Despite my last article “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” stating that I was taking Holiday time off as I believed most everybody else was doing the same thing, my phone began ringing asking if I was OK? Or sick? That they were used to getting up in the morning and first thing check to see if I had posted any new articles.
Folks, thanks for your concern about my well-being. I am alive and well in Fallston trying to avoid the new COVID omicron variant. However, I am not just laying about taking it easy. I have been very busy indeed thinking about the problems we have had in 2021 with bad County, State, and National Leadership at every level. And what little part I can play in making things better for 2022 and beyond.
I will list just a few of the things I plan to do, starting as we speak and rolling out in early 2022. I will use some State Budget and County Budget numbers as starting Points.
The State and County budget for the coming year is very telling. I will list some high points.
The State plans to give $2.2 Million to the American Legion World Series, Baseball, Inc. (Eddie Holbrook’s outfit). I hear thru the grapevine that the County will throw in another million dollars. Totaling $3.2 Million.
The State plans to give $1.5 Million to Cleveland Community College for the newly acquired (for $1.) old Shelby Prison Camp and another $585,000 for the “Prison Education Center.” One has to think, since CCC already has so many empty classrooms on its regular location, plus the new classrooms when the so-called Advanced Technology Center is finished, that this new Prison Education Center is for training prisoners? Maybe jail inmates? (Forget for a moment that the County plans to build a new $150 Million Jail and Courthouse Complex in uptown Shelby.)
The State is giving the Cleveland County Schools $4.9 Million to upgrade the Football Field Press Boxes at the FOUR High Schools; Shelby, Kings Mountain. Burns and Crest. ($1,225,000 each)
So, how much does the State and the Cleveland County Commissioners plan to give Cleveland County Schools for “new” school construction and fix up old schools???
If you said $ZERO, you would be correct!!!
Also,
The State is going to give the County $59 Million toward their new $150 Million Jail-Courthouse complex project.
The State is giving $698,277 to fund a Public Defender.
And other odds and ends. High dollar odds and ends.
Now, what can we do in 2022 that is different?
1. File a “taxpayer’ s lawsuit” against the American Legion World Series, Baseball, Inc. (and perhaps others) to require them to disclose, in detail, to the public what they are going to do with this new $3.2 Million in taxpayer dollars as well as all the other $Million$ the County has given them in the past. To disclose any and all communications between ALWS Baseball and Cleveland County and to disclose all revenue received by ALWS Baseball, which is on Cleveland County School property.
Any citizen that wants to join in this lawsuit please notify me as soon as possible. All citizens would be made aware of all findings in this matter.
2. File a Civil Rights Complaint, under the US Education Department’s Title IX Office of Civil Rights process for gender discrimination as all these $Million$ of dollars spent on the Shelby High School Boys Baseball Field and all the High School’s Football Field Press Boxes are not matched to equivalent facilities for the Shelby High School Girls Softball Team or any other equivalent female related sports facilities as required by Federal law.
I would file this Civil Rights Complaint myself so that I would be the center of all communications with the Title IX investigators. However, I would like any concerned parent of female students harmed by this gender discrimination to share their concerns with me to make sure all bases are covered.
In addition to these new items, I am presently putting the finishing touches on two sets of Affidavits of sworn testimony for submission to the Federal Court in Asheville, NC. This is in regard to my pending testimony in Rev. Dante Murphy’s second Federal Lawsuit against Cleveland County.
One would think that Cleveland County, after having to pay $55,000 in that first lawsuit of Rev. Murphy’s, would have learned their lesson and just done the right thing. But NOOOooo!!! Here we go again.
My Affidavits are drafted and should be ready to serve on Cleveland County, Rev. Murphy, and the Federal Courts with days. Maybe hours.
Folks, I plan on keeping ALL of you informed on every detail of the items in this article. And MORE as they occur.