CCTA Watchdog Report- 7 February 2013
Craven County Board of Commissioners Meeting - 4 February 2013
1) Prayer at the Board Meetings- Commissioner Allen said the invocation and ended it with invoking Jesus' name. We applaud the Board's adherence to our Judeo-Christian heritage. It is courageous of them in this day and age.
Ray Griffin petitioned the Board to put our religious heritage back in the schools. He reminded the board that they hold the power of the purse strings over the school board. That got me to thinking. If churches went back to helping their members who are in a time of need, and helping churches of the less fortunate do that mission, I bet attendance at church would pick up. Maybe people would even quit looking to the government to help everyone who is even perceived to have an unmet need.
2) North Carolina's Eastern Region (NCER) -Mark Griffin, Craven County's appointee to North Carolina's Eastern Region (formerly known as Global TransPark Board before Global TransPark became known for the boondoggle it is) gave a report. Mark stuck to his guns and told the Board of Commissioners that he believes the county would be better served to withdraw from the NCER and operate it's own Economic Development program. He also stated that the North Carolina statute that established NCER directed NCER to support Global TransPark. A position that the director of NCER flatly denied when he made his presentation on NCER to the Board of Commissioners. Not to put too fine a point on it, he lied to the Board.
Mark also repeated that he thinks the Board of Commissioners should petition the North Carolina State Legislature to pass legislation to allow counties to withdraw from NCER and retain the money earmarked to benefit the economic development of that county (this amounts to over $2 Million for Craven County).
Commissioner Taylor asked if financial statements were available showing NCER's staffing and operations expenses. Mark said he would make one available to the Board. That should be very interesting, as I believe the main purpose of the existence of this board now is to pay fat cats big salaries for doing very little that benefits anyone.
Mark did say that they were working to get several localities including Craven County to pass Tall Structure Ordinances to prevent windmills and the like from interfering with air plane navigation in flight paths. This should be an asset for military aircraft as well as civilian aircraft. However, I think it highly likely the localities would come to this conclusion on their own without outside urging.
3) Transparency in government matters- Again, no progress on this front, although Commissioner Dacey did discuss this with me. I'm hopeful the current status of the budget as to expected receipts and disbursements FY 2013 to date can be made public. Seems this is a big problem. I fail to see why except that the budget is still growing at the rate of about 6% a year in spite of an anticipated reduction in pay for military civilians, reduced number of military personnel, post office cutbacks, drops in value of real estate, business layoffs, etc. etc. Seems only government employees are protected from the reductions in living standards.
While he was campaigning Commissioner Dacey said he thought the county checkbook should be on line. What has changed?
4) The "public hearing" on the expansion of CARTS service was held at this meeting. I put public hearing in quotations because the input from the public is so restricted as to make it really a meeting between the Board of Commissioners and their staff (at least open to the public). Citizen input is limited to 4 minutes (as many citizens have complained about). Staff input is unlimited and obviously not intended to give the Board the pros and cons of the proposed action, but a sales job to move things in the direction the staff wants. Staff is given an opportunity to respond to any citizen comments and the citizen is not even given the courtesy of answers to his questions unless some member of the board requests it, as Commissioner Taylor did for me. When asked if he had any questions by Chairman Dacey, he responded that he would like to have my questions answered.
I had spoken on behalf of CCTA (only member of the public to speak). I told the Board members that we object to the FY 2014 targeted Assistance Program (New Freedom) on the grounds that since WE THE PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO TAKE FROM SOMEONE TO GIVE TO SOMEONE ELSE WE COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE GIVEN THAT POWER TO THE GOVERNMENT! This program appears to me to be an outgrowth of the Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) funding methods of the federal government and would require a much higher local match. Funds obtained through the MPO require a 50% local match as compared to 10% to 20% required under the Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs). Incidentally, the RPOs will also continue to exist in Craven County according to the plan. I asked where this money would come from? At this point the "public hearing" was closed.
Now the Members of the Board began to ask searching questions of the staff in order to get enough information to make an intelligent decision on the program. That proved difficult to accomplish. When asked to respond to my questions, Kelly Walker, CARTS Transportation Coordinator, stated that the program would serve about 400 people who need to get to doctors, or have prescriptions filled, etc. who had been unable to provide 48 hours notice (now required, but available through CARTS as a taxi service with 48 hour notice). Commissioner Dacey asked where the number 400 came from, and did not get a definitive answer. Commissioner Dacey then asked if private companies were not now offering this service? Kelly Walker replied that there were, but that they charge too much. CARTS wants to charge just $1 each way. BACK TO MY IDEA ABOUT CHURCHES. Would not family, friends, neighbors, fellow church members, or civic organizations be willing to provide these rides? Must we turn to the government for everthing?
By way of answer to the question about where the money would come from, Kelly Walker said about $4,000 from collections from the fees charged directly to riders, from businesses and agencies that contract with them for transportation services, and from advertising on the busses. When asked by Commissioner Dacey, "what businesses?" Kelly Walker only named businesses that are tax, or Medicaid, or Medicare supported. No actual private companies! In other words, all taken from one citizen and given to another. What do we care if it is local, state or federal dollars! It all comes out of our pockets!
At this point the County Manager, Jack Viet got exasperated and said these programs were going to take some taxpayer money (and Commissioner Dacey said, "Or the services cut"). Jack added that if the board did not want staff to apply for these grants, just say so. I think that would be an excellent way to proceed.
Commissioner Tyson made a motion to delay action on the program until a later date so more information could be obtained. County Manager, Jack Veit, then tried the tactic of saying that if the Board did not approve it at this meeting, the time within which to make the application for the grant would expire. The motion passed anyway.
It will be interesting to see if the matter really dies here, or if staff will come up with another way to get it done, as they so obviously desire.
5) Public Hearing- Craven County Tall Structure Ordinance. The Board set the date for a public hearing on the Craven County Tall Structure Ordinance at its regular 8:30 AM meeting on 18 February 2013.
6) Health Department Budget Amendment- Scott Harrelson, Health Director, made this presentation. He stated that Allscripts, a company the Health Department had contracted with for $83,260 to bill for Medicaid, Medicare, etc. had for a year failed to perform under the contract. CAN YOU IMAGINE A PRIVATE COMPANY PUTTING UP WITH THAT! This company is now over $1 Million dollars behind in billing. When Commissioner Dacey asked if there was not cause for legal redress from the company, Scott Harrelson said he felt lucky to get the $83,260 back. WHAT? The money had been paid in full in advance! WHAT PRIVATE COMPANY WOULD HAVE DONE THAT? Now Scott Harrelson wants to retain $31,000 to hire another company, McGladrey, "to assist in the rebilling/resubmission of Medicaid claims" at a rate of $60 per hour. Has this been put out to bid?). Can this company do for $31,000 what the previous company was paid $83,260 for? When asked by Commissioner Taylor if the Health Department doesn't have someone who could do that billing, he replied that their staff is too busy complying with an un-funded mandate to change it's record keeping system. He also complained that his staff was "down two." WHAT KIND OF AN OPERATION IS HE RUNNING?
At any rate, the board passed a motion granting Scott Harrelson his request.
7) Public Hearing on Redistricting- This "public hearing" has been set for the regular evening meeting on 4 March 2013.
8) County Manager, Jack Veit's Report- Jack started his report saying, "it's hard to believe that budget time will soon be on us again." He said he had kicked off the process by giving the department heads their marching orders. I immediately wondered if the Board of Commissioners had given him his marching orders. Something like, "show us a budget that is reduced by 6% over the past year's budget." Or, "How much are the State and federal governments likely to reduce their funding of programs?" Or "What programs and services could be cut without cutting necessary and legitimate functions of government." SOME GUIDANCE. We didn't hear any.
You would think that with the treat of civilian employees of Cherry Point getting a shortened work week with a 20% cut in pay, post office employees getting cuts in pay, layoffs at various companies, and many more going out of business, cuts necessary in unemployment benefits, loss of home values up to 40%, etc., etc. that some relief might be forthcoming to taxpayers. It seems the only people sheltered from the hard times are government employees.
Jack suggested a budget workshop all day on the 20 May 13, and an afternoon workshop on 21 May 13, a morning one on 24 May 13, and meeting early on 3 Jun 13 before the regular scheduled board evening meeting at which a public hearing on the budget would be held.
Jack announced that the work on the hospice certificate of need and the Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) Memorandum of Understanding were proceeding and would be ready for the next meeting of the Board. It appears to me that the staff tried to get funding through the MPO before it is even organized.
9) Commissioner Allen reported that he had attended a meeting of an organization purporting to be an international organization of local elected representatives. This meeting was for the North Carolina elected representatives. He stated that there was a strong "liberal" presence at the meeting and that one of the objects set by the group for accomplishment this year got very contentious before it was adopted. This objective was to limit each school district in the State of North Carolina to one school board, obviously aimed at charter schools and other alternatives to the standard public education process. The "powers that be" want to head off this threat to their control of the education system in North Carolina. Commissioner Allen, of course with other elected representatives agreeing with him, was able to thwart this objective from being adopted by the group. I applaud him for this.
I am not sure this group was a member of the dreaded UN Agenda 21 organization now called International Organization of Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), but it sure sounded like it to me. Maybe Commissioner Allen will shed some more light on this. I have been against our commissioners attending such meetings, but if they are conservative enough maybe we need them there.
10) Commissioner Mark announced that he would hold a "town hall" meeting at the Little Swift Creek fire station on 21 Feb 13 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
11) Commissioner Sampson gave his monthly diatribe against the high price of gasoline and diesel fuel among other prices of things. I heard someone say leaving the meeting that if Commissioner Sampson does that one more time, he would shout out, "Drill, Baby, drill!"
Respectfully Submitted,
Hal James, Watchdog Committee Chairman
Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association
