Counting Beaufort County Commissioners Votes - What does the Future Hold? | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was created by the Beaufort Observer Editorial Team.

    The Gang of Four, consisting of Commissioners Lnagley, Booth, Belcher, and Klemm, are proceeding to build a new jail as if the November elections are over and they won. This begs the question "What do they know that the rest of us don't?" Another question may be "Just how far from reality are these people?'

    A little head scratching tells us who the known, sure fire votes on the new Board will be. Langley and Belcher will are for the new jail. Richardson and Brinn are against the new jail. It takes four votes to have a majority and build the jail.

    There are three seats to be filled in the November elections. Those seats are now held by Booth Klemm and Deatherage. Only Booth is running for election. This leaves two seats to be filled by four candidates.

    Let us say Booth is re elected. Now we have Ron Buzzeo, Keith Kidwell, Frankie Waters and Robert Cayton to fill two seats. Kidwell and Waters have made strong statements against the jail. Buaeo has not made a strong statement against the new jail. However, he says he is against building it at Chocowinity.

    Kidwell and Waters have signed two letters to stop the jail financing. These letters have denied financing by the USDA Rural Development because the Gang of Four refused to put the question to a vote of all of the public. The Gang of Four even said there was no point in voting because the public would not pass a referendum for a new jail. The Local Government Commission, a branch of the State Treasurers Office, refused to consider approving the financing until after the November elections. They said this is a political issue to be settled by the voters. They did not rule out requiring a referendum on the jail before they would approve financing.

    Recent drops in jail population indicate that we do not need a new jail at all. Our jail is approved by the State of North Carolina. Our present jail has no violations of the North Carolina Jail Building Code. Some people question whether we need deputies sleeping in their offices behind locked security doors when we provide them with twenty five thousand dollar mobile offices and every one can see what they are doing.

    More vote counting strategy. The bast thing that could happen to the Gang of Four is for Booth and Cayton to be elected. Both are Democrats. It is the three Democrats and the Ultimate RINO (Republican In Name Only, Al Klemm) who are the Gang of Four. Buzzeo has not to date taken a strong public stand on the new jail. Maybe the Gang of four think they have three shots out of five to get two new commissioners who will vote to build the jail. More likely than not Buzzeo would not vote to build the jail at Chocowinty. In that case they have two shots out of five and they must elect Booth and Cayton.

    Hopefully voters will be wide awake on election day and not vote for either Booth or Cayton. Cayton in a recent puff piece in the Washington Daily News did not take even a weak stand against the new jail. It seemed he likened the jail to the answers a politician gave when asked to explain his position on whiskey. Cayton was both for the new jail and against the new jail. His past voting record indicates he will be loyal to his fellow Democrats and follow the established Democrat line by voting for the jail at Chocowinity. During Robert Cayton's past terms as commissioner he never failed to vote the liberal Democrat line, tax increases and social programs included. He even voted the Democrat line on religious issues.

    Ed Booth supposedly has a lock on his commissioner seat. He is black. The Beaufort County Limited Voting agreement is supposed to guarantee two blacks will be in office at all times. This is especially true when four candidates are running. About 28 percent of the county is black. With only one black running and seven other white candidates dividing about 75 percent of the vote there is little chance Langley will not be re elected. However, it is possible for the black candidate to loose when only three seats are vacant. This would most probably happen when both Republicans and Democrats are running two candidates instead of three. Then the split is four way instead of seven. Each of the three remaining candidates could get 25 percent plus one vote and defeat the black candidate.

    Another way for the black candidate to loose would be for black voters not to support the black candidate. That is on the table this year. Booth has become unpopular with many of the leadership in the black community. He has managed to offend a great many blacks by showing his insensitivity to black issues.

    Booth is a lackey for Jerry Langley. Booth, in being Langley's puppet, failed to realize the importance of the vote split when he runs for office and again when the black community fails to provide support.

    Booth, a member of the Gang of Four, is voting for the new jail. The new jail will bring both a substantial tax increase and a place to lock up more Blacks. This is offensive to the black community who have long complained about injustice and unfair treatment within the criminal justice system. Once blacks fall into the clutches of the law they are disproportionately convicted and punished. We have no problem in agreeing the criminal justice system is corrupt and is unfair to Blacks.

    So here is Booth voting to build a larger jail that will most certainly hold more blacks for longer periods of time. This has to be an outrage for the Black community.

    Booth stands a good chance of being elected simply because of a large turnout for the black candidate for sheriff. However, black voters who are knowledgeable of Booth's disloyalty will probably either not vote at all or vote for Cayton.

    Booth managed to insult the black community again. He voted against loaning the Belhaven hospital two million dollars. This loan would have been secured by the Belhaven Hospital property. Now, let's see, Booth is willing to raise taxes on blacks to build a new jail but he is not willing to loan money to provide health care to a predominately Black community.

    It is interesting that white Republican commissioners do a better job of serving he Black community than Ed Booth.