UNION COUNTY DECIDES

So on May 30th the voters of Union County decided on two candidates to join Mr. Baucom as commissioners. In electing Lanny Openshaw and Parker Mills, the voters threw out the incumbents in what can now be called a pattern throughout this county.
My personal favorite of the newly elected group would be Lanny Openshaw, I think his work ethic and intelligence will serve the citizens of Union County honorably. Not just one part of the county either. I unfortunately don't know the other two very well and can't really speak about them. I hope though, the new board is able to work together for the sake of Union County.
I suspect there will be a lot of talk about how Lanny was elected based on the overwhelming numbers he received in 2 precincts and that Stony votes represented more of the county as a whole...but the numbers are what they are and Mr. Openshaw will do a good job for us.
The question then becomes how will Mr. Baucom and Mr. Mills react from the groups that backed them. Will they do what is right for the county as a whole or for a select few? Will the farmers in the eastern part of the county want to sell vast acreage at top dollar to developers that will only buy for the right deals? Its anyones guess. It will be interesting next year when a possible APFO is up for debate, a moratorium could still be in effect, and what about sewer? All questions that will be answered and affect Union County for years.
I hope the new board will be able to work through their philosophical differences and maybe "compromise" rather than taking the extremes on issues. Its just a hope!

LIKE SANDS THROUGH THE HOUR GLASS....

Indian Trail Town Council on Tuesday May 23rd saw another moment that seems more like Peyton Place than an actual government meeting. The Mayor decided after the secret email fiasco and subsequent authorization of tax money to go on the offensive. She consulted with an attorney and called the Institute of Government in regards to her "power" granted or perceived. She stated that the town of Indian Trail operated as a Mayor/Council form of government and that she was the CEO of the town and therefore had done nothing wrong in regards to the email spying and money authorizations. In a proclamation heard through the room a defiant Mayor told the crowd that the council could not keep her from reviewing the mail logs and that blah, blah...I am sorry I lost it after that. In summary: she was in charge (aka Alexander Haig when Reagan was shot). She was doing what was right and therefore there was nothing wrong with her actions. NOTE: IF I have missed the gist of this I encourage others to contribute>>>> The town attorney countered by saying that the Charter for the town was vague when referring to a Mayor/council or Manager/Council form of government. The charter did have a provision that the council could institute a Town Manager with personnel controls at their will. Apparently, this was done some 10 years ago when Mr. Munn first came on the scene. Since then, the precedence appears to be Indian Trail has operated under a Town manager/ Council form of government. The town attorney stated that since no specific form was set it was open to interpretation (other than that of the Mayor)and that is why we have JUDGES. So what does this mean to the citizens of Indian Trail? Conflict with a light at the end of the tunnel. After coming out of closed session, the council, with Shirley Howe having written an ordinance with the help of the Town attorney, adopted the Powers of the Mayor ordinance. The unanomous vote indicated that the mayor would be the ceremonial head of the town, could chair the meetings. Under no circumstances was she given the power to authorize tax money expenditures, could not enter into contracts and only spoke for the town at the direction of the council. Period. She is not suppose to direct employees of the town either, that afterall is a function of the Town Manager position. A logical solution, to an illogical problem. NOTE: Again I may have missed other details in the ordinance, if so please share.:::::
I am curious though, has there been talk of having the Mayor reimburse the town for the money that it took to setup the secret spy email account? I personally think it should be, but that could be like beating a dead horse.
What are the sanctions that can be placed on the Mayor if she defies the ordinance and continues to promote upheaval?
I understand the Mayor will be gone at the June 13th meeting, but I can't help but feel the last has not been heard from her on this subject...again stay tuned.

MAYOR AND TOWN MANAGER STILL AT IT

The Union Observer did an article about the Mayor and Town Manager feuding over what appears to be everything possible. This time the subject is very serious and deals with authorization of tax dollars being spent on "things" the Mayor has deemed necessary. Rather than taking any blame for this or other items mentioned in this blog, she consistently justifies her actions. Explaining that you did wrong for what you thought was a good reason doesn't make your actions correct. Technically speaking, the Mayor has broken no policy due to the fact that up until a couple of months ago they never followed an official policy. The fact is that under the Manager/Council form of government that Indian Trail exists under no where is the Mayor authorized to pay anyone for anything at anytime.
I was curious and asked a couple former Mayors of Indian Trail and Stallings. Lucy Drake indicated that with authorization she could spend up to $500, but without authorization NOTHING. Ed Smith stated that in the four years he was Mayor he never authorized any money payments and in fact was reimbursed partially for candy that was given out at the Stallings VFD one Halloween.
The disturbing thing about this abuse is that somewhere along the line, though never officially stated by council, the mayor was allowed to get away with such money authorizations. Either the process by which payments are made is flawed, or some of the people in the process have flawed. Either way the money has to be tightened to ensure our tax dollars are not spent in a frivelous manner.
I don't believe any one party in this escapade to be totally at fault. If Ms. Shubert wanted to speak with the vendor about his bills, she should have made the calls. If Sandy Moore did indeed receive a call from her friend asking about payment, she should have inquired with the Town Manager about payment. Never, ever should the Town Manager be left out of the loop on a payment such as this. The finance people should have known better also...the Mayor is primarily a figure head position, votes when a tie occurs, and conducts the meeting. No financial ability exists unless it is given to the Mayor by the council.
The games people are playing should stop. Its not healthy for the staff, citizens, or the town as a whole. The previous Town Manager is GONE...period...not coming back...move on. The previous town clerk...same thing. Tighten up the process by which we pay bills and get on with other important projects. Soon it may not be just a technicality about an arguement between legal and ethical... Fiscal responsibility is very important especially with tax dollars and with a tax increase coming someone could possibly be sued for such acts.

SHOULD ELECTED OFFICIALS BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

The question is should elected officials be held accountable? Do we as citizens care when a politician is caught doing something not necessarily illegal but a moral issue arises? At what point do we as citizens demand better from elected officials?
Recently the Mayor of Indian Trail appeared to not only deny when confronted about an email account, but had a secret email so as to monitor all emails to include all employees, but then used tax dollars to pay for such a maneuver. Politicians across our country have decided to do things not illegal but in a grey area of trust and morality. I only site the Indian Trail example due to it being so new. There are many issues associated with politicians that make this example look meek at best...but where do you the citizen draw the line? Let me know?

Of the things the Mayor of Indian Trail was accused of the money issue is most severe with me. The council, mayor, and Town Manager especially should be good stewards of our tax dollars. The most should be done with the least amount of money for the good of the town. Frivilous expenses such as setting up secret email accounts does not strike me as a good expenditure for the town. Thats just me. Tighter controls need to be placed on the tax dollars, limited access, safeguards and monitoring in place....it seems like a no brainer.

ONE STEP AT A TIME FOR WILLIAMS RESCUE

June 9th council meeting also provided a recap of the history behind Williams Rescue Road. Having listened to it, I feel very safe in the fact that a lot of things have been going on and a lot of people playing a role so much so that certain details become very garbled. Even though, the council authorized staff to start implementation of Public involvement in the process (without going through MUMPO though they will advise and observe the process.) Nothing else has been authorized but some things should be considered when going forward. Important note: Forget the past what happened a few years ago with this road should be forgotten. Look at the now and future.
1. $25 million price tag (approximate)
2. Primary stated reason: Get traffic off Indian Trail Road and make it more pedestrian friendly.
3. Primary UNSTATED reason: If traffic volume lessens on Indian Trail Road maybe the Harrell Moser project will get a favorable road study? What with the 600+ residences they have scheduled.
4. Traffic at both ends of Williams Rescue Road will still dump on to Monroe and 74 that currently have traffic levels that severely overcrowded.
5. NO APPARENT RELIEF IN SITE FOR OLD MONROE AND 74.
6. NO TELLING WHEN BYPASS (IF EVER) WILL BE BUILT.
7. Traffic will increase on Chestnut, Potters, and Weddington Road. (Which helps Austin village greatly)
8. No money in DOT, Town, State, Federal for building this road. NCDOT has no road money for new projects and the town has only about 2million in Powell bill funds. DOT repair money depleted by 6 mill due to MR.Black. for road in Meckenburg County.
9. Williams Rescue Road will do no good if you can't severely limit the access on that road. In order to get developers to build the road, they will want something in return, USUALLY HIGER DENSITY for housing projects. Way too many in pipeline now.

MAYOR PROTECTING INDIAN TRAIL?

I wrote recently that the Town Council had been getting along with each other and working seemingly together to accomplish town business. The council had a recent meeting on June 9th and what had been a very quiet time since the John Munn firing has now gone into another realm. During this meeting Dan Schallencamp asked Mayor Moore about an email address located in the family of email addresses. He asked a couple of different times. The answer that he got was that the Mayor didn't know but would ask the computer admin person about it. Shirly Howe advised the Mayor that she had called him earlier and was advised that the email address in question was the Mayor's secret account designed so she could view all emails in the towns system. The mayor admitted this to be correct at that point, justifying her actions by saying that John Munn had been fired without cause and she didn't trust Fern Shubert. Please let me stress what the Mayor did was not illegal in anyway, however it does call into question what I will call "morality" of her actions. Seemingly lost in all this, but not ignored was the fact that the Mayor also believes she is entitled to spend town money without authorization. Which could be considered criminal though to my knowledge the town has no rules regarding this and may technically not be illegal? The whole episode brings a lot of questions to the surface and some underlying points have to be made.
1. Until recently the council had never adopted rules of procedures.
2. I am not sure if the Mayor, Council, and Town Manager quite understand their roles and responsibilities, and if so nothing has ever been put on paper.
3. In the past, the Mayor, Council, Town Manager seem to operate on "perceived power" or "perceived responsibilites" rather than the actual.
4. The council has to draft rules and responsibilities for all parties.
5. Authorization for spending has to be clearly outlined and understood. Check writing ability requires 2 signatures but in mind opinion should be very limited except in a time of dire emergency.
6. Mayor should have some ability to discretionary purchases say up to a maximum of say $500.00. Should be authorized by the Town Manager prior to purchase if possible and all receipts logged and submitted via expense reports.
7. The Town Manager has to be able to run the town. Period!! That is why you pay that person so handsomely. There should be limits on that purchase power also..and then council should be advised to monies spent and authorization from the council should be required on budget items. The manager can move $5,000 between accounts already.
8. All people using the town email server should understand that emails are normally not confidential, and you have no right to privacy. Depending on what you do with your computer you could possibly lose your job.

So what does all this mean?? It means there are more bumps in the road for this council. It means there is a definitive split or separation between the old and new. Some will be solved with learning a new way of doing business. Adapting and working for the good of the town. It won't be easy, due to the fact there are distinct philosophical differences. Don't get me wrong, I believe the Mayor thinks she did nothing wrong. You will never change her mind about that. Just won't happen. The thing to do is move on. More likely, the next meeting or two will be about her trying to get even from what she will perceive as a personal attack. She will probably attack in the form of what I will call her "soapbox" with a lot of backing from her supporters in the audience. It will be shame but history tends to repeat itself and probably will again.

NEW TOWN HALL

Apparently as early as mid 2004 the town manager and council had an idea of the cost of the new Town Hall that when questioned stated they didn't know how much it would cost. Seems the number was $8.0 million dollars. Seems they also had meetings with people as to how to finance the deal. That was a couple of years ago, and of course the cost has gone up not only with materials but borrowing of the money also. It could potentially add .07 or .08 cents to the tax base. No one wanted to talk about it in 2004 or at least the gory details, just the idea of a new town hall. (I support the idea a new town hall is needed.) My disgust comes from the way the town hall has been handled, secrecy. When questioned on numerous occasions and in the ITFYI web site never was there an answer given. After all, its our money being used, don't we as citizens have a right to know what is going on?
More citizens of Indian Trail need to get involved with every aspect of our government. We have to hold our elected officials accountable for our tax dollars. It is imperative they show fiscal responsibility. It is up to us as citizens to hold their feet to the fire though...if allowed to run amock they probably will.

INDIAN TRAIL BUDGET AND TAXES

May 5th and 6th marked the first time that the Indian Trail town council seemingly spoke at length about the town budget and actually welcomed citizens input. Not sure why it hadn't been done in the past, but it was a process that was long overdue. Judging by what I saw and heard on May 5th, the citizens of Indian Trail have a rude awakening waiting for them. Due to the fiscal strategy of the past, the bills are coming due in the present and future. What was a yearly expectation of 400,000 to 500,000 dollar budget surpluses have now changed in to a need for tax increases. I could sit here and tell you it was the fault of the previous town manager and previous councils for not monitoring more closely the budget, and I would be right. The blame also lies with the citizens of the town for a lot of the same reasons. No public involvement. In the past, it was impossible to get public input due to the manager and council. Now given the opportunity to participate there was a disappointing turnout at the meetings from the public. The garbage collection fiasco alone should generate public outcry since its costing the town more and more money with every additional house brought into the fold. It will be interesting to see what the town has come up with in order to stem the outflow of your tax dollars. If you are interested, you need to visit the town and get a copy of the budget and the tax increases as soon as they become available. Get involved.

MAY 30, 2006 RUNOFF ELECTION

Coming up on May 30th Union county still has a decision to make about the make up of their board of commissioners. Four candidates are vying for 2 spots and it seems very clear that there are 2 distinct factions. Seems like people are dividing them by Openshaw/Stone against Mills/Rushing.
Three of the four candidates are currently or have been commissioners. The lone person (Openshaw) is a Marvin councilmember. Each candidate has good and bad points depending on who you speak to about them. Below is a breakdown of each as I see the them:

Parker Mills: Previous commissioner, won't tell anybody if he is for the APFO or not. Not sure if its the APFO he doesn't understand or like or the idea of it or what. Criticized for previous tenure as commissioner, not sure if we could expect anything different though time has passed.

Richard Stone: Senior member of the commissioners 12 years I believe. Seems to be the best politician of the bunch to have lasted this long. Seems to work well with others. Strong stance for schools and APFO.

Stony Rushing: current commissioner and probably the most negative person I have ever seen on a board of any kind. Voted no on just about every item on an agenda. Even voted no on expanding 911 services!! States he is conservative, but seems like its his way or he pouts. Served as the foil to Mr. Hughie Sexton (not in runoff election) and will argue seemingly anything. For some of the same reasons people didn't vote for Sexton he shouldn't be reelected either.

Lanny Openshaw; the only one of the four with no county political experience. Well prepared, knowledgeable, can seemingly reason a difficult decision for the betterment of the citizens. Came in 2nd just missing the cutoff for enough votes and should definitely be a commissioner. Strong supporter of schools and APFO.

There you have it as I see it...trouble is will anyone bother to vote besides a few people? That is the main question? It is imperative that we vote whenever given the opportunity. Our country was founded with that right and too many people gave their lives to preserve that right for it to be ignored. I'm too busy, don't care, those are not answers but they are excuses. It takes a couple of minutes. Don't make excuses get out and VOTE>>>>>>>>>>