RFP Staff
It’s pretty well recognized by anyone who paid attention to Rowan County’s floundering during the county commission term of Greg Edds, Judy Klusman, and Jim Greene and their devotion to Salisbury’s real estate and banking order at a time when Salisbury has become a crime-ridden ballast on the county and its systems. In 2017 Salisbury became the per capita murder and arson capital of North Carolina for cities with populations of 28,000 or more. The public schools got 3 Ds and an F on the State Department of Public Instruction Report Card. Salisbury is a town whose working class and its shrinking upper class are setting sail for more prosperous and safer locales elsewhere.
Salisbury has become an object of ridicule where the Fibrant Debacle is being savaged by Spectrum, Dish, DirecTV, and AT&T. Meanwhile Salisbury’s core city services struggle on with minimal manpower and whose trash strewn streets and unkempt green areas have become the town’s major tourist attractions. We can go on and on about the 2,000 plus vacant and abandoned houses, the transients hunkered down under bridges and in tarp cities, that 25% of Salisburians live in poverty, the dangerous parking lots and neighborhoods and so forth. Perhaps things will start to turn around at some point in the distant future when a state government entity steps in and takes over.
Edds, Klusman, and Greene’s allegiance is not to the citizens of Salisbury or Rowan County, but to Salisbury’s real estate and banking order.
Greg Edds:
Judy Klusman:
Jim Greene:
Perhaps some of you will recall Greg Edds claim prior to the last election that he did 1,000 hours of intensive economic development study. You may have chuckled like we did when you did the math. You may have wondered how he might’ve had time to do all that study and still have time to hustle insurance. His alleged intensive study didn’t pay off for our Rowan County Citizens or even the residents of Salisbury.
• Do you recall Edds’ hideous I-85 gateway “clown signs” that the N.C. DOT refused to okay. He claimed he got donations for them.
• How about Edds idea of building a hotel and convention center at the West End Plaza next door to Clancy Street Public Housing and 5 miles away from I-85 and other hotels. Seriously. Who was his mentor during his 1,000 hours of intensive economic study? Robert Van Geons the economic wizard of Fayettenam?
• Lest we forget that Greg, Judy, and Jim, said no to leasing spots to retailers and food establishments at the West End Plaza. Having leases would’ve been a solid savings for the county. But no he wanted those businesses to go to his real estate pals in Salisbury. He, Judy, and Jim said no to leasing a spot in the West End to the Republican Party Headquarters. Craig Pierce said yes to having it at Pierce Plaza.
• Greg was against selling the movie theater at the West End Plaza. Another blown opportunity. Do we see a pattern of trying to kill the West End Plaza?
• He was against renovating the former JC Penny Building to use as an event center.
• Rowan Idea Center in West End Plaza is using over 100,00 square feet of space and recently had a small turnout padded with mostly of Chamber of Commerce people. Wonder what ideas they’ll hatch? A Hotel and a Convention Center at the West End Plaza?
• Edds, Klusman, and Greene approved the Carolina Thread Trail after three previous boards voted no. To date no Carolina Thread Trails have opened for three years now anywhere in Rowan County. Some of the “possible” trails travel through some dangerous parts of Salisbury.
http://www.carolinathreadtrail.org/local-connections/rowan-county-nc-2/
• Approved a $16 million dollar lease with Apple for the schools for equipment that could have been purchased and owned for $16,000. Who said the Apple operating system wouldn’t update? Is somebody getting paid here? How about the Apple Technology award?
• Little if any economic growth in Rowan County happened with Greg Edds and his yes votes from Klusman and Greene. A review of the county commission videos and minutes will show Edds, Klusman, and Greene voted as one.
• Our Rowan-Salisbury Schools have gone rapidly downward on the Edds, Klusman, and Greene’s watch. They are all too willing to throw lots of money at constructing unrequired school buildings. Meanwhile parents, with the financial wherewithal, are removing their kids from RSSS and sending them to the statewide online charter school (N.C. Connections Academy), homeschooling them, hiking across the county line to Cabarrus schools, or entering their youngsters in private schools.
• Under Edds, Klusman, and Greene the county’s tax base has shriveled a bit.
• Edds has attempted to take credit for Craig Pierce’s water and sewer initiative in the county. In fact Edds tried to take credit for the successes and initiatives begun when Pierce, Caskey, Sides, and Mitchell were a voting block. Or Edds’ Declaration of Interdependency? His positivity to counter all the negativity about the county. His motto is “faking it until you make it”. Edds is the highpriest of “hide it don’t fix it”.
• Should we remind our readers of Greg Edds and Greene desired to build a multi-million dollar softball complex? Thankfully that got shot down when people began freaking out about the price tag.
Vote for Craig Pierce and Mike Julian. We will be the first to let you know if another worthy candidate signs up at the Board of Elections.