On Dec 7, 2022, at 1:22 PM, Brendan LeGrand wrote:
Robert A.
Per receipt of this article requesting feedback from your recipients, I am taking the liberty of replying to this article with my opinion. I hope you don’t mind.
- I do not think gender should play a part in selecting candidates for political offices or promotions in public offices. It is a fact that more males run for political offices than females, and more men than women are on the higher rungs of public offices. So as far as numbers go, the men definitely outnumber the women, and have that advantage.
- The headcount advantage of males should not give them reason to discriminate against their female colleagues. Sometimes there is a flip side to this, a reverse discrimination, and a female will be chosen/promoted because she is a female.
I heard an argument for this in the recent School Board election. Female campaigners beside me at City Park were soliciting votes for the two female School Board candidates by telling voters, “If they don’t get elected, there won’t be any females on the School Board.” There was no mention of their good service or qualifications.
Neither female won a seat on the current School Board, so perhaps the discrimination argument didn’t fly. Gender does not denote qualifications.
- Which brings me to another opinion. This one is about prospects for our next County Manager. You mentioned that current female Assistant County Manager Kerry Melton is friendly and pretty. I agree with your observations.
But looks and length of time in a job do not qualify for hierarchy promotions in an organization. You are familiar with the Peter Principle of hierarchy” A person is promoted leading to one’s level of incompetence.
It is my opinion that Kerry Melton was at her best level as County Clerk.
- Nor do I think that political victories, qualify or justify the holders of political offices to divide or seize the spoils that come along during their reign, including practicing nepotism. This goes for hired public officers too. We have witnessed too much of this happening in Cleveland County in the last two decades.
- I do not think that Commissioner Kevin Gordon or any other current Commissioner, should become our County Manager. We elected them, and we can vote them out. Only the Commissioners have the power to fire a County Manager. And I don’t trust that these current County Commissioners would do it.
In my opinion this is the weakest, most indecisive Board of County Commissioners in all the years since I became interested / involved in politics at 12 years old during the Kennedy campaign.
- I think the office of County Manager has left people puzzled, with unanswered questions for nearly 2 decades.
David Dear became County Manager in 2004. His tenure as a county official was marked with an unmatched lack of integrity.
County Manager Eddie Bailes’ abrupt and immediate resignation was followed by silence.
County Manager Jeff Richardson never moved here from Asheville.
Now, current County Manager Brian Epley has resigned, and taken a job as County Manager in neighboring Burke County, moving on to greener pastures?
- Greener pastures. Is needing more money the problem with our County? Three times a referendum for an increase of sales tax was overwhelmingly (23,000-7,000) defeated. What part on NO do they not understand?Property taxes raised last year were under consideration to be raised again next year! I even heard they are considering taxing dogs again!
Yet, the new 2023 budget has room for more than $600,000 for legal/attorneys fees! And $65,000 for Coroner! What? Coroner was an elected position which we don’t even have anymore!
Our economic tourism draws are American Legion World Series, Cleveland County Fair, and Destination Cleveland County. They each got the money they requested.
Commissioners should look and see if Destination Cleveland County ever paid back the money the County loaned them December 18, 2012. Their 990s show that they have $6,000,000.
Brendan LeGrand
PS: Thank you for reading and publishing my comments. Hopefully more citizens in Cleveland County will start speaking up for themselves… Not just me and YOU, Mr. Robert A.
