McIntyre Breaks Pledge to District 7

Way back in 1996, when NC District 7 Representative Mike McIntyre was making his debut as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he put ink to paper, signing a document and making a pledge to only serve six terms, or 12 years, as a representative in the U.S. House.

Mcintyre 6 Term Limit Pledge - 1996

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law defines "pledge" as: "a binding promise to do or forbear". 14 years later, we still have Mike McIntyre as a representative, and he's campaigning for another run for the same seat. With his soft smile, "favorite uncle" wrinkled brow; and tendency to shower the region with federal taxpayer money carefully donated to specific friendly causes, McIntyre is quite beloved in this district. However, one should not be quick to dismiss the intentional, wanton ignoring of this pledge. What else is McIntyre dishonest about? This pledge was not merely a political game or a photo-op moment; but a commitment to the constituents that he serves right here in District 7.

Recently, McIntyre has been feeling the pressure from the Tea Party movement, and has been airing television ads openly attempting to distance himself ideologically from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid - it doesn't go unnoticed however, that McIntyre voted for Pelosi to become Speaker - twice; the latest just last year.

So who is the real Mike McIntyre? As demonstrated here, I think it's fair to say that he's dishonest to say the least; if not an outright liar. How can one pledge themselves to their electorate; sign their name to a binding document promising to do a thing; and then turn around and ignore it; all while asking that same electorate to cast their vote for him yet again? It is quite mind-boggling.

The Founders envisioned citizens SERVING their communities and their states in Congress temporarily, and then returning home to private life to live, work, and take care of their families. Not suddenly obtaining a political career, and a lifelong free ride on the backs of taxpayers simply by virtue on being elected to office.

McIntyre is a career politician who will say whatever to whoever to get elected, and will even sign his name - which has been symbolic of assigning personal honor to something for centuries - and not think twice about ignoring and violating that which he pledged to do. It's time to dismiss the career politicians in Washington; and begin to elect true citizen-representatives.

Meet NHC's New Highly Paid Community Affairs Specialist - Carl Anthony Byrd

 NOTE: At the time of this post, your blogger had forgotten that DWI charges go from Level 5 being the least, to Level 1 being the worst. Byrd's Level 2 conviction was the worst of the two.

When New Hanover County decided to close its five member Human Relations Department as a budgetary decision, four workers were out of a job. One member, former director Carl Byrd, was retained and repositioned with the county in one of the two newly created community affairs specialist roles, which pays significantly less, at anywhere between $41 - $63K/year . As director of the Human Relations Department, Byrd earned about $89,000 a year. As a community affairs specialist, Byrd earns about... $89,000 a year; minus what is withheld due to mandatory furlough days. In addition, his Rotary Club dues are picked up by the taxpayer as well for good measure. The other community affairs specialist earns within the salary window for the position.

Why the discrepancy? Part of the reason is that the county has a rule that says if someone is given a lesser job title, then as long as it's not for disciplinary action, they are entitled to keep their salary intact. Plus, it's probably a good idea to have some friends in high places - especially if you're the same Carl Anthony Byrd with a rap sheet.

That's right folks - meet the guy in charge of dealing with the affairs of the community. Byrd was convicted of a Level 2 DWI; but somehow skated away from doing time by being found "not medically able to serve a sentence". Next, "carrying a concealed gun". This time, the charges are dropped by the D.A. Remember how important I mentioned it is to have friends in high places? Last, but certainly not least, Byrd graduates to a Level 5 DWI; is found GUILTY - but manages to get out of that as well with a small fine.

Who is Carl Byrd? Well besides being a convicted criminal, he's apparently really good friends with some prominent political figures, and pretty cozy in the judicial system here in NHC. Oh yeah - he's also your new highly overpaid community affairs specialist.

Byrd's criminal record:

Byrd Criminal Record

Wilm and NHC Weight Loss Spectacle: Taxpayer Expense

Most readers are probably aware that leaders in both the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County have engaged in an pointless effort to boost their already over-inflated egos - a local contest framed after NBC's "The Biggest Loser" between Mayor Bill Saffo and Chairman Jason Thompson. (Please Visit: http://wilmingtonrants.ning.com/forum/topics/government-finally-trimming) Politicians losing weight has now become an official function of government, as evident by the costs incurred as a result of this exercise. Some say this is a vicious slap in the face after taxes have been raised across the board in both the city and the county this year - on a citizenry struggling to make ends meet in these currently poor economic conditions.

Cutting the Fat Out of Government Web Site - Invoice

That's right - taxpayers have footed the bill for a county-owned dedicated website to track and monitor this nonsense. www.CutTheFatNHC.com was purchased by the County from GoDaddy.com for $22.13. It's not the monetary amount that is the cause for concern. At the heart of this issue is the question of 'what is the proper role of government?' Should government be able to launch and fund entertainment enterprises at its own arbitrary will with the taxpayer's resources and money? Conducting this little initiative costs us more than the 22 bucks because a team in the county's IT Department, on taxpayer-funded salaries had to design and execute the website; not to mention the other administrative and functional costs in other departments in both the city and the county to conduct this little game.

It would be best for politicians to lose weight in the privacy of their own lives - like the rest of us. To make this a spectacle by calling it an official function of government is a disgrace and a bitter insult to struggling taxpayers. How much better it would be if cutting the fat out of government for REAL - i.e. saving the taxpayer's money - was an official function of government, as it used to be.

Letter from LaNasa to New Hanover County

North Carolina statute 163-182.14 says: "A copy of the final decision of the State Board of Elections on an election protest shall be served on the parties personally or through delivery by U.S. mail or a designated delivery service authorized under 26 U.S.C. § 7502(f)(2) if that delivery provides a record of the date and time of delivery to the address provided by the party." (emphasis mine)

The latter part of that statute is where the controversy exists. Justin LaNasa, a successful businessman and former county commission hopeful, has been embattled with the county and state Boards of Election for some time now, challenging the legitimacy of  New Hanover County's sales tax referendum that appeared on the ballot May 4th of this year; barely passing voter approval. LaNasa's argument has consistently been that county officials were aggressively advocating versus educating the public regarding the facts behind the referendum.

The latest chapter in this sordid tale is the fact that in order to comply with state law, the Board of Elections had to serve LaNasa with official election results  in accordance with the statute spelled out above. The delivery of such a letter must provide "a record of the date and time of delivery", which would indicate that one must send such a notice via registered and/or certified mail. However, LaNasa's letter arrived to him via regular First Class mail, sans the recorded date and time delivered stamp. Whoops!

Here is a copy of the letter sent from LaNasa to county officials regarding this matter:

Justin LaNasa Order

Lies & Deceit from the Caster Campaign

WWAY has uncovered deceitful tactics being employed by the Bill Caster campaign. David Benford, a Caster campaign worker, crafted a letter to the editor blasting opponent Brian Berger, and echoing messages in Caster's radio ads almost verbatime. Caster and Benford crafted a plan via email to have a regular citizen to sign the letter as if they had submitted it of their own accord.

Enter Phyllis S. Smith, the lackey for their plan. She signs the letter and it gets published in the Star News. WWAY did a inquiry into the county's email system and uncovered the whole thing. When they called Benford, he said he knew nothing about it and had nothing to do with any of it. Caster denied everything as well. When WWAY divulged that they had the emails to prove their involvement, both men got real quiet, and then changed their whole story.

Watch this video and read the report on this incredible story: http://www.wwaytv3.com/video/only_3_we_uncover_email_proves_caster_campaign_not_truthful_about_letter_editor/06

Wilmington City Council tries to Play God

Several heated discussions took place on Tuesday night's City Council meeting; one which we will discuss in detail here. For starters, the ridiculous proposed budget passed 5-2; which you can read about here: http://wilmingtonrants.ning.com/forum/topics/unbelievable-breakdown-of
and here: http://wilmingtonrants.ning.com/forum/topics/cow-finalizes-tax-increase

Another interesting subject of discussion was that of the proliferation of internet sweepstakes gaming parlors. You would think that these places are nothing more than some horrible den of debauchery and fornication due to the way they are presented and vilified by Kevin O'Grady. The freshman councilman made numerous remarks on these establishment's profitability and how that was a reason to seriously regulate them. As if lawyers (of which is his profession) do not make serious profits as well. He would go back constantly to an argument concerning simply that of land use and zoning, but then back it up with the profitability and the preferential arguments that these places just don't match his vision of what Wilmington should look like.

The supporting documents that accompany the resolution are very evident of a government trying to step outside of its role and play God with the business sector; picking winners and losers based on their personal taste and preference.

Please see this document to see what I'm talking about: http://wilmington.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=20&clip_id=2263&meta_id=73397

Councilman Sparks exhibited about as much disdain for such businesses; but for different reason. They prey on the poor and weak, and only "godless heathens" would support their existence. Never mind the common sense approach that people only walk into one of these places and spend money if they so choose of their own accord, and are not coerced in any way. Never mind that the NC State Lottery could essentially be subject to the same argument - although nothing was ever mentioned of this.

The hearing and vote on the resolutions were postponed until the next City Council meeting. Whether or not you frequent these establishments, or even care about their existence is beside the point. If you care about your own liberty and prosperity, and the right you have to be safe from government interference into your personal economic decisions, this issue should scare you. We cannot allow this city government to proceed forward with their plan to order businesses to operate within a severely limited framework, and one that limits their profits. That is not economic freedom, and no government has this right. We are seeing the same thing trying to take place in Washington today, and the same arguments apply.

If councilman O'Grady has his way, he will order these business owners to come before the mighty Wilmington City Council, present their tax forms, balance sheets, and profitability figures; and he will render a decision that impacts whether or not they continue to be in business or not. These are people who play by the rules, make their investments in business, hire a workforce, and feed their families based on what they make from their business. We cannot allow government to rule tyrannically in this manner. This affects each and every one of us.

New Hanover ABC Board pays Attorney Rountree $102,000+

A document obtained by the New Hanover County ABC Board shows that from 2008-present, the Board compensated attorney George Rountree III a total of $102,221.72 for services rendered.

Late last year and into the beginning of this year, the former members of the county board were under heavy fire for openly disobeying state open meetings law, competitive bidding laws, and a whole host of other questionable activities due to little or no oversight by the county. During those proceedings, it was reported in the Star News that attorney Rountree was retained by the Board to represent the members, although they were never officially charged with any crime or wrongdoing whatsoever. The entire issue cleanly disappeared when the three members of the ABC Board promptly resigned just as their house of cards was beginning to topple.

However, there is absolutely no answer as to why the ABC Board has had Rountree retained permanently, and has compensated him so much over the past two years. In the State of North Carolina, ABC Boards are public boards, and by law are to operate in the view of the public, and even are supposed to be comprised of members of the public. On the surface, there appears no need or reason for a public ABC Board to retain an attorney for an extended period of time; and even their deferral to Rountree in the wake of the public scrutiny surrounding their activities remains questionable.

More to come - stay tuned.

Document revealing compensation for Rountree:
ABC Board Rountree