Editor’s Note: The following two editorials are also from our friends across the border to the South who are keeping up with stupidity in government. I will state again that Cleveland Community College and their gridlocked Board of Trustees have risen to the top of the stupidity list for a large part of the English speaking world.
Cleveland Community College – New board a lot like the old board
Shelby, NC — It looks like the new board members of the Cleveland Community College Board of Trustees that were selected, haven’t been paying attention to anything that has been going on. Last night, when the Board of Trustees ended their meeting, they had decided that President Thornburg would be leaving, as of July 31, 2017 and that he would receive a severance package of $150,000, and another $50,000 for accrued time. That figure is not too far below his annual salary of $218,400. This will not go over well with the citizens of Cleveland County. Especially after witnessing, through the president’s own words, revealing how calloused he is towards his misdeeds, by suggesting, if a donor wanted their name(s) removed from a building(s), then they just go after more people with more money. No big deal. No, remarks such as that are really dumb, from someone that is supposed to be so intelligent.
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Voting against this package were: Jason Falls, Wayne King and Alan Norman.
Voting in favor of it were Larry Hamrick, Chris Turner, Rev. Lamont Littlejohn, Gordon Hamrick, Betty Carrigan, Michael Cheng, and June Yarboro.
Trustee Bill Turpish left the meeting early. And newly appointed chairman Wes Westmoreland did not vote.
I was told that the new chairman, Mr. Westmoreland suggested that all the board members should support the college financially. That’s all well and good, but let’s not openly start selling the seats just yet. How much are some of these trustees benefiting financially, from doing business with the college, whether directly or indirectly? That would be worth looking into. But why would a chairman of a board not vote? A chairman is supposed to be the leader, no? Not much leadership shown in not voting. Maybe one could suppose in a situation as this that the vote would have been meaningless, as it was already 7-3. But it can make a difference in how the public perceives such acts, when judging a leader.
Many people feel this is only the beginning. A good analogy would be that the band aid has just been pulled back. Now, a dose of antibiotics needs to be administered in order to rid the campus of the germs that are responsible for this infection that has spread much too far into the body of the college. Next, a decision needs to be made, before the new president is brought on board, to treat this infection quickly, so that the body can heal, and be healthy and strong once again. And lastly, make sure the board assures the body that they will generously apply an apt dosage of integrity, along with an economy sized portion of transparency, on a regular basis, as long as needed. Rinse. Repeat.
And keep that prescription updated.
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CCC-Self Inflicted Nonsense
Shelby, NC — At the last Board of Trustees meeting on July 11, 2017, the trustees had a golden opportunity to bring about change, some healing and maybe evening taken a giant step forward, but no, instead, they suffered from a self inflicted, boneheaded decision. They gave away $200,000 of money belonging to the taxpayers. They let their mouths/votes write a check that their keisters couldn’t cash. Instead of taking a step forward, the trustees, at that moment, set themselves up for ridicule, by becoming an addition to this ugly story. Not only an addition to the story, but an addition that highlighted how out of touch this group is.
Think about this. Finally, after much wrangling and rambling, the board voted to terminate Dr. Thornburg and have him out of office by July 31, 2017. Good move. But after allowing him to bring shame and disgrace, amongst a host of other issues and problems, they also felt that they needed to award him with parting gifts, as if this were some sort of game show, and he was the champion contestant. The majority of the trustees, voted to award Thornburg, $18,400 less than his salary for a full year. And for what? And to add insult to injury, the board also , in claiming to charge Thornburg with a stiff fine, for using inappropriate language in a password. The fine would be the equivalent of a week’s pay, $5,000…but, Thornburg would be able to claim it as a gift to the school, and it would be tax deductible. And I’ve heard that it hasn’t been paid (donated) yet. Could this board be any dumber? It would have been about as effective if they had made Thornburg go stand in the corner for an hour or so. And the board can’t understand why the public has so much disdain for them.
Come Monday evening, people again, will have the opportunity to see this mess, up close and personal. If you attend, be sure and keep those who cannot attend informed, via social media, websites, or text messages, etc. While there, be sure to thank the 3 trustees who did not vote to waste the money of the citizens. The three are: Jason Falls, Wayne Kings and Sheriff Alan Norman.
To all of those who have kept the people informed, via your blogs, websites, news portals, etc…thank you so much. Keep up the good work. When this is over, don’t let up. There is still a big fight ahead and much work to be done.
