How many Beaufort County Commissioners does it take to change a light bulb? | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This post appears courtesy of the Beaufort Observer.

    The answer is "none." In Beaufort County, our Board of Commissioners is going to send the help to do it, with little or no oversight. We have here another example of backroom dealing that is designed purposely to keep the public in the dark and to avoid accountability by the Ruling Junta in county government. More of the Beaufort County Way--"what the people don't know can't hurt us, the politicians."

    I became aware, while preparing for the July Beaufort County Commissioners meeting, that the County Manager, Brian Alligood, had signed an important contract/Memorandum of Agreement that had never been presented to the Board of Commissioners for consideration. There is a policy on the signing of contracts and the amount of money that various staff people can sign for on behalf of the County. Without getting into the details, large contracts are required to be approved by the Board of Commissioners. All contracts that change policy are to be approved by the entire board sitting in open session. The contract I am referring to was both large money and policy. This contract was not for a specific amount of money but the costs to the County could easily be more than $100,000 and could conceivably go into the millions. The contract involved Medicaid and Social Services. This contract imposed new liabilities on Beaufort County.

    The contract sets up a new level of bureaucrats over the state's counties. At the present time each county runs social services and pays certain costs as is mandated by the state and federal laws. There is a direct line of oversight from three places, the Beaufort County Government, the Social Services Board and Raleigh. The system now works well enough and all of the players understand it. This new contract has the potential of changing all that.

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    As I understand, the newly appointed--Democrat Governor Roy Cooper--Social Services Director in Raleigh, had an issue with some county out west and decided to get firm control of all 100 County Departments of Social Services by dividing the state into districts and making the directors of social services report to their district bureaucrats. That sounds like more outside control. Apparently, there was not enough support from the legislature to make the proposed plan work. To make the plan work and circumvent the present law, each county would be required to sign a contract that would give the state director more or less total control. What would happen if the counties did not sign the contract? That remains to be seen?

    I heard, and so did all of our other commissioners, rumblings that there was a big shake up coming that the counties would not like. Our commissioners knew what was going on. I did not like any of the new things I had heard about. I was waiting for the contract to come before the Board of Commissioners. I believed that the public would not be happy with a new level of bureaucrats and the increased cost.

    The issue and the contract never got to the Board. We just learned that the County Manager signed the contract without presenting it to the full Board in open session. The flimsy and unbelievable reason given by the County Manager for signing the contract without presenting it to the full Board in open session was that there was a "deadline for signing the contract and he did the honest thing and signed it." It is an oxymoron to say that we had to sign a voluntary contract by a deadline date. He failed to explain what the consequences would be if he delayed signing the contract in order to present it to the full Board in open session. No one can put a gun to our head and make us sign a contract.

    These contracts were simply a way to circumvent the Republican controlled Legislature by a Democrat Governor.

    This is what I think happened. Zip Code Frankie Waters and his cronies wanted this new Democrat invented level of Social services, so, the Manager dragged his feet, and they decided to use the lack of time as the excuse for the Manager signing the contract. I do not believe the manager signed this contract without the approval of Zip Code Frankie Waters and his cronies.

    If time was of the essence, an emergency meeting of the commissioners could have been called. No such meeting was ever called. The boys wanted this one to slide through. The public should be outraged at the new level of bureaucrats added to an already cumbersome process. But even more importantly this contract imposes an increased liability on the county by the contract and the underhanded methods used by the Manager and Board Chairman, Frankie Waters.

    Here is how this corrupt system works. The Manager has notified the Board that he signed the contract. Unless the Board takes action the contract is valid. Did you notice there was not a single objection from any of the other six board members? To me that is proof they were on the inside of this deal. The loser is the public. At a minimum, the public was cheated by the lack of public debate over the specifics of the contract.

    This is yet another fine example of how Zip Code Frankie Waters, also known as King Frankie, works such as was the case sending the County Building Inspector to the Belhaven Hospital to provide miss leading information to the court system to get the court order to tear down the Belhaven Hospital. Not a single one of the six commissioners said anything had been done wrong. If you believe the building inspector decided on his own to visit the hospital and issue a report that could be used to demolish the hospital then I have a bridge in Brooklyn you will surely love the deal I can offer you on it. The Manger did not decide to provide information to the courts without King Frankie and his cronies giving the nod. The County Attorney did not negotiate with the lawyers who wanted the hospital torn down on the exact wording of the building inspector's letter without someone in county government asking him to.

    Even though it was proven what the building inspector did was illegal, it was too late. They tore the hospital down within hours, in the dark of night in the rain, of the judge's illegal decision. Corrupt practices work as long as not enough good men challenge the bad boys.

    The demolition of the Belhaven Hospital was simply another example of backroom deals being cut and we will likely know pretty soon when we see who gets the land the hospital was on for development. Follow the money.

    King Frankie and his cronies will continue to do back room deals until the public has had enough and votes him and his cronies out of office.

    I stand by my position and statements made in the July meeting that the manager had no authority to sign the contract at the time he signed it. And I stand by my position that the contract should have been reviewed in open session so the public could know what it was all about.

    This contract, like so many others, was decided in a backroom. That is just the Beaufort County Way...until you, the voter, decide to put a stop to it.
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