchers for private schools. So, it seems that it doesn't really matter who is governor with these guys in the legislature because they seem to be doing whatever they want.

This voucher thing sounds especially intriguing.  I know some of the parents of my students might be interested. Let's see...what does your average private school cost per year these days? I'm sure the voucher will be enough to cover that which is a good thing because the tuition at some of these schools is as much as some of my parents earn in a year! And you will be providing free lunch and bus service too, like we do in the public schools, right? Because again, this is something many of our parents have come to count on.

This wouldn't be a political gimmick designed to enlist the support of citizens, you know, the old bait and switch tactic, would it? Nah...you guys are looking out for us poor folks, especially us women, so I'm sure you have it all under control!

Well, got to run...Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Debbie Leonard

PS-I am very disappointed that I haven't heard from you.

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July 19 - 20

July 19

Dear Governor McCrory,

Good afternoon! I'm sorry I didn't get my email off this morning but I have been so busy trying to catch up on chores I don't have time to do during the school year. I suppose my husband and I could get a maid but I just have a hard time letting someone go through the things in my house. You know they would just be snooping.  Although it probably wouldn't be too hard to hire a maid pretty cheaply since a lot of my fellow North Carolinians are out of work and have recently had their unemployment benefits end.

Now I know this might sound cruel since we are the only state in the entire USA to do this, but these people just need to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and get busy, the way you did right after you graduated from your private college and either find a job or make work for themselves. I know we could have continued the benefits if we had just taken money from the Federal government but accepting Federal money makes us sound like those welfare recipients, you know those companies that get funds just for existing or even those famers who get paid for not growing crops.

I am so proud of you for telling it like it is. I don't understand why your spokesperson came out the same day and said you'd misspoken and had your facts confused. Why if I were you, I'd fire anyone on my staff that accused me of lying, even if I was! I mean, it's bad enough to fudge the facts but to be called out on it in the news; that is just crossing a line.

Well, I guess I'll get back to my chores. My husband, who is unemployed by the way, says that this is women's work, so I'd better get to it! I'm so glad I have a man to tell me what to do! As you know, women are incapable of making decisions about their bodies, much less their homes.

Have a good weekend!

Debbie Leonard

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July 20

I wasn't going to write today but after reading the paper I thought, why not.

Dear Governor,

I hope you are having a wonderful day and getting some rest. You certainly have had a busy week! I noticed that you signed 43 bills into law and if nothing else, you must have writer’s cramp from all that signing.

I see that one of the bills you signed was giving mandatory fines to those who pass stopped school busses. Good for you! As a teacher, I care deeply about our students and I'm glad to see you care about our children as well.

I see also that you signed a bill requiring students to be taught that abortion can threaten future pregnancies. Unfortunately, the thing is that there is no scientific evidence to back this up. However, there is quite a bit of evidence showing how unprotected sex can threaten not only future pregnancies but can actually cause pregnancy in addition to diseases, possibly even types of cancers that "ladies" get.

Now, I am not sure if you are a parent since I have never seen any mention of children from either of your marriages, but I am the mother of three daughters. And I can assure you that the best method of protecting children is to give them the tools they need to succeed in life by teaching facts, not fiction. I know that protecting our children is important to you (eg., the school bus bill) so I would like to suggest that instead of arming children with dubious pseudoscience you might actually teach them what to do with that overwhelming sex drive that ensues with puberty and how to really protect themselves.

I may be overstepping here a bit sir, after all I am just a woman, but I have had bit of experience in this area. However I have noticed that listening to people with experience so far has not been a high point of your administration, but as my mother used to say, there is always room for change!

By the way, I just wanted to let you know the results of my pap smear were completely normal! Whew.

Have a great weekend!
Debbie Leonard

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July 18

July 18, 2013

Dear Pat,

Good morning! I am having a busy day today, but luckily I don't have very many choices to make. This is one of those days when there really aren't any choices, just a list of things to get done. I started out this morning trying to check the oil in my car at my husband's suggestion. We are driving my 16 year old car to the mountains for the weekend and he was worried that we may be burning oil. You know, I really don't mind driving a 16 year old car, which is a good thing since it will be a long time before I can afford another vehicle. As I mentioned before, I am a state employee, so we haven't had a real raise in a number of years - way before you got in office. Did you know that there are still some places where people get raises just for longevity or for "cost of living" or "inflation"? Maybe that's just a myth. For example, I have heard that in many places, a fifth-year teacher still will make more than a first-year teacher! And if a teacher has a master's degree they can make even more! I remember that it used to be like that in North Carolina not too long ago. I guess the teachers were costing the state too much money. After all, how hard can it be to manage a group of children? Any teacher should be able to handle about 30 on their own, I would guess.

But back to my car. I tried to check the oil, but my dipstick didn’t have a mark for where the oil is supposed to be! I asked my husband and he told me to go to the dealer and get them to put a mark on there! I hope they can help me. However, I don’t know if I will have time to do that today since as I said, I don’t have much latitude in what I decide to do. I hope you can help me. Should I take time to drive to the dealer and ask someone in the service department to help me? Or can it wait until Monday? Please let me know soon.

I don’t know if I will get a chance to write you again until Monday morning, or possibly Sunday night. If you think it is safe, we will be driving to Asheville later on today to meet up with my family for our family reunion. Did you know that I have ancestors from North Carolina who fought in the Civil War? One of them was a general for Robert E. Lee and there is an historical marker to honor him in Sylva. Did you know, though, that even though he was very good at his job, it ended up that he was on the side that lost?

You know, a lot of my family can trace their roots to Buncombe and Haywood counties. That’s just on my dad’s mom’s side of the family, though. Everyone else didn’t move to North Carolina until the 1920s (my dad’s dad), and the early 1940s (my mom’s parents). I didn’t move here until I was 18 months old myself, and have frankly moved around a lot since then, so you might consider me one of those “outsiders”. I’ve only managed to live here in NC consistently since 1994. (Obviously I had a different car then.) So, I hope you don’t mind when I take some interest in what is happening in the state. My husband and I really like it here a lot (he moved to NC in 1989). However, if it ends up that you shut down the university system, I may have to look elsewhere for a job. My husband is self-employed, which you might think means he can make a lot of money, but he really can’t since he depends on people having enough money to hire him. Also he has to pay for his own health insurance and social security taxes, so that eats into anything he can put in the bank. From what you hear on the news or read in the papers, you would think that owning your own business was the key to the American dream! I guess if you own Rose’s or something it might be. Then you could even buy a governor!

Sorry to end on a down note. Tell you what – you are welcome at my family reunion. Really. We are a very inclusive family and not all the people at the reunion are even really related to us. We have White people, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Christians, Jews, Atheists, Gay people, Heterosexual people, young, old, Democrats, and Republicans! We even have meat-eaters and vegetarians! Not only that, some folks come from places like Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and even Washington state! I know you could find a place at our table – and I am very sure everyone would be anxious to talk to you! Let me know if you can find time and I can send you the details.

Have a good day,

Nancy

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July 18

Dear Governor McCrory,

Good morning! It's another scorcher of a day here in the Piedmont! I'm sure glad global warming is just a myth because if you go by the temperatures, you might start to believe it's real!

I'm a little slow in getting going this morning. I kind of wore myself out yesterday at the zoo. So I'm having a hard time deciding what to do first today. I need to vacuum the living room but my husband is watching television in there. Should I wait till he is finished? I don't want to disturb him but I need to get this done. Please advise.

Also, I need to do laundry but my husband has some things in the washing machine. Is it ok to ask him to move his stuff to the dryer or should I do it for him? I just don’t know what to do.  I really need to get my laundry done because I am going to the beach with a friend and I have no clean clothes.

Speaking of friends, I like to keep company with a select group of people. I know you are the same. In fact, it seems you are in a very select group of people. According to a press release from Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, (and you know who runs that!), you are one of the worst governors in the country. Wow. And you have only been in office for 6 months. I'll have to say that is quite impressive! And everyone thinks the Republican Party is dead. Well, I guess you are showing them!

Well, good news! My husband has turned off the television and left the house! I can finally get to that vacuuming!

Have a great day!

Debbie Leonard

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July 17

July 17, 2013

Dear Pat,

I hope you are having a good morning so far. I am getting ready to go to my office today for a couple of meetings. One of them is with my department chair to look over my post-tenure review documents before I hand them in. I hope he'll say they're all right. I sure am glad that it's a man who will be helping me with the file, since I know two women would certainly mess that up!

Later on in the afternoon I have a meeting with one of my students. She sent me an email recently telling me that she resigned from her teaching position in Wake County. I have seen her teach, and heard her talk about teaching in my classes, so I know that she is good at her job and really loves it. However, I'm afraid that she's going to tell me that the policies that you all are coming up with regarding education have chased her out of the classroom. She is almost finished with her master's program and now I am worried that she might not finish since it will cost her more money to finish (some) than she will get as a raise when she finishes (none). Like I said, she's already a terrific teacher, so why should she complete her degree? My meeting with her is in the early afternoon, so if you can tell us what she should choose by then, I know we will both appreciate it!

Well, I have to leave soon so that I can find a parking spot on the street. I needed to give up my on-campus parking spot a couple of years ago when the price went up to about $600 a year. Did you know that some people who work for the private sector actually get free parking at their offices? I'm sure you must pay even more for your parking spot since your state job is certainly more important than mine!

I will look for your response later before I meet with my student.

Thank you for your help!

Nancy

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July 17

Dear Governor McCrory,

Good morning! Today I am planning to accompany my sister and her granddaughter to the zoo. My husband says that it is ok for us to go. Do you think I should pack some food to take with us or just buy lunch there? It will be a bigger boost for the economy if I buy food there, so maybe that is the way to go.

I'm so glad you and I are getting to be friends because from what I just read in the News and Observer, it seems that you need some friends. I hate to be the one to tell you, but your popularity is falling, and fast! I guess your boyish good looks and moderate sounding catch-phrases just aren't enough to keep the populous enthralled. I actually read that all of the protesters that you are having arrested at the Moral Monday demonstrations are even more popular than the legislature.

Of course I don't know much about politics or government; I know that is man stuff, but maybe you ought to listen to some of these people since it seems that such a large number of North Carolinians are very unhappy with your policies. I mean, that's just a suggestion. You could pray about it too and ask for guidance or even read the Bible. Jesus had a lot to say about poor people. Fracking, not so much.

I hope you have a wonderful day and don't let those numbers get you too down. You know what they say, things are liable to get worse before they get better!

Sincerely,
Debbie Leonard

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July 16

July 16, 2013

Good afternoon, Pat,

I'm so sorry that I am just now writing. I was up late last night after being in Raleigh till about 8:30, then I had to go get some dinner with my friend and her husband. I looked for you on Halifax Mall, and even thought I saw you a couple of times, but it turned out to be people who were wearing masks that looked like you. There were many of them, so it was kind of confusing. There were also lots of women there, as I'm sure you know, since you arrested a bunch of them. That's good, since they probably needed some help making choices that afternoon.

I also looked for you out on the street. I didn't see you there, either, but I did see Representative Rodney Moore. He's from Charlotte just like you! Was he your representative? He was a very nice man and I'm sure he's doing a great job there in the legislature, but it seems like he's one of the only ones. Someone had a report card for the legislature, and Rep. Moore had an A+, but most of the legislature had an F. I'm a teacher, so I know if my students had grades like that, my job would be in jeopardy! I'm sure you would not be surprised if these grades put your job in jeopardy, too!

I am going to be busy in my home today, doing some things my husband asked me to do, but I am also going to be working on getting my papers together for my post-tenure review. I know that you don't think our university system is doing a very good job, but I expect that it won't shut down before August 1, so I guess I should go ahead and finish this task. One question I have, though - I need to print out all my materials and put them in a three-ring binder. Should I go to an office supply store and purchase a new one? Or should I just use one I already have? If I purchase a new one, should it be maroon or gray (our school colors), or plain white? Or do you have another suggestion? And should I put a table of contents and tab dividers in the binder, or just place the materials in the order they were asked for?

Thank you for your assistance. You may be interested to know that we harvested a cucumber from our garden this morning! We're very fortunate to be able to grow a lot of our vegetables since it looks like we're going to once again have to make some cutbacks in the family budget due to increasing taxes and health care costs. But I'm sure the corporations who are getting the tax breaks are pleased. Good thing they don't have children to send to school! They would probably want to relocate.

Have a great day!

Nancy

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July 16

Dear Governor McCrory,

In my email yesterday I said that I would try and come up with some strategies to help you develop a better working relationship with the legislature. There are some things that I do in my classroom that help me to develop a closer relationship with my students and their families.

One thing I do every morning is greet each student by their name, with a smile, in their native language. Now, I have checked the ethnic makeup of the legislature and it seems that the overwhelming majority of them are white English speakers. So this would be easy; all it would require would be a “hello” or “good morning”. Even a “hi” would work. Of course, you do need to add their names. Perhaps an aide or one of your cabinet members could help here. (After all, you did give them a raise so I think an increase in responsibilities is due.)

I’ve noticed that you also have some African American legislators. You could just use the same greeting as you do for the White ones but if you wanted to you could “get down” and say something like, “yo, what’s up” or even “what good”, This calls for some caution here however as engaging in this type of repartee can be tricky, but that’s really too much to go into in a short email.

There seem to be only a couple of Hispanic legislators and this too is simple, requiring only an “hola” (remember that the h is silent). You could also say “buenos dias” which means good morning and is basically the same thing as saying hello.

Well, I think that is enough to work on for today! You do after all have 170 names to learn pronto (a Spanish word meaning quickly).

Sincerely,

Debbie Leonard

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