It never was about the jail. It was about who would get fancy new offices | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

Part II explaining what's behind what some call "bickering" on our County Commission

    In Part I of this article we explained how the way the Beaufort County Commission is elected sets up many of the disputes the public sees in the formal meetings. We also suggested that Chairman Jerry Langley does a terribly ineffective job of managing the various forces that drive the behavior and actions of members of the commission, principally Hood Richardson. He is totally ineffective in bringing the different factions together. He is ineffective primarily because he relies on power rather than seeking to bring diverse thinking together. In this instance he tried to suppress Hood and anybody who know Hood knows that is not going to happen without a fight.

    The specific issue that brought it out at the September meeting was Jerry Langley's attempts to stifle items being put on the agenda for debate that he does not want the public to see how the majority is dealing with them. Those issues focus on the lack of oversight of the Sheriff's Office and the Gang of Four's efforts to railroad the building of a new jail. That is really what was going on in the meeting in which the "yes master" comment was made that we reported on in Part I. Here's the blueprint for that issue.

    The issue really was about whether the public would see how the Gang of Four was refusing to hold the current Sheriff accountable and whether the public would see the cram-down on the jail. Richardson was attempting to put several specific items related to both topics on the agenda. Langley wanted to restrict what was put on the agenda. That is why he said "I am in charge of the agenda, not Hood Richardson..." Pure power. He did so because he knew if it came to a vote he had his other three puppets' votes to prevent Hood from exposing what they were doing. But his real objective was to keep the public in the dark about what they were doing. Hood's objective was to expose this power play.

    Hood, for his part, knew he would never win the motions he wanted to offer. He knew they would be voted down 4-3. But he was intent on forcing a vote so the people (yes, his constituents) could see what was being done. Had he not done that the public would never know the Gang of Four would never be willing to hold the Sheriff accountable for where $70,000 in cash went, what kinds of "stuff" the Sheriff has "lost" or even how many inmates were in the county jail and how many of them had been denied the right to a speedy trial.

    Jerry has often accused Hood of "playing to the camera." Of course he is. That is what he is forced to do in order for the public to know what's really going on. The Gang of Four, on the other hand is intent on keeping the backroom deals and information secret.

    What's really driving this is that Langley and his three puppets wanted a new courthouse. Langley said so in inaugurating the "Jail Committee" more than a year ago. It's on tape. Then when what he said was pointed out he moved to try to keep the Jail Committee meetings from being taped. He just did not want the public to know what was really going on about this $30 million project.

    Langley wants a new courthouse because he is a part of the Courthouse Gang. He and his wife work in the courthouse. The Courthouse Gang wants new digs. They thought they could use the jail as a way to get a new Sheriff's Office and eventually courtrooms outside downtown Washington. We don't think they really wanted "everything" moved to Chocowinity, just as long as they enough moved out and they got fancy new offices. Hood exposed the absurdity of The Plan and the public turned against it as a result. If there had been a real need they could have sold it to the public in a bond vote but they knew they could not justify it. That is why Al Klemm is not running for re-election and Langley is so bitter toward Hood. Langley won the battles, but Hood's won the war. And he has done so by shining the light on how Langley & Co. function. He does not have the votes, but it is amazing what sunlight does to a group.

    For her part Vasquez is but a dupe of the Larry Britt ("The jail is the most important issue Beaufort County faces")/Al Klemm controlled Republican Club. She's apparently does not have the ability to hear what people actually say and has a very difficult time dealing honestly with hard facts. Stan has exposed that on numerous occasions. Her right brain is consumed with hatred for Hood, and the need for public attention.

    Vasquez is being used by the Gang of Four to try to keep Hood from being elected chairman after the next election. They believe the majority on the board may well shift to the conservative Republicans and Hood will be chair. They are trying to paint him as a nutcase as their best chance of preventing him becoming chairman. Interestingly, if Hood does become chair of a conservative board he will no longer be able to rant against what the board is doing and it will be more difficult for him to hold the base he now has. But that's another story for another day.

    The "word on the street" is that the Democrats on the board have decided to try to form a coalition with Gary Brinn to elect him chairman to prevent Hood from being elected chair regardless of who wins election in November. It remains to be seen whether Brinn will fall for that. If he does we will begin to hear more about "renovating the courthouse," most likely using the jail as a façade to get the Courthouse Gang new offices. If Brinn is elected by the Democrats we will be in for two more years of what we've had since Klemm went on the board (and Mickey Cochran before him in another similar setup).

    So the real issue comes down to whether we will have a conservative Republican commission or another Democrat/RINO controlled commission. Stay tuned. We'll keep you posted. And then you'll have the knowledge to know what is really behind the superficial reporting of WNCT.

    But what you know now is that it was never a racial issue. It is a pure power play to pull one over on the public. And as Paul Harvey used to say: "And now you know the rest of the story"

    October 7 Update:

    After the October 6 Board of Commissioner meeting Jerry Langley said that "Whether the people will it accept it or not that jail is gonna be built..." So there you have it. A deal's already been made. And it appears that it actually does not matter whether the two new commissioners to be elected on November 4 are for or against building a new jail, sources tell us that the three Democrats on the board have struck a deal with Gary Brinn to get it done. That supposition is supported by other action in last night's meeting when the three Democrats on the board turned against Robert Cayton being appointed to the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees in lieu of a nominee pushed by Gary Brinn. We'll have more on the back room deals later. Click here to go to WCTI to hear Jerry's "prediction."

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