Commissioner Johnny Hutchins Steps-down from CCC Board of Trustees!!! Commissioner Chairman Kevin Gordon appointed!!! Hutchins has “No Comment” when asked why he stepped down!!! Will change bring real reform to CCC Corruption?? Or, is it just too little and too late!!! Eye Witness Report, comments and conclusions by Robert A. Williams

Ever since my first-time attending Cleveland Community College’s Board of Trustee meetings, I knew there were many problems and MAJOR scandals. Then CCC President Steve Thornburg had gotten caught setting his CCC computer system password as “fuckshannon69” in regard to his personally selected sexpot Executive VP Shannon Kennedy. The Executive VP position for Shannon Kennedy was allegedly created by President Thornburg to promote Kennedy over more experienced and qualified people. There were allegations (most likely 100% true) that CCC was dumbing down dual enrollment classes with CCS High School students as a money-maker for CCC instead of providing a truly educational experience for bright high school students. Commissioner Eddie Holbrook was a CCC “Dean” that didn’t teach any classes. Mrs. Eddie Holbrook was the Director of the LeGrand Center-her experience being a “Golf” instructor. A Board of Trustees who condoned (by ignoring them) the problems and scandals and provided no leadership or oversight to make necessary corrections. And an obvious conflict of interest with the BoT Chairman’s employment being the Architect firm that seemed to always get CCC’s business. Commissioner’s business too. Among many other things.

There are many who believe that my writings brought exposure to these major problems and scandals at Cleveland Community College. Whether that is true or not, soon President Thornburg was gone. Eventually a new College President Jason Hurst was selected. Eventually Executive VP Kennedy was gone. As was Eddie Holbrook, Mrs. Eddie Holbrook, and others.

As usual, the necessary personnel changes were not complete and the same can be said for the Board of Trustees. Board of Trustees. Unfortunately, those hard-working employees who tried to advise the so-called leadership at CCC, that had been wrongfully terminated, forced-out and retaliated against, were not rehired or made whole. A new “Staff” Attorney was hired and apparently was instructed by the BoTs to spend what was necessary cause undue legal expenses and delays to prevent the many lawsuits that sprang up out of the ashes at CCC from bringing a complete “justice” to those that had had the guts to file lawsuits against CCC.

Most of all, the Rogue Republicans Wes Westmoreland, Dennis Bailey and later joined by Robert “Luke” Queen on the CCC Board of Trustees; joined by Rev. Dr. Lamont Littlejohn and aided by other BoT members who, for one reason or another, didn’t have the backbone to continue the necessary “fixing” of the corruption, CCC lapsed into their old MO of just “meet and eat” at the bi-monthly CCC BoT Meetings, rubber stamping what needed to be approved to fund their wasteful ways and pat themselves on the back for doing, in their minds, such a good job.

What has resulted from all this “mess” that was left-over from the initial purges resulted in a “plan” to someday expand CCC across Marion Street by taking over the Cleveland County Fairgrounds. To build a new so-called Advanced Manufacturing Center. To build new athletic fields for the creation of a CCC Sports Program and recruit entire teams from out-of-state for these sports programs. Benefitting no Cleveland County students. Then expanding the CCC Campus across Marion Street and up to the point of the intersection of Marion Street and Post Road. All are in CCC’s Strategic Plan. Carefully hidden.

The Advanced Manufacturing Center; desired by the CCC Bots mainly because every county surrounding Cleveland County already has one, and Speaker of the House Tim Moore came up with State tax dollars to pay for it, had to go because Cleveland County industries didn’t have enough advanced manufacturing to support such a center. So, the CCC Board of Trustees, not about to admit a mistake or give back any tax dollars renamed the project. From an Advanced Manufacturing Center to an Advanced Technology Center. Hoping nobody would know the difference. The difference being, an Advanced Manufacturing Center is based on training workers to program and operate multi-million-dollar MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT and an Advanced Technology Center is nothing but more classrooms. Of which Cleveland Community College already has an overabundance of EMPTY classrooms. Note that I have noted this overabundance of EMPTY classrooms at CCC several times in previous articles.

And, there is more:
This so-called Advanced Technology Center is said by some to be about a third the size of the originally intended Advanced Manufacturing Center. It is no wonder that the CCC BoTs as well as the CCC President won’t let me see the plans, drawings and specifications for neither the Advanced Manufacturing Center or the Advanced Technology Center. But a sure sign that something is fishy is the fact that the newly defunct Advanced Manufacturing Center was supposed to be located in the large area that is now a NEW baseball field, softball field and a fieldhouse complex. And the much smaller Advanced Technology Center has been shoe-horned in the parking lot between an existing CCC Classroom building and Marion Street-right across from the Fairground’s Speedway Grandstands.

Also, wouldn’t it be nice to see the accounting, the “books” that are supposed to show where the money comes in, the purpose for the money allocations, and where it goes out in comparison to the original funding purpose regarding all these switching around in construction planning and spending. The sports facilities construction and the classroom construction. All at the came time. I am NOT an accountant but it seems to me that such as what has gone on recently at Cleveland Community College could easily be hidden in “COOKED BOOKS.” A highly illegal practice.

And, this is the “snake-pit” where Commissioner Johnny Hutchins is leaving from and where Commissioner Chairman Kevin Gordon is heading in to.

Perhaps Commissioner Hutchins has finally realized what a mess the Cleveland Community College actually is, and at his stage in life maybe a younger, but still experienced person like Kevin Gordon would have a better chance to “root-out” the problems and fully follow through with the changes that need to be made to the way CCC does business. Even with the Commissioners now directly appointing 8 of the 12 BoT members and having a great influence on the General Assemblies appointment of the other 4, it will still take years upon years to change out the “rotten apples” and Rogue Republicans presently on the CCC Board of Trustees, short of catching all of the BoTs red-handed with their hands in the cookie jar and finally getting the do-nothing District Attorney to fully prosecute the offenders is NOT likely. Remember the DA refusing to prosecute the Cleveland County Schools P-Card fraud scandal OFFENDERS a few years back where NOBODY was prosecuted. And CCS School Board Chairman Robert “Luke” Queen is also on the CCC BoTs.

Hopefully Commissioner Chairman and now CCC BoT member Kevin Gordon will hit the ground running in this new assignment. However, even if Commissioner Chairman Kevin Gordon does want to immediately get himself involved closely at Cleveland Community College, he cannot even get himself sworn in until the May 8, 2022 CCC Board of Trustee meeting. Giving any bad guys at CCC plenty of time to cover their tracks. And the Rogue Republicans are right now working hard to defeat Commissioners Doug Bridges and Deb Hardin in the 2022 Republican Primary Elections. As well as getting Danny Blanton off the School Board that exact same way.

Folks, us voters in Cleveland County historically don’t have a stellar reputation for paying attention enough to figure out and see through all the lies told around election time. Let’s try a little harder this time around in this 2022 election cycle.

Stay tuned!!! There will be plenty more to come.