Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 00:06:06 +0000
From: “Hicks, Larry M”
Subject: Chatham Forward Attack Strategy: Commissioner Mike Cross’s voting record?
As I understand from the information that’s been obtained regarding the forming of the Chatham Forward PAC, http://info.cross4chatham.com/CF%20letter.html the strategy in trying to beat incumbent Commissioner Mike Cross is pretty straightforward (and old); paint him to be a DINO (Democrat in Name Only) and a shill for the Republican party by claiming that 1) he has the ‘Tea Party’ endorsement, 2) he votes more with the conservative Republicans than the Democrat majority on the Board, and 3) he voted against county-wide zoning. The next step is to paint Mr. Dasher as the liberal candidate supporting all the progressive issues. The problem is, for those paying attention, these arguments against Mike are blatantly untrue.
I have already addressed item #3, county-wide zoning, in my Chatlist #5474 post. That is a moot issue. So, moving backwards on the list – item #2;
“Cross has voted with Republican Tea Party board members about as often as he has with his Democratic board colleagues”
Let’s look at the votes, shall we? Of the 40 major votes under the current Democratic majority, the Board has fully agreed 72.5% of the time. That is pretty consistent, and frankly impressive, in that there is a fairly positive agreement on many of the issues facing Chatham County. More strikingly, though, is that the disagreements were fairly balanced. From the comment above, you would figure that this comparison would be more stark … but it isn’t. The following outlines how many times each Commissioner voted against the majority vote: Petty – 6 (15%), Hales – 4 (10%), Cross – 4 (10%), Howard – 3 (7.5%), Crawford – 0 (0%). The allegation is simply false and purposely misleading.
So, we now know how Mike Cross voted within the Board, but what about what he supported with those votes? Here are some of Mike Cross’s votes that his cherry-picking opponents don’t want to tell you about:
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners to establish the Chatham County Climate change task force (9/21/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners for a 2 year county moratorium on gas and oil development (fracking) in the county (8/17/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners to join the Clean Water NC lawsuit vs. the state of NC (6/15/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners to fund Chatham Transit to take over the Pittsboro Express bus route (5/26/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners for the resolution to close the Medicaid Coverage gap (5/4/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners for a resolution of disapproval of the state Mining and Energy Commission’s rules for fracking (3/2/15)
He voted with the other Democratic commissioners for the resolution opposing coal ash disposal in Chatham County (12/5/14)
Check out http://info.cross4chatham.com/Mikes%20votes.html for a breakdown of all the major votes of the Board since the Democratic majority took office. Also, feel free to peruse Commissioner Mike Cross’s Facebook page, www.Cross4Chatham.com, and read up on Mike’s engagement on behalf of the citizens of Chatham County, http://chathamcountyline.org/pdfs/CCL.feb16.web4.pdf .
Next up, item #1, the Tea Party endorsement! Stay tuned.