The Awful Truth About County Commissioners and Highway 17 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    What goes around comes around.

    We are hearing about those awful Republicans who are trying to impose tolls on ferries, including the one at Bayview in Beaufort County. Some of the Gang of Five Commissioners are trying to play this up as if they are in support of the working people of the County, particularly the eastern end, both north an south of the river.

    How much of the almost 200 million spent on US 17, commonly called the By-Pass, do you benefit from? How many trips each week do you make to New Bern or Williamston? If you go to Greenville you have to live south of Chocowinity or north of Cherry Run Road to even get on the By-Pass. Residents of the City ofWashington and other places in Beaufort County get no benefit from the "Road to No Where". There is no question that Highway 17 would have been more beneficial to all residents if it had been built east of Washington.

    The Washington business community is now wringing its hands about how to get traffic off the By-Pass and into Washington. One might assume some Chocowinity businesses feel the same way. You need to know how this boondoggle came to be. Basically it was partisan politics.

    During the summer of 2001 the early planning for where to locate the four-lanes of US 17 was getting hot. On August 7, 2001 Commissioner Stan Deatherage presented a resolution seconded by Hood Richardson to direct our State Senators Marc Basnight and Ed Warren along with Representative Zeno Edwards to use their influence to build the road "entirely in Beaufort County whether it be east or west of Washington,..". Passage of this resolution would have required the Department of Transportation to equally examine routes both east and west of Washington. The public would then have been involved in the decision making. That motion failed with Democrat Commissioners Jerry Langley, David Moore, Frank Bonner and Carolyn Harding voting against it. The minutes show that RINO Jay McRoy abstained.

    That vote was followed by a statement from Commissioner Carolyn Harding that ",,, (proposed) routes A and B are in Beaufort County...". Commissioner Frank Bonner then made a motion, seconded by David Moore, to "continue efforts to keep the Highway 17 Bypass in Beaufort County". This passed by the same four commissioners who voted against Stan Deatherage's resolution. McRoy abstained again. Deatherage and Richardson voted against the motion because the Gang of Five only wanted routes A or B to be a by-pass around Washington on the west side. They were not willing to look at a route that improved Beaufort County.

    McRoy abstained because he was in a political pickle. If he voted against the conservatives, Richardson and Deatherage, he would have offended a lot of Republicans. At that time he was an emerging RINO. McRoy never supported a route that was good for the entire county. RINO McRoy was interested in helping his Democrat buddies at Chocowinity. His daughter works for the Town of Chocowinity. Under North Carolina Law a commissioner cannot abstain, it is illegal. An announced abstainer's vote is counted with the majority. If there is a tie he must vote or show that he has a serious conflict of interest. He knew how his vote would be counted, he tried to cover it up by abstaining.

    Considering the benefits to the Aurora area that would come about from the elimination of the ferry, the improved access to the community college and the City of Washington, the better access for law enforcement and Potash employees it is difficult to understand why Commissioners Bonner and Harding would not have supported a new road to help their part of the county. Crossing the Pamlico River at the narows in the vicinity of Hills Point and Broad Creek would have provided a good connection to Richland Township and directed Aurora traffic to Washington. Now it goes to Greenville and New Bern.

    On July 2, 2002 the Beaufort County Committee of 100 presented a resolution supporting Route B, the present location of Highway 17. By this time RINO McRoy was firmly on board with the political activities of the Committee of 100, the City of Washington and the Town of Chocowinity. The vote was 5 to 2 for Route B. Richardson and Deatherage voted against. With a road east of Washington a lot of business traffic would still have traveled thru Washington. The east side route would have eliminated the need for the ferry saving the state millions and these ferry fees would not be and issue.

    This was a partisan vote with Democrats and the RINO voting against the much better ideas of the Republicans. Commissioners Harding and Bonner clearly voted against the best interests of the Aurora area with McRoy helping his buddies in Chocowinity. It is a 190 million dollar mistake and a road that does virtually nothing to help Beaufort County, the Town of Chocowinity or the City of Washington. Chocowinty gets a Bo Jangles, the rest of the county get nothing.