County's Finances Not a Shell Game

At the March 1 commissioner’s meeting in this continuing soap opera that we call Jackson County government, I was personally attacked and challenged to “report back on which project” I’d “like to see done away with.” In as much as I am not accountable to the county manager; fortunately in our system of government he (and all office holders) are accountable to me; I still wonder what fiscally irresponsible person or persons, in these financially troubled times would go wild like spring breakers on the citizen’s credit card and push the county’s indebtedness to within two percent of the maximum allowed by state statutes?

I’ve talked with Dottie Brunette, our county librarian, and she knows that I support a new and expanded library for our county. What I don’t support is the overspending by millions of dollars on the library and the cost over-runs because no one in county government is willing to hold the builders accountable to their original agreement.

County Manager Kenneth Westmoreland overlooked several very important items in his response to me. What about:

Hiring county employees when there was a stated hiring freeze. Why even bother to say you are going to “freeze” hiring and then turn right around and hire people. That’s duplicitous and probably illegal.

Or:

The “fat cat” upper-most county employee salary raises seemingly timed for when county tax revenues are shrinking; then adding insult to injury, justifying these exorbitant raises by paying an outside consulting firm $25,000.00 to gather and collate information that is already paid for with your and my money and available from Raleigh.

Or:

The sheriff’s drug money scandal which, by the way, was and is public money and was not “given as a gift” by the federal government as the manager stated. N.C. G.S. 159-25 requires two signatures on all checks written on public monies. This wasn’t done for how many years? The county finance officer, county manager, and chairman of the county commissioners are all culpable and accountable to this law. They ignored it until a local media outlet brought it to the attention of the state treasurer and the local government commission. Attorney General Roy Cooper should be very interested in prosecuting all guilty parties.

The four year county property tax assessment cycle started in 2002, not 1998 as the manager claimed. His claim that homeowners would be in for “sticker shock” is not genuine and therefore fallacious. Those assessments are no loner realistic or valid. They are being used a weapon against the citizens of Jackson County to enlarge county government and attempt to increase direct control over all of our lives. Ultimately, the only way that the county can get that money from us is by threat of force.

Our county’s finances are not a shell game, although the manager seems to treat them like he treated Spartanburg county and Greer’s finances when he was ‘working’ for the citizens there. They are mine and every other citizen’s money. Any county office holder who is not willing to accept this fact and to fulfill the standards of accountable, open, and honest government to we the citizens can email me their resignation immediately