Parking is a dilemma for many visitors to downtown Carthage. It’s already something of a dilemma for county employees, and the problem is not confined to downtown.

For this reason, the Moore County Board of Commissioners is considering a proposed ordinance to regulate parking on county property.

County Attorney Lesley F. Moxley reviewed the issue at a work session of the commissioners Monday afternoon. No action was taken, but Moxley was authorized to draft a proposal for future consideration.

Moxley said she has been working with the county manager, the sheriff, and the public works director.

POTENTIAL — County Public Works Director Phillip Boles said the county has no serious problem with parking at this time, but he sees the potential for problems once the Carriage Oaks Shopping Center property is renovated into a Social Services facility.

Adjacent businesses will remain in operation, and there is the likelihood that tractor-trailer rigs may be parked there overnight or for several days, taking up space and becoming visually unattractive, Boles told the commissioners.

At present, Boles said, the occasional parking problem is that of the disabled vehicle left in a parking lot for several days. The only continuous problem is that of finding a parking place for a vehicle that runs.

Moxley told the commissioners that state law allows regulation of parking facilities. This would include establishment of time limits, tow-away zones, reserved spaces and a prohibition of parking.

Enforcement could range from removal of vehicles to levying a $50 penalty.

In addition to parking lots owned by the county in downtown Carthage and at other sites, the county rents facilities in Carthage and Pinehurst.

PRIVACY — State Sens. Howard Lee and Ellie Kinnaird this week expressed pleasure that the legislature has passed the new State Privacy Act, a bill now awaiting the governor’s signature.

The bill bans state and local governments from denying rights, services or privileges to people who refuse to disclose their Social Security numbers.

“North Carolinians deserve their privacy and their peace of mind. The government should not be in the business of forcing people to provide unnecessary information that erodes their privacy,” said Lee.

“Your Social Security number is the key to unlocking all sorts of information about you. But too often, that key is used for the wrong reasons — whether it’s to commit a crime or to access personal information that ought to remain private,” said Kinnaird.

Under this legislation, if the government asks for someone’s Social Security number, it must tell the person whether disclosure is voluntary or mandatory by law, why the number is needed and how it will be used.

Lee said that identity fraud and theft are on the rise and that buying and selling of Social Security numbers is rampant. In 1999 the U.S. Department of the Treasury stopped payment on more than one million Social Security checks which had been incorrectly issued to criminals who had assumed someone else’s identity using the victim’s Social Security number.