Commissioner Johnson apologizes to citizen for calling him a “Liar”

 Politics  1 Response »
May 112012

In a posting to the VSO after the April Commissioners meeting, I suggested that Commissioner Todd Johnson owed Todd Haynes an apology for calling him a “bold faced liar” during Commissioner comments at the end of the last meeting.

Mr. Johnson did apologize at last Monday’s meeting, on his own accord.(1)

People make mistakes, the citizens view the function of government unfamiliar with policy or nomenclature. Elected officials are expected to give citizens the benefit of doubt and should never launch into such an attack. Not knowing any better, Mr. Johnson’s attack could be viewed as the actions of bully, trying to intimidate, not only Mr. Haynes, but anyone else who rises to speak and voice their opinions in a public venue.

These are passionate times — people are gravely concerned for their schools and children.

Todd Johnson is passionate too.

  1. I wouldn’t want you to get the impression that he listens to me. LOL [↩]
Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 5:57 pm  

Citizens ask Commissioners to fund the schools.

 Politics  No Responses »
May 112012

 

Concerned citizens and parents jammed the Commissioners board room to standing room only and most stayed until the Commissioners voted 3-2 to hire an outside consultant to advise them – through the manager – on school budget issues.

Not only did Commissioners Thomas, Simpson and Todd Johnson vote to hire the outside consultant, they threw out board policy of getting competitive bids for the job. Apparently, sole-sourcing contracts is ok, when they do it. So expediency trumps fiscal responsibility — not very conservative is it?

It’s important to view the “average citizen” involved in an issue and taking a stand. Take a few minutes to watch your neighbors, PTO/PTA members and teachers  as they address the Commissioners.

 

Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 12:35 pm  

Commissioner Rogers Speaks on BOCC actions to micro-manage school budget

 Budget, School System  1 Response »
May 102012

Note: I will add more video shortly.

Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 12:36 pm  

Stallings & Waxhaw pass resolutions supporting the schools

 Budget, School System  No Responses »
May 102012

County towns show support for schools
by Brian Carlton writing for the Enquirer Journal

As the fight over school funding continues, local towns have started to take sides. During their Tuesday, May 8 meeting, the Waxhaw town council adopted a resolution calling for Union County and state lawmakers to fully fund teacher positions and teacher assistants.

“There’s been a lot of finger pointing,” said Waxhaw Elementary PTA president-elect Martin Lane, who wrote and presented the proposal. “I think everybody’s got a hand in it. It doesn’t matter how we got here. It matters how we get out of this mess.”

To do that, Lane and several teachers from Waxhaw Elementary presented the resolution to the town council, asking for support. They also received support from other members of the education community, who spoke in favor of the resolution.

“I want to see the (school) district maintain the quality it’s known for,” said Waxhaw resident Lynn Southern, a recently retired teacher who plans to run for the Union County Board of Education. She pointed out that despite a lack of state funding, Union County Public Schools ranked as one of the top districts in the state, adding that teacher assistants are important to have in the classroom, as they help in a number of ways.

The district laid off a total of 350 teacher assistants last month as part of an attempt to balance a $6.7 million shortfall. Elementary schools were given limited funds, which principals had the flexibility to use as they saw fit. For Waxhaw Elementary, that meant hiring back some of the laid off assistants.

“It looks like we’re gonna be able to hire back five of the 13 (teacher assistants),” Lane told council members. “Teacher’s aides work primarily for kindergarten through third grade. It’s teacher assistants who step in, they work as interventionists, they get kids on and off the bus,” Lane said. “Now the county commission is pointing fingers at the school board, the school board is pointing fingers at the county commission and the state’s pointing fingers at anyone they can.”

The resolution points out that last year, a study done by Wingate University found the school district is Union County’s top economic driver. In addition, it asks the state to provide fair and equitable compensation for teachers, who haven’t had a raise in four years. Council member Erin Kirkpatrick made the motion to adopt the resolution, which passed unanimously. It will go out to county commissioners, as well as Rep. Craig Horn, Rep. Frank McGuirt and Sen. Tommy Tucker.

Read more: The Enquirer Journal – County towns show support for schools

Note: The County Board of Commissioners are having a special meeting on Friday, May 11 to discuss the 2012-13 budget. It is scheduled at 8:30am. Commissioner Rogers has a scheduling conflict and will not be able to attend. Cindy Coto “scheduled” it despite getting Kims’s schedule weeks in advance. This has been a re-occurring issue where special meetings are scheduled for times that either Kim or Tracy can’t attend. When was the last meeting held without Simpson, Johnson or Thomas in attendance???

Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 10:33 am  

2010 predictions made predictions kept!

 Jerry Simpson, Jonathan Thomas, Politics, Todd Johnson  1 Response »
May 102012

UnionToons from the 2010 Election

This cartoon was created during the 2010 election. Time as proven it right.

Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 9:17 am  

A quick look at NC primary results and runoffs

 Election 2012  No Responses »
May 092012

Last night held some big surprises and crushing results. As most predicated, Pat McCrory won the Republican Governor’s races with 85% of the vote, he will face Democrat Walter Dalton who won the more contested Democratic Primary with 46% of the vote.

Runoffs

The following Republican races are subject to a July 17th runoff, candidate required to win 40% of the vote to avoid runoff(1):

NC 9th Congressional District
Robert Pittenger (32%) vs Jim Pendergraph (25%)
NC 8th Congressional District
Richard Hudson (32%) vs Scott Keadle (22%)
NC Lt. Governor
Dan Forest (33%) vs Tony Gurley (25%)
NC Auditor
Debra Goldman (34%) vs Greg Dority (23%) Note: Fern Shubert came in third with 18% of the vote.
Commission of Insurance
Richard Morgan (37%) vs Mike Causey (35%)
Secretary of State
Edward Goodwin (36%) vs Kenn Gardner (30%)
Superintendent of Public Instruction
John Tedesco(28%) vs Richard Alexander (24%)
Union County had two candidates in this race, School Board member David Scholl (13%) and Richard Alexander (24%). The VSO interviewed Rick Alexander shortly after his announcement. Alexander has previously run for Union County School board, twice and the Monroe City Council. (see interview tab above)

Local races

In Union County, only two NC House seats had completive races. In the newly redistricted House district 69, current School Board Chairman Dean Arp handily beat serial plagiarist Jeff Gerber with 66% of the vote. Gerber has run for office in the many times in recent years. He is now 0-5. His previous races include mayor of Unionville, Union County Commissioner, twice and NC House District 68 in 2010.

In the brand new House district 55, rookie office seeker Mark Brody won over another rookie Richard Johnson by a mere 67 votes(2). Biennial office seeker John Barker trailed the two front-runners with 6% of the vote.

Mark Brody does have a Democratic opponent in the fall as Dale Nelson won with 58% of the vote over rival Tony Benton. Dean Arp does not have any Democratic opposition in November, but third Union County House District 68 incumbent Craig Horn will face Democratic contender Ken Baker in the November election. Mr. Baker last ran for County Commissioner in 2010.

 

 

Readers note: There was a tremendous amount of traffic to the VSO last night, I realized too late to offer any content aside from comments on twitter.

  1. I will post Democrat runoffs later [↩]
  2. There maybe a mandatory recount since the vote count difference was less than 1% [↩]
Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 9:00 am  

Factcheck.org debunks Pittenger’s claims against Barry and Pendergraph

 Election 2012, Politics, Robert Pittenger  No Responses »
May 042012

Primary Piffle in North Carolina

Posted on May 4, 2012 The FactCheck Wire • Primary Piffle in North Carolina

In the final week of a hotly fought Republican primary in North Carolina, one congressional candidate accuses his rival — in a mailer sent to GOP voters — of being a “Big Money Donor” to Democrats. And he accuses another of breaking a tax pledge. But we find both claims by wealthy businessman and former state Sen. Robert Pittenger are off the mark.

In truth, financial adviser Dan Barry, the supposed “Big Money Donor,” contributed to 11 Republicans and only two Democrats in national races between 2003 and 2011. And a life insurance trade group with which Barry is affiliated — and similarly attacked in the mailer — has contributed to more Republicans than Democrats during the 2012 election cycle.

The other candidate, County Commissioner Jim Pendergraph, didn’t break a tax pledge — even according to the conservative group that sponsors the pledge. What he pledged to oppose were federal tax hikes — if he’s elected to Congress. As a county commissioner, Pendergraph recently approved a new tax to provide more fire service to unincorporated areas in Charlotte’s suburbs. His vote drew criticism — but not claims of broken promises — from the pledge group.

Read the full article – click here.

Over the last few months my mailbox, like most 9th District Republicans, has been inundated with campaign mailers, mostly from former State Sen. Robert Pittenger, one of the ten candidates vying for the 9th District Congressional seat in the Republican primary.  With the exception of Mr. Pittenger, this race is been free of personal attacks, distorting opponents records and inflamed rhetoric. Sen. Pittenger began bombarding mailboxes and television commercials with hyped and distorted claims concerning Mecklenburg Commissioner Jim Pendergraph, all in an attempt I imagine, to obscure his own dismal record.

The other day I received two Pittenger mailers, one soft and fuzzy and the other an attack job. There was however a new addition to the attack. Dan Barry, our local Union County candidate for the 9th District, was drawning Mr. Pittenger’s fire as well.

I have been annoyed by the constant baseless attacks, but pleased that Dan Barry had apparently moved up in the polls sufficiently to threaten Pittenger, so I sent out this tweet,

the_scribe
The Pittenger campaign mailers keep coming, today I got one ATTACK mailer and one “soft fuzzy” He is attacking Dan Barry now too #nc09
5/2/12 2:29 PM

Within a day I was contacted by a representative from Factcheck.org who asked me to send them Pittenger’s mailer, which I did.

My thanks to Ben Finley who researched and wrote the article.

Posted by Mark D (the Scribe) at 4:36 pm  
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