Hunt takes a look back at the future.

• Author: Cline, Ned
• Position: Capital - Interview

Jim Hunt can stand behind his desk on the 21st floor of a down-town Raleigh office tower and gaze into what was once his domain. His office with the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice overlooks the Capitol and the Legislative Building. For 20 years--16 as governor and, before that, four as lieutenant governor (under a Republican governor)--Democrat Hunt reigned over those buildings and much of what went on inside them.

The view from his office is no accident. The fact that Hunt has been out of office three years does not mean he has surrendered influence over what happens in North Carolina and across the country, especially in the realm of education. Always driven, there is no quit in him.

But at age 66, with his once famously thick black hair gray and thinning and a slight stoop in his gait, he has become reflective about his public successes and shortcomings. For example, he laments not doing enough to find better, faster solutions to the state's environmental problems.

"I wish I had worked harder on preserving our environment. I think I worked pretty hard in the last few years in office, but if I could do it over again I would have pushed harder from the very beginning. I wish we had preserved more green space. You can't have too much parkland, and you can't do too much to preserve our beaches. I should have done more."

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He also concedes that legislators--with his blessing--cut too many taxes during the flush economy of the '90s, a move that proved politically popular but turned out to be financially unsound. "We cut the sales tax on food, and that cost the state hundreds of millions"--while saving many families less than a dollar a week.

"We cut a whole bunch [of taxes], taking big whacks out. We thought we were doing the right thing and could cut and not miss it. And then the bubble burst. We need to learn from that. I am sensitive to overtaxing, but we should not fail to make essential investments in programs that help us succeed. Businesses do that, and governments need to do that, too."

The time has come, he says, to find new sources of revenue. "I am now concerned that so many people are saying they're not going to increase any kind of taxes or fees and they don't care what happens to [the state]. That's wrong. It is time to look at some increases in revenues. The legislature isn't about to add the sales tax back on food, but if growth is not giving you enough to meet the needs, then you have to look...