Chump Change

by
Chuck Connors

It’s a shameful thing when honest citizens who are attempting to uncover corruption in our county are threatened and attempts are made to intimidate them. Certain officials sworn to uphold the law and responsible for the public’s money should know better. This is another aspect of the on-going wrong-doing called Jacksongate that I’ve been talking about for the last few months.

Related to the effects of insane growth are the hundreds of thousands of dollars that seem to have gone missing in the Jackson Development Corporation. I’ll admit that this almost seems like chump change compared to the current shady dealings in various developments here in Jackson County, yet in my opinion that doesn’t forgive the scoundrels who are responsible for the missing public funds in this very public scandal from their standing before the bar of justice.

There are approximately $700,000 in public monies unaccounted for. It’s gone folks—maybe for good. The Drexel property seems to have been purchased with public funds twice! To our knowledge the EDC hasn’t been audited or bonded. Because of what we see in these financial records we believe it’s in the best interest of the citizens of Jackson County for the Economic Development Commission to be dissolved immediately. Mrs. Leatherwood has been able to document in large part the wheeling and dealing going on and believes that the shoddy and haphazard forms of documentation thoroughly justify immediate action by you, the county commissioners. We want clarification and an accounting dollar-for-dollar of the money that the JDC has accessed and spent. This indebtedness of the public treasury has raised many questions about the lack of oversight into these affairs. Somebody’s responsible. Who is going to face the music?

Gentlemen, there is an easier, softer, right way though. Shut down the EDC, order a full audit of the records involving the JDC/EDC financial mess, and return what money that can be salvaged to the public treasury now. The fallout from Jacksongate can be lessened, but only if you Gentlemen take action tonight and begin to restore public confidence in our county government.