Locally elected officials; How important are they? | Eastern North Carolina Now

By: Observer Editorial Team

We tend to focus on national elected officials because we see and feel the effect of their good and bad judgments in our daily lives.  The effects of criminal illegal aliens, illegal drugs, income taxes, the inflationary cost of groceries, gasoline, and housing are very present in our daily lives. Every time we see national news we are bombarded with the good or bad of our nationally elected officials depending on which television company we are watching.  

In our opinion, the majority of people in Eastern North Carolina have figured out who the national bad guys are and will take appropriate action at the polls in November.  However, too many people do not realize the importance of locally elected officials.  The majority of locally elected officials compose the School Board, the Board of County Commissioners and city/town council officials .  Also included are judges, Register of Deeds, and Clerk of Court.  For the most part, judges, registers of deeds and clerks of court do not make policy or write laws.  School Boards, Boards of County Commissioners and city/town officials set policy, make rules or make laws.  

The recent behavior of the Beaufort County School Board and the Board of County Commissioners presents us with serious questions about their competence to protect the public interest financially, morally and ethically.

The charges of fraud against Joy McRoy in her capacity as a public official should be of great concern to all locally elected officials.  Beaufort County sets and collects taxes to fund the fire department and emergency services in the Chocowinity area, as throughout the County.  This is not money that is donated by residents.  It is taken by the force of tax law.  The money is held in the hands of Beaufort County.  No other group controls the money other than the Commissioners of Beaufort County.  This tax money is passed under the supervision of the Beaufort County Commissioners to Chocowinity Fire and EMS.  The Commissioners are the custodians of this money. The Commissioners cannot give this money to anyone other than the Chocowinity Fire and EMS.  So, who has the responsibility to see that it is spent and accounted for properly?

With the above paragraph in mind, why does the County Manager argue that we have no right to know whether County funds were stolen and the amount that was stolen? Why are five commissioners so unconcerned?  The five Commissioners who voted to not know how County money may have been misused are:  Fake Frankie Waters, Randy Walker, John Rebholz, Ed Booth and Jerry Langley.  Why do they direct the County Attorney to help them cover up this situation.  They have a fiduciary duty to insure the proper accounting of these funds.

Why did these same Commissioners vote not to do a forensic audit when citizens were reporting fraud involving the Chocowinity EMS and Fire Department a few years ago?  We have read in the newspapers that this improper handling of dollars has been going on for several years.   How can that happen?

The only real protection the public has in keeping operations involving County money honest and without fraud are the County Commissioners. Is it any wonder County Government is growing like a weed?  Do we need any elected public official who will not stand up for honesty?

The majority of the County Commissioners and the School Board have allowed one liberal and power-hungry Superintendent to seize all decision making about the building of a 52-million-dollar grammar school to house up to 1,000 students, kinder garden thru 3rd grade, at one building complex. The public has been systematically excluded from this process.

We are continuing the same education policies that were forced on us by the courts and Federal Government during the past 30 years.  None of these worked.  This is what we have been struggling to get away from.  The behavior of these Commissioners and School Board Members is guaranteeing we will be stuck with the evils of cross town bussing, consolidated schools, and invalidated federal laws for the next 50+ years. There has been no public input into decisions made by The Big Cheese and these elected officials.  All decisions have been made in the back room.

Here is some of the salt in these wounds.  Fake Frankie Waters violated the opens meetings laws when he went to Pitt County and formed a so-called “progress review committee” with no participation by the Board of County Commissioners.  The members of the committee are: Fake Frankie Waters, The Big Cheese and T. W. Allen the Chairman of the School Board.  Another grain of salt: Two County Commissioners are married to two members of the School Board.  They are Randy and Carolyn Walker and Ed and Etha Booth.  Neither Randy nor Ed have voted against their wives.  There is no law against this.  However, we believe it is unethical.

According to State Law, the local School Board has final approval of the curriculum.  That means what and how Beaufort County children are taught in school is decided by the Beaufort County School Board.  However, the School Board has refused to put members on the curriculum committees.  The School Board has turned all of this over to the Big Cheese, the liberal from California and Chicago.  This is why cursive writing, multiplication tables and true history are no longer adequately taught.  It is why sexual orientation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and new history are being presented to these young minds.  Basically, the School Board is rubber stamp for Superintendent Cheeseman.

The Board of County Commissioners could have a say in all these matters if it were not so liberal and lazy.  Two Republican members of the Board of County Commissioners are busy taking us in a more liberal direction.  Randy Walker and John Rebholz are on a committee to promote affordable housing.  They want the County to become involved in building housing for school teachers.  They are ignorant of the myriad of laws that apply to public housing.  This is cover for the County becoming involved in public housing in general.  This is a truly bad idea.  We will be attracting low income and welfare residents to Beaufort County.  Walker and Rebholz say they are conservative Republicans, but their actions tell another story.

There are only two conservative Republicans running for County Commissioner in the November elections. They are:  Hood Richardson and Tandy Dunn.

Conservative candidates for the School Board are:  Stacy Davis, Daniel Hudson, David Hudson and Malissa Polk.  Consider all this when you decide who to vote for in November.