No. 1 Tragic Death
A mentally “challenged” middle-aged man, without a driver’s license, was living in South Shelby with his 84-year-old mother. Last week. the mother passed away. This past Friday, other family members visited the home and found the mentally challenged man gone and his medication bottle open and pills scattered across the kitchen counter. Law Enforcement was called and a “missing person” report was made. Detectives came out Saturday and Sunday and searched around the house and grounds for the man or any clues about where he had gone to. Monday afternoon the next-door neighbor found the man’s body about 10 feet inside his back yard, which was about 50 feet from the dead man’s residence. The area containing both back yards were clear of obstructions-woods, trees, bushes and such. Neighbors, friends, family members and myself are at a loss at why the man was not found sooner. Perhaps before he died of exposure. All the man had on was a shirt and shorts. And the nights were freezing cold. This news has NOT been reported in the Shelby Star Online News and Facebook as of this writing. I wonder why???
No. 2 Retaliation against Whistleblowers:
Cleveland County is well known for its Retaliation against whistleblowers. Especially those that tell Robert A. Williams about corruption and other misdeeds and bad acts going on in Cleveland County governmental agencies. The Commissioners, Cleveland County Schools, Cleveland county DSS, Cleveland Community College and the City of Shelby to mane a few. Even the Republican Party. Once, at the Shelby Uptown Fire Station during a recent election, I was sitting there watching the vote tally display when the then Chairman of the Woman Republicans of Cleveland County (WeRCC) happened to sit down next to me. A Republican official spied us sitting there and took a cell phone picture of us. And then sent it to the Republican Chairman, Dennis Bailey. The WERCC Chairman then started getting “grief” from Dennis Bailey about it and she ended up telling Dennis Bailey she would sit beside whom she damned-well pleased. But this was just a small and petty example of what appears to be a County-Wide effort to hide TRUTH from the public by retaliation against anyone who might talk to me about County “secrets” that I will surely disclose when I hear about them.
A much more serious example of this retaliation came as a result of me writing about the two inmates in a Cleveland County Jail cell awaiting a court hearing. They got into a fight and one inmate killed the other inmate. Jailors were not able to observe the inmates as they were supposed to because of a cracked and shattered jail door window that was well known to be damaged beyond use, yet had not been repaired. The fact that I had learned about this damaged window and how its role was associated with that particular jail death, and the fact that I had also published other details of other problems within County Law Enforcement, caused great consternation within Cleveland County Officials such that much thought and effort was made to discover who my sources of information were. This corrupt effort eventually led to a high-ranking member of the Sheriff’s Office who was then fired from his job.
As I make extreme efforts to protect my actual sources of information, I cannot say whether or not that high-ranking Sheriff Department Officer was my source or not. Just as NONE of the high-level Cleveland County Officials can PROVE that this fired officer ever spoke a word to me about anything. However, this incident has “raised the bar” of RETALIATION in Cleveland County. When a “discovery” of mine reveals a secret anywhere in Cleveland County Governmental Agencies, that agency just picks a “likely subject” and fires them without delay. That way the “iron fist of retaliation” has proven itself invincible to every county employee and their family members. Talk to Robert A. Williams and YOU are fired from your job. Even saying “Hello” to Robert A. Williams is hazardous to your job as well as family member’s jobs too. Basically, that’s where we are in Cleveland County.
However, Retaliation is against NC and Federal Law. One good court case and this Retaliation “House of FEAR” can be put to a DEAD-STOP in Cleveland County Governmental Agencies. Hopefully the PLAINTIFF that wins that one good case can talk the judge into appointing him (or her) into a high paying County position of a “COMPLIANCE OFFICER” (or other such name) within Cleveland County Agencies that reports to a FEDERAL JUDGE instead of County Manager Brian Epley. Let’s ponder on this thought in other articles to come.
No. 3 Hiding Public Records:
According to Federal and State law, public records and documents are just that-Open to the Public. Even emails are public documents and SUPPOSEDLY available to the public for the asking. I said “SUPPOSEDLY” for good reason. Corruption likes to operate in the dark. Kept in secret and dark places. and public records that can be obtained and brought out to the public, very often to the disdain of corrupt officials. Like that Million Dollar check the Commissioners gave to Eddie Holbrook’s ALWS Baseball, Inc.
Now, the school board, CCC and the Commissioners don’t want Robert A. Williams to see the plans, specifications, Requests for Quotations, Bids, etc. associated with the Auditoriums for Burns and Crest High Schools, the new $150 Million Jail and Courthouse Project, and even the new $3.5 Million (I expect this to end up being over $6 Million) for the new Health Department Building so-called “renovations” to allow housing the entire CC DSS in the same building. And, let’s not forget the new Advanced Technology Center at Cleveland Community College. The building that started out as an Advanced Manufacturing Center but Cleveland County apparently doesn’t have enough Advanced Manufacturing to use such a building. So, I reckon, the CCC Board of Trustees just decided to build the ATC to provide extra classrooms when there are a ton of empty classrooms at CCC already.
So, how does the Commissioners, CCS and CCC get by without providing public records when the law requires providing those records for public inspection. That is easy as pie. They just don’t provide them. And there is no penalty. The DA refuses to prosecute government officials.
After the February 1, 2022 Commissioner’s Meeting I asked County Manager Brian Epley (right in front of ALL the Commissioners) for a schedule for my inspection of the Health Department Building renovations that were just approved that very night and all the documents should have been on top of a table in Epley’s conference room table and Epley says that he is going to run that through the Public Information department. A do-nothing department clearly established to withhold public records from the public. I immediately said “NO, that would add at least a 2-year delay!” Epley retorted that the Public Information Department was already behind 300 requests (which proved my point). I then stated that “I had already asked to be copied on any public requests that were submitted by any others and have received nothing.” Basically, accusing Epley of lying to the Commissioners as Epley’s so-called Public Information Office is only a figment of Epley’s corrupt imagination when, in reality, the Public Information Office only exists to circumvent State and Federal Public Records laws and certainly NOT to provide public information to the public in a timely manner. And CCS and CCC does exactly the same thing. Now that the Commissioners have heard my allegations, they have quickly adopted their usual resolution to such simple problems. Their same resolution to not so simple problems too. THEY DO NOTHING!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
It is NO WONDER why they have so many lawsuits against them!!! All of them!!! Perhaps a FEDERAL JUDGE will indeed ORDER the Commissioners to establish a COMPLIANCE OFFICER or a COMPLIANCE COMMISSISONER appointed by him and that reports to HIM on a regular basis. I bet that just a small group of US Marshals arresting and leading off a County Manager, Commissioner, School Board member or a CCC BoT (or a City of Shelby Mayor for that matter-or the Cleveland County DA) off in handcuffs would straighten out Cleveland County for a very long time. Wouldn’t that be a Hoot!!!??
Stay tuned folks!! This is just the beginning of the end of secrets here in Cleveland County!!! Like the Project South Sewer Meeting held last night in Kings Mountain. That report will be out soon.