This election has thrown me for a loop. I am more upset that Mayor Holder did not get re-elected than I am about not getting elected. I'm sorry to disappoint the readers of the blog, but regardless of who was elected in Ward 3, they have a good representation on the board. However, there's no voice for the younger generation on the board, but since the younger generation did not get out to vote, I guess they didn't want their voices heard. Now. On to the issues at hand. It's no secret that I did not support Ben Winston. Personally, I can't support anyone that will have an elderly woman charged with trespassing for going to her home church and I cannot support a man that will pay thousands, in order to make sure his city does not get any revenue from the sale of the formaldehyde trailers that led to the demise of the Planning and Zoning Committee. Also, the antics that took place at City Hall the day after election, further let me know that Ben Winston is not the one that could move Lumberton forward.
From what I've been told, Ben promised a lot of people in Wards 1 and 2 that he would terminate the clerks, including but not limited to Merlene and Betty. In addition to his promise to fire the clerks, he's also promised to get rid of Chief Elsie Cowart. Now, what sense does it make to fire the clerks that have managed to clean up the mess that was at city hall to bring back the individuals that got us tangled in this financial web. I have no qualms with Chief Cowart, but I kind of like the idea of Ben bringing back Hobson to the Lumberton Police Department. I think Hobson should be brought back to show those lazy ass voters in Wards 2 and 3 that elections have consequences. So, it's not because I think Elsie is doing a bad job, but she seem to have some issues when it come to arresting certain people. I need a tougher police department because the people in Ward 3 don't think fat meat is greasy. If there are never any consequences, then why would their behavior change? But that's not the point of the post. I'm not going to support Ben if he tries to terminate qualified employees to bring back inept employees in an effort to fulfill campaign promises.
According to my reports, Ben, and Bobby Gibson had devised a plan to get rid of Alderman Jay McGraw while trying to secure their place on the Board. Now, I don't know if this attempt to get McGraw was retaliation on the part of the residents of Ward 2 because he had political yard signs supporting Mayor Holder and Cora Rogers or was this some pea brained idea that was cooked up by Ben and Bobby in an attempt to gain control of the board. One thing is certain, the fact that they did not attempt this failed coup in Ward 4 give me the impression that Tommy Dukes, Jr. is part of Team Winston, so it seems that the lines are going to be drawn and soon we will see who's on what team. That's another problem I have with aldermen that run unopposed. We have no way of holding them accountable because he never told us his plans and he didn't bother attending the political rally. So, we will learn his agenda through his voting pattern.
Now back to the coup. It seem that prior to the election, Gibson was in a tizzy and was threatening to terminate a lot of employees once re-elected. I don't know if this was in direct relation to the fact that he was allegedly stealing water from the city or other issues, but he was writing checks that his...well you know...could not cover. I guess he didn't think Cora Rogers would garner enough votes to unseat him. Well, there were a lot of write-in votes for Ward 2 and they were for someone that did not bother to gather signatures to get on the ballot. Allegedly, the number of write in votes exceeded the number of votes that were cast for Jay McGraw. Well, Jay went through the process legally and he only needed one vote to win. The write in votes were deemed unofficial and could not be counted. So the plans to take over the Ward 2 seat were thwarted because Merlene Wall had the professionalism to contact the Attorney General's office or Delbert Hoseman's office to get clarity on the matter. Well, Ben, allegedly, demanded that the "unofficial" votes be counted. That way they would be able to have Gibson declared the winner and unseat McGraw at the same time. Well, the plan failed. There's a "legal" process that is required in order to get on the ballot. Write in votes are not official votes.
Another thing Ben and the rest of Lumberton must realize, is that Lumberton is a Code Charter Municipality. This means, the Mayor is basically a moderator and a tie breaker. The mayor does not have the ability to hire or fire and the mayor is to carry out the orders voted on by the board. Now, the power is not in the mayoral seat, the power is in the aldermen seat. So, the City of Lumberton is going to have to be on their p's and q's during this administration because I am certain that there are going to be some ethical issues involving our newly elected mayor. At one point, I was thinking of closing the blog after the election, but the voters had the opportunity to shut down this blog, and that was through voting. Surely, I could not blog while serving as an alderman. So, do they think I will be more or less abrasive after losing an election. There droves of the Connection Confederacy love to say I spew hat and that don't read my blog, but most of their references are in regards to what I say on the blog. So continue to convince yourself. I will try to be supportive of Ben, but I also hope Ben receives the same level of respect that he gave when he served as alderman.
This next four years shall be interesting. One thing's for certain, Ben Winston is going to give me a lot to write about. Believe that. Govern yourselves accordingly and remember when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn (Proverbs 29:2).
This election has thrown me for a loop. I am more upset that Mayor Holder did not get re-elected than I am about not getting elected. I'm sorry to disappoint the readers of the blog, but regardless of who was elected in Ward 3, they have a good representation on the board. However, there's no voice for the younger generation on the board, but since the younger generation did not get out to vote, I guess they didn't want their voices heard. Now. On to the issues at hand. It's no secret that I did not support Ben Winston. Personally, I can't support anyone that will have an elderly woman charged with trespassing for going to her home church and I cannot support a man that will pay thousands, in order to make sure his city does not get any revenue from the sale of the formaldehyde trailers that led to the demise of the Planning and Zoning Committee. Also, the antics that took place at City Hall the day after election, further let me know that Ben Winston is not the one that could move Lumberton forward.
From what I've been told, Ben promised a lot of people in Wards 1 and 2 that he would terminate the clerks, including but not limited to Merlene and Betty. In addition to his promise to fire the clerks, he's also promised to get rid of Chief Elsie Cowart. Now, what sense does it make to fire the clerks that have managed to clean up the mess that was at city hall to bring back the individuals that got us tangled in this financial web. I have no qualms with Chief Cowart, but I kind of like the idea of Ben bringing back Hobson to the Lumberton Police Department. I think Hobson should be brought back to show those lazy ass voters in Wards 2 and 3 that elections have consequences. So, it's not because I think Elsie is doing a bad job, but she seem to have some issues when it come to arresting certain people. I need a tougher police department because the people in Ward 3 don't think fat meat is greasy. If there are never any consequences, then why would their behavior change? But that's not the point of the post. I'm not going to support Ben if he tries to terminate qualified employees to bring back inept employees in an effort to fulfill campaign promises.
According to my reports, Ben, and Bobby Gibson had devised a plan to get rid of Alderman Jay McGraw while trying to secure their place on the Board. Now, I don't know if this attempt to get McGraw was retaliation on the part of the residents of Ward 2 because he had political yard signs supporting Mayor Holder and Cora Rogers or was this some pea brained idea that was cooked up by Ben and Bobby in an attempt to gain control of the board. One thing is certain, the fact that they did not attempt this failed coup in Ward 4 give me the impression that Tommy Dukes, Jr. is part of Team Winston, so it seems that the lines are going to be drawn and soon we will see who's on what team. That's another problem I have with aldermen that run unopposed. We have no way of holding them accountable because he never told us his plans and he didn't bother attending the political rally. So, we will learn his agenda through his voting pattern.
Now back to the coup. It seem that prior to the election, Gibson was in a tizzy and was threatening to terminate a lot of employees once re-elected. I don't know if this was in direct relation to the fact that he was allegedly stealing water from the city or other issues, but he was writing checks that his...well you know...could not cover. I guess he didn't think Cora Rogers would garner enough votes to unseat him. Well, there were a lot of write-in votes for Ward 2 and they were for someone that did not bother to gather signatures to get on the ballot. Allegedly, the number of write in votes exceeded the number of votes that were cast for Jay McGraw. Well, Jay went through the process legally and he only needed one vote to win. The write in votes were deemed unofficial and could not be counted. So the plans to take over the Ward 2 seat were thwarted because Merlene Wall had the professionalism to contact the Attorney General's office or Delbert Hoseman's office to get clarity on the matter. Well, Ben, allegedly, demanded that the "unofficial" votes be counted. That way they would be able to have Gibson declared the winner and unseat McGraw at the same time. Well, the plan failed. There's a "legal" process that is required in order to get on the ballot. Write in votes are not official votes.
Another thing Ben and the rest of Lumberton must realize, is that Lumberton is a Code Charter Municipality. This means, the Mayor is basically a moderator and a tie breaker. The mayor does not have the ability to hire or fire and the mayor is to carry out the orders voted on by the board. Now, the power is not in the mayoral seat, the power is in the aldermen seat. So, the City of Lumberton is going to have to be on their p's and q's during this administration because I am certain that there are going to be some ethical issues involving our newly elected mayor. At one point, I was thinking of closing the blog after the election, but the voters had the opportunity to shut down this blog, and that was through voting. Surely, I could not blog while serving as an alderman. So, do they think I will be more or less abrasive after losing an election. There droves of the Connection Confederacy love to say I spew hat and that don't read my blog, but most of their references are in regards to what I say on the blog. So continue to convince yourself. I will try to be supportive of Ben, but I also hope Ben receives the same level of respect that he gave when he served as alderman.
This next four years shall be interesting. One thing's for certain, Ben Winston is going to give me a lot to write about. Believe that. Govern yourselves accordingly and remember when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn (Proverbs 29:2).
I have been told by multiple people that the reason the elderly lady had trespassing charges pressed on her wasnt because she just went into the church and starting praying and he kicked her out I was told that she was part of vandalizing the church and they had to put a restraining order because of that and when she broke the restraining order that is why the trespassing charges were pressed. I am not saying this story is true I was just simple wondering if anyone else had heard this same story? Either way it is a sad situation and I will be praying for both families.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why you haven't included the fact that Ben Winston assaulted Greg Cooley or questioned his claim to be a business man. Everybody knows that the only persons he employed were family. Eugene, Sambo, Tim and Stephanie. If you gonna tell it then tell it all.
ReplyDelete