Things That Make Noise in the Night, Part VII | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Lately, big news revolves around the Economic Development Council also called the EDC and the Committee of 100. Tom Thompson's resignation and the overlapping relationship between the EDC and the Committee of 100 has caused a lot of things to float to the surface. We do not have the annual EDC report required by Beaufort County Commissioners. Tom Thompson promised the report by April 20. Considering the lack of cooperation displayed by the EDC Board in the past no one is holding their breath while they wait for this report.

    Requests to the Committee of 100, which is a quasi public corporation, for copies of contracts and audit reports have gone no where. Tom Thompson who works for both the EDC, a part of Beaufort County Government, and the Committee of 100 have led to stone walling with Thompson saying he has to have the approval of the Board of Directors of the Committee of 100 and his attorney before releasing anything. It was pointed out at the May 7 meeting of the Beaufort County Commissioners that the staff of the EDC and the Committee are the same. These delaying tactics feed creative minds. Because Beaufort County is at risk for the behavior of this common staff the County in entitled to this audit and contract information in order to protect the interests of the taxpayers of Beaufort County.

    Sheriff Alan Jordan, Mary Daniels and Kenneth Watson received approval from the Gang of Five to spend $6,836.50 to attend the 2012 CALEA Summer Conference in the resort town of Scottsdale Arizona during July. Various estimates of the annual cost of belonging to the CALEA club go as high as $250,000 with an absence of documentation as to how this membership benefits the people of the Beaufort County. The Gang of Five just cannot say "no". This the same sheriffs department that refuses to make the armory inventory available to the county commissioners because the bad guys will know how many guns we have. I did not know we are at war. Yes, the Gang of Five is clueless.
Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson, July, 2004: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage
    Commissioner Bob Cayton gave another presentation on the Health Department Contract situation. I think his strategy is that if he tells us that nothing is wrong enough times we will start believing it.

    The Carolina RINOs, Republican in name only, are alive and well. A prized position on the Board of the Community College was vacant. These RINOs have failed to vote for Republicans in the past. This time they refused to vote for even an unaffiliated voter. There is no doubt that RINOs are subversive to the interests of the Republican Party.

    The Beaufort County Budget was presented to the commissioners on May 7th. I have not had time to look at it in detail. My first impression is that we are going to spend more money in the coming year than this year. Several departments are asking for increased spending. Considering the depression we are in, spending should not increase for any county budget. Good stewardship in these trying economic times demands that commissioners spend less in all 100 counties.