Sources report that the “Big Red Crane” being used in the Clearwater Paper Expansion construction project turned over yesterday in a major safety incident that resulted in many construction workers being sent home. There are no reports of injury or fatalities and we hope there are not any. But that would be a function of luck and not good management or good crane operating practices. There are also no reports regarding the extent of damages.

Such crane incidents are usually caused by one of two reasons.

1. Structural failures of the crane’s components
2. Improper Operation when setting up the crane and lifting or moving the load.

For a large tracked construction crane to actually turn over with the counterweights sticking straight up in the air is usually an indicator of improper operation of the crane when lifting and moving a heavy load.

A first guess-timation of this crane mishap would indicate the load was successfully lifted -otherwise the crane operator would have slacked off the picking up of the load, when the crane started to tip over. However, if the load was in the air and was moving around the “arc” of the crane travel into a location away from the crane “outrigger safe support area” relative to the weight of the load, the crane would be doomed to overturning with the crane operator totally unable to compensate. Just riding out the fall would have been the operator’s only option in this scenario. Of course this is only a guess at this point, but you can be sure OSHA and other government safety groups are on the way to analyze this unfortunate situation.

I would put the odds of this mishap at 75% preventable by proper maintenance, inspections, set-up and operation of the crane. One unknown is in regard to all the rain that has fallen and whether or not “soggy ground” contributed to the mishap. I call this a “mishap” at this point instead of an accident because if the situation was preventable by good management and being careful, it was no accident; it was bound to happen .sooner or later. We will see what the safety investigators say about that.

On another front regarding the Clearwater Paper Expansion Project.

The near by construction on the Highway 74 By-Pass has taken a strange turn. Instead of paving the main drag first, before working on the off ramps, the paving priority has been modified to paving to the Washburn Switch Road Exit, then paving the exit ramp heading North toward Clearwater Paper. Sources have come forward with the answer to this riddle. The Washburn Switch Road overpass has been or will be “too low” for the big paper machines that will be installed at Clearwater Paper to pass under.

The problem here is obvious. There was a lack of attention to detail regarding the overpass height as well as a lack of communication regarding that detail. The culprit here will probably never be known. But what is known is that the inconvenience for the public with this paving detour was not taken into account nearly as much as the Clearwater Paper construction and startup schedule. Another thing that can be accurately predicted is that any extra cost to the 74 By-Pass because of this will be paid by the taxpayer and not Clearwater Paper.

If you consider these two events at and near Clearwater Paper, one conclusion must be that there are management interface issues between Clearwater Paper and the Construction Company’s crane supplier as well as with Clearwater Paper and he state Department of Transportation. And, where is the Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership and Commissioner Eddie Holbrook’s involvement in all of this?

The reason this question needs to be asked is simple Mistakes have been made and how are the root causes for these mistakes going to be remedied? But the answers will be much more complex. And perhaps embarrassing in this election cycle for County Commissioners.

In this election cycle for County Commissioners, much has been made by Commissioner Eddie Holbrook about all the jobs Holbrook claims he has brought to Cleveland County. Other articles have clearly shown that Holbrook has taken credit for many jobs that he clearly had no input in bringing to the County. Other public information indicates for the jobs Holbrook can legitimately claim, Clearwater Paper is one of them. But at a high cost to taxpayers.

Regarding the Clearwater Paper expansion project:

Per public records the County, under Commissioner Eddie Holbrook’s leadership, sold $4.6 million in county owned property to Clearwater Paper for $1. And that was just the start. Even though the location of Clearwater Paper was in the County Water System’s territory, Holbrook saw to it that the water and sewer services would be provided by the City of Shelby. (Remember the Shelby High School’s multimillion dollar Baseball Field and the muddy Home Plate at the ball field at Fallston Elementary School?) Note that the $23 million cost of the Shelby water and sewer service extension to Clearwater Paper was supplemented by $11.5 million in County dollars as a gift to Shelby by Commissioner Eddie Holbrook. Shelby will recover their cost through the sale of water and sewer services to Clearwater Paper over the years. Where will the County recover the $11.5 million gift of taxdollars to Shelby by Commissioner Eddie Holbrook?

Then, the County paid for road and railroad construction to service Clearwater Paper for another $5 million. That does not include the extra paving caused by the overpass that was too low. Or, why didn’t Clearwater ship their big paper machine by railcar? Would this also require the services of the big red crane that might turn over again?

Then, again, there is the issue of the new County Fire tax increase of 75%. Clearwater Paper is also in the County Fire District, but thanks to Commissioner Holbrook, the fire protection for Clearwater Paper will now be provided by the City of Shelby. Which took Fire taxes away from the County Fire District and gave that revenue to the City of Shelby.

If you forget about the tax rearrangement that takes future revenue away from County Water and the County Fire District, the overall cash put out by the County and the City of Shelby taxpayers as well as property tax rebates approaches $40 million solely to the benefit of Clearwater Paper’s financial bottom line.

Some, including myself, are not convinced that giving away $40 million tax dollars to Clearwater Paper was worth it. Especially when you consider that the workers for the Clearwater Paper extension project may also have to be imported from other surrounding counties and South Carolina because Cleveland County Schools as well as Cleveland Community College have not prepared and trained students sufficiently to work at Clearwater Paper. Commissioner Eddie Holbrook says the deficiencies in the CCS and CCC Workforce Development Programs have resulted in a “crisis.” Hoping that taxpayers will forget that Holbrook himself was a County Commissioner and Senior Dean at CCC while all this Workforce Development “crisis” was developing. And now Commissioner Eddie Holbrook expects voters to re-elect him for all the so called “good work” that he claims he has done.

Another point is that 12 years is the exact time a student stays in school from the First through 12th grade. Exactly the same 12 years Commissioner Eddie Holbrook has already been in office as a county commissioner. And our untrained students represent a “crisis???” Is this the same kind of crisis where the Big Red Crane is turned over at Clearwater Paper? The same kind of crisis where we build overpasses that are too low as noted above.

We are indeed in a crisis if we re-elect the same so called “leaders” that put us in the crisis to begin with.

Anyway. Just thought you voters would like to know why Cleveland County is in a crisis. A crisis that was 12 years in the making and another 12 years getting over it, even if we implemented good Workforce Development Programs this very day.

The Cleveland County Commissioners and the Shelby City Council will hold a Special Meeting Tuesday May 29, 2018 at 4:30 PM at the LeGrand Center called by Commissioner Chairman Eddie Holbrook.

Not since the Commissioner’s sold the Hospital at pawnshop prices ($100 Million) and financed the deal at 0% interest has the Commissioners scheduled such a meeting in such a way that no one from the General Public is likely to attend. And then the Commissioners stole all the money from the taxpayers, the Citizens who actually owned the properties. And nobody cared because the Commissioners got re-elected.

The announced agenda for this secret meeting is as follows:

1. A presentation by ALTA Design on the Shelby Rail Trail Master Plan. This trail goes for 1.5 miles from West Grover Street and comes out on Dixon Blvd within the City of Shelby. The biggest attraction is a swinging bridge over the First Broad River. Sources reveal the plan is to get the Commissioners to fund the cost of the trail so the cost will be spread out to all county taxpayers. Just like they did when the Malcolm Brown Auditorium was built at Shelby High School before the merger. Just like the Commissioners did after the School Merger where school taxes go to maintain and update Shelby and Kings Mountain facilities leaving no money to build equal facilities at Burns and Crest high Schools. Just like the Commissioners did with $11.5 million the Commissioners gave Shelby for water and sewer line construction to the Clearwater Paper Expansion Project. And, in return, Shelby raises water and sewer rates for Shelby by $2.50 month within City Limits and twice that outside City Limits. The list goes on and on.

2. Shelby Cleveland County Regional Airport Project Update. Sources reveal this is just the same cost shifting as described in Item 1 above.

3. Doran Mill Abatement and Demolition. Project and Highest Best Use Study. The Commissioners have previously given away this property to their buddies who sold $1 million in scrap metal out of the old mill and milled the old beams for flooring for the uptown brewery before giving the property back to the county. Sources indicate the county will spend about a $1 million on the old mill and again turn it over to their buddies who will make big profits as the by-pass construction gets closer to being finished. A land flip scam very similar to the Gardner Webb land that was bought by a Commissioner buddy who turned it over to the county one minute later for over double the money.

4. Resolution authorizing an agreement between the City of Shelby and Commissioners for the funding of a third job ready shell building. Sources also report that this has the same MO as above. Shelby gets the gravy, county taxpayers get to pay the bills. This has an extra kick. Commissioners have already identified that unemployment is low and Cleveland County Schools as well as Cleveland Community College have not properly trained graduating students for any more jobs coming into the county. So why are the Commissioners spending taxdollars for job ready buildings when those jobs will have to be filled by workers from outside Cleveland County??? Only the Cleveland County Commissioners led by Massa Eddie Holbrook would spend tax money on boondoggle projects such as this.

5. Cleveland County Commissioners Only–ARC Lease Discussion. Sources have not identified exactly what this is. Must be another giveaway though or Commissioners would schedule this at a regular Board meeting. Otherwise, why else discuss this in a secret meeting that will hold up the Shelby City Council on something they do not appear to be voting on or discussing?

Now, that is the announced agenda. What about the unannounced agenda? What about items on hold that can be added to this secret meeting with a very simple last minute amendment to the agenda.

1. The Shelby 10 year MasterPlan calls for removal of the Confederate Soldier Monument on the Court Square that has been in place for over 110 years. Lots of monuments have been taken down around the Southern States in the past several years and Commissioner Eddie Holbrook has a debt to pay the Uncle Tom Preachers in the Black Community who split the black votes that helped him squeak through the Democrat Primary by only 268 votes. Just sending CCC computers and CCC teachers to Rev. Lamont Littlejohn’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in the name of a so called “Workforce Development-Employee Outreach” program is likely not enough. Holbrook has to get through the General Election too. Allowing Rev. Littlejohn to pull down that Confederate Monument would put a big gust of wind in Littlejohn’s sails in a segment of the black community, while at the same time not help the black community one whit or cost Holbrook any greenback dollars. Holbrook is a Democrat who Republicans think is conservative, so Massa comes out on top again. Helped by a school and community college system that turns out dummies who are not trained to qualify enough to hold down 21st Century jobs. Or 20 Century jobs for that matter. Sources report that Holbrook laughs at the white democrats who single shot voted for him. “I don’t ever have to do anything for them”, says Holbrook. “They are so glad to think just because they are ‘white,’ that is enough. They are so stupid.”

2. Raising taxes and fees to increase revenue for the county. The City of Shelby has announced an increase in their tax rate. The Commissioners, headed by Eddie Holbrook with all other commissioners voting exactly like Eddie, have raised “Fire taxes”75% for most of the Cleveland County. The City of Shelby’s increase in sewer rates for county users will increase twice as much as inside the Shelby City Limits. Nobody has complained so the Commissioners will raise the total taxes paid into the County by re-evaluating property values to a higher amount, while claiming the tax rate has not increased. It’s and old trick and now that the “Trump Economy” is booming, raising property taxes paid by raising property valuation is certain to follow. For instance, Cleveland County kept tax revenues high during the 2010-2016 by maintaining a property value much higher than the actual “market value” of the property. Look to see that appear again. And soon. Raising fees for garbage hauled to the dump is another thing to look forward to. And other things.

3. School Taxes will be kept the same. Since CCS and CCC have started “Dual Enrollment Programs” that give “College Credit” for students going to college after graduation, especially the community college, as well as count for graduation from high school, Sources report CCS and CCC are “double dipping” into state funds for these programs. CCS gets paid for the student going to high school and CCC gets state money to pay the teachers who teach the College courses at the high schools. Audit firms that audit CCS books report CCS revenues matches CCS expenditures and CCC auditors do the same thing. No audits are allowed that cover both CCS and CCC. Therefore, both CCS and CCC Books balance but the actual funding for the Dual Enrollment program is twice what it should have been. Resulting is lots of “slush” funds that neither CCS or CCC will admit to. Besides, the College and High School credit Dual Enrollment programs are “dumbed down” so more students qualify and more slush fund money goes into the system. All this was previously reported by CCC Employees but the CCC Board of Trustees have hired a lawyer to keep all this a secret from the public. From State Officials too.

4. No telling what other scams on the taxpayers will be brought out in this secret meeting!!!

Show up with a recorder and spoil the party.!!!

Editor’s Note: This article contains elements of satire. You, the reader, are responsible for doing your own fact checking on every item of contention. Do not expect to find any elements of the truth of the matter anywhere on FaceBook or other Social Media outlets as Commissioner Holbrook has commissioned sycophants to plant false news on social media.

Dear Mr. Holbrook,

In that you are a longtime leader in the Cleveland County area and one having went on record as having reputable track record in the African American community, I strongly recommend that you take the attached article more serious than any other and speak out against these terrible crimes being committed in the county that you lead. This is not only about politics, racism and unfair treatment, but you are now dealing with issues where children are being hurt. I have personally obtained solid evidence that this child was abused and the school system made a conscious effort to cover it up. I have a statement from an official stating the attempt by school officials to cover up the matter. I have forwarded this information to an attorney and I will leave it to lawyers to sort through the legal aspects, but until then you must speak out against these racial issues.

Please note that I have reviewed the incident report given to mother regarding the incident and find it appalling that school officials conveniently left blank the question asking “were the parents notified.” The truth is that this child was abused by teachers and the school failed to notify the mother until at least a week later-this was only after they were pressured. The child came home with a bruise on his face and horrific details are circulating that child suffered chronic abuse from these teachers. The school refused to give the mother details, the DA refused to prosecute because the school refused to give details. The school also refused to report this to the SRO until at least eight days.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Rev. Dante’ A. Murphy

Click here for article

Editor’s Note: AMEN!!!

I have a picture copy of the school incident report that names names. According to the school report a four year old black boy was the subject of an “inappropriate disciplinary response” from a teacher that was witnessed and reported by other parents that were present. Reportedly two teachers or a teacher and a teacher’s aid were “fired” (by being forced to resign) because of this incident. The boy also came home from school that day with bruises on his face but the mother was not notified of the incident until 10 days or so later when the bruises had dissipated and at the time she thought the bruises must have come came from rough play or something else benign that four year old boys tend to get involved with.

The child’s mother, when notified by CCS, reported the incident to the Shelby Police Department and SPD made an investigation and filed a report that minimized the incident. Names are redacted in the SPD report. Also the District Attorney “Declined to prosecute” the matter.

There is more information, to my understanding, from sources that indicates other higher ups at CCS and maybe the DA too should be fired because of the cover-up. And if history is any guide, cover-ups typically go all the way to the top. No employee is going to egregious unless the boss approves.

The child’s mother just had a baby and was hospitalized because of complications. I intend to talk to her more when she is well enough. I will scan and copy the School report as well as the SPD report when I take the notion. There is more info to be had so I will wait on that. Also, the next CCS school board meeting personnel report should show these teachers who “resigned.” But that report will likely be “doctored” by then. I will be looking for that too.

On a broader front, the school in question, James Love Elementary School, is a “failing school” with a high proportion of black students. The new North Shelby School Project (handicapped kids) is being constructed at James Love largely, I believe, to change the scoring category of James Love so the failing grades at James Love do not count like other schools do. Also, I understand school buses from different schools overlap with James Love students. The black kids on the bus routes get sent to failing James Love. White kids on the bus route get bussed to schools somewhere else.

Lots of racism appears to be involved here. Likely involvement of “Plantation Politics” from the Massa Eddie School of dirty tricks. Same MO anyway. Been going on for 100 years.

Stay Tuned. You won’t get this news anywhere else.

Sources have provided me a cell phone photograph of an official CCS internal document related to an inappropriate disciplinary action against a four year old black boy that was witnessed by several parents of other students. The document contains the name of the school, the boy and his parents as well as the name of one teacher that was involved. And signed by the Principal.

Sources also indicate that two teachers were “Fired” from CCS as a result of this and perhaps other incidents. “Fired” from CCS usually means that a person is forced to resign so CCS and the CCS Board can refuse to investigate. No matter what this personnel action is called, the two teachers are reported to be gone from CCS. Law enforcement personnel report this incident is being investigated as a criminal action but the District Attorney has so far refused to prosecute.

Stay Tuned for the rest of this developing story. Or, Come to the Courthouse Monday and I will tell you all about it. Otherwise it will be later next week.

If you are interested in seeing Cleveland County justice in action, show up down at the Cleveland County Courthouse on Monday 10AM May 21, 2018. An autistic young black man’s sanity is on trial, a jury trial, following one (of many) of the most egregious abuses of a person’s Constitutional Rights in the history of the United States. The man’s mother calls this “Political racism targeting Black Families in Cleveland County.” You will too after you read this article.

This episode begins with the howling winds and raging floodwaters caused by Hurricane Matthew when it hit Fayetteville, North Carolina in early October 2016. Major flooding had occurred up and down Matthew’s path and people were being evacuated to shelters on higher grounds by the tens of thousands. A young autistic black man and his caretaker mother who had lost everything they had were caught up in the rescue evacuations and were unlucky enough to be placed in an evacuation van whose destination was Shelby, NC. To the Abuse Prevention Counsel’s $million dollar women’s shelter and the not so welcoming arms of the Cleveland County Department of Social Services.

The autistic young black man quickly became the target for DSS enforcement actions. His crime was his disability check that DSS wanted. His already established disability, autism, and the color of his skin and the family’s “poverty” status offered DSS the prime opportunity to scam the Government (Federal, State and local) with ease. They wasted very little time doing so.

Although the young man’s mother soon found herself enough of a job to get away from the APC’s shelter and into a home, with the good hearted assistance of Mr. Wayne Allen, DSS launched their attack.

DSS attacked the family with their harassing demands and quickly learned the mother was not interested in a whole lot of assistance, just a little. Just enough to help get herself situated sufficient to look after herself and her son. That did not suit DSS.

DSS made more and more demands that the young man receive services that his mother knew he did not need. So, DSS decides to separate the autistic young from his mother. With the help of some folks down at the courthouse, especially a big supporter of Commissioner Massa Eddie Holbrook, declared the mildly autistic young man (22 years old) “incompetent” and took custody away from the mother and gave custody to DSS. Such a declaration totally voided the Constitutional rights of the young man, mildly autistic but otherwise of sound mind, as well as the mother. On September 23, 2017 the young man was forcibly removed against his will from his mother’s arms and care and taken to high dollar “retirement facility” all alone and scared.

Well folks, the autistic young black man’s mother has challenged the DSS and Massa Eddie’s so-called “incompetency” (a total miscarriage of justice) and called for a jury trial as the law allows, but very few know about. That is what is going to happen Monday, May 21, 2018 at 10 AM in Superior Court.

Folks, if you are for law and order; if you want right to triumph over wrong, the mother and others have requested concerned citizens to show up for this hearing as a sign of support for justice in this matter. “Free James George” is her battle cry.

Come early (before 10am) Monday down at the Courthouse. James George is the young man’s name. Stop by the Clerk of Court’s office and ask what courtroom this trial will be held in. Show your support for justice by being there. Pay attention to see if Massa Eddie Holbrook or any other of the Commissioners running for election are present. Remember that the Commissioners have been allowed by the North Carolina General Assembly to take control over the DSS, but the Cleveland County Commissioners, lead by Mass Eddie, have refused to provide the leadership required in this matter.

See ya at the Courthouse.

One word of caution. Do not talk to a jury member. If you see a person with an orange or red JURY sticker, just smile. If you are a jury member reading this article, just do the right thing. Otherwise DSS’s lawyers may try to disqualify you.

The recent Democrat Primary Election for Commissioners brought out a very ugly playing of the “Race Card” by Commissioner Candidate Massa Eddie Holbrook. The multiple playings of racially offensive lyrics to young black children at Washington Elementary School to the suspensions of High School Students at Burns High School for having “flags” on their personal cars in the parking lot and refusing to take them down. All intended to split the black community against itself and split the black and white communities too. That playing of the race card worked too as Massa Eddie, with all his self described accomplishments only squeaked through the Democrat Primary after spending tons of money.

Presently, a number of citizens have loudly complained to the School Board at their May 14, 2018 meeting about the offensive song. The Burns suspensions are still up in the air. And the school board has provided no answers to citizens about any of these issues. Perhaps some of the School Board members should call for a full CCS investigation into what CCS Board Policies call for in these instances followed by a full disclosure in open session about whether or not School Board Policies covered these situations adequately. Actually, this could be added to the CCS Agenda at the very next gathering of the School Board scheduled for June 11, 2018. Whether they call it a meeting or a workshop. Public input should be mandatory.

But, that is not exactly what this article is about. Not exactly, but close. Very close.

After the Citizens Participation at the May 14th School Board meeting; after most had left, including the TV News Cameras that were now gone and during discussion of Board Policy 3226-4205 Internet Safety-School Board Member Roger Harris decided the Cleveland County Schools were above the law. Law that had been well settled by the US Supreme Court in the landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines Board of Education in 1969.

In fact the basic rulings from that case had been previously incorporated into the unrevised policy that stated “School System Personnel may not restrict Internet access to ideas, perspectives, or viewpoints if the restriction is motivated solely by disapproval of the viewpoints involved.” Folks, this wording came straight from the US Supreme Court in the Tinker v. Des Moines case and had been included in the original policy. It should also be noted that this Supreme Court decision would also apply to the Confederate Flag issue as well as issues where a student would access Bible verses, Bible stories and Biblical teachings. The Ten Commandments too. And Roger Harris wanted that First Amendment protection, well settled law, taken away from students by the nitwits on the Cleveland County School Board. Harris’s reasons were deceptive as always. Harris even allowed as that sentence advocated the First Amendment but he didn’t want students looking up terrorist information on how to build bombs or the KKK. He wanted teachers to be able to prevent students from blowing themselves up. Well, we don’t want students building bombs either and neither does the US Supreme Court. Harris had “conveniently” overlooked the fact that the restrictions could not be SOLELY motivated by disapproval of the viewpoints. Key word is “SOLELY.” The board unanimously approved Harris’s unconstitutional amendment to that Board Policy.

Perhaps a better idea would have been for CCS to teach more from textbooks than from computers that can access instructions to build bombs. But, that was not the purpose anyway. The purpose is to continually restrict students from Biblical teachings of right and wrong. And replace those Biblical teachings with what the nitwits at CCS as well as State and National school boards want to teach our children. And to keep parents out of the loop too.

And we have already seen how that is turning out. Badly. Our students are indoctrinated not educated. CCS students are graduating and 46% cannot read at grade level or count to 100. With the Roger Harris’s of the educational system, next year we will be graduating students that 56% cannot read at grade level and can’t count to 50.

As far as removing the text to the policy described above, why did the CCS Board of nitwits not talk to their lawyers they are paying big money to advise them on how to revise CCS policies?

Anyway, folks, contact your school board members and demand explanations on all these issues at the next gathering on June 11, 2018 at 6 PM. Bring a ton of people with you. TV Cameras too. Let’s play some “race cards” of our own.

The May 14, 2018 School Board Meeting was well attended, not packed, but well attended. Channel 9 news was there all set up and ready to go. Eight people had signed up for Citizens Participation.

NC State Law requires a “Citizens Participation” for governmental agency meetings at least once per month and each speaker is allowed at least three minutes to speak. A total of 15 minutes is required by state law. The Cleveland County School Board has taken what the NC General Assembly intended as a MINIMUM allowance for Citizens Participation and made it the MAXIMUM allowed. All in the name of the law according to CCS.

So, eight speakers times 3 minutes equals 24 minutes. Well within what the NC General Assembly intended but the nitwit CCS Board members only allow 15 minutes. School Board member Danny Blanton came to the rescue and made the motion to allow the public speakers to have sufficient time for all of them to have their say. It passed unanimously. No nitwit Board Member was going to be caught voting against such a motion on TV News.

Then Danny Blanton made the motion I suggested in a previous article to hold a Citizens Participation at every School Board Meeting (including workshops) and Dena Green seconded that motion. This set the motion up for a vote. CCS Board Chairman Shearra Miller asked if there was any discussion. Phillip “Bully” Glover spoke up saying that he thought such an action should go through the Board Policy Committee, which Danny Blanton is not allowed to participate in.

Blanton did not have to agree. All he had to do was call for a vote that would have been an unanimous approval with the TV Cameras rolling and a room full of people. But, like a fool, Blanton agreed to withdraw his motion and no vote would be taken. Out smarted and out maneuvered again with five years on the School Board and Danny Blanton has not yet learned his Parliamentary Procedures enough to get this simple motion passed when it would have easily passed. (Before the night is over, Blanton will be shut down again with a School Board full of nitwits laughing at him.)

The eight speakers basically skewered the CCS School Board. And when their time was up the whole audience got up and left the meeting with an agenda full of items left to be heard. The TV Camera crews picked up and left too. The meeting was back to business as usual. In an almost empty building.

The overall details of this meeting will be included in another article as there are serious things to report. This article is only about how a duly elected school board member, Danny Blanton, a representative of the people is so poorly treated by the CCS School Board and CCS staff too.

At the end of the meeting, a most egregious display of venom and bile from the School Board came to the surface when Danny Blanton asked to speak. CCS Board Chairman Shearra Miller ruled that the agenda was over and Blanton could not speak.

What happened next is unbelievable and never would have happened if the TV News Cameras were still rolling.

Blanton, stating he was an elected school board member and was indeed going to speak as that was his right. Blanton started to speak about Teacher Pay, a totally valid point of discussion, especially since there was a State Wide Teacher Protest Rally in Raleigh yesterday about that every same thing. I suspect that a delegation of teachers from CCS participated. Probably on PAID leave too.

But instead of allowing Blanton to make his point for the record, Miller speaks over Blanton asking for a vote to adjourn the meeting. At this point the CCS cameras are rolling and Blanton asks for them to keep on rolling. But at that point the CCS Cameras stop recording, or if they didn’t stop, the footage after this point was cut and discarded.

While Blanton is speaking, or trying to, the other Board members get up and walk out. None of which is shown on the CCS video. But I was sitting there observing the whole thing and that is exactly what happened. I also turned around and observed the CCS video team winding up camera wires etc. while the action was still going on. Then I came home and watched the video. Which I suggest every one of you readers do too. Go to the end of the video and watch where the video stops.

The only thing is, Shearra Miller was right from a technical and tactical viewpoint. Blanton was in fact out of order by not sticking to an agenda that he himself had voted to approve. Again, Blanton was outsmarted and out maneuvered. But, from a strategic point of view, Miller and the other School Board Members might have been technically correct but they were also totally stupid on several items. First, a discussion of the NC Teacher Protest issues should be a top priority for all school boards in North Carolina to be talking about. Secondly, they are making Danny Blanton, a representative of the people, a martyr for their own obvious and selfish purposes. The School Board will be and is viewed as totally insensitive morons, oblivious to the needs of our children and the teachers we pay to educate them. At a clip of $155 Million per year on top of that.

The conclusion here is Danny Blanton was Morally RIGHT although technically wrong. Shearra Miller and her band of nitwits were Morally WRONG but technically right. I believe the vast majority of citizens in Cleveland County would hold being Morally RIGHT a much better attribute than the other way around. But, the fact remains, Danny Blanton must learn about proper procedures in Robert’s Rules of Order if he is going to be effective in properly dealing with the other CCS Board Nitwits. Mr. Blanton should have asked for a part in the agenda to include teacher issues while the cameras were rolling. It would have been as simple as that.

Folks, we tell it like it is. Key words “We,” “tell it,” and “LIKE IT IS!!!”

Stay tuned for the corruption and cover-up explosions at CCS, CCC and Commissioners that we haven’t exposed yet. Key word is “Yet.”

First of all, before any Politicians’ lies are repeated, consider this. DSS has reported for years that over 20,000 people in Cleveland County are on Food Stamps. How do I know? I asked DSS and they provided the information through County Attorney Tim Moore.

20,000 plus people in Cleveland County represent over 20% of our total population.
and 50% of our total workforce. To qualify for FoodStamps personal income must be below certain minimum amounts. There are various reasons but mainly because the recipients are unemployed or underemployed. Other reasons are FoodStamps are the desired currency of the drug trade. Drug Dealers can sell a $25 rock of “crack” cocaine for a $100 FoodStamp. Then the Drug Dealer takes the $100 FoodStamp to a middleman who gives the Drug Dealer $50, doubling his money. Then the middleman redeems the $100 FoodStamp for $100, doubling his money too. Now, they do the same thing with the EBT Cards that are supposed to be foolproof, but they are far from foolproof as everybody in the drug trade knows. DSS records also show ZERO prosecutions for FoodStamp Fraud. It’s a perfect crime.

Lying by Politicians appears to be a perfect crime too. Let’s examine the record of Commissioner Chairman “Massa Eddie” Holbrook. And I am not just picking on Massa Eddie because every vote by the Commissioners for years has been unanimous. All the commissioners vote like Massa Eddie tells them–so one example fits all.

Massa Eddie repeatedly and falsely claims that he has brought in so many $Billions in Tax Base and 8,000 new jobs. The truth is the coal fired Duke Power Expansion Project at Cliffside and the natural gas fired NTE Energy plant near Kings Mountain are combined multi-billion dollar projects with ZERO involvement from Massa Eddie and the other commissioners. When construction is over the vast majority of those construction jobs will go somewhere else besides Cleveland County. Massa Eddie never accounts for the jobs that are lost from his phony brags. Figure in Indian Motor Cycles, Bayliner Boats, etc. And Schletter who just got here and have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Massa Eddie’s 8,000 jobs get whittled down quite a bit but he will never tell.

Now, looking at the Economy.

Since Donald Trump was Elected President in 2016 the National Economy is booming:

The economy in Cleveland County is booming too. Massa Eddie takes credit, claiming our county unemployment rate is 4.1%. Never attempting to explain the over 20,000 on FoodStamps.

But the National Average unemployment rate is 3.9%. Cleveland County’s rate is 5% higher than the national average.

Now, lets look at Catawba County (without Massa Eddie) with an unemployment rate of only 3.5%. Cleveland County’s rate is almost 20% higher than next door Catawba County.

Lincoln County unemployment rate is 3.7%, Burke County unemployment rate is 4.0%, Rutherford County unemployment rate is 5.8%. So Cleveland County is worse than Lincoln, Burke and Catawba Counties and only better than Rutherford County. Not much to brag about for Massa Eddie amongst those that pay attention.

But Massa Eddie never talks about how Cleveland County went so high in unemployment about 8-10 years ago after the housing bust. Records show that Cleveland County Unemployment rates soared past 15% plus. The record high for the whole state of North Carolina was 11.3% in January 2010. (The record low for NC was 3.1% in March 1999.) The record high for all of the USA was 10.8% during the past 8-10 years.

So, there you have it. During Massa Eddie Holbrook’s 12 years as a Cleveland County Commissioner Unemployment rates were always higher than those around us, the State of North Carolina and the whole of the USA during good economic times as well as bad economic times. Only foolish people believe Massa Eddie has done such a good job with Economic Development as Massa Eddie says he has done.

The bad news is Cleveland County is losing population. Not by so many dying early but because workers “are getting the heck out of Dodge” per Commissioner Susan Allen’s description at a recent Commissioner’s meeting. Workers are leaving for better jobs elsewhere and taking their families too. Massa Eddie’s own words were Cleveland County Schools as well as Cleveland Community College had failed our students. As a Commissioner Massa Eddie has funded both CCS, CCC and DSS (which is a WorkFirst Agency-they claim), but provided no oversight, no guidance and no direction. Now Massa Eddie is blaming CCS and CCC for what he had a big part of causing. Especially since Massa Eddie is a Senior Dean for Development and Government Relations at CCC at a pay of around $125,000 last time I looked.

And just what does a Senior Dean for Development and Government Relations at Cleveland Community College actually do? I don’t have a clue, but I am pretty sure there are no teaching duties to the job.

And Massa Eddie is always talking about bringing in jobs to Cleveland County. So. I did a search for jobs in Cleveland County and this was the top ten items on the list:
1. Dog Walker. Pays $25 per hour but it is likely to only include no more than one hour per day,
2. Route Service Sales Representative. Picks up and delivers uniforms, cleaning rags and chemicals to local businesses.
3. Rehabilitation Specialist at the Adventure House dealing with mentally disabled adults.
4. Registrar/Hospital CHS Cleveland Emergency Department-takes information from incoming patients.
5. Shipping Receiving Warehouse Worker at Buckeye Fire Equipment
6. Registrar/Hospital CHS Cleveland ED
7. Freight Handler
8. Warehouse Worker
9. Administrative Assistant-Temporary $7.75-$15 hour
10. Work from Home-Customer Service

All these jobs are necessary and good. But where are all the top paying manufacturing jobs Massa Eddie claims he is bringing into Cleveland County?

Well, Massa Eddie has an answer for that too. “Charlotte’s Backyard” is a new website put out by the Cleveland County Economic Development people “associated” with Massa Eddie that are supposedly recruiting for workers in Charlotte to fill jobs in Cleveland County. They are actually silly enough to believe that workers will move from Charlotte to Cleveland County for lower paying jobs because things are cheaper in Cleveland County? Like gas? Yeah, Right.

This “Charlotte’s Backyard” has a bright and shiny approach, just like Massa Eddie, but when you actually try to look up some jobs you will be sorely disappointed. You find the same stuff Listed in the ten jobs noted above. Most of the better jobs are somewhere else besides Cleveland County. Many are far away. And many of the jobs may be suited for a kid still living at home. If you were the breadwinner for a family of four with one of these jobs, you would also qualify for FoodStamps. No wonder Massa Eddie doesn’t talk about the 20,000+ people on Foodstamps. Many of those on Foodstamps today may very well be working one or two of those jobs Massa Eddie claims he provided.

So, in evaluating Economic Development over the past 12 years Massa Eddie has been a Cleveland County Commissioner, what is the only collusion? This great Economic Development Program is mostly hot air. FoodStamps are the only thing that has kept Cleveland County afloat and still does.

Now, let’s examine this Cleveland County Economic Development Program a bit. The program Massa Eddie is “associated” with? Who are they, how much $$$ does it take to run it and who do they answer to? For the question who are they?, the CCEDP list two women. Kristin Reese and Beth Norman. Incidentally, under for “our successes,” they claim The NTE project, the Duke Cliffside project, the Southern Company project and the AT&T Data Center for a total of $4.4 BILLION, of which Massa Eddie Holbrook, all the other commissioners and the entire CCEDP had exactly nothing to do with. I was at the Commissioner’s Meeting when NTE walked in the door and announced their project as a courtesy. They asked for no incentives. They were there just to say hello. The commissioners repeatedly asked the NTE guys why they came to Cleveland County? Was it because of our good schools? Good this and good that. No said NTE. “We chose the site where the intercontinental gas pipeline intersected with an existing high powered electrical transmission line.” But Massa Eddie and his EDP claimed it anyway. They even claim it as a “manufacturing” facility. So much for the Truth and Massa Eddie Holbrook.

Now, how much tax dollar funding does the CCEDP and their two women receive. It’s in the millions. All this tax money coming in from motel occupancy tax goes straight to these two women to spend. How they spend it is also a big question.

Now for the jackpot, who does the CCEDP answer to? Well, with all those $millions of Tax dollars you would think CCEDP would be a county agency reporting to the County Commissioners or some other elected official. That way they would have to be transparent and have to make financial reports that the taxpayer public could see. Right??? Oh NOOOOOO!!! They are a branch of the Cleveland County Chamber and answer to nobody. Massa Eddie is only “associated” with The Chamber, like a Mafia “God Father is associated with his crime family, mob.

From an examination standpoint, if it looks like a criminal enterprise and walks like a criminal enterprise; then it must be a criminal enterprise. A tax supported criminal enterprise at that. With a legalized power to steal from the citizens, Taxpayers. Al Capone and John Gotti must be turning over in their graves because they didn’t think of this.

Here are some backup information facts and figures provided by the United States Census Bureau. An official agency of the United States Government. Which totally disproves Massa Eddie’s BS numbers.

Economic Indicators show a decline in Cleveland County during the term in office of Massa Eddie Holbrook:

• From 2015 to 2016, employment in Cleveland County, NC declined at a rate of 0.96%, from 40,571 employees to 40,183 employees. (So, where are all those jobs Massa Eddie Brags about?)
• Between 2015 and 2016 the population of Cleveland County, NC declined from 97,178 to 97,113, a 0.07% decrease and its median household income declined from $39,453 to $39,134, a 0.81% decrease.
• Wages. Households in Cleveland County, NC have a median annual income of $39,134, which is less than the median annual income in the United States.
• 20.8% of the population in Cleveland County, NC live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 14%. The largest demographic living in poverty is Female 25-34, followed by Female 45-54 and then Female 55-64. (Any woman voting for Massa Eddie is committing economic suicide. Men are not far behind.)
• People in Cleveland County, NC are getting older. In 2015, the average age of all Cleveland County, NC residents was 41.4. (The young workers that are leaving Cleveland County are leaving older people behind.)

Well folks, all this is the good news about Massa Eddie’s Economic Development record in Cleveland County. Let this digest awhile, sit down with a cool drink and come back for the rest of the story.

Editor’s Note: This article is controversial and for a mature and critical thinking adult readers only. No offense to any person is intended. Just a focused discussion on just what exactly is going on right now in Cleveland County Elections. And leaving nothing out.

“Nigger” is presently the most offensive word in the English Language when it is used by a white person addressing a black person. Although I have been told it is OK for a black person to address another black person as “Nigga,” a derivative of nigger.

From here on out we will use “N-word”

The dictionary says there are several meanings for the word N-Word. The first definition being the severely offensive term for a person of color. The word developed about the time of the American Revolutions when most black persons were slaves. In recent years this word use has been attacked so much that most white people don’t use the word “N-Word” anymore. And if they do, they refer to the word as the “N-Word.” This concession by white people has widely and falsely been used as justification by many to say that significant progress has been made in race relations and that there has actually been major and equitable socio-economic improvements in the lives of most black people. It is a hollow concession by the white community that has produced exactly nothing in improvements to the overall equitable socio-economic advancement, education and progress of the black community. In reality this empty concession has been “weaponized” to divide and politically conquer the black community and generate resentment and backlash in the white community. Which actually hinders race relations during political discussions and dirty politics election strategies such as in the Re-elect Eddie Holbrook Campaign.

The second meaning of the word “N-Word” is much more of a powerful weapon in keeping the equitable socio-economic advancement in the poorer black and white communities to a minimum. So powerful a weapon that the word does not even have to be spoken. It is just a “concept,” an “attitude” of superiority that is used to control and divide both blacks and whites for political gain. That second definition of a N-Word is a person (black or white) considered by many as a relatively inferior and deprived individual of lower socio-economic standing and generally thought to be ignorant and mentally slow. A person to be told what to do and be expected to do what they are told without question or complaint-or recourse. This definition also developed during the days of slavery when the Master (Owner) of the Plantation, usually called “Massa”, would instruct his simple minded and uneducated slaves (N-Words or darkies) on what to do and expect it to be done with no questions or complaint. Punishment for disobedience or on a whim was or could be harsh and the slaves were legally his “property” to do with as Massa pleased.

Now, here we are in 2018, over 54 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (over 150 years since the 13th and 14th Amendments were passed with no tangible evidence of improvements in race relations or equitable socio-economic standings. All the black community has is a word that most white folks don’t use anymore. And the Confederate Flag and Confederate Historical Monuments that have recently been equated with the “offensive” label previously attributed to the word “N-Word.” With the same results. After they are taken down or moved, still no progress on the equitable socio-economic development front occurs. Only backlash and resentment from the white community against the black community. A community that has become accustomed to accept such “token” concessions that are so touted by the Uncle Toms like the Rev. Lamont Littlejohn and Ronald Harrill in the black community who have sold out to the white Massa for the purpose of lowering the “temperature” of the black community.

I have already termed the 2018 dirty politics of the “Massa Eddie” Holbrook for Commissioner Campaign “Plantation Politics” because that is exactly what it is. Straight out of the pre-Civil War plantation practices where the “Massa” would order his “N-Words” on what they were expected to do. Massa Eddie’s N-Words today are both white N-Words and black N-Words. All expected to do Massa Eddie’s bidding without question or complaint. All brainwashed enough to be convinced that what they are doing is right-or right for them because it advances their standing a bit to be known as Massa Eddie’s N-Word.

The problem with this Plantation Politics is that it has worked for over 100 years. Probably longer than that in Cleveland County. There is a gap in education that has been identified and all these so called “Close the Gap” programs have been initiated seem to last forever and no defendable improvements have ever been shown. Same with the Math Academy, Communities-In-Schools, etc. Even Head Start, Smart Start and More at Four which seem to be basically baby sitting programs dumped onto school systems,

Presently the Plantation Politics swarming around Massa Eddie Holbrook’s unsavory campaign for re-election to County Commissioner seems particularly vicious and wide spread. The offensive song at Washington Elementary, the Flag suspensions at Burns High School, the Facebook smear campaign against me and others, the Pastor who was run off from his Church, the Pastor who was denied the opportunity to speak at Monday’s School Board meeting, the Uncle Toms lighting up their support for Massa Eddie, the rigged questions at the recent Democrat Primary Election Forum sponsored by “People for a Stronger Cleveland County” (a group of citizens actually trying to put an end to Plantation Politics) and the usual telephone rumor mill by the Massa’s sycophants. All part of a pattern that fits the MO of an obvious episode of Plantation Politics gone wild. All intended to divide the black community and their votes against itself and solidify a racial backlash in white Democrat community to encourage a single shot vote for Massa Eddie.

In conclusion, this is what we have seen in previous elections and we are seeing it now. Why? Because it works. What can be done? Don’t be taken in by Plantation Politics. Keep your eye on the prize. And the prize in this Democrat Primary election is two fold. Getting rid of Massa Eddie by voting for Chris Gash and Todd McIntosh. Both good candidates. H.O.T candidates as I call them because they advocate Honesty, Openness and Transparency. Three words that are not in Massa Eddie’s vocabulary. Three words that do NOT describe the present Board of Cleveland County Commissioners.

PS: This article was not released prior to the Democrat Primary Election because I thought it was too controversial. After attending the May 13, 2018 School Board Meeting and listening to those who spoke during the Citizens Recognition, I realized no problem or issue is too controversial to NOT be talked about honestly and resolved accordingly.

PS Part 2: Massa Eddie Holbrook barely squeaked by the Democrat in a far back second place and just a slim lead over the third place finisher. I would advise everybody to hold on as the 2018 Commissioner Elections are not finished yet and there may be surprises in the air.