The End to Limited Voting is a Conundrum of Possibilities | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Some weeks ago, as the Beaufort County Commissioners were soon to meet to consider the recommendations of their appointed Fair Elections Committee, Beaufort County Commissioner Gary Brinn offered the false narrative that I, somehow miraculously, had swung 180° to a position that only he could know in his "heart of hearts": 'I had suddenly decided that I was in favor of Limited Voting; it was the only way I could get elected' - as per once-elected-Commissioner Brinn.

    I did refute Mr. Brinn's outlandish claims, and I did consider the Arrington Plan of wringing one more vote, every four years, out of the Justice Department for the citizen electorate of Beaufort County, who seek more representation; but at what cost? Recently, some hypertheticals have been reduced, by our attorney David Francisco, into a measure of costs, some rather astounding costs. This correspondence to me, from County Manager Randell Woodruff, is included here below:

Correspondence From County Manager Randell Woodruff to Beaufort County Commissioners


Commissioners,

    At your last meeting you directed me to propose a cost estimate for the County further exploring the issue of limited voting in Federal Court. Having conferred with David Francisco, I have come to the decision that it is not possible to realistically come up with such a recommendation. The potential legal costs could cover a wide spectrum of a few thousand dollars to upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Furthermore, I don't believe such a course of action would be prudent on the part of the Board of Commissioners as it would most likely be viewed as biased and not impartial due to each of you being personally impacted and in a conflicted position. I believe the best recommendation for you to make to the public is the following:

    1. The BOC has studied the issue thoroughly over the past six months and you have determined there is varying concern among the public.

    2. The BOC feels it is not able to make a recommendation to change the voting method due the conflicted position you find yourselves in as potentially any change would impact you as elected officials in Beaufort County.

    3. You encourage Beaufort County citizens who feel they are negatively impacted by the current limited voting method to seek relief in the Federal Court if they feel so inclined to do so.

    This course of action will allow the Board and its Committee to complete its review of the limited voting process and also demonstrates the seriousness with which you have considered concerns expressed by the public on this matter.

    Thanks!

   Randell Woodruff
     Beaufort County Manager


    This Commissioner's View

    Well, there it is. The County Manager's recommendation on an important issue, an issue where much time, and a small bit of public money has already been expended over the last 12 years, and I've been at the center of this electorate conundrum the whole time. I know it well - well enough to know that the electorate will never truly be satisfied until they are given more than one extra vote every four years.

    The Arrington Plan is a good cause, an in-between measure to bridge to a larger initiative, but not at the costs deduced by Beaufort County's Manager, not when the Supreme Court has cracked open the constitutional door, whereby Beaufort County may re-achieve "One Man, One Vote", formerly a constitutional imperative before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. No, before this Beaufort County Commissioner walks through that cracked door to change the election method of county commissioners, and spend this level of money, I will endeavor to achieve a more substantive plan for the election of county commissioners.

    Remarkably, I came up with this plan over a span of about 7 minutes after I had finished a call with County Commissioner Hood Richardson; you know Hood, my accused puppet master, who the low-information RINOs and Democrats (what's the difference) are want to describe of him. And now, without further delay, the plan.

    This Commissioner's Plan

    The idea is to immediately return to "One Man, One Vote", which will probably be costly, in terms of legal expenses, but possibly no more costly than achieving a far lesser alternative - the Arrington Plan. The firm idea is to re-achieve the proper representation, while reducing the number of county commissioners from 7 back to 5. Now, explain to me how having two less politicians in Beaufort County is not a good thing.

    Begin with the election in 2014: There will be three seats up for election, possibly including me, which would be changed from a 4 year term to a two year term. In 2016 all seven county commissioners will be up for re-election. They could all run, at large (county wide) for this 4 year term, for a reduction of two seats to five seats from seven, or just retire - I could possibly retire, the puppet master, Hood Richardson, could possibly retire, and leave his seat open for the low-information individual - the RINO (Republican in Name Only), the liberal Democrat. Think of the possibilities.

    That election for five seats, at large, in 2016, will be for 4 year terms. That's the plan. Simple ... right?

    The Minority Representation Plan

    Even though the recent work of the United States Supreme Court, could render the issue of minority representation, by virtue of skin color, moot, I still believe that there should be the component within that plan for minorities. Here it is:

    Minority representation could be achieved by a concerted ambitions of Black leadership to run one candidate, and every Black so disposed to voting solely on the quality of skin color could do so by voting solely for that Black candidate (the vernacular is "shotgun voting"). This would achieve a representation of 20% of the board seats as per skin color. Should the Black electorate wish to second seat (40% of the seats available), then run a Black of substance, who is more disposed to not to be judged by the "color of his skin, by the content of character", say someone like: Colonel Allen West, Dr. Ben Carson, Thomas Soles ... there are so many more. No, better yet, let the Republicans run someone like these folk. I would absolutely relinquish my seat to someone near equal to these good men, and help all I could to help them achieve that 40% board split in favor of minority representation.

    Could Stan's plan achieve proper minority representation?

    If one does not believe so, then one does not understand the considerable Black Beaufort County political machinery, and just how effective it truly is. Without this machinery in place, much of the agenda run through the traditional Black churches, like "Limited Voting" would never have been so enormously successful. In fact, about four weeks before any partisan general election, the traditional Black churches more resemble a Democrat convention hall rather than a center a worship. And in deference to this protected class of Americans, they do worship real hard, harder than most Whites that I have witnessed, so, understandably, their politics are quite strong as well while at church.

    That's it, not too complicated, but workable and defensible by all rational standards. With the cost estimates so high to achieve (and I do believe it is achievable) the Arrington Plan, I will seek a larger plan to acieve "One Man, One Vote". This is my sole ambition to end "Limited Voting".

    Now in all extreme seriousness, I have to reasonably ask: How is having two less politicians in Beaufort County not a good thing?

A Simple Plan

by Stan Deatherage

   •  2014 - election of three county commissioners to a two year term
   •  2016 - election of five county commissioners to a 4 year term
   •  All commissioner run every 4 years at large (county wide), no staggered terms
   •  Beaufort Commissioners reduced from 7 to 5
   •  Minimum minority representation of 20%, which is within the demographic parameters of the Beaufort County's Black population, could reasonably be achieved
   •  Beaufort County electorate achieves a maximum of 5 votes every 4 years: three more votes than the current "Limited Voting" plan in a 4 year period, two more votes than the proposed Arrington plan in a 4 year period
   •  Beaufort County has successfully re-achieved the constitutional "One Man, One Vote
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