Forced annexation exists to help local politicians maintain a means of bailing themselves out of their financial mismanagement. - Daren Bakst
An annexation reform bill being considered by the General Assembly leadership is “a lot of nothing” according to Daren Bakst, director of legal and regulatory studies for the John Locke Foundation. Bakst will present his view of annexation reform at a luncheon Monday, March 22 at noon at the Locke foundations headquarters on 200 W. Morgan St. Raleigh.
The talk is entitled “Annexation Reform: Ignoring the Smoke and Mirrors” will outline the key requirements for meaningful annexation reform.
“Forced annexation exists to help local politicians maintain a means of bailing themselves out of their financial mismanagement,” Bakst said. House Bill 524, which is being promoted by pro-annexation legislators and lobbyists, does not address any of these necessary reforms and actually would make the existing annexation statute worse for property owners.
“A lot of nothing is still nothing,” Bakst said. “The bill uses a lot of smoke and mirrors to give the impression that something is being done”
This is the same presentation Bakst made at the recent annexation reform conference sponsored by StopNCAnnexation.com
As the JLF director of legal and regulatory Studies, Bakst analyzes public-policy issues affecting North Carolinians, including property rights and environmental issues. He drafts comments on regulatory proposals, produces reports, and makes a wide range of media appearances and presentations to organizations. His op-eds have been published in many newspapers in North Carolina and nationally in publications such as National Review Online and American Enterprise Online.
Prior to joining the Locke Foundation, Bakst was policy counsel for the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, a Washington, D. C., think tank that focused primarily on business regulation. The organization recently became part of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the foremost national think tanks in the country.
He also worked in government relations in Washington, D.C., and founded and still is president of the national non-profit organization, Council on Law in Higher Education, which provides policy and legal analysis for colleges and universities.
Bakst serves on the Federalist Society's Environmental Law and Property Rights Executive Committee and is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Natural Resources Task Force. He currently is an adjunct professor teaching business law at Barton College in Wilson, N.C.
A licensed attorney, Bakst earned his J.D. from the University of Miami and his LL.M. in Law and Government from American University, Washington College of Law. Both his B.A. and M.B.A. are from The George Washington University.
The presentation is free and open to the public. A box lunch is available for $10
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