Part #2 on Obstruction of Justice at the North Carolina Board of Elections, GOP wants Resignations and Answers

ABC 11 WSOC had a news segment on the issue of the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the North Carolina Republican Party wanting answers and resignations. CLick on the embedded above. If you would like to see the whole memo from Tom Fetzer of the NCGOP CLICKHERE

Obstruction of Justice at the North Carolina Board of Elections , Time for A Complete Overhaul

Above video is from politics.mync.com CLICKHERE

Below is a scathing e mail sent out by the North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer with permission to repost . It is time to shine a lot of light on the North Carolina Board of Elections(NCBOE) and the need to reform the whole department from training to ethics on the state and local level. Triadwatch has highlighted in the past few years plenty of problems with the NCBOE and as you will see below that Tom Fetzer has plenty to say as well. The post is a little lengthy but well worth the read, enjoy.
_________________________________________________________________________________

This morning, I held a press conference at NCGOP Headquarters in Raleigh to discuss the State Board of Elections' report on the Bev Perdue Committee. I felt it important to share my comments from the press conference with you, and the two major conclusions we came to while reading the BOE report. While this makes for a lengthy email, I hope you will take the time to read my comments below and realize the level of corruption that Governor Perdue is presiding over. The people of North Carolina deserve better.


Sincerely,
Tom Fetzer
NCGOP Chairman

_________________________________________________________________________________



The following is a condensed timeline created by NCGOP staff from Exhibit 1 of the SBOE report on gubernatorial candidates released June 25. This version focuses on the Perdue Campaign Committee. It is not intended to be a verbatim recreation of the SBOE timeline. It includes excerpts from the BOE timeline, but also includes content that is wholly the work of the NCGOP, not the SBOE. However, it is accurate in its description of events included in the SBOE timeline.


Bev Perdue and the Perdue Campaign lied about reasons for non-disclosure of flights. On October 15, the NCGOP conducted a press conference outlining our suspicions that, like Mr. Easley, Gov. Perdue and her campaign had utilized private and corporate aircraft in violation of NC law by not disclosing properly or reimbursing properly the flights.

Subsequently, on two different dates, the Perdue campaign acknowledged a total of 41 flights it had failed to disclose. According to the Governor and her campaign staff, this long pattern of non compliance and non disclosure was the result of “computer software glitch.”

We now know this was a lie.

On page 6 of the Board of Elections report on campaign flights, there begins a lengthy discussion of $28,000 in corporate flights paid for by New Bern lawyer and good friend of the Governor, Buzzy Stubbs. This discussion consumes many paragraphs and several pages of the report.

NOTE; Here is a link to the report from the News and Observer on campaign flights CLICKHERE

John Wallace, the Perdue committee’s lawyer, who performed a similar function for Mike Easley, and therefore should have plenty of experience in these matters, initially explained “that flights were not disclosed and/or properly paid because the campaign was unaware that Mr. Stubbs was paying for flights.”

But according to what Mr. Stubbs told Kim Strach and Chairman Leake, he had on many occasions told the campaign that he was paying for the flights and inquired about how his payments for the flights had been handled, because he was aware that he had already given the maximum amount allowed by law to the Perdue campaign. Mr. Stubbs specifically identified Peter Reichard and John Wallace as individuals with whom he had discussed his concern about proper accounting for his payments. Mr. Stubbs stated that he had been told of a variety of ways the travel payments could be handled and he often was not comfortable with the information he was being provided.

Finally, on October 23, 2008, Mr. Stubbs sent a letter to the Perdue committee with copies to Wallace and Reichard.

In the letter, Mr. Stubbs states that he has personally reimbursed his law firm in the amount of $28,498.04 for “payment in kind in the form of airplane transportation for Bev Perdue.” He included a copy of his personal check to the law firm in that amount.

Despite this very tangible evidence from a donor of over $28,000 in flights, Gov. Perdue and her campaign failed to disclose the flights as required by law in their 48 hour reports. Nor did they disclose these flights in their 2008 year end report, filed over three months after they received Mr. Stubbs letter on October 23.

No, Gov. Perdue and her committee didn’t acknowledge the flights at all until their 2009 mid-year semi-annual report in July 2009. And only after the Easley investigation indicated to them they had better get busy.

It is pretty clear that, were it not for the ramifications of the Easley hearings, Gov. Perdue and her campaign would never have disclosed or paid for the flights. Keep in mind that the Stubbs flights represent only half of the flights that were ultimately disclosed.

In addition to the bogus excuse about the mysterious “computer software glitch” and Mr. Wallace laughably disingenuous claim that the campaign was unaware that Mr. Stubbs was paying for the flights, the Perdue committee has offered various other explanations as to why the flights were not disclosed.

My personal favorite, expressed by Mr. Reichard was that “the campaign had no process in place to track and disclose information regarding flights.” Not only does this fly in the face of Mr. Stubbs many conversations with Reichard and Wallace, it also does not align with documentation provided by the Perdue committee.

A quote from the report on page 5: “based on the documentation…completed.”

What we have here is the Gov. Perdue campaign first knowingly and willfully failing to disclose contributions as required by law, and then engaging in lies in an attempt to cover up.

Now might be an appropriate time to remind you of some public utterances from our Governor while all this was going on.

“In the 21st century we must conduct the business of government in ways that bring transparency and accountability to the people... I have set high expectations for myself and for everyone who works for North Carolina. We will be open, ethical, and put the public's interest first.” March 9, 2009 State of the State Speech

“I’m the Governor who has thrown open the windows of the state government. I believe in hanging it out there to share. I don’t try to hide anything.” December 14, 2009

"I am really sick of all this, I've been very, very driven by the need for transparency and ethics in government.... I myself did an audit of my campaign. I paid people money to audit my campaign. I want to be sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed. I’ve been doing that relentlessly for a year." February 18, 2010

"I'm the governor for 15 months who's done anything possible to throw open the windows of state government, to have full transparency, to focus on ethics and how people set government straight," April 20, 2010

That brings me to the 2nd revelation and major conclusion.

That Gary Bartlett, Chairman Leake, and John Wallace colluded in an attempt to derail, distract, and obstruct the investigation by SBOE into the financial irregularities and illegalities of the Perdue for Gov. Campaign.

I now refer to the timeline that is an addendum to the SBOE report.

It documents that we first filed a complaint on October 15, 2009, asking the SBOE to investigate the Perdue Committee.

According to the timeline developed by SBOE staff, there is no mention of taking any action on the complaint until almost 3 months later, on January 12.

It is not until March 23, according to the timeline, before Bartlett authorizes Kim Strach to interview the first witness that same day, after waiting over 5 months to begin the investigation. Bartlett tells Strach that the board wants a resolution to the matter quickly so the interview needs to be wrapped up quickly.

By contrast, again according to the timeline, Mr. Bartlett received a letter from NC Democrat party Executive Director Andrew Whalen on February 15 requesting all correspondence between candidates Smith and Graham and SBOE office and any rules on advisory opinions on the subject.

The next day, Feb 16, Bartlett advises Strach to draft a letter for Whalen and compile all responsive documents. The letter is completed and the documents collected that same day.

The next day, two days after Whalen’s request, Bartlett directs Strach to hand-deliver letter and documents to Andrew Whalen at NCDP headquarters. It is delivered that day.

That same day, and only because I asked for a meeting with Bartlett, I received a one paragraph letter acknowledging an investigation of the Perdue campaign is underway, four months after we filed a complaint.

Later, on Feb 23, Whalen filed a complaint regarding Republican candidates. Bartlett and Strach meet the same day to discuss. It took three months before our complaint was even discussed at the SBOE.

As weeks go by, on repeated occasions, Chairman Leake and Mr. Bartlett direct Strach not to personally follow-up with campaign staff, but to restrict her contact to letter drafted by Mr. Bartlett.

Then, unbelievably, as detailed in several places in the timeline, Strach is told by both Bartlett and Leake that John Wallace and Zach Ambrose, Perdue COS as Lt. Governor, her campaign manager for Gov, and her COS as Governor, will determine who Strach will be allowed to interview.

It is unheard of for a law enforcement agency to allow attorneys with clients under investigation, or as in Mr. Ambrose’s case, targets of the investigation, to determine which witnesses will be allowed to testify. This is collusion and obstruction of justice.

Leake takes over the investigation on or about April 1, when Strach becomes aware of a notebook in John Wallace’s possession that has detailed information regarding flights that Perdue took.

Strach makes repeated attempts to obtain the notebook from Wallace. As before, with flight information at his disposal (see page 4 of the report, first two paragraphs) Wallace delays, and finally offers the assertion that the notebook is protected by “attorney-client privilege.”

Weeks go by and Strach has still not been granted access to the notebook and Bartlett is aware of this.

Then on April 27, Strach advises Bartlett that she will be in Wilmington the following day to deliver the Rusty Carter report to the New Hanover Assistant DA, Tom Old.

April 28 – Bartlett sends two SBOE staffers (McClean, Wright) who have had no involvement in the investigation henceforth to interview Wallace while Strach is out of town.

Strach finds out about this while she is in Wilmington and contacts Bartlett to make sure he tells McClean and Wright to copy the entire contents of the notebook. Bartlett tells Strach that Wallace will not allow that.

With the discovery of the notebook, Leake inserts himself into the investigation, apparently in collusion with John Wallace. Leake begins to schedule interviews, some of which Strach is excluded from. He and Bartlett prevent her from interview Wallace and Ambrose. Leake sits in on interviews with Strach and in some instances limited the length and breadth of the interviews.

This is highly inappropriate behavior and fraught with conflict. This is like a judge sitting in on witness depositions in a case he will be called on to judge impartially.

It is apparent that Bartlett, Leake and Wallace, acted, often consulting with each other on several occasions, to derail the investigation away from issues and witnesses they considered dangerous to Gov. Perdue and her committee.

And Mr. Bartletts’ conclusion in his memo the Board that there is no evidence that there is no intent of wrongdoing is an embarrassment to the people of North Carolina.

Accordingly, we call today for Executive Director Bartlett and Chairman Leake to resign their positions immediately. It would be the first honorable thing they’ve done in this matter. Failing that, Gov. Perdue should remove Chairman Leake, appoint a replacement, and ask the Board to immediately begin a search for a new Executive Director.

Because any of this is unlikely to happen, by letter today, we are asking Wake County District Attorney to launch an investigation into obstruction of justice at the NC BOE, particularly the actions of Mr. Bartlett and Chairman Leake.

Furthermore, we intend to press forward with our public records request. We want all documents, correspondence, email, records of phone conversations and drafts of reports leading up to the one released on Friday. We specifically want to see if Mr. Bartlett or Chairman Leake edited the request and the timeline submitted by the Kim Strach before releasing it on Friday. We will press on until the people of North Carolina get the answers they deserve.

NOTE;Here is a link from the News and Observer to the lame letter sent by Gary Bartlett from NCBOE on the whole campaign flights and the staff report CLICKHERE

Here is a few links to articles on this issue
"Election Board report on air travel made public", CLICKHERE

"Bartlett: No intent of wrongdoing in campaigns for governor" CLICKHERE

N.C. Supreme Court Makes A Huge Case for Open Records This Past Week, More Transparency and Open Government

HAT TIP: Raleigh News and Observer CLICKHERE

and

Under The Dome CLICKHERE

and

Raleigh News and Observer Investigations CLICKHERE

The Raleigh News and Observer  reported this past week that the North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled in a court case involving the State Employees Association of N.C. (SEANC) and the records of former treasurer Michael Moore.

Here is a few paragraphs from the article and if you would like to see the whole case and ruling it is a pdf file in the investigations section that is linked above.

"But the Supreme Court decided in an opinion published last week that state officials or agencies should not be the ones to decide whether they have complied with a records request that is in dispute. Courts should make those determinations, wrote Justice Edward Thomas Brady in the unanimous decision.


"Judicial review of a state agency's compliance with a request, prior to the categorical dismissal of this type of complaint, is critical to ensuring that, as noted above, public records and information remain the property of the people of North Carolina," he wrote in an opinion that begins with an affirmation of the principle of "sovereignty of the people.""

Then later in the article from above linked here is what the N.C. Press Association had to say.

John Bussian, a lawyer and lobbyist for the N.C. Press Association, called the ruling the most pointed statement for open government by the Supreme Court in 20 years.

It great to see open government at work and court cases like this one be sent back to the judge and will see where this case goes from here but the N.C. Supreme Court has weighed in very strongly for open government in North Carolina.

Newsbusted is New For June 25, 2010 Compliments of our Friends at Newsbusters Enjoy The Embedded Video

Newsbusted is new for June 25, 2010 compliments from our friends at Newsbusters CLICKHERE . Enjoy the embedded video.

Editorial Cartoons of the Week 6-25-2010, Topics:Standing Up To The General, US in the World CUp, Stopping The Spread and a few more

At Least He Is Consistent

Standing UpTo The General

A Different Approach

Propped Up

Stopping The Spread

US in the World Cup

ALG Editor's Note: William Warren's award-winning cartoons published at GetLiberty.org CLICKHERE are a free service of ALG News Bureau. They may be reused and redistributed free of charge.

City Fires All Employees

"Maywood to lay off all city employees, dismantle Police Department

The city of Maywood will lay off all city employees and begin contracting police services...effective July 1...

...At a council meeting Monday night, city leaders said they were forced to dismantle the Police Department and lay off city workers because they lost insurance coverage as a result of excessive police claims filed against the department. They also blamed years of financial abuse and corruption from the previous council.

Some suggested that city leaders should step down.

"You guys had the power to change it and you didn't," said City Treasurer Lizeth Sandoval, 28, who addressed the council as a resident. "You single-handedly destroyed the city."

Sandoval, a city employee, will be laid off as part of the cuts. "

Ruben Vives

How to lose two wars, by General McChrystal, former President Bush, President Obama and the United States of America

The life a man upon earth is warfare

Job 7:1

"...For five years, from the early months of the Iraq war until the troop increase ended in 2008, General McChrystal ran the Joint Special Operations Command, the armed service’s most secretive branch of commandos.

...He emphasized the need to win over the Afghan public...and publicly announced military operations well before they began.

...General McChrystal [told]...his troops wherever he went that killing Taliban insurgents carried costs, often in the form of dead civilians, that seldom justified using overwhelming force.

War is cruelty

The crueler it is the sooner it's over

General William Tecumseh Sherman

Employed "scorched earth" tactics against the Confederacy

He issued directives ordering his troops to drive their tanks and Humvees with courtesy, and he made it more difficult to call in airstrikes... and artillery in the fight against the Taliban... because they risked civilian casualties.

Since last year, the counterinsurgency doctrine championed by those now leading the campaign has assumed an almost unchallenged supremacy in the ranks of the American military’s career officers. The doctrine, which has been supported by both the Bush and Obama administrations, rests on core assumptions, including that using lethal force against an insurgency intermingled with a civilian population is often counterproductive.

Since General McChrystal assumed command, he has been a central face and salesman of this idea, and he has applied it to warfare in a tangible way: by further tightening rules guiding the use of Western firepower — airstrikes and guided rocket attacks, artillery barrages and even mortar fire — to support troops on the ground.

But the new rules have also come with costs, including a perception now frequently heard among troops that the effort to limit risks to civilians has swung too far, and endangers the lives of Afghan and Western soldiers caught in firefights with insurgents who need not observe any rules at all.

...The rules have shifted risks from Afghan civilians to Western combatants...

I don't care if I follow your rules, if you can cheat, so can I

I won't let you beat me unfairly, I'll beat you unfairly first

Ender Wiggin

Fictional Military Strategist

Young officers and enlisted soldiers and Marines, typically speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their jobs, speak of “being handcuffed,” of not being trusted by their bosses and of being asked to battle a canny and vicious insurgency “in a fair fight.”

Some rules meant to enshrine counterinsurgency principles into daily practices, they say, do not merely transfer risks away from civilians. They transfer risks away from the Taliban.

A good hanging tends to focus the mind

Roy Bean

Justice of the Peace & Saloonkeeper

Before the rules were tightened, one Army major who had commanded an infantry company said, “firefights in Afghanistan had a half-life.” By this he meant that skirmishes often were brief, lasting roughly a half-hour. The Taliban would ambush patrols and typically break contact and slip away as patrol leaders organized and escalated Western firepower in response.

All who surrender will be spared

whoever does not surrender but opposes with struggle and dissension

shall be annihilated

Genghis Khan

Now, with fire support often restricted, or even idled, Taliban fighters seem noticeably less worried about an American response, many soldiers and Marines say. Firefights often drag on, sometimes lasting hours, and costing lives. The United States’ material advantages are not robustly applied; troops are engaged in rifle-on-rifle fights on their enemy’s turf.

One Marine infantry lieutenant, during fighting in Marja this year, said he had all but stopped seeking air support while engaged in firefights. He spent too much time on the radio trying to justify its need, he said, and the aircraft never arrived or they arrived too late or the pilots were reluctant to drop their ordnance.

...Several infantrymen have also said that the rules are so restrictive that pilots are often not allowed to attack fixed targets — say, a building or tree line from which troops are taking fire — unless they can personally see the insurgents doing the firing.

This has led to situations many soldiers describe as absurd, including decisions by patrol leaders to have fellow soldiers move briefly out into the open to draw fire once aircraft arrive, so the pilots might be cleared to participate in the fight.

Nonviolence is fine as long as it works

Malcolm X

...restrictions that are popular in Kabul have often alienated soldiers and Marines whose lives are at stake, including rules that limit when Western troops can enter Afghan homes. Such rules, soldiers and Marines say, concede advantages to insurgents, making it easier for them to hide, to fight, to meet and to store their weapons or assemble their makeshift bombs.

“The troops hate it,” ...one Army colonel said. “Right now we’re losing the tactical-level fight in the chase for a strategic victory. How long can that be sustained?”"

DEXTER FILKINS & C. J. CHIVERS
New York Times

You're captives of a civilizational system

that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live

Daniel Quinn

.

Should you do what you need to whether you like it or notsooner than later?

We can ignore reality

but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality

Ayn Rand

Are there correlations

between currency, debt, natural resources, peace and war?

.

The first rule is not to lose

The second rule is not to forget the first rule

Warren Buffett

Is the definition of civilized changing again?

Geopolitics

If Gazelles need water and grass
and Cheetahs need water and Gazelles
and an abundance of sustenance leads to more Gazelles
should more Gazelles and water lead to more Cheetahs?

If too many Gazelles relative to water and grass lead to fewer Gazelles

do fewer Gazelles = fewer Cheetahs?

If Cheetahs and Gazelles were people

who would be who?

If need is sustenance and a temperate climate

should you not do what you don’t want done to you

unless you need to?

What do you do if you possess a brief case that may contain either $0 or $1,000,000

and are offered $200,000 for the case?

What if the majority of a civilization

collectively chose the case and lost

but most don’t know?

Newsbusted is New for June 22, 2010 Compliments of Newsbusters Enjoy the Embedded Video

Newsbusted is new for June 22, 2010 enjoy the embedded video compliments of newsbusters CLICKHERE

George Hartzman's Father

75, born in Havana, Cuba

His father fought in the Russian Revolution

Emigrated through Miami in 1947

Grew up in Brooklyn

Competed in Olympic style weight lifting events
and ran marathons

Ph D in Mechanical Engineering

Worked on little packages that go boom in Livermore, California

Worked on ICBM re-entry, and helicopter engines,
and occational math questions from the Man.

We play chess by Email

We debate economics, philosophy, politics
ethics and religion

We are supposed to talk every Friday night

He needs new knees

He worries about his kids

Loves Mom

Likes to paint

Reads a lot and collects used books

Drives cars into the ground

Still exercises almost everyday

Just retired
and loves his grandchildren

Happy Fathers Day Pop

George

Deep thoughts on Greensboro’s budget and Guilford County’s economy, by John Hammer and Donald Patterson

" 'Fiscal Conservatives' Increase City Budget

…it is hard to find any standard by which the 2010-2011 budget is more fiscally conservative than the current 2009-2010 budget…

…The fiscal 2010-2011 budget…reduces the tax rate by one-quarter of one percent, but raises water and sewer rates by 6 percent.

…the $423 million budget is $1 million higher than the 2009-2010 budget…

The City of Greensboro is going to receive less revenue

and spend $1 million more than last year?

…Two weeks ago [Danny] Thompson was bragging about cutting 2 percent, or about $8 million, from the budget… It was big talk, and when all the cutting was done, nothing of note was cut, while the City Council added $100,000 for the Greensboro Children's Museum and put back nearly all the service cuts that Young had proposed to balance the budget.

What the council did do was spend down some of the multitude of fund balances that the city has, which allowed them to cut the 0.1 percent from the proposed budget without cutting services, programs or personnel.

Is Greensboro about to borrow $40 million,

spend reserves to increase unneeded spending

while simultaneously cut taxes and raise water rates?

…When fiscal conservatism ran headlong into pork barrel spending in the City Council budget, pork barrel spending came out ahead."

John Hammer
Rhino Times


"Region slow to recover from recession

Two-and-a-half years after the beginning of the Great Recession, the economic recovery in the Greensboro-High Point metro area remains short on jobs and appears more fragile than ever.

…the recession locally has been more severe and the subsequent recovery weaker than in the three previous recessions dating to 1981.

…the Greensboro area suffered two blows — a further decline in employment and a significant dip in the growth of goods and services.

…Data show that employment in the region dropped one-tenth of a percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, but fell four-tenths of a percent in the first quarter of 2010.

Output, called gross metro product, grew by 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, but expanded by only nine-tenths of a percent in the first quarter.

…The region’s unemployment rate at the end of March hit 11.6 percent, putting Greensboro-High Point in the bottom quarter among the 100 largest metro areas.

Others say the growth in the economy hasn’t been sufficient to help the employment picture and may not any time soon.

“There are questions about whether the growth we have had is sustainable,” said John Quinterno, a principal with South by North Strategies…“ ...We are right now in a kind of stalled economy.”

Do Greensboro and Guilford County’s 2010/11 budgets

rest on “unsustainable” economic assumptions

and savings spent right before they may really be needed?

...Quinterno fears the state could be in for “another rough patch” later in the year.

The reason? Many federal programs designed to boost the economy are ending, and “it is unclear what will take their place.”

Right after we wasted our reserves on non-essential spending?

Donald Patterson
Greensboro News and Record

George Hartzman

Listing of all Salaries byOur Local Municipalities Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County

The Rhino Times yearly comes out with the salaries of all the public employees that work in Greensboro, High Point, Guilford County and Guilford County School System. Below is the link to each of the files showing all of the employees and their salaries.

City of High Point with a salary range of $170,000 to $60,000  CLICKHERE
City of High Point with a salary range of $60,000 to $14,000 CLICKHERE

Guilford County Schools with a salary range of $250,000 to $60,000 CLICKHERE
Guilford County Schools with a salary range of $60,000 to $4,000 CLICKHERE

Guilford County with a salary range of  $201,000 to $60,000 CLICKHERE
Guilford County with a salary range of  $60,000 to $20,700 CLICKHERE

City of Greensboro with a salary range of $212,000 to $60,000 CLICKHERE
City of Greensboro with a salary range of $60,000 to $18,600 CLICKHERE

Newsbusted is New for June 18, 2010 , PLease Enjoy The Embedded Video Compliments of Newsbusters

Newsbusted is new for June 18, 2010 check out the embedded video compliments of Newsbusters CLICKHERE . Have a great weekend.

Where Americans Are Moving , Interactive Map of The United States, Neat Tool

HAT TIP: The Seventh Sense CLICKHERE

Forbes.com has a new feature and a interactive map that allows you to click on any county in the USA and actually see where the people migrated both to and from.

CLICKHERE to see the map of Guilford County N.C.

Interesting stuff out there on the web.

Winston-Salem N.C. Northern Beltway Nightmare , Guest Column by Cathy Poole

Winston-Salem N.C. Beltway Map from NCDOT




Winston-Salem Northern Beltway: Project# R-2247, U-2579, U2579-A


The North Carolina Department of Transportation insists on employing the discredited 1950s approach of condemn, bulldoze, destroy, and pave as clearly referenced in the plans for the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. This makes no sense in the 21st Century. Consider the following facts:

Existing infrastructure is falling down around us. Local headlines remind commuters of 800 Triad bridges listed as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Citizens will be forced to drive over crumbling bridges to reach new multi-million dollar stadiums. Board of Transportation member, Nancy Dunn commented that she hopes the bridge disaster in Minneapolis helps galvanize the attention of state leaders. Davidson County Commissioner Max Walser laments, “We don’t have enough money in the state to fix potholes, much less build a new Yadkin River Bridge”. 5,602 of North Carolina’s 18,042 bridges are listed as substandard yet NC DOT wants to build the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway with 188 crossings of streams and wetlands requiring 18 new bridges and 37 major culverts.

Warnings to protect and conserve water due to the exceptional drought and state funding of $100 million for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund are futile if DOT is allowed to proceed with the beltway plans that impact 41,854 linear feet of streams, 32 acres of wetlands and 25 acres of ponds. Over 6,000 linear feet of streams will be drained and relocated.

NC farmland and open spaces are destroyed at a rate of over 100,000 acres per year. The beltway will destroy another 1,380 acres of prime statewide and locally important farmland.

NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, “One NC Naturally” implemented a state-wide effort to conserve forests and cropland having the capacity of absorbing and sequestering carbon dioxide to help offset emissions, yet the beltway will decimate 2,233 acres of forestland. Warnings of poor air quality days are frequent in the Triad. Twenty-four NC counties (including the Triad) do not meet air quality standards for either ozone or particulate matter (non-attainment). Burning one gallon of gasoline creates nineteen pounds of carbon dioxide. The greatest sources of ground level ozone are cars and trucks.

It is clear that those who stand to profit financially are the same people who most influence decisions made by NC DOT. Why else would busy land developers constitute such a large percentage of appointed “advisory” panels?

The American Planning Association’s Policy on Climate Change prescribes re-use and upgrades to existing infrastructure. The NC Climate Action Plan Advisory Group and the NC Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change have a series of strategies in place, including provisions for increased public transport to reduce the number of miles driven in personal vehicles across the state. PART, the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation just announced plans to spend $787,000 for property to house a permanent bus and rail mass transit terminal expected to cost more than $17 million. Rail would be the efficient and safe way to promote regional connectivity.

North Carolina Department of Transportation’s daunting financial challenges, rising fuel costs and the devastating environmental consequences of building new roads are all compelling reasons to oppose the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway.

NC DOT leadership and planners must no longer ignore the “No-Build Alternative” in Environmental Impact Statements and should immediately adopt a “Fix-It-First Policy” for North Carolina Department of Transportation.

We must demand that our public employees start making more enlightened decisions in the public’s interest, with environmental sensitivity and accountability to the public.

Cathy M. Poole

Member of: NC Alliance for Transportation Reform

Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League

Could Greensboro and Guilford County get clipped, if Washington DC doesn't give North Carolina $500 million?

"Perdue asks for backup budget

Congress could blow a $500 million hole in the $18.9 billion state budget that legislators have worked on for months, adding more uncertainty to funding plans for public agencies and schools.

The $500 million question mark - beefed-up federal Medicaid payments that could stop by the year's end - may lead to more state budget cuts in a year that started with budget writers working to compensate for an $800 million revenue shortfall.

...North Carolina and most other states were counting on the additional federal money to support their budgets.

As part of the national stimulus law passed last year, the federal government is picking up a bigger share of the cost of Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

State officials expected to keep getting the extra money through July 2011.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 30 states have proposed or passed budgets assuming they would get it.

But members of Congress, worried about increased federal deficits, started objecting.

There's a chance the fattened Medicaid payments will stop at the end of this year."

LYNN BONNER
News Observer

My taxes just went up about $31

Don’t most local press stories usually say a $200,000 home?

.

…the bill on a $100,000 home would be $632.50 — $2.50 less than this year…

…An average water user’s bill will increase by $2.05 a month,

from $34.70 per month to $36.75, or a little less than 6 percent….

Amanda Lehmert

Greensboro News and Record, June 15, 2010

A $200,000 home = $5.00 per year less

A $50 monthly water bill = $36 per year more

= My taxes just went up about $31

It is dangerous to be right

when the government is wrong

Voltaire

What will the local news media say?

Greensboro city leaders finalize 2010-2011 budget

News 14

.

Our dominant media are ultimately accountable only to corporate boards

whose mission is not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

...but the aggrandizement of corporate executives and shareholders

National Media Reform Conference

Greensboro City Council Expected To Approve Property Tax Decrease,

Water Rate Hike

Digitriad

.

No mention of $40 million of new debt and $4.9 million in spent savings?

.

I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today

J Wellington Wimpy

.

Council passes budget with tax decrease, water rate increase

Greensboro News and Record

Greensboro Council Adopts Budget

Digitriad

It is the absolute right of the state

to supervise the formation of public opinion.

Paul Joseph Goebbels

.

A government big enough to give you everything you want

is strong enough to take everything you have

Thomas Jefferson

Where there's sacrifice

there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings

The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters

and intends to be the master

Ayn Rand

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

Exodus 20:13

Don't steal from my kids

.

George Hartzman

Newsbusted is new for June 15, 2010 Enjoy the Embedded Video Compliments of Newsbusters

Newsbusted is new for June 15, 2010 compliments from our friends at newsbusted CLICKHERE, enjoy the embedded video.

A few Biblical thoughts on Roy's Water-Sewer Deal, the Noise Ordinance, Shovel Ready, Greensboro Performing Arts Center and Incentives

You shall not oppress your neighbor,

nor rob him.

Leviticus 19:13

How are taxpayers not being robbed and oppressed
by Downtown Greensboro Inc., the Greensboro Partnership,
Greensboro’s City Council and Guilford County’s Commissioners?

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation,

into a snare,

into many senseless and harmful desires

that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Timothy 6:9

Don’t steal from my kids.

Should Greensboro borrow $40,000,000 and spend down $4,900,000 of reserves in the same year?

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6226A797-ABAA-424E-9BD7-23905FA151A4/0/100615agatt.pdf

Page 125

"Approximately 70 full time equivalent (FTE) positions have been eliminated

in the General Fund among a variety of budget strategies to avoid a tax rate increase

for FY 10-11.

These reductions will produce an ongoing salary and benefits savings of about $2.8 million.

The position cuts are detailed on the appropriate departmental budget pages,

but include positions in Human Resources, Finance, Planning,

Police,

Field Operations, Transportation, Parks and Recreation,

Libraries and Engineering and Inspections.

An additional $2.5 million in savings from various reductions

in budgeted maintenance and operations accounts

also helps achieve a balanced budget."

City of Greensboro Proposed 2010/11 Budget

Is the City of Greensboro eliminating Police and maintenence
to borrow to build a swimming pool,
about $6 million of which was not approved by voters
and street scaping?

Recommended 2010/11 Appropriated Fund Balance $4,973,248

Editorial Cartoons of The Week: Topics are Boost of Energy, America's CEO, So Sorry Mr. Gore and more

Editorial Cartoons for the week of June 11, 2010 compliments of get liberty CLICKHERE

BOOST OF ENERGY

AMERICA'S CEO

SO SORRY MR.GORE

SIT STAY GOOD BOY

SOUNDS PRESIDENTIAL

THE COVERAGE

ALG Editor's Note: William Warren's award-winning cartoons published at GetLiberty.org CLICKHERE are a free service of ALG News Bureau. They may be reused and redistributed free of charge.

Newsbusted is New for June 11, 2010 Check out the embedded Video

Newsbusted is new for June 11, 2010 please enjoy the embedded video compliments of Newsbusters CLICKHERE

Are Rashad Young and Greensboro’s City Council intentionally misleading the public?

All that was needed was an unending series of victories

over your own memory

George Orwell

"...a penny on the tax rate is worth $2.2 million to the city of Greensboro.

City Manager Rashad Young proposed $9.26 million in cuts last week..."

Why not mention the $4.9 million of cash reserves to be spent

and admit to having a $14 million deficit?

.

George Hartzman

Amanda Lehmert
Greensboro News and Record, April 11, 2010

Sometimes I wonder

whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on

or by imbeciles who really mean it

Mark Twain

" *No tax increases

*Combining yard waste with leaf pick-up, while eliminating loose leaf collection

*Reducing, but not eliminating, summer park programs

*Limiting bond projects to $40 million

If $1 million in debt not borrowed saves $88 million,

why not save about $3.5 million by not borrowing $40 million?

.

George Hartzman

*Eliminating school crossing guards"

Highlights of the proposed City budget
via press release via Ed Cone, May 25, 2010

Half the work that is done in this world

is to make things appear what they are not

Elias Root Beadle

"City Budget Designed To Generate Outcry

Across the nation and around the world, because of the recession, governments are making serious reductions in their size and scope of operations. In Greensboro we are continuing along as if everything is hunky-dory and, according to the proposed budget, Greensboro will be taking on $70 million in new debt in the next two years.

...Young made the predictable cuts. He cut services that would result in councilmembers receiving lots of calls and emails.

...How many calls do councilmembers get when the city decides it will stop loose leaf collection in the fall, or reduce library services, or reduce services at city parks? A lot.

...Eliminating school crossing guards involves both children and police. It is difficult to find a cut that has the potential to cause more public outcry...

Evidently, in city manager school, they learn that cuts should be made in places that will make the taxpayers howl. In many cases, then the elected officials will decide not to make those cuts..."

John Hammer
Rhino, May 28, 2010

.
He who wishes to deceive will never fail to find willing dupes

Niccolo Machiavelli

.
"Libraries, loose-leaf collection and crossing guards are back.

And a tax cut may be on the way.

...City Council members agreed to keep a variety of services that had been slated for cuts

Without mentioning $4.9 million of reserve spending

while borrowing to build a money losing swimming pool?

Didn’t Greece borrow money while simultaneously spending reserves?

George Hartzman

...Council members peppered Young with their own budget-shrinking suggestions. If enough of those suggestions stick, the city could be heading for its first true tax cut in decades.

...Young’s recommended $420 million budget had called for service cuts across the city. But council members restored funding Tuesday for many of those items, including:

$600,000 for loose-leaf collection.

$400,000 to make up for Guilford County’s funding cuts to the Greensboro library system.

$90,000 to maintain recreation at city lakes.

$256,000 for school crossing guards..."

The great majority of mankind

are satisfied with appearance as though they were realities

and are often more influenced by the things that seem than those that are

Niccolo Machiavelli

Amanda Lehmert

Greensboro News and Record, June 9, 2010

Newsbusted is New for the Week of June 9, 2010 , Embedded Video

Newsbusted is new for the week of June 9, 2010 enjoy the embedded video and if you want to see more please go the the newsbusters web site CLICKHERE

George Hartzman Letter to the Editor, May 9, 2010

"Proposed county budget follows reckless course

Let’s not spend more than we make on what we don’t need.

Was Chairman Skip Alston “100 percent” certain there would not be a tax increase because Guilford County’s proposed 2010-11 budget intends to spend more than $34 million more than the county expects to receive in revenue after spending $43 million more than it received in 2009-10?

The proposed spending is projected to drain the county’s reserves to statutory minimums, leaving no wiggle room for error in 2011-12, when direct injections and ancillary economic benefits of most federal stimulus dollars evaporate.

At what point do those who chose to remove our reserve cushion tip the county into a distressed financial position?

Could borrowing and spending more than we make for what we “want” eventually limit access to credit or reserves when we may “need” them?

Let’s not emulate the profligacy of the federal government.

Let’s not be tempted by the temporary benefits of fiscal malpractice and unsustainable financial irresponsibility.

Let’s not betray our community’s future for a more pleasant present at our children’s expense.

Let’s act in the best long-term interests of Guilford County instead of some commissioners’ short-term desire to retain power through the next election at any cost."

George Hartzman
Greensboro News and Record, Sunday, May 9, 2010

Will Guilford County burn through $83,543,112 of savings in three years while borrowing $437,275,000 more?

The fund balance — basically the county’s savings account

went from about $145.2 million to $95.6 million in the 2009-2010 budget year.

The new budget projects it dropping to $61.6 million.

Joe Killian

Greensboro News and Record, June 9, 2010

If Guilford County owed $557,405,000 with $145,197,780 in the bank

after Fiscal Year 08/09,

and intends to owe about $984,775,000 with about $61,654,668 in reserves

after Fiscal Year 2010/11,

did Guilford County’s Commissionersjust hit taxpayers up for about $520,818,112

as revenues fall

and Federal, State and City of Greensboro contributions dwindle?

$984,775,000 Debt

-$557,405,000

=$437,275,000 More Debt

+

$145,197,780

- $61,654,668 Cash Reserves

= $83,543,112 Less Cash

= $520,818,112 more money allocated in the name of the electorate

collateralized by mandatory taxation.

What is Guilford County Going to do with the extra $5 to $10 million

from the $17 million bond sale for maintenance?

Monday, June 7, 2010

.

If Guilford County expects to spend 18% of its budget on debt service in 2012/13,

where is the $87 million going to come from?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Municipal Financial Ethics:

Guilford County, NC's three year $527 million swing

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Could the finances of the City of Greensboro be adversely harmed...

Friday, June 4, 2010

Is the N&R Editorial Board advocating

that Guilford County borrow $17 million

on top of $33.99 million

while burning through $89 million in two years?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Guilford County Information Request emailed to the following:…,

on June 2, 2010

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Is Guilford County's projected 2010/11 budget deficit

about $51,000,000?

Sunday, May 9, 2010
.

Could Guilford County face a $61 million budget deficit in 2011/12?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Did Someone in Guilford County's Government

Lie to the Greensboro News and Record

on the Budget Deficit?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

What is Crony Capitalism?

Friday, April 23, 2010

Should Guilford County’s children

be liable for the shortsightedness of their parents political leaders?

Friday, April 16, 2010

What is the likelihood that Guilford County's 2010-2011 budget over-anticipated expected employment and tax revenues relative to expenditures...

...if higher unemployment and fewer job openings

offer lower income than NC and local municipalities anticipate?

Long-term jobless face bleak future

Before the recession, 1.5 Americans competed for every job opening...

Today, 5.6 people do — which is why it takes so long to get a job.

The median length of time it took an American to find a job

before the recession started was 8.4 weeks...

In April, it took 21.6 weeks.

Dan Chapman

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

What is Guilford County Going to do with the extra $5 to $10 million from the $17 million bond sale for maintenance?

Last year, Guilford County commissioners cut $3 million

from the school district’s requested budget.

The maintenance budget bore the brunt of the cut,

with the school district delaying repairs and upgrades.

.

Brian Ewing

Greensboro News and Record, March 18, 2010

Commissioners cut $3 million
from the $7 million maintenance budget last year.

Brian Ewing
Greensboro News and Record, April 7, 2010

County OKs money for school repairs

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners agreed Thursday night

to allow the schools to use nearly $17 million in federal stimulus bond funding

to pay for school maintenance projects.

.
Joe Killian

Greensboro News and Record, May 20, 2010

.

If Guilford County expects to spend 18% of its budget on debt service in 2012/13,

where is the $87 million going to come from?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Municipal Financial Ethics:

Guilford County, NC's three year $527 million swing

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Could the finances of the City of Greensboro be adversely harmed...

Friday, June 4, 2010

Is the N&R Editorial Board advocating

that Guilford County borrow $17 million

on top of $33.99 million

while burning through $89 million in two years?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Guilford County Information Request emailed to the following:…,

on June 2, 2010

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Is Guilford County's projected 2010/11 budget deficit

about $51,000,000?

Sunday, May 9, 2010
.

Could Guilford County face a $61 million budget deficit in 2011/12?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Did Someone in Guilford County's Government

Lie to the Greensboro News and Record

on the Budget Deficit?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

What is Crony Capitalism?

Friday, April 23, 2010

Should Guilford County’s children

be liable for the shortsightedness of their parents political leaders?

Friday, April 16, 2010

If Guilford County expects to spend 18% of its budget on debt service in 2012/13, where is the $87 million going to come from?

Based on estimates of future debt service
for all currently authorized general obligation debt and annual operating budgets,
the County will exceed its guideline for general obligation debt service
in fiscal years 2012 - 2016.

At its highest, debt service will peak
at just under18% of the operating budget in Fiscal Year 2012-2013.

Guilford County 2010/11 proposed budget
.

"The new [2010/11] budget totals $570 million

about $16 million less

than the budget the Board of Commissioners adopted last June for fiscal 2009-2010,

which totaled $586.1 million."

Scott Yost
Rhino

.
If 2012/13 debt service is expected to be $112,180,093
not including an additional $17 million just authorized,
and $112,180,093 x 100 / 18 = a $623,222,738 2012/13 budget,
with 2010/11’s revenues at about $536 million,
($570 million – at least $34 million of reserve spending = $536 million)
how is Guilford County going to come up with $87 million more in 2012/13
than expected for 2010/11?

If Guilford County revenues stay the same or fall through 2012/13,
could debt service end up at about 21% of the budget or more

especially if a couple of billion of commercial and high end real estate

assesed for tax valuation between 2005 and 8 gets revalued 20 -30% lower?

How big of a tax increase could Guilford County’s Commissioners inflict
onto the backs of the communities it serves

by not fufilling fiduciary obligations?

.

Is the Greensboro News and Record’s Editorial Board completely oblivious?

.
A little better budget

.
...Commissioners also added some funding in their final budget for the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, which of course returns benefits to city residents.

The bigger concern regarding the county budget is its impact on next year's budget.

It doesn't fund positions for additional detention officers…

…With continued economic uncertainty ahead, but a strong possibility that state funds will continue to diminish, it won't get easier to pass a Guilford County budget that doesn't curtail critical services.

Greensboro News and Record Editorial Board

June 5, 2010