Richard Moore ate breakfast with supporters at the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh.

Kicking off the last 48 hours of the campaign, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate sat down for a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit with a dozen backers at the Farmer's Market Restaurant this morning.

Business was otherwise slow, with just a handful of other Moore supporters at other tables nearly matched by reporters and camera crews.

Mike Rogers, 51, a vice president at Cree, came to the restaurant at the invitation of Moore staffer Stephanie Dorko. A Republican who switched to unaffiliated to vote for Moore in the primary, Rogers said he's liked Moore since the two were on a business flight together to Boston several years ago.

"I really think he connects well with all people," he said.

At another table, Dorothea Dix park advocate Greg Poole was looking over aquarium plans with two park planners, while Moore spoke with Liggett Vector chief financial officer Bill Marks, among others.

Rogers and Poole have given $4,000 to Moore; Marks, $500.

A number of bills never made it past the legislature.

The bills would have:

Prohibited smoking in public spaces such as restaurants and workplaces.

Rolled back a law requiring most schools to open on or after Aug. 25.

Called for a public vote on banning same-sex marriage in the constitution.

Prohibited corporal punishment in schools.

Called for a public vote on amending the state constitution to bar governments from taking property for economic development purposes.

A full list after the jump.

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Three members of the Council of State are undecided on Dix Hill.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, Insurance Commissioner Jim Long and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler have not yet decided what should happen to the Dorothea Dix hospital campus.

A spokeswoman for Cooper said he will "examine the issue" when it comes before the Council of State.

Representatives of the other two said they had not given it much thought yet.

Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Long, said that he "generally will err on the side of leaving things open." But she also said Long, who is on vacation, has not talked specifically about Dix.

And Brian Long, a spokesman for Troxler, said that his only concern so far had been that plans for the site not adversely affect the state Farmer's Market nearby.

Update: A spokesman for Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry said she's also undecided.

Richard Moore also supports a park on Dix Hill.

A representative for the state treasurer, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, said that he would want to review existing proposals and hear from local leaders if the issue came up before the Council of State.

"Treasurer Moore believes turning the Dix property into a public recreation area and tying it into Pullen Park would make a lot of sense," Moore spokeswoman Sara Lang wrote Dome in an e-mail.

Meantime, a representative for Gov. Mike Easley said that he has not made any decisions about what to do with the land, but it won't be before the next legislative session anyway.

Dan Gerlach, Easley's budget advisor, noted that the legislature didn't approve consolidating Department of Health and Human Services workers on the Dorothea Dix hospital campus either.

"The governor and the Council of State have no plans to put a Re/Max sign on the property," he said.

Backers of a major park on Dix Hill aren't worried.

With the deadline for the legislature to act on the Dorothea Dix hospital campus coming up, park supporters are nonchalant about turning the decision over to the governor and other top state officials.

Beckton James, vice president of the Friends of Dorothea Dix Park, said he's just glad that the legislature didn't decide to sell the land off or use it for office space.

"We're quite excited because they're not rushing into a rash decision," he said.

At least one member of the Council of State supports the Dix park proposal. 

In an Aug. 6, 2005, letter to the editor, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue endorsed a major park on Dix Hill. In a June 21 letter to Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, she said she still supports a park.

After the jump, the text of the recent letter.

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If the legislature doesn't act, Dix Hill's future will be up to the Council of State.

Dome casually mentioned a September deadline in a previous post and received a call from a legislative researcher who wanted to confirm the date.

So here is the link. It's General Statute 146-27, which states that the governor and other top state officials can sell or lease land however they want.

An addendum to the statute says that there is one exception: "The property encompassing the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus."

That exception, however, expires on Sept. 1. 

A poll shows Raleigh voters would support a bond for Dix Hill.

But it's hard to gauge how much they would really support spending. 

The survey of 559 likely municipal voters by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling on July 25 first asked if they would support an $80 million bond referendum to help the city buy the Dorothea Dix hospital campus from the state. Fifty-eight percent said they would.

But oddly, support dropped when voters were asked if they would support spending less on Dix. Just 48 percent supported a $40 million bond, and 55 percent supported a $20 million bond.

A follow-up question asked if voters would support leasing a smaller section of the park, but it's tainted by wording of the "historic core" that is "crucial to the success of a future destination park."

The survey has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. 

Will the legislature punt on Dix Hill?

With the 2007 session winding down, lawmakers have still not passed a bill (here and here) to determine the future of the Dorothea Dix hospital campus near downtown Raleigh.

Time runs out on Sept. 1, when the regulation prohibiting the state from making a decision on Dix Hill without the legislature's consent runs out.

Sen. Janet Cowell, a Raleigh Democrat who is in favor of a large park on the 315-acre property, would not rule out letting the deadline pass and handing the issue to the Council of State, which includes the governor and other top state officials.

"That's a possibility," she said. "At this point, time is running out."

The Dorothea Dix state mental hospital won't close until 2008.

A June 19 fire at the new hospital in Butner caused about $300,000 to $500,000 in damage, setting construction back several months, according to Terry Hatcher, a construction supervisor with the Department of Health and Human Services.

"In the scheme of things, it could have been worse," Hatcher said. (N&O)

The delay gives Wake County a little extra time to arrange a replacement for local patients. It could also mean a few more months for supporters of turning the land into a park.

Hampton Dellinger, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, announced his support for turning the entire site into a major urban park. (Triangle Politics)

Some lawmakers say Raleigh's $10.5 million bid for Dix Hill is too low.

Sen. Neal Hunt, a Wake Republican and former Raleigh City Council member, supports the effort to turn the Dorothea Dix state mental hospital campus into a park. But he said the city should pay closer to its estimated value of $40 million.

The higher price might mean the city would have to buy the land over a number of years. It would also mean less cash on hand to develop it.

Sen. Janet Cowell, a Wake Democrat and former Raleigh City Council member, said she worries that some legislators have unrealistic expectations of how much the state can get. She thinks a long-term payment scheme may be the best bet.

"I think the most likely scenario is some sort of lease-to-own setup," Cowell said. "That's certainly not a given, but that to me is the path I can see through." (N&O)