Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 12:44:18 -0400
From: lrbco
Subject: Re: Commissioners Race
Election time it is! Talk abounds of Laffer curves actually working and nefarious left wing scoundrels.
Couple of points: location of an auto manufacturing plant in Chatham is a bunch of hot air at this point and is NOT going to be decided by the political stripe of the County Commissioners. NC tried hard to get both Mercedes and Volkswagon to locate here. Mega sites awaited both. Neither did. Not enough $ offered to lure them in. Pure and simple. Had zero to do with the political party at the commission level. Those suggesting otherwise reimagine history. I am confident that whomever is elected will work diligently to bring auto manufacturing jobs to western Chatham, should that opportunity ever arise.
At a recent candidate’s forum, Commissioner Bock applaud his decision to extend funding to the rape crises shelter as a worthy solution to Chatham’s homeless and affordable housing problem(s). While I agree with Mr Bock that funding the rape crises center IS worthy of our support, it was a violation in letter and spirit of the intent of the Funding in lieu of that the county received from Briar Chapel. Indeed, Mr Bock himself was unsure enough of what he had just done that he asked the county attny if what the commission had just passed was legal, vis a vis the contract with Briar Chapel, and the attny informed him that if it wasn’t, the commissioners could rearrange the wording to make it so!
The point is that the rape crises center should be funded out of recurring revenues, and Commissioner Bock should be answering that question, not grabbing a one time pot of money to score a political point, while still leaving the county without any coherent policy for affordable housing. How do I know whereof I speak? I was at that commissioners meeting, with my unrecognized hand in the air holding forth my proposal for affordable housing in Pittsboro, watching and listening to the entire spectacle. And Chairman Petty was satisfied to go along for the ride.
Finally, so where does the $240,000 per classroom go? Great question …. Got my attention! 1) Is that an accurate depiction of the dollars flowing through each Chatham classroom, and 2) is there a simple line item budget available to the voting public that shows where it is spent? (and if not, why not?)
Good day. John Delafield