Editor’s Note: Folks, every person, parent, citizen, taxpayer and voter should be totally appalled about the Health, Safety and Welfare, or the lack thereof, that is MAL-PRACTICED by the Cleveland County Commissioners. READ ON and PAY ATTENTION. The lives you save could be your own or your children’s. Also, watch the Commissioner’s meeting video.
The Cleveland County Commissioners, under the leadership of Chairman Kevin Gordon, Ronnie Whetstine and Johnny Hutchins, all three forming a majority of the Board are up for re-election in 2024. Robert A’s persistence in seeking, even demanding, the Commissions conduct themselves in accordance with the law and in the best interest of the taxpayers has these Commissioners doing strange things. The suggestion that Robert A might himself run for election to the office of Commissioner in 2024 now has the commissioners doing CRAZY things. And CRAZY-ER by NOT doing certain necessary things.
Robert A has previously vowed to the commissioners that he was going to speak at every opportunity at every Commissioner’s Meeting to keep the Commissioners on their P’s and Q’s. Upon receiving the March 21, 2023 Commissioner’s Agenda, too late as usual, to do any detailed review prior to the meeting, but finding three major items of concern that the Commissioners were planning to do at the March 21, 2023 Meeting, Robert A, this time, decided to say nothing at this meeting. Say nothing and let these fools do what they do best-foolish things. And then write about it. Now, before you read any further, make sure you readers are sitting down. If YOU are on blood pressure medication, make sure you have taken it. Or take it now. You are about to be as surprised as Robert A was at the very first action item after the 3/21/2023 commissioner’s meeting agenda was adopted-CITIZENS RECOGNITION. Robert A did not speak, but three women who lived in the very same neighborhood in Shelby and had the very same problem got up and spoke. Every Commissioner and every person in the room son paid close attention. The Commissioners tendency to cover-up got blown to Hell. They didn’t know what to do, much less how to do it. They were caught with their pants down. And knew it.
One of the first orders of business for our form of government, as spelled out in the Preamble to the United States Constitution, is for government to provide for the “General Welfare” of the people. And the Cleveland County Commissioners had failed to remember that, at the most basic level. The Health and Safety of Cleveland County citizens regarding deadly illnesses and for citizens to be safe and secure in their own homes and property.
Rabies has been known to be a deadly disease through out the history of mankind. For the last 100,000 years to be bitten by a rabid animal was a death sentence. Death was the result in 100% of the cases. To immediately safely kill and dispose of any rabid animal was the first priority of every human society. Only in more recent years has a Rabies vaccine become available for household pets that might be bitten by a rabid wild animal. Only recently has a medication become available for treatment of a human that has been bitten by a rabid animal, but it is only successful if the medicine is administered within a very short period of time after the bite. Otherwise, if not successfully treated in time, a person infected by rabies will experience a certain long and painful death. 100% of the time. This treatment presently costs $40,000 and itself requires multiple and extremely painful treatments. If this disease has reached the brain of the infected person, treated or not, that slow and painful death is 100% certain.
Animal Control agencies, including the Cleveland County Animal Control division of the Cleveland County Health Department have rabies control as the very heart or their reason for existence. The Cleveland County Animal Control reports to the Health Department and the Cleveland County Health Department reports to and is accountable to
When the first lady began to speak (and the other two ladies had almost the same exact story) she described her neighborhood as being in the 800 Block of Kings Road. Certain neighbors (likely drug dealers as told to Robert A by other sources) had a number of large, aggressive and biting dogs. Whatever fences the dogs were in, they could defeat the gate locks whenever they chose to get out. And they got out on a regular basis. When out the were aggressive and would charge and attack persons at will. Biting was common place. One lady, wearing jeans that exposed her calves, showed the Commissioner her dog bite wound. Later saying she had only five days left before she had to take the $40,000 medication, unless the dogs had been vaccinated and the vaccination was current. She stated that the Shelby Police Department and the Cleveland County Animal Control had been out many, many times and “DID NOTHING.” One of the ladies stated that on one occasion that she knew of, Animal Control was out and a neighbor was bitten right in front of them. All the women stated emphatically that the Shelby PD and the Cleveland County Animal Control DID NOTHING! They even stated that Animal Control had refused to show them the Rabies vaccination records, if any, that might show whether or not the dogs had been vaccinated recently.
The Cleveland County Commissioners were dumbfounded and non-committal about what to do. One Commissioner stated that Shelby had leash laws, inferring it was the fault of the SPD and not Animal Control or the Commissioners. The Commissioners also broke all their silly rules to silence free speech in Citizens Recognition at one time or another. Even Chairman Kevin Gordon didn’t call time immediately when the timer went to zero. And only then when Robert A pointed this out to the person sitting beside him.
The CC Health Department director, Tiffany Hanson, was present but, apparently like the Commissioners, didn’t have a clue about what had transpired. Likely because Animal Control had not told anybody. Robert A noted Lawsuit, Lawsuit, Lawsuit several time in his notebook he keeps for all the governmental meetings that he attends.
Robert A also remembered the several reports that he had often heard recently that the men Commissioners were all punishing Commissioner Deb Hardin, who is heavily involved with animal issues, by allowing problems to go unresolved at Animal Control because Hardin had been the single Commissioner to vote NO on the last County Budget because Eddie Holbrook’s American Legion World Series, Baseball, Inc. group “has been given so much money by the County while all the others get so little.”
But NOW we ALL know that major problems exist at CC Animal Control and LAWAUIT, LAWSUIT, LAWSUIT is certain if one of these women or their children (or anybody else) contracts rabies because the CC Animal Control DID NOTHING. And it is especially egregious and costly to the taxpayers because the Cleveland County Commissioners have neglected to perform one of the foremost reasons for the Commissioners existence-to maintain the health and safety of the citizens of Cleveland County.
However, there is one thing the Commissioners are right about. They are right to be afraid of Robert A. Especially if he finally decides to fun for their County Commissioner offices, along with two other like-minded candidates in the 2024 Commissioners elections. Robert A would never have allowed any County Agency let-down the citizens of Cleveland County like the present Commissioners have allowed this bad dog biting incident to “get by them” on such an incident with such possibly gruesome consequences. The commissioners will be hearing more from Robert A on this Animal Control, lack of control, issues as well as the issues that caused Robert A to go silent on to begin with. And YES, the Commissioners did what he thought they would do on those issues to begin with. So, folks, make sure your blood pressure medicine prescriptions are filled and ready when Robert A gets around to that.
Stay tuned. You ain’t heard nothing yet, (If that is possible with this foolish crowd of Commissioners.)