Sunday, October 27, 2013
Comment on Today's Situation
This morning I came home from breakfast and found out that Joe Brannock had been arrested yesterday. He is a friend and I am shocked by these allegations. I am sure that many have come here looking to find out information about these charges or other information about Joe. I have not spoken with Joe. He has limited contact with anyone. Any conversation I have had with anyone has been of a private nature regarding these serious accusations. Please remember that in America those charged under the law are innocent until proven guilty. I am sure that more information regarding this will be coming forward soon.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Abracadabra - Always Moving Forward
Concerns and differing points of view do not equate to bitterness. I believe in the future of a Hickory that is made up of the melting pot of people I grew up with, work with, and go to church with. We see a lot of ongoing intolerance in our community. You seem to want me dismissed and ignored. Isn't it time that Old Hickory gives New Hickory a chance to show what they can do to move the community forward?
The Hound: I'm not going to name names, but a couple of curious things happened at my work today. A person called my work, that those who have followed this last year-plus would definitely recognize, and basically wants my boss to fire me.
Then someone made a reservation for 16 tonight and didn't show. The name on the reservation would be very, very, very recognizable...
It certainly would be no conspiracy that some people that are in the latter years of their lives need to grow up. If this is how you display power, then what power do you have.
Abracadabra
The Hound: I'm not going to name names, but a couple of curious things happened at my work today. A person called my work, that those who have followed this last year-plus would definitely recognize, and basically wants my boss to fire me.
Then someone made a reservation for 16 tonight and didn't show. The name on the reservation would be very, very, very recognizable...
It certainly would be no conspiracy that some people that are in the latter years of their lives need to grow up. If this is how you display power, then what power do you have.
Abracadabra
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Thank You for fairness HDR - My response to Sunday's LttE about this forum, the CEG, and myself
Mrs. Nancy Willingham, it is not I who has constantly evoked your father, the former Mayor's name. Your father is no longer with us, but you certainly don't seem to mind bringing him up every time you enter the body politic. You did it when you ran for office in 2007 -- after you had not lived in the community in decades -- and you did it last year when you stood against bringing back direct ward representation. I never proactively evoked your father's name.
Times change Mrs. Willingham. This isn't the 1960's. It seems like those running this community want to take it back to some bygone, nostalgic era that wasn't as rosy a picture, for some, as they would like to paint. Ask African-American people in this community if they would like to go back to pre-1970. That is the reason why in Ridgeview they voted 250 to 5 for bringing back direct ward representation. Every precinct in South and West Hickory voted heavily for the referendum.
You seem to think I have written to harm your father, which has never been my aim. It is your group "Hickory United" that's been constantly vitriolic and evoked negative stereotypes in this community. Who or what are you attempting to unite? Certainly not the diverse ethnicities in this community.
The Citizens for Equity in Government's platform does not look backwards. It moves forward. Hickory needs Term Limits for Mayor and Council. We don't need 20 year Mayors and Council members. There needs to be accountability and transparency in how the city is governed. We need representation for all and not just for Hickory's most wealthy and connected.
Concerns and differing points of view do not equate to bitterness. I believe in the future of a Hickory that is made up of the melting pot of people I grew up with, work with, and go to church with. We see a lot of ongoing intolerance in our community. You seem to want me dismissed and ignored. Isn't it time that Old Hickory gives New Hickory a chance to show what they can do to move the community forward?
The Hound: I didn't want to print this here, before first giving the HDR the right to print it. The Letter to the Editor from Sunday by Mrs. Willingham was published in the HDR and so I felt it deserved a proper response in that forum.
On Sunday, I put an immediate response in this forum, because I was not going to allow the forum and the Citizens for Equity in Government to be damaged by mis-characterizations/representations. I have tried to think of what riled up Mrs. Willingham so much and have come to the conclusion that besides the "in general" support of direct ward representation and attempting to provide play-by-play and color of how that came about, I think she was upset when after the ward voting I said, "Now on to the Julian Whitener Finals" in this election. I was being a little humorous, but is that not what it is? Is the current system not the system that he fought for for over a decade until it was implemented in 1970?
There is more to say, but I've had this pretty much pegged from the beginning going back six years ago. As I said in the last article when I commented on what Pat Bowman had written in her Letter to the Editor in Regards to "CEG Candidates", "these people hiss CEG when they say it." They don't even know what those letters stand for, why the CEG came into existence, or what the CEG's mission is. All they know is that we have a different point of view regarding the way Hickory has been managed/led since its inception and believe it is time to move forward towards modern realities.
We believe the way Hickory is/has been run (more like controlled and manipulated) has had a direct negative impact on it's ability to grow and progress. No growth equals no jobs or economic progress... None of that equals no more money in your pockets... for most means dwindling wealth. The reality is that the status quo is not going to cede one ioda of power willingly.
Times change Mrs. Willingham. This isn't the 1960's. It seems like those running this community want to take it back to some bygone, nostalgic era that wasn't as rosy a picture, for some, as they would like to paint. Ask African-American people in this community if they would like to go back to pre-1970. That is the reason why in Ridgeview they voted 250 to 5 for bringing back direct ward representation. Every precinct in South and West Hickory voted heavily for the referendum.
You seem to think I have written to harm your father, which has never been my aim. It is your group "Hickory United" that's been constantly vitriolic and evoked negative stereotypes in this community. Who or what are you attempting to unite? Certainly not the diverse ethnicities in this community.
The Citizens for Equity in Government's platform does not look backwards. It moves forward. Hickory needs Term Limits for Mayor and Council. We don't need 20 year Mayors and Council members. There needs to be accountability and transparency in how the city is governed. We need representation for all and not just for Hickory's most wealthy and connected.
Concerns and differing points of view do not equate to bitterness. I believe in the future of a Hickory that is made up of the melting pot of people I grew up with, work with, and go to church with. We see a lot of ongoing intolerance in our community. You seem to want me dismissed and ignored. Isn't it time that Old Hickory gives New Hickory a chance to show what they can do to move the community forward?
The Hound: I didn't want to print this here, before first giving the HDR the right to print it. The Letter to the Editor from Sunday by Mrs. Willingham was published in the HDR and so I felt it deserved a proper response in that forum.
On Sunday, I put an immediate response in this forum, because I was not going to allow the forum and the Citizens for Equity in Government to be damaged by mis-characterizations/representations. I have tried to think of what riled up Mrs. Willingham so much and have come to the conclusion that besides the "in general" support of direct ward representation and attempting to provide play-by-play and color of how that came about, I think she was upset when after the ward voting I said, "Now on to the Julian Whitener Finals" in this election. I was being a little humorous, but is that not what it is? Is the current system not the system that he fought for for over a decade until it was implemented in 1970?
There is more to say, but I've had this pretty much pegged from the beginning going back six years ago. As I said in the last article when I commented on what Pat Bowman had written in her Letter to the Editor in Regards to "CEG Candidates", "these people hiss CEG when they say it." They don't even know what those letters stand for, why the CEG came into existence, or what the CEG's mission is. All they know is that we have a different point of view regarding the way Hickory has been managed/led since its inception and believe it is time to move forward towards modern realities.
We believe the way Hickory is/has been run (more like controlled and manipulated) has had a direct negative impact on it's ability to grow and progress. No growth equals no jobs or economic progress... None of that equals no more money in your pockets... for most means dwindling wealth. The reality is that the status quo is not going to cede one ioda of power willingly.
Pat Bowman - Citizens for Equity in Government hasn’t endorsed
On several occasions, certain spokespersons from the Hickory United PAC have written falsely about so-called CEG-endorsed candidates for mayor and city council. Last year, Citizens for Equity in Government did lead a conservative, smaller government initiative to give citizens in their wards a more representative voice in city government.
While that referendum narrowly failed at the polls by 140 votes, the CEG continues to advocate for more transparency and broader representation in city government. Like almost every candidate for mayor and several for city council, the CEG wants to institute term limits and to have the council meetings broadcasted on the Charter public access channel.
But unlike the PAC, Citizens for Equity in Government has not publicly endorsed any candidate for mayor or council. While CEG may endorse candidates in the future, at this time we remain a grassroots, citizen’s coalition focused on issues affecting good governance.
We invite others to join with us for a better, more inclusive Hickory.
PATRICIA BOWMAN
The Hound - Pat is an integral member of the Citizens for Equity in Government. There are plenty of misnomers in relation to the CEG that have been been expressed by Hickory United Political Action Committee, its previous iteration "the No Steps Backwards Coalition", and the area's entrenched officials and their close support staff and hatchetmen who have been behind all of this. They never say Citizens for Equity in Government, because they don't want to talk about the CEG's mission. They hiss out CEG when they say it. Let me ask. Who represents the average citizen in this community?
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