Economic Development Commission Continues to Flounder | Eastern North Carolina Now

    We got it right last week with the article that accused the Economic Development Council (EDC) of trying to delay the approval of changes in the laws and by-laws until after the November election. Stan Deatherage and I had a stop gap measure which was the presentation of thirteen resolutions to the Beaufort County Commissioners at their meeting held on Monday October 1.

    The EDC, upon learning abut the resolutions, took the bait. On Tuesday September 25 Evelyne Roberson, Chairwoman of the EDC, called a meeting of the Board for Wednesday September 26 for the purpose of revising the laws and by-laws. From information I have been able to obtain only three members attended. Commissioner Al Klemm says it was only intended for three members to attend. He called it a working committee. The other two members were Evelyne Roberson and Tom Richter. Not a quorum. Not even a legal meeting. All public agencies in North Carolina are subject to the Open Meetings Laws. That means a minimum 48 hour notice to the public, the press and all other interested parties.

    The agenda has two different drafts of proposed changes to the laws and by-laws. Al Klemm decided he did not like the work of the illegal without a quorum committee, although he was one of the members. He produced his own draft for consideration by the Commissioners.

    At the end of t he day the laws and by-laws are the responsibility of the Board of County Commissioners.

    Commissioner Klemm proposed that the Board deal with the laws and bylaws at the November meeting which is scheduled after the General election on November 6. The purpose of the foot dragging during September and October was to provide political protection to Jay McRoy who is running for re-election. After the November elections McRoy will not be readily accountable to the voters for any additional bad votes for the EDC to continue to do business as they have in the past. Al Klemm provided Jay McRoy with political protection during the meeting. Jay only spoke when he had to. Al Klemm did the heavy lifting.
Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson, July, 2004: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage

    Motions presented by Commissioners Richardson and Deatherage were considered by the Board. The purpose of these resolutions was to stop the hanky panky that will occur after election day. In general the Gang of Five failed to pass those motions that would have cleaned up the EDC situation. They did pass eight resolutions that are not core to making effective changes tohow the the EDC operates.

    The resolution that would separate the EDC from the Committee of 100 failed. The EDC director may continue to supervise the Committee of 100 staff. The director continuing to supervise Committee of 100 staff is critical to the co-mingling and pirated use of Beaufort County Government. This practice continues the political agenda and self serving behavior of the local business insiders.

    The resolution that would have required the Director of the EDC to report only to the County Manager failed. The Gang of Five talks like the EDC Director will report only to the County Manager. Every time they are called on to vote on this they bail out.

    The resolution to appoint an entirely new EDC Board failed. The present Board has failed miserably as has been amply documented by Warren Smith. The Board has failed in every respect except wasting money. Richardson pointed out he sitting board is incompetent. McRoy tried to deflect this accusation by demanding that Richardson list all the thing the board had done that were not approved by the Commissioners. All of the boon dogles have been apporoved by the Gang of Five. Approval is not the problem. The problem is all the bad information McRoy and Klemm gave the entire board and the disasters all of these approved projects turned into. The blue goose building will cost us more than one million, we will be lucky to get out of the River Road sewer project for five hundred thousand, the Industrial Park South is still a cotton field after more than three years. We are spending more than $250,000 each year to keep Economic Development going and have nothing to show for it other than Al Klemm, Jay McRoy and Tom Richter feel good about themselves. Their egos are inflated because they are courted by a group of insiders who think they may be in line for the next round of freebes. There comes a time in any endeavor when one must admit failure and make corrections.

    A stop gap resolution that would have kept the EDC Board from assuming unintended powers failed. What that means is the EDC Board is free to usurp as much power as they can get away with when they re-write the EDC laws and by-laws after the November elections. This allows the Gang of Five to wink and nod at anything McRoy and Klemm want to do.

    When Richardson pointed out to Klemm that the hastily called meeting referred to above violated the open meetings law, Klemm gave the justification of a teenager. He allowed that the EDC was no more guilty than any other department that did the same thing. Remember when our parents ask : " If all your friends were jumping off he bridge, would you?". County Commissioners, as adults, are supposed to be able to follow the rules, not make excuses.

    Beaufort County Government will sponsor a seminar to be held on December 4 on the Open Meetings Law. The seminar will be taught by someone from the University of North Carolina Institute of Government. Details as to what time and where will be announced later. This seminar will be open to all who want to attend. The Open Meetings Law applies to all government agencies unless specifically excepted by statute. The simple explanation of this law is that it applies to all the information that is required to be made available to the public simply for the asking or by attending a meeting.

    Usually, within a community, there are one or two lawyers who as a public service will bring suits against governments relating to with holding information or the abuse of power. It is unfortunate that our community does not have a lawyer who is willing to do this. The lawyer is usually paid by the government agency that is being sued if he wins the case.
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