Chuck Hughes, Board of Education, Salisbury, N.C.
♦ Mr. Gene Miller raves about his years of experience in the Executive Branch of the school system, i.e. Assistant Superintendent of Operations. He attempts to take credit for many things including the Central Office Building. Yet, all he contributed to its finalization over the years was rhetoric. Still, his rhetoric was very revealing. First, he lobbied for the Central Office Building to be built on that postage stamp-sized lot next to Integro on South Main Street despite the absence of parking which was already promised to Integro. Additionally the site suffered from heavy groundwater contamination. Despite the alleged no-further-action letter issued by NCDENR, the school system would’ve been a target for “vapor intrusion” suits had they packed administrators and support staff into the building proposed for 329 S. Main St. Has anyone ever noticed why the grass and weeds don’t grow there much?
Mr. Gene Miller also dished out false hopes to the downtown merchants that our school system employees would rush out at to dine at lunch time and stay after work to shop to the tune of $5,000 per person per anum. His wildly spun fantasies completely ignored the fact that most downtown businesses close by the time these employees leave the building and hike blocks to wherever they were able to find parking earlier in the day.
Despite the Wallace Educational Forums many vacant rooms, Mr. Gene Miller continues to complain that the building is not large enough. This was not his fault however! During one of his failed runs for County Commissioner, he allegedly told the architect to “slow down” because once he was elected he would “Up-It”–It being the central office building.
Despite being responsible for insuring maintenance and replacement of both paving and roofing for school system’s buildings during his tenure as Assistant Superintendent of Operations, when I came to the board in 2012, roofing and paving were millions of dollars behind schedule. The current administration is still struggling to climb out of the hole dug by Mr. Gene Miller’s neglect of properties over the years.
His campaign slogan appears to be, “I want to make it better!” I suggest he already had that opportunity during his years as Assistant Superintendent of Operations and failed. Just sayin’.
