Comments for More panic at the School Board--Revised | Eastern NC Now

The sign at issue was clearly designed by someone with graphic arts skills but without knowledge of what matters on a political sign. It had too much clutter including the star and the BCS design which very few people would even comprehend what it meant. I wish she had sought advice of some seasoned political hands who could have helped her with a cleaner, more readable sign design.

This election interference by Cheeseman was cleverly timed to hit at a time when candidates would have lots of balls in the air and could least afford unnecessary distractions. The signs had been out for weeks, but Cheeseman waited until he could maximize the disruption of the campaign by forcing her to take attention away from the things she should have been doing. Will Cheeseman's political ploy hurt her campaign? Unquestionably it will, but she is likely to win anyway. She can never get the time back that she had to waste on Cheeseman's political gambit.

One very troubling aspect is that Cheeseman apparently never disclosed the fact that the attorney he brought into this political campaign matter is the chairman of the Durham County Democratic Party, and he was being brought in against the Republican nominee in a partisan race. Even a blind man should see the potential conflict of interest there, and it reflects on the objectivity and credibility of an attorney wearing those two hats simultaneously. Cheeseman should have disclosed that and the attorney should have disclosed it. Indeed, Cheeseman should have disclosed that to the school board when he first recommended to the school board the hiring of this Durham attorney.

Commented: Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024 @ 11:02 am By: Steven P. Rader

Why not? To do nothing is to invite MAGA crazy.

Commented: Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024 @ 9:54 am By: Big Bob

October 8, 2024 --The following Sun Shine request was emailed to mcheeseman@beaufort.k12.nc.us:
It is our understanding that a meeting of the Board of Education was held recently in which more than a majority of board members was present and the topic of the meeting was, inter alia, a discussion of campaign material used by board candidate Stacy Davis that led to a letter being sent to Ms. Davis.
Please accept this as a formal request for:
A copy of the minutes of that meeting
A copy of the Notice of Meeting (none was received by the Beaufort Observer despite the fact that we have made a previous request to receive all media notices.)
A statement of why the media was not notified of the meeting as required by law.
A copy of any correspondence originating from the meeting, specifically any correspondence to Ms. Davis concerning her campaign for a Board of Education seat (District 5).
Your immediate response would be appreciated.
Delma Blinson, Editor
Beaufort Observer
As of October 21, 2024 we have received NO RESPONSE.

Commented: Monday, October 21st, 2024 @ 10:58 am By: Beaufort Observer Editorial Team

Cheeseman is a control freak. We have already lost too many good teachers who could not put up with that. But the ultimate thing he wants to control is his boss, the school board. Mac Hodges is a yes-man, a total flunky of Cheeseman, and Dheeseman desperately wants to see Hodges remain in office so he can control the school board. Eltha Booth and T.W. Allen are his other sock puppets who are running this year.

Citizens and taxpayers do NOT need a bureaucrat like Cheeseman controlling our elected policymakers. It is the board that is supposed to be in charge, not Cheeseman, but as long as he has his flunkies in a majority on the board, he is the one who controls things. Voters need to change that by rejecting Hodges, Booth, and Allen.

This was election interference by Cheeseman and an absue of his office. The new school board, if citizen-representatives attain a majority should NOT tolerate that.

Commented: Saturday, October 19th, 2024 @ 7:57 am By: Rino Hunter

Election interference by entities that should stay out of campaigns is something I have seen way too much of. My seven years as Republican district chairman of the old 21-county First Congressional District were at a time when the GOP was first getting real legs in eastern NC, and that resulted too often in election interference. When that happened, as district chairman I went to the mat with the strongest pushback possible. While election interference for a time largely stopped, we have been seeing it at the national level recently.

A school district and its superintendant are among those who should stay out of political campaigns, and when they take sides, that is a case of election interference.

The political sign where a mountain has been made out of a mole hill, was not well designed. It is clear that whoever put it together had considerable skill as a graphic artist but no knowledge of political signage. It was cluttered with things like the star and BCS logo that interfered with the main things a candidate needs to get across on a political sign. Political signs are meant to get attension from people driving by, where they only get a quick glance at a sign. A passing motorist is extremely unlikely to even take in the tiny BCS logo, much less comprehend its meaning.

The timing of the complaint is very telling as to its nature as election interference. The sign had been out for weeks, but the complaint was not registered until crunch time in the campaign, when candidate time was at a premium and taking yard signs out of play would be particularly damaging. The timeing alone makes this reek of election interference.

Then there is the manner in which this was handled, which was completely aimed at a political candidate. If those driving this train really cared about "protecting" a logo, wouldn't they have taken legal steps to do so, such as moving forward to actually register it as a trademark? The fact that they did not speaks volumes on their real motives. The goal seems to be cranking down on a political candidate, not taking steps to legally register this "trademark".

The third thing to look at is the nature of their beef. The claim that this logo is a "trademark" is on very shaky ground. No one has ever even tried to follow the staturoy process to register it. The claim of being a "common law trademark" is in a grey area. It might stand up and it might not. That is not something one goes on the warpath over unless they are playing politics.

Looking at all aspects of this dispute, it clearly appears based in election interference by a person or group that has no business engaging in politics. While the presence of a tiny representation of this logo on a campaign sign has no impact either way on an election, there seem to be those who think that complaining about it might.

Commented: Friday, October 11th, 2024 @ 11:31 am By: Steven P. Rader

For the Beaufort County School Board to have hired Attorney Rawson they may as well have hired Attorney Mo Green. Same difference.

Commented: Tuesday, October 8th, 2024 @ 8:29 am By: Van Zant

I think this is a very serious issue, but it may even be more serious than we think. Granted, the Beaufort County School Board with a large Republican majority is being legally represented by a lawyer that is Chairman of the Durham County Democrat Party.

Consider the race for North Carolina Superintendent of Schools. Republican Michelle Morrow is being portrayed as a radical by the Democrats. I submit it is the Democrat Mo Green that is the radical. We know that Mo Green headed the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation which is an organization that funded groups that fought to defund the police, rioted in public places, tore down statues and destroyed all manner of property. Mo Green ALSO served as the attorney for Mecklenburg County Schools. Green was later shoehorned into the Guilford County Superintendent position in order to position him for this state race as the teacher union choice for State Superintendent.

Congratulations Beaufort County Republicans. You are officially the dumbest political organization in the history of the world.

Commented: Monday, October 7th, 2024 @ 11:14 am By: Van Zant

It is not just any ole county that this dude is chairman of the Democrat Party in. It is one of the most far left Democrat county organizations in the state - Durham County. They have been that way for decades. That should also give a pretty good clue to his ideology as well as his partisanship. As they say "birds of a feather flock together". And bringing a dude like that in also tells you a lot about Cheeseman's ideology.

There is a whole lot of housecleaning that needs to be done in Beaufort County schools.

Commented: Monday, October 7th, 2024 @ 8:19 am By: Concerned Taxpayer

Cheeseman may have really outsmarted himself on this obvious election interference. What he has probably done is create an opportunity for a future board majority to fire him for cause and not have to keep paying him on his contract. If they take that opportunity and do so, then good riddance.

This Durham attorney and Cheeseman do have something going. Before Beaufort County, Cheeseman was superintendant in one of those counties around Elizabeth City, and he brought the very same Durham attorney in as school board attorney there. After coming to Beaufort County, he pushed out the local school board attorney and brought the same guy in here.

Commented: Monday, October 7th, 2024 @ 5:59 am By: Conservative Voter

Talk about election interference hanky panky! Who was it that Cheeseman brought in as school board attorney to intervene against a REPUBLICAN nominee for school board? None other than the CHAIRMAN OF THE DURHAM COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
durhamdemocrats.org
Did he disclose that blatant conflict of interest to the school board or to Stacey Davis???????? Did Cheeseman know? Probably. Did he disclose it? Probably not. That partisan leadership position has a huge bearing on this attorney's objectivity and credibility. It should have been disclosed and apparently was NOT.

Why in the heck did a school board in Beaufort County, supposedly with a Republican majority allow Cheeseman to con them into hiring a Democrat Party official as their school board attorney? Shameful! TIME FOR A CHANGE

Commented: Sunday, October 6th, 2024 @ 8:46 pm By: Rino Hunter