Tuesday, September 18, 2012 —
You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again. Political candidates pledging to be open with us, the taxpayers, about how and why important decisions are made. Unfortunately, what we discover, is that backdoor politics and private motives too often impact the decision-making processes of the men and women sworn to serve us. What we, the citizens of Stanly County, need are public officials who will research issues, form unbiased opinions based off what they have learned and ultimately share their discoveries and conclusions with the public. Everyone has a trigger point that gets them involved in politics. Two controversial topics motivated me to step into the political arena. The first is ALCOA, which is the county’s hottest topic. The other, that has slid under the radar, is Senate Bill 411 that Representative Justin Burr pushed into legislation last year under the cover of darkness. The most controversial part of SB411 took away the power of the School Board to appoint members to the Stanly Community College Board of Trustees and gave the power to the commissioners. It didn’t make sense as to why this was done. SCC has been pretty progressive. In addition to building a second campus in Locust, they host the successful Stanly Early College. Under information received under the North Carolina Public Records Act, I found it interesting that in the first week of June, Burr sent a letter to the School Board members asking them to appoint Karmen Mock Phillips to the Board of Trustees. Instead, it looked as if the School Board was going to appoint Darrell Almond rather than Phillips. Within two weeks of sending the letter of recommendation, Burr put together legislation that stripped the School Boards power to appoint and gave it to the County Commissioners. At the first meeting in July, the Commissioners appointed Phillips to the position. It’s interesting that Burr, Phillips and Almond are all Republicans. On the surface it looks like one Republican was thrown under the bus to appoint a friend to a governmental board. Perhaps Burr’s motivation was more about cronyism rather than the betterment of Stanly County. If elected, I will have a public debate about SB411 to see if the bill is good for Stanly County. If it isn’t, I will work with legislatures in Raleigh to reverse SB411. Peter Asciutto Republican Candidate for Stanly County Commissioner
