Romanian Tribune: Interview with Ms. Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State of North Carolina, candidate for the U. S. Senate - great friend of Romanians and Moldovans!
Romanian Tribune: Ms. Marshall, first of all I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to have this interview with you and reveal certain important aspects about your personal attachment to the Romanians and Moldovans living in the State of North Carolina. During my first, and unfortunately too brief visit to Moldova, your name was often mentioned by many people there because - as much as I was able to conclude, you are one of the few out of state individuals who is so connected, interested, and passionate about the lives of the people of Eastern Europe, especially in Moldova and Romania.
Why is it that the state of North Carolina is mentioned so often when people talk about the United States?
Elaine Marshall: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about one of my very favorite topics. Indeed, I had visited Moldova about five or six times, in the course of the past 10 years. It is my great honor to be the North Carolina co-chair of the bilateral relationship that the State of North Carolina has with the Republic of Moldova. In addition to the multiple visits I made there we have hosted a large number of delegations. Some of them have been governmental, some of them have been in the private sector, others have been international, and it would be my great opportunity to facilitate a lot of activities between Moldova and the citizens of America but particularly North Carolina.
Romanian Tribune: When did this relationship begin?
E. Marshall: The first relationship began in 1999 when governor Hurt and president Lucinschi signed the first agreement. But the relationship is actually older than that because the North Carolina National Guard and the Department of Defense of the Republic of Moldova have worked together for many years prior to the official signing in connection with military preparedness, civil preparedness and a study of supplementing governmental forces with military forces when there is an emergency such as a drought, or a serious weather condition.
Foto by Steven V. Bonica: Hon. Elaine Marshall surrounded by friends.
From left to right: Maria Magdalena Simonca and her father Florin Pindic Blaj - Honorary Consul of Republic of Moldova in North Carolina, together with H.E. Iurie Leanca (Moldovan Foreign Affairs Minister) and General William E. Ingram of N.C. National Guard
Romanian Tribune: I visited North Carolina many times, because I’m connected with the Little Samaritan Mission and the Honorary Consul of Moldova, Mr. Florin PindicBlaj, a mutual friend of ours. Could you please tell me what is the connection between you and this organization?
E. Marshall: One of the “glues” that holds the organization together and the communication together is Florin PindicBlaj, who lives in North Carolina, primarily, and has been a great asset for everyone involved in the partnership based upon his knowledge of people, needs and custom processes. He is very much a match maker and a facilitator for these wonderful activities.
Romanian Tribune: Ms. Marshall, I know that when you visited Moldova about 5-6 times, as you mentioned, you visited the highest ranking officials such as the president and you are familiar with protocol, but what was one thing which impressed you or was most touching to you that you can still remember - a special memory from your visits to Moldova.
E. Marshall: I have many interesting memories certainly visiting the Little Samaritan Mission in Chisinau. The faces of the young people, seeing them perform joyfully and then as I visited repeatedly to see them grow and develop into young adults; it is very rewarding.
In Zimbresti, the Hospice that was developed for the residents, with the physicians and the care-takers there and the hospice associations of North Carolina have all been quite rewarding.
When you walk into a small village and over the door you see the sign that says “Thanks to Carolina de Nord” it makes your heart very warm. It is exciting to know that we’ve been operating together and things have happened that gave better lives to people as they lived and as someone attends to their medical needs.
Romanian Tribune: I know there have been many medical teams, as well as social-cultural groups that visited Moldova from your state. Numerous volunteers that are continuosly going from North Carolina to Moldova and of course artists and others come to North Carolina from Moldova. Did you ever envision 10-11 years ago that from these small seeds, this bilateral committee agreement which was created, with your significant contribution, would develop in such a way? And just recently, after this partnership was signed again for the next 5 years during the Modovan Prime-minister Vlad Filat’s visit in Raleigh, N.C. the Moldovan delegation continued their U.S. visit in Washington D.C. to meet with the Vicepresident Joe Biden and with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. All the results and the assistance resulted, did you imagine that your continuous friendship will develop to such an extent?
E. Marshall: I certainly had hoped that it would, and I am just quite pleased that Moldova has been so honored by the Millennium Challenge Corporation for the preliminary grants and now the first grant for highways and upgrading irrigation systems so that farms can be more productive, so that people can receive a better income. I did not imagine in my wildest dreams anything like that, I’ve hoped that there would be more visits and music, jazz performances and similar events that I have enjoyed most in Moldova and in North Carolina and I had hoped that the humanitarian aid would be very worthwhile as it has turned out to be, but to now have the grant that will build a highway to take Moldovan products easier to markets and also to have the infrastructure of the irrigation upgrades to make farmers more productive, those have been beyond my wildest dreams.
Romanian Tribune: Ms. Marshall, you have served as Secretary of State for North Carolina for how many years now?
E. Marshall: I was first sworn in as the Secretary of State in January of 1997.
Romanian Tribune: By profession you were a teacher?
E. Marshall: I was a teacher early on and then I became a lawyer about 10 years later.
Romanian Tribune: Well, it seems like you have been and will always remain a teacher; you will continue to teach many people great values by your personal life examples and your direct involvement in making life better for the less fortunate. However, what determined you to join the race to become a secretary of state?
E. Marshall: It was all about giving my best for public service. I think it is a very rewarding activity when you can be a problem solver for many people and businesses, so that they can fulfill their dreams. If they are entrepreneurs and they are starting a business they can feasibly and appropriately start a business, get financing and sell their products: Perhaps, innovate and create new products that make people’s lives better; that’s very rewarding.
Romanian Tribune: We know that you have been very successful and you have a great team of people. We had the privilege to meet some of your aids at the ceremony of signing the bilateral committee memorandum in Raleigh. As the Secretary of State, what is the most stressful part of your job during the year?
E. Marshall: I would say, as far as processes are concerned, right now a lot of the reports that are due by the businesses in North Carolina or in connection with tax returns, the April 15th deadline, which is right around the corner. This time creates a high volume of work for us, so it is very stressful. On the other hand I think the most stressful aspect of my job has to do with a lot of law enforcement that we do. The office has the law enforcement authority over financial scams and people that sell shady merchandise that pretend to be some brand name products when in reality it is counterfeit. But when I see people spending their money on fake products, it is very disappointing to me. Sometimes state products have safety and health issues, since they are made with contaminated materials they may not have the strength and the ability of an intellectual product. Sometimes certain products have very inadequate wiring and insulation and this is very much a hazard. Some of the chemical products that are made with contaminated materials are also generating health and safety problems. When we get into investment and financial activities we see a lot of people who worked very hard their whole life and they save for their retirement and we have scam artists who try to trick these people into giving their money away as if they were facing very good investments when in fact they are part of a scheme. We try very hard to get the people’s money back. Sometimes it is very difficult because it’s been wasted. So, when people have worked hard their whole lifetime and have earned and saved that is one of the most stressful things to me is to try to get their money back.
Romanian Tribune: I know North Carolina is very beautiful for everyone visiting. Why do you think North Carolina attracted so many businesses and it is not only a great place for retirement but a dream state to live in?
E. Marshall: There are multiple reasons. Number one, it is very pretty. As you have suggested it’s a very green state and from anywhere within 3-4 hours you can either be at the coast or in the mountains. So both of those are quite nice. But when you are thinking about other things, we have a very moderate temperature, we do not have very harsh winters at all. What is really important is that we have many institutions of higher education that are doing research whether it is in medicine, other life sciences, or technology. We are a pharmaceutical state; we are a financial services state. So we have a lot of good jobs here, that support the universities and that support economic research. We have a quality education system in this state and we have a fantastic community college system where workers can be trained for specific industries which are very helpful and we are one of the top five on most lists as the best health care. We are one of the top five as far as a favorable business environment is concerned, and my job as Secretary of State is a part of that and a part of creating a good business climate because we are efficient and we are transparent and we are helpful. For several years North Carolina has been ranked as the best place in the whole country to start a business. We are a prime state to extract business opportunities in addition to the many golf courses that are appealing to retirees and other recreational activities that are available.
Romanian Tribune: Yes, I wish I could say that North Carolina is most attracting to the Romanians and Moldovans, but reports indicate that it seems like the Latino population is most attracted to North Carolina.
Elaine Marshall: That’s correct. We are in competition with other states like California and Arizona. But clearly on the East coast, North Carolina and Georgia have both experienced a growth in the Latino population.
Romanian Tribune: So, people from North Carolina are very familiar with immigrants and their integration into the daily life of their communities.
E.Marshall: Having many cultures here in our higher education is very evident. We are becoming a very diverse state. I for one believe we need a lot of people with a lot of good ideas and people of other cultures to see things differently sometimes and their ideas for innovation, all that’s very positive. I just think we need a lot of voices at the table when the decisions are being made.
Romanian Tribune: I understood that for so many years you served as a public servant and some might say that it is time to retire and to start to write a book, because there are so many memories you experienced, you accumulated. In stead, now you are embarking on a new challenge beginning the race to become a U.S. Senator. So on that topic, what do you think is the balance between educating our workforce to fill the high-tech jobs of tomorrow and revising some of the trade agreements that have taken many jobs out of the country, out of the American states?
Elaine Marshall: There has to be tremendous emphasis on upgrading the workforce and it rarely starts from early childhood education. It is very clear that the brain is developed in the first several years. So stimulating, nurturing education relative activities for children is very important to get them to develop their cognitive skills so they can be that high-tech workforce. We need to have a very high expectation for young people in school to do the best that they possibly can, for families to have emphasis on completing educations and getting that training. When you talk about loss of employment, many of the jobs that we’ve lost here in North Carolina have been in the manufacturing sector, but there were jobs which required a very strong back and not necessarily the high-tech skills with computers and research skills that we’re going to need for the future. Many of the labor intensive jobs are simply not going to come back and for a family to always think that somebody can get a job making furniture, making textiles without a high school education is really a false concept because those types of jobs are fewer and in the future they are going to be less.
The jobs of the future are going to be for people who have strong thinking skills strong computer skills, strong analytical skills, strong communication skills to be innovators to be entrepreneurs it’s a part of an entrepreneurial undertaking. I think manufacturing jobs are beginning to come back to North Carolina and they are specialized, they are high-tech type jobs, where the equipment used is fairly sophisticated, equipment that would not necessarily be set to some of the lower wage locations simply because of the need to protect the intellectual property or simply because it is so very expensive and it needs a lot of maintenance or updating. But the work force needs to be well prepared for the new energy grid and just very forward thinking educational skills.
Romanian Tribune: If you become a U.S. Senator, what committees would you be most interested to serve in, and in which do you believe you could have the best contribution?
Elaine Marshall: As a financial regulator and having been through what the investment banks and Wall Street have done to the American economy, I believe that financial services and banking committee would be of great interest. Most people are seeing that their net worth is down in the last two years approximately a 1/4 of more, 25%-30% so that’s a very unhappy situation. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of Wall Street. A part can be laid at the feet of the Federal Government and its relaxed regulations and just not enforcing those that are on the book. That has caused some of these serious dissipations of assets. Being on the financial services and banking committee would be number one and I have tremendous expertise. And the second committee I would chose would be related to the North Carolina’s economy certainly on services as we are a strong military state. Although there have been base closings around the country, North Carolina’s bases have grown. So that’s a huge part of our state domestic growth and domestic product. The other would be agriculture. Agriculture and tourism are two leading industries, and - as a farm girl myself, I have a strong inclination for that committee and because of the needs of the state I think it’s important that the poeple of North Carolina would have a strong voice on agriculture.
Romanian Tribune: With your background as an educator, what do you think could be done to get American children to be more competitive in math and science in the public school system?
Elaine Marshall: Number one, families need to encourage children in math and science. We, as an education system, need to stimulate and make meaningful activities to catch the attention of children in math and science. Having said that, we certainly need teachers who have a true passion for math and science to encourage young people to go into that area. Girls, in particular, need to have strong role models. They need to see other women who bring neat things in man’s science so that they can visualize that they might also do the same. We need to invest in our school equipment that will stimulate young people and give them an opportunity to do a little research as a high school student to do meaningful things. We need to clearly have stimulating activities for them in math and science in particularly.
Romanian Tribune: We’ve heard much about sustainable development and alternative energy. As a U.S. Senator how would you help steer America towards a more sustainable future? And specifically how could you get North Carolina to be a leader in this field?
Elaine Marshall: North Carolina is very well situated for solar and wind power. And I am very pleased that we now have experimental turbines out in the Pamlico and Albemarle Sound. We have a little edge going on from where we have started in that area. Every person can do their own beginning right now with energy conservation to wean us off of fossil fuels and move us to renewable energy sources. I’ll tell you some things that I have done; I take my own bags with me to the grocery store and have been for a long time. I just don’t like to have either paper or plastic. I’ve done some energy audits and closed some leaks. The up fitting I did was with the tanks and water heaters. So personally, I am trying to cut down on energy consumption. Each and every one of us can do lots of small things with weather proofing and insulation. As far as renewable energy, North Carolina, as an agricultural state is quite well-positioned for developing renewable energy sources and the research from our North Carolina State University and N.C. A & T University done with bio-mass and bio- fuels is innovative. But we really need more federal plans and assistance to be able to further the research and development that is going on in these areas. There’s really not going to be a one size fits all answer, we need to try different answers. One may then become a more dominant solution than others, but we need to be exploring lots of different avenues.
Romanian Tribune: It doesn’t matter if you are a president, or governor or secretary of state, you are affected by the trials like everyone else. When you face difficult situations, is there a book in your house that you would look to for inspiration and comfort and which book would that be?
Elaine Marshall: Certainly the Gospel, the Bible. I’ve been through plenty of trials just in the last year. I lost my father and in November I lost my husband. Certainly placing your trust and faith in the Lord everyday is very important, but in times of great stress there is comfort in the Bible. Other things I read are poetry books that are based upon Scripture and life-value learning situations. It’s important that you look beyond yourself for help in time of stress.
Romanian Tribune: Having seen your close connection over the years with our ethnic communities I feel safe to state that now when you are running for primary and then the senatorial election; you will have the support of most of the Romanians and the Moldovans from North Carolina. We know you as a person, as a friend, and we appreciate you and your passion for that part of the world. We’ll have a big gathering here in Chicago in just a few days and I wish you could be our guest to see a greater Romanian and Moldovan community here, - and you know our gatherings always end with great meals! Do you still recall some of the Moldovan/Romanian food you’ve tasted?
Elaine Marshall: I do not remember specific names of the dishes, but one on top of the list must certainly be the dish of meat wrapped in cabbage.
Romanian Tribune: Sarmale. You hit the target.
Elaine Marshall: Some of the shashliki. And I certainly love dessert and all the cakes you bake.
Romanian Tribune: Well, you have been very kind and spent a lot of time talking with us today. Would you like to say anything else in the closing of our interview?
Elaine Marshall: I really appreciate this opportunity. I hope people see that my passion for Moldova and Romania is very strong and my commitment is ongoing to assisting and facilitating projects which are meaningful to both Moldovans/Romanians and North Carolinians. For 10 years or longer it has been my great pleasure to meet several presidents and prime-ministers of Moldova and the ambassadors of the United States that have served in Chisinau and also the ambassadors from the Republic of Moldova that served here in America. I have found that people, whether they are elected as government people or folks who run orphanages or provide health care, just ordinary people, they all have been very warm and very kind and very proud of their heritage. They all have the same aspirations that North Carolinians do: and that is to have a good healthy life to be able to raise children and to educate them to turn the world over to them a little better than how they found it.
Romanian Tribune: Thank you so much Ms. Marshall and we wish you success in your race. As I mentioned before, most of the Romanians and Moldovians living in North Carolina are supporting you and feel privileged to join hands in your efforts by offering their vote. May God bless you and the poeple of the State of North Carolina.
Elaine Marshall: Thank you very much, the election is right around the corner May 4th, right at spring time almost in North Carolina. I am looking forward to that election. I can continue to visit and get out seeing people and continue to work throughout North Carolina. Thank you for your support and may God bless your readers and our countries!
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