Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ The other day I read an article in the city’s print newspaper about commissioners not going forward LGC application for the West End Plaza. Craig Pierce was interviewed for the article and the statements attributed to him and information missing in the article seemed out of sync with what I’d heard from Craig and other sources prior to the article appearing in print. So I decided to phone Vice Chairman Pierce and get his impressions. That phone call graduated into this interview:
Steve Mensing: Craig, I read an article the other day in Post about the commissioners not going forward with the LGC application for the West End Plaza. It didn’t appear to match up with what I heard before about why the county commission wasn’t going forward with the LGC application. Do you have any comments for our readers?
Craig Pierce: Yes I do Steve. Unlike the report by the Salisbury Post or Salisbury Slant as I like to call it, the reasons for not continuing the LGC application are very simple to understand if you know how County Government works. We have guidelines to follow that are in place to protect our citizens from abuse or misuse of their tax dollars. This sometimes seems like a burden to getting things done, but they serve their purpose. When the original LGC application was sent back in May, our intent was to replenish the Fund Balance from the capital outlay for the West End Plaza and to secure the funds necessary for the upfit for the Veterans Service Office and the Board of Elections. It is standard practice for Counties to replenish after a major expenditure. When capital projects are to be constructed, plans, bids, and funding streams are identified and are submitted with the application.
Steve Mensing: I recall the commissioners intent was to replenish the Fund Balance in a timely manner.
Craig Pierce: Yes. Since our capital project was existing and was purchased within a short time frame forced by it being in an auction format, we took down the funds from our Fund Balance with full intention of borrowing to put those funds back before our year end audit. Our year end audit will be delivered in November but our cut off is the last day in our fiscal year, the last day of June.
When our application was held up, by a letter that was sent to the LGC Committee, signed by Raymond Coltrain, Jim Greene, Judy Klusman, Leda Belk, Gene Miller, Rick Locklear and only Greg Edds refusing to sign, stating they were against the purchase of the West End Plaza and implying that the primary had ousted the majority of the existing County Commission in protest of the purchase. In fact, only two of these candidates were even in a primary, Jim Greene and Judy Klusman. The Democrats didn’t have enough candidates to complete the ballot, so Leda Belk and Locklear were not on the primary ballot. Raymond Coltrain and Gene Miller, running unaffiliated were also not on the primary ballot.
Steve Mensing: In reality only Klusman and Greene, who participated in the primary, signed that protest. Correct?
Craig Pierce: That’s right. So, the fact of the matter is the two (Klusman and Greene) who ran in the primary signed the letter are not enough to change the decision of the sitting board. What is more disappointing is that two former Commissioners, Coltrain and Belk, know or should know this is a standard procedure for county government. Maybe they did not learn that while they were there last time. That gives me a little concern about what will happen if they were to be elected in this cycle. And in fact, the majority of the board was not ousted as Mitchell and Barber did not seek re-election.
Steve Mensing: Indeed the majority of the board was not ousted–Chad Mitchell and Barber didn’t seek re-election. Chad Mitchell ran for the state legislature and lost to Harry Warren and Jon Barber was facing legal troubles from excessive early morning copying. The LGC appeared to throw the county a “knuckleball”.
Craig Pierce: (Chuckling) With the LGC being misinformed and tabling our application, the window of opportunity to put these funds into our Fund Balance for fiscal year 2014, was missed. This will limit the amount of projects that the new board will be able to fund and will give the county less of an opportunity to borrow at more attractive interest rates.
Since our main purpose for the application funding had missed its window, we saw no need to move forward. We would have to go back to the banks to get another rate guarantee, as our locked in rate expired due to the application being tabled and with a change in County Manager and a new board coming in December. The current board, with the exception of Barber, discussed in private, one on one, what we thought was best moving forward. Barber was not included as he has quit coming to the office since his copier is no longer available and his has a private cell phone number that none of the commissioners could access. It’s mighty hard to include someone that you can’t reach.
What happened is a prime example of misinformation by a special interest group costing Rowan County taxpayers money from their meddling in county business.
Steve Mensing: It’s odd that a relatively small group of “scripted” persons had any weight with the gatekeepers at the LGC. Their talking points were larded with misinformation and personal abuse directed at the commissioners.
Craig Pierce: Steve, we asked the LGC to provide the number of applications that have ever been denied because of public opinion and they answered, “never”. When we contacted our local legislative delegation for help, they were quick to respond, only to be told that others further up the food chain were involved with this and that the decision to table had already been made…Smells, doesn’t it?
Steve Mensing: No doubt. Salisbury and the county are hurting in a very large way because of the way “business” is conducted around here. The consequences of corruption and cronyism are bearing an ill harvest locally. There’s a reason why people are pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere.
Craig Pierce: Remember on election day, those that put the citizens of Rowan in this situation.
I blame myself for not pushing harder to send the application in December immediately after the purchase, but trying to look out for our citizens, we elected to wait until the School Board asked for their 6.5 million for the Central Office and just send in one application, to save closing costs. Well 600,000 dollars later and almost a year and still no Central Office. But that is a subject for another day.
Steve Mensing: I appreciate you responding.
Craig Pierce: Anytime Steve.
