A comment came in regarding my article about Jane Shooter being appointed Interim Director of the Cleveland County Department of Social Services.
The Comment simply stated:
Stay after them Robert. I just wonder if they do these stupid things at times just to give folks something to talk about while they are pulling a fast one with something else? I did see on the tv news last week that we were number one is sex offenders…so that’s something…and I’m not sure if they included all the perverts I read about at the schools or not. One of the poorest, least educated counties in a state and North Carolina is at the bottom for education rankings nationwide. Pitiful.
And, that wasn’t all.
Another comment made to me by telephone was regarding the record number of vacancies at DSS. The caller opined that since the old DSS Board had hurriedly appointed Jane Shooter as Interim Director, they were angling to make her the permanent Director. Prompting so many people to leave DSS, thus creating so many vacancies.
That comment made sense to me. My opinion is that this comment is right on the money.
The old DSS Board trying to pull a fast one over on the Commissioners by appointing Jane Shooter as Interim Director. Then angling themselves, all of them, to be included in the new “Advisory Board. And then sneaking Jane Shooter on as full-time Director. All the time acting slighted that the Commissioners were demoting them for no reason as they are claiming “they did nothing wrong.”
So far the Commissioners have bought into that narrative for the most part. However, the fact is that the Old DSS Board did plenty that was wrong. They completely failed to require any accountability from the DSS high administration, they failed to provide oversight on anything, they appointed LBBTQ scofflaw Jane Shooter as Interim Director and they hold no trust from anybody. Especially Commissioner Susan Allen who is on the DSS Board and has been the DSS Board Chairman. Notice I did NOT say that Allen “served” on the DSS Board for a purpose. Just sitting there using up good oxygen and accomplishing nothing is not “service” in my book.
This is where the appointment of Danny Blanton to the new DSS Advisory Board is a stroke of genius by the Commissioners, whether they know it or not. Blanton will be soon enough finding out about the wasteful spending at DSS, phony investigation, and falsified reports and such. And soon enough reporting the facts directly to the Commissioners. The majority of which are up for re-election next year.
While the Commissioners made a big mistake by NOT getting rid of the old DSS Board altogether, from the git-go, the old DSS Board will soon enough find themselves useless, exposed for what they are (and what they are not) and will be replaced soon enough over time. If they don’t resign first.
Overall, the Commissioners would be crazy to appoint Jane Shooter as the interim DSS Director. Too much dirty laundry. Too much cover-up. Too much unethical and illegal conduct in so many different ways. For so long. This is a no brainer!!! Appoint Shooter at DSS and go down in defeat in the 2020 Elections. No matter how much money you spend.
My suggestion is for the Commissioners to appoint the Rev. Dante A. Murphy as the CCDSS Director, let Rev. Murphy lead the DSS cleanup effort. Stay out of his way and the Commissioners concentrate on the many other problems they have on their plate. Like cutting out the secret taxpayer funding ($Millions) for the American Legion World Series, overseeing the schools (CCS and CCC) in such a way as to advance workforce development in the proper direction, revamp the Economic Development Partnership in such a way that advances the interests of and benefits to the taxpayers of Cleveland County and not just some special interest groups.
So, Commissioners, People are talking. You need to do some listening.
