Langley and his sockpuppets deprive thousands of voters of their voice in County Government | Eastern North Carolina Now

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

First it was our right to vote. Now it is the right to have our voice even heard.

    At the October 6, 2014 Beaufort County Commissioners meeting Jerry Langley made a motion to delete several items on the proposed agenda. He got the three votes of his sockpuppets (Booth, Belcher and Klemm) and thereby denied a voice to thousands of voters in Beaufort County. But when people watch it on the unedited version of the meeting's recording most will not know what Langley is doing. Watch the video and then we'll explain what's really going on here.

    If you want to see which items he's deleting click here.



    Just from watching the video very few people will understand what is really going on here, so we'll explain.

    Langley is trying to cover-up what Hood is trying to expose. It's just that simple. Langley's method is to try to keep Hood from putting the issues out so the public can hear and see what's happening. For weeks Langley dealt with it by simply voting down any of Hood's motions by getting the Democrats (Belcher and Booth) and RINO Al Klemm to support him. But the information Hood kept presenting began to create a public response, particularly about the jail.

    The Gang of Four had been intent on getting the jail contract issued before the November elections. Hood's actions called enough attention that the public has turned against what the Gang of Four were trying to do so now Langley has shifted and is trying to keep the public in the dark. The strategy is to try to get another vote after the election to replace Klemm's vote and continue with what they had planned. The "word of the street" is that Langley has courted Gary Brinn and the implication is that the Democrats are willing to vote for Brinn as chairman after the election. If the Democrats can control the board as they have been, then the jail will be built and the courthouse (Jerry's office) will be "renovated."

    What the Democrats fear is that if two conservative Republicans are elected and the four Republicans stand together then they lose control of the Commission and the chances are the jail will not be built. The key will be whether a Republican turncoats and sides with the Democrats. All that assumes Ed Booth will be re-elected. If Ed loses then the Gang of Four is in serious trouble.

    What Hood has been doing with these agenda item is continually showing that the jail population is not large enough to justify building anything. It is much less expensive to contract out any "excess" inmates to Pitt or Pamlico counties. Langley does not want the public to know that.

    Another agenda item he is trying to cover-up is the maintenance problems in the jail and Oakland Building (Sheriff's Office). The current Sheriff's Administration is preventing maintenance from being done on both facilities, apparently hoping they'll get back into such bad shape that some kind of "emergency" can be created, like it was when the dryer smoked up the current jail and required evacuation.

    Langley knows that if Hood is allowed to expose the shenanigans of the Sheriff's Department the public is not going to accept the idea that a new jail is essential.

    Moreover, what Hood has been doing by spotlighting the inmate census is to show that the District Attorney has been dragging his feet in trying prisoners in a timely manner, thus resulting in more people being incarcerated than would be the case is they were tried in a timely manner. If Hood can be blocked from showing this then the jail population will increase and that will be used as an excuse to "do something about the jail."

    Then there is the lack of oversight of the Sheriff's Department which the Gang of Four (and now apparently Gary Brinn—more on that later) have been trying to stymie.

    Hood has put the issue of oversight on the agenda each meeting. He has called for the Board of Commissioners to be furnished with an inventory of items the Sheriff's department has on hand. He wanted to compare what they say they have to what has been ordered over the last few years. The Gang of Four has voted several times to refuse to get an inventory. But that too is becoming a public issue and Langley is taking a PR beating on why he blocks an inventory.

    Hood has also tried to get the Board to have a forensic audit of the $700,000 in "drug buy" money done. A forensic audit is a process whereby a qualified firm would actually track the money from beginning to end and show what happened to the money and what results were achieved by using taxpayer money to buy drugs (how much was recovered, how many convictions, how much is unaccounted for etc.) The Gang of Four, and now Gary Brinn, don't want an independent, qualified audit done of what happened to that $700,000 and how effective it was in stopping the drug trade. It is laughable that Gary Brinn thinks he can go over to the Sheriff's Department and be fed their line and decide "everything's as near perfect as it can be." Amazing. The Gang of Four apparently think if they can keep this item off the agenda the public will forget about it.

    In another video we will post you will hear Gary Brinn report on his "investigations" into the Sheriff's Department. That consisted of him going over and talking to the same people who have been trying to keep the information from being made public. Of course, the problem is that Gary has no way of confirming whether or not what he is "told/shown" is actually accurate or not. But we'll have more on that in another story. The same is true with the Elite Media reporters who think that "the truth" can be obtained in an interview.

    And yet another sandal that is brewing is the weapons the Federal government has funneled into Beaufort County. Nobody knows where they went or where they are. What we do know is that the Federal Government has suspended the state because of inadequate procedures and records. More on that later.

    There are other specific nitty-gritty issues Hood has raised but you get the basic idea. Langley is trying to keep the public from seeing what the problems are. He apparently thinks if he can stifle Hood he can pull the wool over the public's eyes and with the sockpuppets' votes he can get what he wants.

    Commentary

    If the People of Beaufort County accept this outrageous action then there is little hope for cleaning up the corruption that is rampant in Beaufort County Government under Jerry Langley and his Gang of Four (or Five). The very fact that these elected officials refuse to have an inventory done is a gross dereliction of duty. They know there have been reports that weapons have "disappeared" and that evidence is missing. If they did not believe there was something "rotten in Denmark" they would have ordered an inventory long ago.. Better yet they would have reviewed the policies and procedures used by the Sheriff's Office and a current inventory, available to the public, would be standard operating procedure. They don't even know how many cars have been wrecked in recent years.

    Jerry Langley was shown on WCTI-TV saying "whether the people accept it or not, that jail's gonna be built...". We think that sums it up as well and anything. The most egregious thing about all this is the arrogant disregard for the public and representative government that Langley has exhibited over and over. He has consistently worked to prevent the issue of borrowing money for a new jail and offices from being voted on as the Constitution says should be done. They were honest enough to say "it would never pass..." as their reason for not submitting it to a vote of the people.

    Now he seeks to stifle the public's right to have their elected representative express their position. That is what should set off a firestorm.

    Under the electoral system used by Beaufort County, each member represents a particular constituency, not a geographical area. Hood is elected by several thousand people each time he runs. What Langley, Belcher, Booth and Klemm have done is deprive those people of their voice in county government. That's a serious issue. It's a big deal.

    Ironically, if Hood were black this would be a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Jerry Langley and Ed Booth, of all people, should be sensitive of a constituency being denied a voice in their government. It is unconscionable and should not be tolerated.

    There are two candidates running for County Commissioner who have pledge to stop this mess. They are Keith Kidwell and Frankie Waters. If they are elected, and the Republicans stand together then this abuse of power can be stopped. But that is what it will take. If that does not happen we fear that the acrimony and "bickering" as Ron Buzzeo called it, will not only continue but will get much worse. There are too many people in Beaufort County who don't think what Langley is doing is right that he will be able to ultimately get away with it.

    Why would there be this cover-up if there was nothing to hide?

    Jerry Langley may be arrogant enough to assume he can hide what he's doing from the People of Beaufort County. But he can't. He may be able to control the agenda of the meeting, but we can assure him and everyone that the Beaufort Observer and Beaufort County Now will let the People know what is really going on. Count on it.

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