County Attorney confirms FBI Grand Jury Investigation

Posted on July 8, 2008 by Mark D (the Scribe) Email This Post Email This Post · Print This Post Print This Post

County Attorney John BurnsIn an email response to an inquiry concerning the county payments to the Charlotte law-firm Wyatt & Blake, LLP., Union County Board of Commissioners Attorney John Burns, confirmed the on-going Grand Jury investigation involving Commissioners Baucom, Mills and Pressley.

Facts as known today:

† Information provided in Mr. Burns email
* Information confirmed from other sources

Taxpayers paying for Criminal Attorneys

Unlike the attorneys hired by Baucom, Mills and Pressley to ‘defend the county’ in Mike Shalati’s suit for his severance, the FBI investigation is not a civil case, but a criminal case. The following policy, according to Union County Finance Director Kai Nelson, allows the payment of the FBI lawyers for Commissioners Baucom, Mills and Pressley.

Union County Policy: DEFENSE OF COUNTY OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

The current policy as adopting in 1998, is not ambiguous — it states clearly ‘ against Civil actions’. Maybe I am missing the secret lawyer code that takes explicit policy and by some mumbo-jumbo extracts ‘except FBI investigations’.

We do know that on behalf of Commissioners Baucom, Mills and Pressley who are under investigation, the County has spent at least $73,120. What I haven’t seen is the letter from the County Manager and/or County Attorney authorizing the this expenditure.

Furthermore, how do you justify this extravagant expense without taxpayer knowing the allegations and charges. If Mr. Baucom, Mills and Pressley want to keep secrets, then let them spend there own money and if after all is said and done, the county’s policy of indemnification applies, then the county can reimburse them.

To put it another way, Baucom, Mills & Pressley are again asking taxpayers to buy a ‘pig in a poke’ and after their capitulation settlement with Shalati — is anyone that gullible?


  1. In February, 2008, Union County turned over to the Union County district attorney, a number of e-mails between Ms. Broaddus and Woods developer Ashley Campbell, where she offered to lobby the County Commissioners to secure a pump station for the development for a fee of $37,500. [back]
Filed under: Allan Baucom, Kevin Pressley, Parker Mills, Sewer, Shalati | No Comments »

Election 2008: Democrat candidate for House Seat 68 withdraws

Posted on July 6, 2008 by Mark D (the Scribe) Email This Post Email This Post · Print This Post Print This Post

I
n a letter to the Union County Board of Elections, dated July 2nd, Democratic candidate Daniel Zeller resigned from the race for NC House District 68 (western Union County), leaving Republican Curtis Blackwood running unopposed — for the moment.

Since winning the Republican Primary in September 2002, over former Weddington mayor Ed Howie and former county commissioner Leroy Pitman, Mr. Blackwood has never faced a Democrat candidate in the General Election.

The Union County Democratic Party does have an opportunity to appoint a replacement for Mr. Zeller, but they must do so by end of this month.

In the past 4 years, the Union County Democratic Party has shown little stomach for mounting campaigns for western-side or county-wide seats, but should the fire of competition stir, there are a few with enough name recognition to pose a credible challenge: Ruth Helms, former Union County commissioner, Max Melton, former House and 2004 County Commissioner candidate and Mike Cognac, former mayor and councilmen of Marvin.

Curtis
Blackwood		 Mike
Cognac		 Ruth
Helms		 Max
Melton

Running for office in Union County is a challenge, fraught with dirty tricks, nasty personal attacks, piles of special interest money and that’s just the Republican side. One can just imagine the havoc that will be unleashed should the Democrats actually muster a competitive candidate.

In considering the possibility of an actual challenge to Mr. Blackwood or any Republican vying for a State seat in Union County, the sheer mismatch in registered Republican voters which is more than a 2 to 1 ratio has deterred all the old line Democrats. But if the stars align properly, 2008 could be different.

A Perfect Storm

Nationwide, 2008 has seen a swell of new Democratic voter registrations, excited by the Obama and Clinton campaigns. On the flip side, the Republican fortunes are bleak, registrations are down comparatively, stemming from an unpopular President Bush, a congress that has forsaken it’s conservative constituents and a Presidental candidate John McCain who to many party faithful, has more in common with Teddy Kennedy than Ronald Reagan. A disaster could be brewing for the Republican Party in November.

“If you have an R in front of your name, you better run scared,” said Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who says the party will do well if it holds its losses to three or four seats. {link}

How will this effect Union County? Without some kind of polling data, I could only guess, but I’d have to say that if the nationwide primary trends apply, Union County Republicans may stay away from the polls in droves. Inspired and invigorated Democrats could vote in such great numbers that every Democrat running for office will benefit. Add disaffected Republicans or those swayed by a well executed local campaigns and November could yield surprises that just 6 months ago were unthinkable.

Filed under: Curtis Blackwood, Election 2008 | 4 Comments »

Shalati Case: When the ‘truth’ is stood on it’s head

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Mark D (the Scribe) Email This Post Email This Post · Print This Post Print This Post

T
he best news is that it’s over. The hemorrhage of taxpayers money will end, but not before Commissioners Baucom, Mills and Pressley had squandered more than $1,000,000 of taxpayers funds trying to prove their own ‘overblown’ rhetoric and fabrications.

Thursday’s (July 3) press conference, marked another of those scripted ‘Baucom’ dramas delivered with all the believability of a Saturday Night Live political parody. Facing down the press — Allan Baucom read a 6 page statement of weak justifications and attacks on fellow commissioners and the past board. Just imagine Baucom as taller Jon Lovitz, the Master Thespian, turning to the audience at the conclusion of his monologue, flinging his arm in the air and exclaiming loudly “A C T I N G”.

Two thumbs down Mr. Baucom.

Putting on the Big Show

First, you need to realize that on Monday, June 30th with Allan Baucom in attendance, the mob of $400 dollar per hour County paid lawyers went face to face with Mike Shalati and his attorney and after 12 hours, they had hammered out an agreement. An agreement that could have occurred any time in the past 13 months without paying a Raleigh law-firm so much taxpayer money in the interim.

Over the next two days, the settlement specifics known only to the board majority, Mr. Baucom and his troupe of political thespians and legal wizards prepared for Thursday’s news conference. The resulting performance is pages of slanted, petty and completely unprofessional editorializing, laced with cherry picked testimony, including some of the lone commissioner(1) who was never deposed.

Sideways logic

Evidently, to these ‘businessmen’ commissioners, spending hundreds of thousands to save tens of thousands, is justified to inform the citizens of Union County to ‘their version’ of the truth.

Says the ‘Chairman’, “we have weighed everything that’s happened to this point. We have gotten Union County will we believe it’s people deserve. Above all else, this is the truth. That has been at some cost. But now that we have what we need and can put it in the open, we can stop that cost.”

To paraphrase Mr. Baucom: We got as much of our ‘truth’ as we needed — let’s stop now, before any contradictory evidence appears, Kevin Pressley is deposed and worse, Shalati wins in court.

If you examine Mr. Baucom’s script, it is readily apparent that we’re only getting half the story and his version of the truth. And sadly, Mr. Baucom’s reputation for the truth over the last 18 months is as shaky as a 8.5 earthquake.

The fact is, we are not going to get the whole story, Kevin Pressley was never deposed, no testimony from his perspective as a member of the old board, nor as a leading figure in firing and subsequently withholding payment of Mr. Shalati’s contract. Others of the board, Allan Baucom and Parker Mills were only partially deposed according to Mr. Shalati, but interestingly enough Mr. Shalati spent three days being deposed by the county’s lawyers.

Two Wrongs - double the cost to the taxpayers

Make no mistake, the previous board majority was culpable in the costs that our citizens are paying today. Former Commissioners Stone, Sexton and Commissioner Roger Lane were wrong when they extended Mike Shalati’s severance. While it was in their purview to review Mr. Shalati’s job performance at the time, they could’ve just extended his contract another year without any changes to a severance package and let the incoming Board manage the future. Giving golden parachutes to government employees is wrong and doing so just to hamstring the next board denigrates not only the employee, but the taxpayers and voters of Union County as well.

The Real Reasons

As it stands today, in addition to the complicity of the previous Board, you are paying for the arrogance and spite of Allan Baucom, Parker Mills and Kevin Pressley, who after 30 days in office — executed the planned termination of Mike Shalati.

We will probably never know the real reasons behind the firing of Mike Shalati in January of 2007. Rumors are fed with stories of ’star chamber’ meetings of the commissioner-elects, Chamber of Commerce executives and the large local developers, prior to the current board assuming their seats of office in December of 2006. There is a long history of feuding developer cliques that may have served as the fuel for Mr. Shalati’s departure. The pathetic rationalizations of Mr. Baucom’s script serve to bolster that hypothesis.

Regardless, let’s look at the reasons, the “truths”, Commissioners Baucom, Pressley and Mills were willing to spend upward of $1 million, maybe more to fire the County Manager.

First, they accuse Shalati of lying about Robert E. Lee holiday agenda item, the act of lying justifying termination. Quoting from Mr. Baucom’s script, “a citizen had requested the board to consider recognizing Robert E. Lee’s birthday. While Union County policy does not recognize any such birthdays, this matter would have come up on the agenda for a vote by the new Board at the same time as a federally recognized holiday for the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. noting that this would create dissension in the community, Chairman Pressley was reluctant to place on the agenda. But at the meeting, Mr. Shalati indicated Parker Mills was in favor of this proposal and would support it.” Forget the fact that Parker Mills is a Civil War war history buff and collects Confederate memorabilia, the whole premise is based on believing one witness - Kevin Pressley, who was NEVER placed under oath and deposed.

The second reason cited for Shalati’s termination was failing to inform the board about a State sewer moratorium, enacted by the state on December 19, 2006. Here again, Kevin Pressley was ‘conveniently’ never deposed, under oath as to whether he was informed by Mr. Shalati. On December 19, 2006, Commissioners Baucom, Mill and Openshaw were attending ‘Government school’ outside the county and there is reported testimony that Parker Mills was in the car with Allan Baucom, when Mr. Shalati received a call informing him of the state action. Mills asked about the call and Shalati told him. Here again, no truth has stood the test in court.

There you have it. The $Million dollar reason. So I’ll ask, since your tax dollars have been squandered and you the voter have no recourse, are you happy with the outcome?

To look at it another way, the Shalati settlement and county legal expenses is the equivalent of a 1/2 cent on the property tax for this year.

How many of the long overdue school building repairs could be done with a million dollars?

Breakdown of Mike Shalati’s Contract
Source: Charlotte Observer
Two years’ salary: $369,600
Sick leave and vacation: $226,484
401(k): $12,505
Total Contract: $608,589

 

Union County Lump Sum Settlement paid to Mr. Shalati: $650,000

Enquirer Journal Editorial: Spare us the rhetoric


  1. Kevin Pressley, for various reasons, never made any of the multiple depositions appointments, so there was no sworn testimony from him [back]
Filed under: Allan Baucom, Kevin Pressley, Lanny Openshaw, Parker Mills, Shalati | 10 Comments »

When is there too much diversity in America?

Posted on July 5, 2008 by Mark D (the Scribe) Email This Post Email This Post · Print This Post Print This Post

Are we losing nation’s ideas, identity? - David Broder

Nationally syndicated columnist David Broder wrote a column published in today’s Opinion section of the Charlotte Observer that is striking a cord with more and more people. When does too much diversity damage the fabric of what makes America — America!

The takeoff point for the argument is an observation about the uniqueness of America that was made by Thomas Jefferson – and by myriad other worthies in the centuries since then. They all have drawn attention to the fact that, unlike other countries, America’s national identity rests “not on a common ethnicity, but on a set of ideas.â€

Charlotte Observer: Are we losing nation’s ideas, identity?

Bradley Foundation: E Pluribus Unum


I Am an American courtesy of GSD&M. “Short Trip Home” written by Edgar Meyer courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

I believe in the melting pot, not a bi-lingual or multicultural society that in the end, by virtue of human nature, becomes more divisive the more diverse.

Filed under: Politics | No Comments »
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