"Progressiveness" in Beaufort County Government Offers its Citizens Another Rise in Taxes | Eastern North Carolina Now

Beaufort County tax payers learn what pseudo "conservatives" are really about and how they ultimately govern.

    Is 'three times in a row a charm' in the tax raising business here in Beaufort County? Nonetheless, its government's majority believes that yet another tax raise in three consecutive years suits its citizens just fine; so charmed we all must be here in the county of Beaufort.

    Fantastically charmed that Beaufort County has used a "Republican" majority board, where many of these politicians ran as "Conservatives" who are now admittedly politically Progressives, where two, sometimes three "Republicans" have foolishly voted to spend tax payers' money to such an extent to make this new, misguided local Republican initiative a most ironic realty.

    A Beaufort County "Republican" initiative of public treasury wasteful spending, and tax raising; so significantly ironic, that this liberal behavior is not only condoned by the local Republican party, but encouraged by this newly elected and seated Beaufort County GOP executive committee. Much has changed since just a few of us took an irrelevant political party in Beaufort County, and constructed a platform from which to espouse real Conservative values. Back in those formative days, there was even a small contingent of Republicans who were the fully unrepentant genesis for Beaufort County government's full transparency through video recording of county commissioner meetings. Back in those days, as Republicans sought the unvarnished truth, governmental transparency was most important, and we pulled money out of our own pockets to pay for it.

    Fast forward 22 years later, two things happened on that path to our current far less than perfect transparency in governing. First a backroom deal (as per The Hood) was cut to spend about about 140,000.00 to install an inflexible county owned audio /visual apparatus in the new county commissioners chambers in the new building (some know it as the Commissioners' Palace) on the corner of West 2nd Street and Union Ave. Second, videographer Randy Walker was fired from his position as the third party contractor operating as the county's professional chronicler of our governing process since 1998. It remains to be discovered whether the commissioner meetings, newly recorded, will be provided the proper platform to reach the public, and whether they will be of a quality worth the public's viewing.

    As we digress, it was explained to Mr. Walker, and everyone else that pays attention to these county matters, that Randy's over-professionalism in taking the precise care had ultimately "created a monster out of Hood Richardson".

    That is blatantly untrue!

    I began serving with The Hood in 1996 after his first election two years after my first election. The Hood was a "monster" then; maybe more so than now.

    Back in those days, when we were both political neophytes, Commissioner Richardson was no less bold than now, but did not as often hit that proper vein of the inescapable truth of what constitutes the self government of our People, of our Republic. Far more often than not in today's continual crisis of governing, Commissioner Hood finds that hiding truth, and grabs in by the throat and snares it until he is well satisfied ... or not ... like now, with taxes being raised again, now thrice in three years of nominal Republican (some folks call them RINOs, I call them nominal Republicans) domination.

    The same nominal Republicans that vote each year with very Liberal Democrats, by excluding any contact with the Conservatives elected to this county commission, to pick the chairman of that board; a practice not only condoned by the Beaufort County GOP in the past, but now encouraged.

    It is within that caucusing and negotiations phase with Liberals by which the chairman is anointed, when the lay of cloth's pattern is set in a bold "progressive" pattern; always to the benefit of the power base of these pseudo Republicans, but never to the benefit of Beaufort County's taxpayers. It is at this critical juncture of negotiations, easy decisions are made to spread the largess of the public's treasury in the beneficial directions accustomed to Liberals and nominal Republicans - Swamp dwellers all here at the local level, and you, the taxpayer, keep them firmly in business.

    To the largest extent, these chairmanship negotiations is why Beaufort County's bureaucracy has swelled over 20% in last 5 years while having a static population. This is why 140,000.00 was spent on an audio /visual component in the new "Commissioner Palace", when we were successfully filming our meetings wisely and well on a mere fraction of that cost by hiring a highly reputable member of our community. While I may have dwelled extensively on this prudent policy of not changing what is an inexpensive success, this is a prime example of why, if the electorate does not take a more knowledgeable and purposeful participation in electing their Beaufort County Commissioners, taxes will continue to rise unabated.

    The "Swamp" exists here in Beaufort County. Either you are part of the solution or part of the problem. It is that simple.