Some stuff to think about pre-election other than exaggerated, fabricated STR nonsense

The Pat Pizzella cult cruised to a majority on the Pinehurst Village Council in 2023 thanks to some strategic ballot-packing / vote-splitting and the whipping up of a lot of hysteria over exaggerated, fabricated nonsense about rental properties.

The demonizing of visitors has descended into the disgusting territory.  One 2025 Pizzella-ite candidate for council reportedly told an audience that he would fear for his children’s safety if they were playing in the backyard while renters were in a house next door to him.

(Pinehurst, as you might know, is a world-renowned golf resort.  The people most likely to rent these short-term rental properties are middle-aged, middle-to-upper income men on golf outings from outside the area. Many times they bring their families along. The resort only has so many hotel rooms.  There is a lot of demand for tee times on local courses.  Folks have got to have somewhere to stay.)

Facts and evidence have not corroborated all of the nonsense Pizzella fans and cult members spouted during the last election.  So, they have moved on to stopping any changes whatsoever to the highly-despised notorious traffic circle here in Pinehurst.  (For those who don’t know, this circle ties together  NC 211 and US 15-501 and is situated as part of a key route for travelers heading between the Wilmington area and northwestern North Carolina.  Soooooo – it’s not just OUR traffic circle.)

Traffic.  I’ve been here 22 years. Back then, I could drive to just about anywhere in the Pinehurst-Southern-Pines-Aberdeen area in about five minutes. (Sometimes, it was eight.  Worst case, ten.) 

Now, at certain times of the day, I’m lucky to drive a mile in five minutes. Who’da thunk traffic jams in little ol’ Pinehurst? 

I’ve heard from some Pizzella cult members that all of this traffic is merely locals who get the urge to just drive around en masse at multiple intervals during the day.  (Do these people think we’re that stupid?  Apparently, so.)

It likely has more to do with things like the dramatic growth in visitors to our little piece of heaven in recent years.  The Pinehurst Resort and FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital are the two largest employers in town and significant forces in the local economy.

Check out what the hospital tells us on their web site:

[…] FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital is a 402-bed, acute care, not-for-profit hospital that serves as the referral center for a 15-county region in the Carolinas. Located in Pinehurst, N.C., it is the flagship hospital for FirstHealth of the Carolinas, the region’s first comprehensive health care network. […]

That’s right, our local hospital has grown to begin receiving referral patients from FIFTEEN OTHER COUNTIES.  People are coming for medical care in Pinehurst from fifteen other counties.  That means they would have to drive on in-town portions of NC-5, NC 211, and US 15-501 and, of course, the Pizzella-ites’ beloved traffic circle – located right next door to the hospital – to get the care they seek.  That’s a significant growth in use for roads and a traffic circle that haven’t seen much of any significant change (in-town) since the 1960s and 70s. 

Let’s also think about the recent growth in tourism:

[…] In 2023, Moore County witnessed an unprecedented $805.1 million in economic impact from visitor spending representing a 7.4 percent increase from the previous year. Moore County remains the tenth highest tourism economy in the state, its highest ranking in history. 

[…]

 Tourism impact highlights for 2023:

·        Moore County ranks tenth among 100 counties in North Carolina for annual visitor spending.

·        The tourism industry employs 6,000 people in Moore County, an increase of 7.1% from the previous year.

·        Tourism in Moore County saved each resident $532.10 in taxes. The state average was $518. The report also showed that $26.1 million in local taxes was derived from visitor spending in 2023, an increase of 5.6%.

·        State tax revenue generated by tourism in Moore County totaled $30.8 million, an increase from $28.9 million from 2022. [….]

And here’s some 2024 info:

[…] In 2024, Moore County witnessed an unprecedented $860 million in economic impact from visitor spending, representing a 6.8% increase from the previous year. Moore County remains the 10th highest tourism economy in the state.

[…]

Tourism impact highlights for 2024:

• The tourism industry employs nearly 6,300 people in Moore County, an increase of 2.7% from the previous year.
• Tourism in Moore County saved each resident $546.46 in taxes per capita. The state average was $241. The report also showed that $28.1 million in local taxes was derived from visitor spending in 2024, an increase of 7.6%.
• State tax revenue generated by tourism in Moore County totaled $32.2 million, up from $30.8 million from 2023, an increase of 5.4 percent. […]

We all know much of that tourism spending has its roots in people visiting Pinehurst.

Just think about it.  All of this spending means people in cars.  It also means – in a lot of cases – people needing places to stay.

The loons we keep electing to local offices have made it nearly impossible to locate or run a serious business within village limits. We’re a tourist economy.  We need people coming here, having a good time, and spending lots of their money.

To move to a tourist attraction, and then b!tch about all of the tourists in town is absolute insanity. 

But that would probably explain a lot about the people we have allowed to bully their way to the front of the line in village politics and government.