Board of Education Accepts McCormick's Resignation

UPDATE: No Discussion of Immoral Conduct At Meeting

In a statement released by the Board of Education:

The Lee County School Board today released as statement that said, "This afternoon the Lee County Board of Education accepted the resignation of Dr. Jim McCormick as Superintendent of Lee County Schools effective today, June 30, 2008. The Board of Education is aware of the impact affecting the district by his sudden resignation. To that end, in consultation with the Board Attorney regarding the legal options in filling this critical vacancy, we'll meet at 5:00PM Wednesday, July 2, 2008."

It is expected that the Board will at that meeting consider its options and discuss whether to name an interim or acting superintendent and the process for making a permanent selection of a superintendent.

The Board apparently waived a 90 notice required by the employment contract.

Dr. McCormick's letter was addressed to Bill Tatum, but was delivered to the Board Attorney on 6/25/08. He asked the Board to compensate him for those benefits which he had accrued while serving Lee County Schools. These included compensation for unused vacation days and unused sick leave days. Noting that insurance plans were paid a month in advance, he asked for confirmation that those benefits would remain in effect through the month of July 2008. McCormick offered no reason for his resignation in his letter.

During a recess, Chairman Bill Tatum answered questions from the media.
(See and/or read the coverage at this link on WRAL) The Sanford Herald (Click here for The Sanford Herald website) took the unusual step of publishing a story on its web site following the meeting.

Stories claim that one school board member said there was discussion of "immoral conduct" in the closed session, a claim that was emphatically denied by Chairman Bill Tatum who said that the subject never came up--a claim confirmed by other members of the board the Dispatch contacted. They flatly denied any such discussion. The manner in which McCormick handled the matter made any such discussion irrelevant in the consideration of his resignation. The accuracy of what was discussed in the private session will be verified when the minutes of the closed session are released according to state law.

Various versions of rumors about marital misconduct have been circulated within the county, especially since a local radio station began reporting them last Thursday. Provisions of state law and of the Superintendent's contract could have forced the board to have proven some of the allegations and/or paid a huge financial settlement. The manner in which the situation was handled avoided an arduous process that could have proceeded for months or cost the county $100,000's in settlement fees.

No Public Comments At Commissioners' Meeting

Commissioners Have Heard Enough About Deputies

Cancel your plans to go speak up for adding those two deputies at 5:30. The commissioner's don't want the room full of advocates for better law enforcement. Go to see Pat McCory at the free pancake supper at 6:00 pm at the VFW or watch TV for latest on school superintendent.

Herald Joins Speculation on McCormick's Future

Media Coverage Could Create Potential Problems

There was plenty of smoke on the issue of Jim McCormick's future with the Lee County School system by week's end. Most all of it ended up on the front page of the Sanford Herald's Sunday Edition. (click here for link that will work through Monday only). The article is based on "sources close to the school district. Multiple sources — all of whom wished to speak on the condition of anonym­ity."

The e-Lee Dispatch sometimes reports on that basis. And in this case there was some circumstantial evidence like the moving of the time of the Board of Education meeting that would seem to point to something going on. Sometimes we elect to hold posts so that the posts themselves do not become part of the story. (Click here to see editor's note.)

This much is clear from a careful parsing of the article. Jim McCormick is still Superintendent of Lee County Schools. As of today, there has been no change in his employment status. Whether he is at this time tomorrow may well turn out to be a different story.

Suppose, and this is speculation, that he decided on his own that for whatever reasons to resign. Perhaps he did so because he thought it best for the schools or to protect his privacy and that of others. The story is much bigger than that now. Media attention for "immoral conduct" raises questions about a wide range of conduct--from conduct that some people might not consider immoral to conduct that would universally disgust the community. One might expect that from an "electronic source" tied to a local interest group. The Herald, however, should have left the term " immoral conduct" alone or gone all the way and spelled it out.

The manner in which this story has been handled may however, draw the cameras from WRAL or WTVD so there should be plenty of sources to hear different slants on the story. Maybe they will see the "Smokin' Joes" sign and decide to give the local economy a boost while they are in town. There may yet be some good in all this mess.

The county commissioners are meeting at 5:30 to adopt a budget with or without the sheriff's two additional patrol deputies. That story may not be the biggest of the day but it could last until November.

Quiggle's Motion Full Of Irony For Kelly

Democrat's Choice For District II Vacancy Sets Up Dilemma For Kelly

It was Jamie Kelly that nominated John Quiggle to take the District II seat over Harry Undy, the nominee of the Republican Party. It was also John Quiggle who noted that there was $120,000 of unallocated funds in the county manager's budget and moved to give the sheriff the two patrol deputies he has said he needs to protect the county. Now Kelly returns from vacation with a megaton blast on the Sanford Herald's editorial page because the wording of Quiggle's motion made it so clear that the unanimous negative vote by the democrat commissioners present was not because the county could not afford the deputies. Although not a candidate himself, any Kelly chairmanship will require that the democrats retain control of the commission. Having not been at the meeting, he is the one democrat best equipped to dig them out of the hole.

Decision goes against campaign promises

There is a lot we support about this proposed budget, and we’re pleased with County Manager John Crumpton’s plan, which does not include a tax increase for local prop­erty owners. According to our report Tuesday, the $ 120,000 cut from the EDC was not directed toward any other part of the county’s budget. There are people who believe this money would be better served protect­ing the public.

These commissioners dis­agreed, despite what they said publicly during the election cycle.

It’s up to you, the voter.

In fairness to Jamie Kelly, when he first starting pushing John Quiggle to serve in the vacancy created when Kirk Smith resigned the District II seat, there was no officially recognized Republican Party in Lee County. Failure of Richard Littiken to follow the state's plan of organization had left the democrat members of the commission a clear shot at naming their choice to the vacancy. Only at the eleventh hour was the Lee County Republican Party organized in time to nominate Harry Undy, veteran leader of organizations in the Carolina Trace Community.

Despite Undy's qualifications, Kelly and his colleagues on the board were determined to proceed with school board member John Quiggle. Without question, John Quiggle was qualified to be a commissioner, but why the controversial decision to elect him rather than Undy?

He was never included in the four commissioner clique led by Robert Reives. Quiggle would have been a logical replacement for Linda Shook's role as liaison with the Board of Education since she was already at odds with Board of Education as the commisioners' representative to that board. Replacing her with Quiggle who had just left that board was an opportunity to lessen tensions between the two boards at a time they were under pressure about Lee Senior High School, but the democrats passed on that. Sources have confirmed that there was discussion that would allow Jamie Kelly to end Reives' reign by putting together a new four person majority consisting of himself, Brown, Quiggle, and Lemmond but failed because of Lemmond's fear of Reives.

Whatever the reason, Kelly and the democrats put Quiggle on the board and then didn't put that choice to good use nor did the county GOP fully embrace. Then, bamm! Quiggle ended up landing the biggest punch of the year for Republican commissioner candidates with his well worded and timed motion to add the two deputies. How ironic!

Jail Inmate Death A Tragedy

Sheriff Carter Pro-Active On Inmate Health Care

No matter what the circumstances, it is a tragedy when anyone dies. Everyone has family and friends who grieve their loss almost without regard to their religious faith. An in­mate at the Lee County Jail, Anthony Jabbar Fox, 35, of 309 Maple Ave, collapsed and died early Thursday morn­ing.

Sheriff Carter said officials don’t know a cause of death and that an autopsy was pending, but added that it appeared to result from some type of medi­cal condition. As the recent death of Tim Russett in an NBC studio showed, regardless of station in life or location, one can pass from this earth suddenly and without warning. The State Bureau of Investigation is investi­gating the circumstances surrounding Fox’s death, as is protocol anytime a jail inmate dies in cus­tody, and the public may learn more of the particulars of the death.

What Carter has done to improve the situation regarding the health care of inmates has received little attention. When he took office, medical assistance was being rendered by a health department nurse, medical costs for physician and hospital care of inmates were spiraling out of control, and the county government was solely liable for any negligence that might be claimed in today's world in which trial lawyers advertise for business.

After extensive research, he recommended, and the commissioners approved, outsourcing the management of inmate medical care--a growing trend in the state. Outsourcing makes available personnel and procedures specialized for inmates and reduces the county's liability in the event of legal action. A contract for health care management by Southern Health Partners of Charlotte (click here to learn about the company) began June 1, 2007.

Sheriff Carter requsted 4 additional jailers from the county commissioners, but the current budget provides for 1.

New Blood Bringing Life To Lee GOP

As Local GOP Struggles With Legacy of In-Fighting, New Players Take Field

McCory's Monday's Visit A Coup of YR President

Candidates for governor don't typically spend much time raising money for local parties. Their focus has to be on raising as much money as they can for their own campaign. Yet Charlotte Mayor Pat Mc Crory, the Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, will speak to local Republicans Monday at a pancake supper fund raiser at 6 p.m. Monday, June 30. The event will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 5631 on Webb Street in Sanford. The pancake supper is free, and funds will be raised in the form of donations.

The event has almost single handedly been organized by Jay Calendine. Calendine is both President of the new Lee County Young Republicans and Finance Committee Chairman of the County GOP. Yet it was a personal contact of Calendine through his YR role that convinced the McCrory campaign to do this event and observers have noted that the work of organizing the event has been led mostly by Young Republicans who have had success involving older Republicans as well in the planning. One committee assigned by Richard Littiken charged with publicity has not done a stellar job. Calendine is advertising the event mostly by chain email. Those who know people who may be interested in meeting McCory should let them know.

Calendine, 30, is a Lee County native and a graduate of Lee Christian School. After returning from Iraq, he saw the need for additional leadership and began work on a Young Republican Chapter. The age group is 18-40. Of particular note is that half of the registered Republicans in Lee County fall into that demographic. Calendine can be reached at 919-698-9968 or leecountyyr@gmail.com.

Sheriff "Upset" That Commissioners Did Not Fund Deputies

Tracy Carter Reminds People Election Coming Up.

Sheriff Tracy Carter's reaction to the commissioner's failure to fund the two additional patrol deputies was discussed on Rant, Billy Liggett's radio show during the 8:30 segment of the 8 to 9 am Wednesday morning show on 90.5 FM, WDDC. For late risers and those who cannot get the station, here are the highlights, The entire broadcast is available from the Rant web site. (Click here to view the blog site or here to download the MP3 portion. The show is quite entertaining. Sheriff Carter comes in about 34 mins into the show if you need to slide the marker to find that portion only..)

Pointedly reminding some commissioners that they had run their primary campaigns on support of law enforcement, Sheriff Tracy Carter told listeners he was "disappointed and upset" that the commissioners had failed to use $120,000 that was not used in the budget to fund his request for 2 additional patrol deputies. He said that he felt that despite having lowered last year's crime rate, that his office was seeing a serious increase in crime--especially home invasions--due to the economy. He made it clear that while he had been told to prioritize positions, it was with the assumption money could not be found in the budget to meet more of his request. "I want to make it clear that I need those two positions," he said. The sheriff said it was his job to tell the commissioners what was needed and he did not play the game of asking for more than he needed expecting to get less.

He encouraged listeners to contact commissioners to request that they fund the 2 positions at their final budget meeting on June 30, and Liggett gave the numbers for the commissioners. (click here for the contact information.) He also said that he encouraged people to pay attention because "We do have an election coming up in the fall." Although he declined to say that the commissioner's actions were politically motivated and said relations had generally been good with the board, this was a clear signal that the votes against the deputies would be fair game in the fall election. "I don't work for the county manager or the commissioners. I work for the people."

This much is absolutely clear. He feels his position on the deputies was misrepresented by the county manager and commissioners. "In no way have I ever said that I did not need those two positions."

Analysis

Incumbent commissioners Jerry Lemmond, who heavily advertised his support of law enforcement, and Ed Paschal have a lot to think about. The two could vote with commissioners Shook and Quiggle to amend the budget ordinance to add the patrol deputies. Of course, Lemmond would have to obtain Robert Reives permission. Democrat candidate Richard Hayes, who also heavily advertised his support of law enforcement, can only hope that when Commissioner Jamie Kelly returns from vacation (Kelly was not present to vote on the motion by John Quiggle to fund the two positions from $120,000 of unallocated money in the budget), Kelly will be able to get his colleagues to see the potential political risks of their actions. Just whether or not the sheriff intends to heavily involve himself in the election is not clear. What is clear is he will not sit back and let anyone hide behind a misrepresentation of his position.

Reives Reverses Position on School Budget Format

Commissioners Abandon School Budget Restrictions

Has Reives Gotten Religion?

For several weeks the board of commissioners have been feverishly positioning themselves to significantly tighten restrictions on the flexibility of the board of education to transfer county funds within its budget. (See Previous Post) Such an approach is being used in various forms in other counties to provide more financial accountability and transparency.

To Robert Reives it sounded like an opportunity to extend his tentacles into yet another recipient of county funds. (Look for documentation of this in a future post-ed.)

The Finance Committee, consisting of its powerful chair Robert Reives, Jamie Kelly, and Linda Shook, had voted just last Thursday to adopt the new purpose and functions budget format and restrict the board of education's ability to transfer more than 10% of the funds for any item without commissioner approval.

Last night, after the concept was first questioned by defeated chairman Bob Brown, Reives was arguing against rushing into such a big change without consultation with the Board of Education. This is the same Robert Reives who has ignored an April 23rd request from board of education chairman Bill Tatum for a joint meeting of the finance committees of the two boards. That is eight weeks, five days, and counting.

The other democrats followed their leader, as usual, and isolated Republican Shook as the only commissioner for the plan. She couldn't even get agreement to work toward such a system in the budget year to begin in 2010. Next, a token $100,000 cut in the school budget by Shook, which had supported last week, went down to defeat.

Just what did the board of education do to convince the commissioners to abandon plans to micro-manage the schools like they attempt to do the county government? Nothing. Not one letter, phone call, email, or press release of protest. Not even even a peep at all from a board of education known to have a strong, effective and vocal advocate as chairman.

If the board of education and its supporters weren't squealing, second guessing must have started and fears of falling into a trap must have begun to fester.

After all, Jerry Lemmond is still trying to win back the credibility they lost by failing to consider the school board's plan for Lee County High School and leaving those renovations out of the uses for the sales tax. Nope, this was no time to be sticking it to the board of education or for moving forward without consultation and open the board of commissioners to the charge of micro-managing the schools. The commissioners were simply stared down and blinked.

Has Robert Reives had a conversion? As future posts will show on other matters of business last night, the answer is no. It was just a case of cold feet.

Editor's Note: Persistantly Pursuing Posts

Sometimes Timing Is Everything -- What Is Coming

"Where There Is Smoke There is Fire"is a series of posts on the desperate effort to cover up the responsibility of the Lee County Commissioners in regard to the failure of the sales tax and lack of the Commissioner's official endorsement of a plan to renovate Lee County High School. (Click here to see first post) Enough people have had enough conversations that couple with our own digging to sort out what is going on. Since there is enough for a novel, there will be multiple posts. Posts will be tied together with links to help keep it readable. Certain efforts involve ongoing actions aimed at future events that will be reported when the reporting does not itself become part of the event. The rest of this story will be coming in the next couple of weeks when it will clear up events instead of add to the fire.

No post has generated as many comments raising questions as the no vote cast by Shawn Williams against John Bonardi for the CCCC Board (click here to see post with comments.) At this point there is nothing more to report than this was a vote against Bonardi but whiff's of smoke are being looked into. Who was Williams' choice and why?
Does this fit with another selection to make a pattern?

Forced Annexation Bill Being Stalled In House

Representative Love Faces Test Of Legislative Influence

The bill declaring a one year moratorium on forced annexation may not become law after all. As covered in a prior post (read about it here) property owners have absolutely no protection against forced annexation--even if they get no substantial services as a result. Instead, they just get another layer of government and more taxes. This ought to worry all Lee County residents as we could be gobbled up by Sanford and things like their business privilege tax at practically any time.

The House Judiciary II Committee did not get to vote on HB 2367 Thursday. The bill was last on the agenda, and only opponents of the bill were given time to speak before time ran out. It is scheduled for the next meeting Tuesday, but it is again near the end of the agenda. With the legislature expected to adjourn shortly, this may be the last chance for the bill.

Representative Love is a vice chair of the Judiciary II and has indicated his support for the bill as long as it applies only to forced annexation and earlier said that the bill to clear the committee with little difficulty. (See previous post) Representative Love said that sponsors of the bill have indicated to him that they have the votes on the House floor to pass the bill. It looks like this bill could be turning into a test of his legislative influence--something Love highly promotes in his campaigns. With all the uproar about Sanford's privilege tax still very much alive, a failure to get this bill out of committee could become a key issue in the November campaign. You can contact Representative Love at jimmyl@ncleg.net or call his office at 919-715-3026.

Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire-Part 3

Hiring A Gunslinger

Part 3 of A Continuing Series. (Click here for the start of the series.)

The background on this tactic was the subject of a post after a May 19 Commissioners' Meeting. It is recommended that you check it out. (click here for background)

The commissioners never took the so called "Hite Plan" for renovations at Lee County Senior High seriously. After the loss of their chairman, they realized they just couldn't take the blame. They needed cover--someone to say that all that money the board of education has asked for the renovations was too much. They needed their own engineering company--cover for never sitting down with the school board to be thoroughly briefed on the Hite plan despite requests by the school board to do so.

So the rush began to get their own engineers on site to address the concerns. Apparently no written request for proposals or scope of work was issued. Discussions were handled by phone. From correspondence the companies and individuals who responded considered review of the Hite plan and ways to shave dollars from it a key part of their job. Of course, the sales tax failure had killed the Hite plan anyway.

By the time of the commissioners last meeting, however, bless their children-loving hearts, they wanted to make sure that the students were safe. "We just have to take care of any issues of health and safety." How could they lose on that one. If their consultant reported there were really no serious health and safety concerns, then all that was just made up by LCHS supporters. Or, if they found serious health and safety concerns, it would be obvious that the school board had not been doing its job.

Either way Jerry Lemmond could travel around and say "Golly, we've just done all we could for Lee County High School."

Board Of Education To Be Stripped of Financial Flexibility

Commissioners Would Control Budget Transfers

Our "Where There Is Smoke There is Fire Series" Will Continue Later This Week.

The Lee County Commissioners are planning to place the control of county school board expenses in the hands of the Finance Committee, headed by Commissioner Robert T. Reives. In previous years, the Board of Education has had broad freedom to shift the county portion of their receipts among accounts called line items. The federal and state funds received by the schools is very tightly limited in how it is allowed to be spent. County funds were moved between accounts to fill in the holes in the annual budget.

This year the commissioners have insisted on having the budget presented in a format that shows purpose and functions--for example instructional programs would be would be the purpose and would include functions like regular, special, alternative, and co-curriculum. Under the commissioners plans, the school board could not shift more than 10% of those funds to other purposes without commissioner approval. No shifts would be permitted above 25% of the purpose. Funds appropriated for maintenance could not be shifted to special add. As the commissioner's see it, this means that the money they appropriate would be spent for the purpose they intended in the budget. (Click here to see the different categories used in Wake County. It's Section 2 of the county's budget ordinance.)

Of course, this places the point of control in the hands of Commissioner Robert T. Reives, the ultimate power on the Board of Commissioners. Such a system requires communication and cooperation. This year, the Board of Education asked for a significant increase in funds but did so in a way that might be described as "must have" and "nice to have." On April 23, school board chair Bill Tatum asked for a meeting between the finance committees of the two boards to begin a dialog over the budget. To date, and with the adoption of the budget nearly done, Commissioner Reives has refused to have a joint meeting of the two finance committees.

Appropriating funds by purpose and function may bring more accountability to the schools, but the commissioners are going to have to be open to more cooperation than they have shown so far or such a system will hobble public education in Lee County.

Update: Chairman Reives has just scheduled another finance committee meeting in a meeting with no facilities for broadcasting and posting on the Internet. If the commissioners want to exercise greater control over the Board of Education budget, the public should demand that these meetings be as widely available to the public as possible. After all, isn't this supposed to be accountability?

Additional information became available that made some corrections in this post necessary. The corrections are in blue.

Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire-Part 2

What Bob Didn't Tell You--The $250,000,000 Deal

Part 2 of A Continuing Series. (Start here).

The voters knew who to hold responsible for the problems at Lee County High School. Friends of Lee County High School endorsed all the incumbent school board members and commented on two members special qualifications in construction. (click here to read) The commissioner's chair got defeated; the board of education chair, to the consternation of Robert Reives, got reelected to the school board.

But maybe the implication that the problem was the Board of Education will take some heat off the commissioners. The proposal that the Lee County schools turn over construction and maintenance to the county commissioners as is proposed in Wake County is hot air. There is absolutely no evidence that the county commissioners can build or maintain buildings better than the school board. Maybe the hope is to sell the public on the idea that it is the board of education that can't be trusted and the commissioners were wise to torpedo the sales tax. Yet, SanLee Middle School, a construction project handled by the current board of education came in ahead of schedule and under budget.

There is evidence that commissioners tend to replace buildings under control of the commissioners long before they get into the kind of condition of Lee County High School. Witness the priority given in the county's capital improvement plan to build a county administration building for the commissioners and the senior staff. Also, the county commissioners' bias is written right into their finance policy. The commissioners can borrow money for county buildings or community college buildings without a bond referendum, but any borrowing for the schools has to have a bond issue.

State law places the responsibility for the construction and maintenance of schools under the boards of education but gives the responsibility for meeting the costs of both to the county commissioners. Granted, not a real strong structure for accountability. The Board of Education claims that the commissioners have not appropriated enough money for maintenance--only about two-third of what was requested. Lee County High School is old and was subjected to significant overcrowding for many years. Lack of annual maintenance is a red herring.

Reading the "Chamber Chat" one could get the impression that this is pretty much a done deal in Wake County. Far from it? (Click here to read what is really going on) What would cause the Wake County School Board to contract away one of its legal responsibilities? After all, the structure of a school has a lot to do with the learning environment. The answer is money. Under the Wake school board proposal, the school board hopes to get as much as 80 percent more money from the county commissioners over the next six years. Under the formula, the county's spending on schools could increase from $300.7 million this fiscal year to $558.7 million by 2013-14. Maybe for $250,000,000 the Lee County School Board ought to consider it.

Coming next, Hiring A Gunslinger
(click here to go back to Part 1)

Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire: Part 1

Chamber Missed Some Important Lessons Learned

As we have experienced when the wind shifts, where there is smoke their is fire. We actually went to a code red air quality alert because of peat burning more than a hundred miles away. For more than two weeks the smoke has been coming in to the Lee Dispatch on the desperate effort to cover up the responsibility of the Lee County Commissioners in regard to the failure of the sales tax and lack of the Commissioner's official endorsement of a plan to renovate Lee County High School. Enough people have had enough conversations that couple with our own digging to sort out what is going on. Since there is enough for a novel, this will be our series. Posts will be tied together with links to help keep it readable.

What we learned from the failure of the sales tax is that the commissioners were complacent and assumed it would pass:

• We now know that the county's capital improvement plan was put together with the assumption the tax would pass. Only a few people who asked to see the plan ever saw it. There was no alternative for the sales tax not passing. Why didn't the commissioners widely publicize the plan which had Lee County High School's funding in it?
  
• The commissioners printed one brochure on the plan and never reached out to get a community effort started. The Fair Tax Committee was an out-growth of a meeting asked for by the Board of Education that set up a joint committee. Were it not for the Board of Education there would have been no last minute organization to push for its passage.
  
• When Jerry Lemmond reported his "keeping track" of public comments, he only reported those for and against. (Click here to see post) It was overwhelmingly positive, but he wasn't listening to the "only if for Lee County High School' part. He got that conversion during the election. (Click here to see post)
  
• After seeing Bob Brown lose, he and other commissioners got religion. After all, three of the four Republican candidates had taken strong pro-Lee High School positions. Immediately after the election, calls started going out of the courthouse (including one to Bob Joyce) and conversations started between commissioners floating a plan to combine another vote on the sales tax in November with a bond vote on the high school. The plan never got off the ground. Neighboring Moore County had passed a large bond issue in November only to see the sales tax go down in flames in May. Commissioners Lemmond and Paschal decided a vote would actually hurt them in the fall. The idea evaporated.
• Time for Plan B--Blame it on the school board in the next post.
  

Lee EDC Release Claims Economic Progress

SANFORD LEAPS TO 34TH IN ECONOMIC STRENGTH

AMONG 'MICROPOLITANS' IN THE UNITED STATES

For the third year in a row, Sanford's economic strength ranks among the top 50 small cities across the United States - and its current 34th position continues a steady rise since 2005.

POLICOM, an independent economic research firm based in Palm City, Fla., publishes the annual ranking of 577 'micropolitan' areas, defined by the federal Office of Management and Budget as having a city of at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 residents.

Formulas used to assess economic strength measure how the economy has behaved in the previous year. They take into account the growth and size of the regional economy, changes in business sectors that typically show how much money is flowing into a community, and local trends in welfare and Medicare.

Sanford has been marching up the list since landing in 52nd position three years ago. The seat of Lee County government rose to 48th in 2006 and then 45th last year. Though their positions shuffled, this year's top five micropolitans were the same as last year's. In order: Hilton Head Island-Beaufort, S.C.; Edwards, Colo.; Concord, N.H.; Lebanon, N.H.-Vt.; and Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii.

Bob Heuts, who directs the economic development effort for Sanford and Lee County, said he was pleased with the rankings. Business and industry has thrived in Sanford, he believes, primarily because of an outstanding local workforce and the city's position in the world-renowned Research Triangle Region.

"Having wide-open transportation networks and being close to everything Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill have to offer helps create a vital business climate and keep our economy strong," Heuts said. "Plus, there's a rich tradition of industry here, which means companies can find everything they need to do business." At the same time, Heuts was hesitant to predict even higher rankings in the future. It's not that Sanford won't continue to improve, but that many communities higher on the list have assets that simply aren't available locally.

The Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC ranked first among Metropolitican Statistical Areas, with Raleigh-Cary ranking 24th.

The full report is available on line at policom.com/microrank.htm.
Release from Lee Economic Development Commission

Love Has Key Hand in Annexation Bill

Bill Lands In His Committee

The issue of a moratorium on forced annexation (see prior post on issue) has cleared the Senate and gone to the House Judiciary Committee, where Jimmy Love (D-Lee) is vice chair. Representative Love is scheduled to chair the next meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.

He has indicated his support for the bill as long as it applies only to forced annexation and expects the bill to clear the committee with little difficulty. Representative Love said that sponsors of the bill have indicated to him that they have the votes on the House floor to pass the legislation.

$84M in Marijuana Plants Seized

Plants Found Not Far From The County Line

WRAL-TV reported today that a marijuana eradication effort in western Harnett County turned up an estimated $84 million in plants growing in a wooded area near Broadway, authorities said Wednesday. The large operation was between Broadway and Raven Rock and close enough that some of it may have been destined for distribution in Lee County. We have the Economic Development Commission to recruit some industries, and Sheriff Tracy Carter to discourage industries like this from locating in our county. (click here to read story on wral.com)

Board of Educaction Picks John Bonardi For CCCC Board

Shawn Williams Keeps Vote From Being Unanimous

The Board of Education by a 5-1 vote, elected retiring member John Bonardi to replace John Sauls on the Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees. Bonardi was not reelected and will leave the Board of Education on June 30. His term at CCCC will not begin until July 15.

Bonardi was the recommendation of the selection committee chaired by Helen Mangum. There were no other nominations. School Board Chairman Bill Tatum called for the vote and was apparently surprised or unsure of Shawn Williams' vote because he asked for the vote a second time. This time it was clear - Williams voted no. At the time, Williams offered no explanation. There was some irony here because Bonardi had strongly supported Williams at the time the board of education selected Dr. Lynn Smith.

Contacted yesterday, Williams explained that he thought it was a conflict of interest for the board to vote to elect one of its own members--even one leaving the board-- to the position.
Other applicants were Margaret Murchison, Jacob Davenport, Sandy Stancil, and Neal Kightlinger.

Obama Strategy Good For Lee GOP

Trying To Win NC Likely to Benefit Local Republicans

Although North Carolina has not voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976, the Obama campaign is confident that they can put the state into play this year. They are counting on the vast grassroots organization they built in the state during the primary contest, as well as Obama’s appeal to students, African Americans, and young professionals. His campaign chose to kick-off a two-week national tour to talk about the economy at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds on (click here to read story) Monday. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue, Senate candidate Kay Hagan and lieutenant governor candidate Walter Dalton were "nowhere to be found."

It looks like they hold to the traditional NC Democratic view that when it comes to national politics, being linked to their Presidential nominee is not a good idea. This despite the fact that
Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina primary by a double-digit margin

And if this is true state wide, it is likely to be an even bigger factor here in Lee County. Barack Obama got only 42% of the votes in the democrat primary. This was Hillary County.
While the black vote is not negligible in Lee County, the county lacks a large student population and the kind of young professionals that have been attracted to Obama in more urban areas.

Odds are that you won't see local Democrats like Jerry Lemmond running around with Obama stickers plastered to his car. Meanwhile, the Republicans will be delighted if Obama is flooding the air waves with his liberal message. Like those at the top of the ticket here in the state, they will be "nowhere to be found" when it come to Obama.

Republicans Lose Leverage on a Traditional Issue

GOP Vote On Budget Gives Love Cover

For years, and especially the last several sessions, the democrat-dominated state legislature has adopted rapidly increasing budgets and loaded them up with pork. The Senate is much more notorious for this than the House, but both played the pork game. The Republicans have voted pretty much as a block against them and used the wasteful spending argument as a key part of their campaign to unseat incumbents.

It is a potentially potent issue. So much so that two years ago our Representative Jimmy Love voted for the House version (keeping the speaker happy) but voted against the final budget after the Senate loaded its pork onto the bill. It was a clever move. The kind of move that won him a ranking as the second most effective freshmen legislator.

This year, however, on Thursday, a majority of Republicans in the House joined with Democrats in passing the bill by a vote of 104-10. "There are good things in the budget that can be supported by both sides," said House Minority Whip Bill McGee, R-Forsyth, adding that he would vote for the budget. "The overall (growth) rate this year is acceptable. It's less than the cost of living." With so many Republicans voting for the budget and remarks like that, Republican challengers like Linda Shook lose a lot of leverage on the spending issue. Of course there are plenty of differences between the two candidates, and Shook is a ferocious campaigner.

That kind of support from Republicans gives Love a lot of cover. In fact, he can deflect any criticism of his vote on the budget with the simple line, "I voted for it and the Republicans did, too. (click here to read article or view story) (click here to see highlights of budget)

Before publishing this post last week, The e-Lee Dispatch learned that House Minority Leader Skip Stam had taken the unusual step of obtaining permission to abstain on the budget vote. As House Minority Leader it is his job to help get more Republicans elected. Did this loss of campaign advantage have anything to do with his abstention? After some digging into House records, the reason was that his family and his clients would be effected by a provision of the bill funding the Triangle Expressway.

What Kind of Deputy Dominates Finance Committee

Who Are You Going To Call?

It is 2 am and you hear strange noises at your front door. Where do you turn for help--a deputy county attorney or a deputy sheriff?

That was the issue that dominated the discussion of the County Commissioner's Finance Meeting last night. The county manager wants to hire a Deputy County Attorney and turned down a request by the Sheriff to add two patrol deputies. Commissioner Linda Shook took strong exception to that priority.

The budget documents say that the deputy county attorney will take over work that is being done by outside attorneys for social services. Of course, what things say and what is really going on behind the scenes is another matter. The real concern is that the county attorney Kenneth R. Hoyle is 81 years old and may one day decide to retire. Some commissioners want to start training a back up although Mr. Hoyle has said nothing about any plans to retire.

Last year the Sheriff asked for four patrol deputies but was given only two. He wanted to add one deputy to each of four shifts so there would be be four patrol deputies on the road at all times. With the drastic rise of gas prices and downturn in the economy, there has been an increase in thefts, and Commissioner Shook argued that protecting the public was one of the most basic responsibilities of government.

As proposed, the county manager would like to spend $88,193 for the county attorney. Commissioner Shook wants to apply that to the $91,426 for the salary and benefits of the two patrol deputies. The Sheriff has indicated that his office can absorb the cost of outfitting the the two deputies with funds seized from his very active campaign against drug dealers.

The Sheriff has been asked to appear at a budget work session scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on June 16th in the Commissioners' Room. It will be followed by a regular commission meeting at 3:00 p.m.

It cannot be argued that Mr. Hoyle does not possess a lot of valuable knowledge of the history behind legal matters. Kenneth R. Hoyle began representing Lee County as its attorney on a retainer basis in 1960. In 1991 he gave up his his general practice to join the Lee County legal staff full time. Prior to doing so he had been Broadway's attorney for 38 years. Among Mr. Hoyle's many career honors are his election as president of the North Carolina State Bar and North Carolina Bar Association General Practice Hall of Fame. It is unrealistic that simply hiring a deputy attorney is going to replace that institutional knowledge should Mr. Hoyle leave. It is something that just can't be replaced.

Note: Although Commissioner Rieves refused to conduct the finance meeting in a way that it could be broadcast and recorded on the Internet, the e-Lee Dispatch made its own av recording. They can run but they can't hide. Hopefully, County Commissioner Chairman Bob Brown will decide to record the Budget Work Session since it is in the room set up for such recording.

Sometime You Have To Wait

Several good topics are being tracked for the blog, but sometime it is necessary to be absolutely sure that sources are confirmed or for the final shoe to drop. There is an excellent column to read today and a couple of odds and ends.

• Today Kevin Degon has written an excellent column on forced annexation in the Sanford Herald that is a must read. By permission of the Herald we have arranged for you to have access to a clip of the column. (click hear to read the column) The Sanford Herald's current online edition does not allow direct linking to articles, and we appreciate Bill Horner's permission to make this available. A new web format for the Hearld is under development is in the works that will allow direct linking. (read about how to subscribe to their edition). (Read the latest WRAL story on this issue-click here). (Read our earlier post-click here)
  
  
• The most important decisions that the County Commissioners make relate to the budget. How they decide to spend the public's money represents the most comprehensive policy document that is produced each year. From it, the priorities of the county government are set.Lee County government has all the facilities necessary to broadcast and record meetings of its Finance Committee at which it will consider next year's budget on June 5^th, 2008 at 5:30 pm. Despite public comment asking that this meeting be broadcast, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Robert Rieves, has refused to allow the broadcast or recording of this meeting. The reason is simple. Finance Committee Chairman Rieves uses his near total domination of the budget process to control county government and to keep those commissioners that so faithfully follow him "in line." He has no desire for their to be a record that the public can be shown to document the tremendous sense of intimidation that goes into the budget process. Commissioners like Jerry Lemmond need to stop following Rieves wishes and start asserting influence to see that Lee County government is as open to the public as is technically possible. This is something that ought to outrage the public in Lee County just like taking the Sanford Law and Finance Committee meetings off television outraged the voters of Sanford. After the election, the City Council got the message and voted unanimously to start televising the meetings again.
  

• On Monday the Board of Education delivered its budget request in a new format to the Board of Commissioners. The Commissioners had demanded the changed format which is different than what has been used in previous years. It is based on one used in Chatham County. The change in format was substantial and took several weeks for the Board of Education to complete.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

No Jobs Guaranteed for $70,000 Incentive

EDC Criteria Do Not Require Job Creation Or High Wages

The county has been asked to contribute $ 40,463 and the City of San­ford has been asked to contribute an additional $ 29,673 over five years as in incentive for a proposed expan­sion by 3M of a $ 2.6 million investment, about $ 1.5 million of that will be in new equipment and an additional $ 1.1 million will be in building renovations. The contract for the incentives requires 3M to employ "up to 10 workers". What does "up to" mean? It means the maximum and it is one of those cut phrases in ads like "up to 5 in each store." After this was pointed out, Economic Development Director Bob Heuts explained that the the criteria for incentives does not require the creation of jobs. Moreover, the jobs that may or may not be created need only have an average salary equal to the average weekly wage. That is currently $14.53 an hour.

It is a pretty good bet that if you ask most Lee County citizens what business incentives are about they would say attracting "more jobs and/or higher pay." As evidenced by the 3M proposal, they can be about neither.

Here's the real deal: The new building and equipment increases the tax base so the city and county get more tax revenue. In order to make sure they get that revenue here they agree to rebate half of it back to the company for five years. Who "makes up" for that special tax rebate--all the other tax payers.

Ad Shows Sheriff At Work On Illegal Immigartion

When you see Senator Elizabeth Dole's first campaign ad of the season, you will see another familiar face--Sheriff Tracy Carter. (Click here to see ad) The ad, set to begin airing Wednesday, includes clips from a number of sheriffs who praise the first-term senator for helping link them to federal immigration tools. Dole's campaign said it has spent about half a million dollars to air the spot statewide for about two weeks.

When Sheriff Tracy Carter was in Burlington meeting with Senator Elizabeth Dole and sheriffs from Ala­mance, Guilford, Forsyth, Randolph and Rocking­ham counties to discuss a statewide immigration enforcement plan, the cameras where rolling for her first television commercial of the fall campaign. The ad features many sheriffs from across the state. Sheriff Carter can be heard speaking in the commercial at one meeting and is seen strategically seated next to the Senator in another meeting. Carter has attended several meetings with Dole.

The meetings have discussed section 287(g) of the national Immigration and National­ity Act, and it allows states to enter into agreements with local law enforce­ment agencies to perform immigration law enforcement functions, such as starting the deporta­tion process. According to an article in the Saturday Sanford Herald, Lee County began performing its own resident status checks on criminals in its jail in January. In its first five months, the department has identified about 30 illegal immigrants who were arrested. Some have been sent to other departments for deporta­tion, while many remain in Lee County Jail.