Comments | Eastern NC Now

My question of the dysfunctional city administration: Why do they move so fast to do stupid stuff, like hire City Managers. This is such an important hire.

To Joe Davis: You are now understanding that if you cannot vote within a corrupt majority, you can very easily raise your representative voice, and that is most important.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 10:12 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Slimy max is a disgrace to the local Republican Party.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 6:44 pm By: trump2028

Why should a city manager even have a contract in the first place? I spent five years in state government in the Jim Martin administration. High level state administrators DO NOT have contracts. If you are an exempt employee, like I was, and those are mostly the highest level positions, you are an employee at will who can be dismissed at any time, as I was when a new Democrat administration came in. There does not even have to be cause to let someone go. For middle level administrators and below, they work under the State Personnel Act, where cause is needed to remove an employee and there is a grievance process for those who contest their removal. Golden parachutes like those in this contract do not exist.

Most of these appointed officials in state government who are employees at will manage government agencies far larger than the city of Washington. For my department, it was a $2 Billion+ budget and 18,000 employees. Yet all of us at the management level were dismissed without cause when an administration of the opposite party came in office.

The private sector largely works the same way as to top management being employees at will.

Local government needs to run more like state government on personnel.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 6:41 pm By: Steven P. Rader

Big Bob: Please do show examples as an opposing opinion with meat on its leftists' bones.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 5:32 pm By: Stan Deatherage

JV, What we have here is a shadow Govt. It prevails everywhere these day. I could give the same answer to VanZant abt his comments on the local GOP and VictoryCommittee. My query is who has taught these local officials that its ok to disrespect the public, to ignore our needs? I say it is bigger than just Garris, or the school board, etc. I say it is a sickness, an indoctrination over USA institutions. Every thing is being infiltrated and destroyed from within. I could just say the left. But we need to find the culprits. Just as the DOJ was corrupted from within and went after Trump under Biden, there are agencies within NC that have been infiltrated and are then spewing out malice and dishonest policies for governing. Propaganda. People have a weakness for it.
We have to quit simply trusting that a person with a title wouldnt lie to us. They do. Everyday. They circle the wagons w mumbo jumbo and then go silent on us... or lie. People w titles do LIE to you.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 12:04 pm By: Washingtonian

OH WOW! EVERYONE Should read this TODAY!
I thought things couldnt get worse in Washington, and then this happens.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 12:51 pm By: Washingtonian

Monica Davis and Jennifer Cornelius were two of the three liberals supported in the primary by the main liberal power on the school board, Carolyn Walker. The other was Austin Garrison. Two out of three won, expanding Walker's liberal clique. Those two, both from the teacher clique took seats from pro-parent conservatives. To get a decent school board back, conservatives have a lot of work ahead in 2028.

Carolyn Walker and Monica Davis were Democrats most of their lives until shortly before they decided to run for the school board. The leopard does not change its spots. Both are still functionally Democrats. Don't know if the same may be true on Cornelius. She certainly does not sound like a conservative or a Republican.

Beaufort County lost two good school board members in Don Schreve and Steven Rader, both solid no-nonsense Republicans.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 12:11 pm By: Rino Hunter

Mr. Leary has specifically shown how far present-day Beaufort County Republican Party leadership is disconnected from the rules of the Party. They are a rogue organization.

The leadership goes to great lengths to completely avoid answering any pertinent questions. Here are a few they need to answer to their own executive committee:
What was the role of the Victory Committee or individual Victory Committee members in the release and production of a tape and other hitjobs on a private citizen? Why didn't the Victory Committee report to the Executive Committee on its activities during elections and otherwise? Where are the fiscal reports? Has a present-day executive committee vice chairman ever attended or had any knowledge of Victory Committee activities, yet? Why were Executive Committee meetings immediately shut down when members asked these and other legitimate questions?

Also, what was the role of the Victory Committee in the public attacks on a local Republican public official in the local press? We know two of the individual members were actively involved in that episode, and one other Victory Committee member had a conflict of interest because he was a primary opponent of the attacked public official. Was the Victory Committee and or Victory Committee members in communication with the former Beaufort County School Superintendent during that time?

Why has the Party Chairman (and others?) been given the green light to act with the authority of the local GOP on Facebook, oftentimes in attacking conservative Republican public officials? This usually happens with one person saying they are the Party, but recently the Party Chairman has been using the chairman title and her name also.

I suppose these are just a few of the questions the Victory Committee could report to the Executive Committee on. I'm aware of Executive Committee members that are still in the dark on these matters and are wondering. Some would like to know so they can answer questions from the community, because citizens are wanting to know what in the hell is going on in the local GOP.

Commented: Saturday, October 10th, 2026 @ 10:17 am By: Van Zant

I think MAGA lost any moral high ground on this issue.
Happy to post the many examples.

Commented: Friday, October 9th, 2026 @ 11:13 pm By: big Bob

Hood needs to retire and take his meds. Unfortunately, Beaufort County will continue to be Republican for the forseeable future.

Commented: Friday, October 9th, 2026 @ 11:04 pm By: JP

John Valley: I disparage over the fact that far too many junior politicians in Beaufort County believe they are untouchable as neophytes, when the big picture is never considered by them and their fellow patterned players played poorly.

That is why Beaufort County is not doing better on so many levels, while petty political wannabes play petty games, which, in the end, hurts others, and, of course, they believe themselves to be UNTOUCHABLE.

Commented: Friday, October 9th, 2026 @ 8:04 pm By: Stan Deatherage