We won if you didn't know! - Dr. Jody Inglefield - November 7, 2013

We won if you didn't know!

The number of votes for change was much higher than expected. Typically we lose 65% to 35%, but this race was much closer at 55% to 45%. 500 votes made it a squeaker for the status quo.

Seismic Shift!! How did we get this 10% boost? It was the hard work of telephone calls, canvassing, and getting out the vote. Also, our cyber champion the Hickory Hound Thom Shell has moved the numbers with his news and analysis after years of providing the only recordings of city council meetings. Shazam!

Think about how hard everyone worked! CJane Johnson, my sister Wendy, and their relentless heroes rallied tirelessly at home and at headquarters fighting for the people of Hickory. Grassroots democracy lives in Hickory! I join our whole region in thanking my campaign staff and the voters of Hickory for their courageous efforts in helping reclaim our city for the people. The fierce grip of the old days and old ways prevailed; but the balance is shifting.

We have learned that hard work in the field makes a difference in Hickory. We can use this as we move forward. Words fail me as thanksgivings arise for everyone who stood up to help me, for everyone who lives in Hickory.

I do not list the names here due to the real possibility that they could be hurt and intimidated by the powers that are in control. You know who you are and I will be thanking you personally.


A special thanks goes to Jason, my communication director, who threw his heart into the campaign. He was an outstanding advocate for me and for my values. I greatly appreciate as well Jeff and Susan Brittain's brave endorsement. I was happy to stand with Anetia Wright in her run for city council, and Karen Hoyle her manager. I appreciate her support and willingness to stand up for Ward 4 citizens. She was the choice of her ward, but denied the right to represent them due to the at- large system that has corrupted the vote in Hickory.

Desperate signs popped up like weeds in the last week of the campaign (as my signs strangely disappeared?) at every abandoned lot and intersection in Hickory and at the polls election day. Those signs seemed to point to Rudy Wright's Tumblr site!!! (who is that masked man????!! Beware of getting on his bad side!!!) I got a real headache the last time I looked.

If you want to read about what is happening in Hickory government don't depend on the Hickory Daily Record, voice of the incumbents, or the Charlotte Observer that completely ignores the city with no reporting of any substance. The days of the press investigating and balancing the forces of government with truth finding and fair reporting are long gone. If they even hint at issues they get stomped on, like the issue of conflict of interest, at least they forced one council member out.

Don't forget it is all "insider trading," all of it. It is pay to play, just look at any city committee or commission. "Detractors" is the term that we hear as our moniker, we should wear it with pride. Yes, we don't care for cronyism, no bid contracts, refusing to produce public information, destroying public recreation facilities, and failing to report conflict of interests. How many times can you rebrand again and again? "To be, rather than to seem"(esse quam videri) is the North Carolina motto, certainly not Hickory's.

Never again will the shenanigans of Hickory Inc. go unnoticed. Join me as we move forward to continue to detract, irritate, and exacerbate our city misleaders and mismanagement. We have only just begun. Keep following the money, it is all they care about, not you.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support as we Move Forward.

Sincerely,
Dr. Joseph T. Inglefield III

Election numbers

OK, so the stats from the election are above. The maximum number of votes were in the Mayoral election. We can assume that there were about 4,774 people that voted in this election. Maybe there were a few more votes, because people might not have voted in the Mayoral race, but I doubt it.

It is obvious to see that there are many people who are uncomfortable sticking their noses into other wards elections. Based on the maximum vote count, in Ward 4 291 people didn't vote, in Ward 5 463 people didn't vote, and in Ward 6 974 people did not vote.

Dr. Inglefield did a poll back in August and the poll was pretty much dead on for both the primary and the general. In round numbers, the primary numbers showed Mayor Wright at 45%, Dr. Inglefield at 26%, Ernie Masche was right at 10%, and Terry Revels at the time was the highest of the others.

I personally feel that Ernie Masche's numbers were climbing somewhat until the HDR ran the article showing his voting record, but I don't think he was going to climb up to challenge. Ernie was in a race with the Mayor. The percentage that he was taking away from the Mayor, I guesstimate was around 10%. So Ernie could have gotten to 20%. That number would have pulled the mayor down to 35% in the primary.

Dr. Inglefield's poll also showed the Mayoral race right around 56% to 44% and that is where it ended up. I'll see if Dr. Inglefield will allow me to show that poll to the public. But, the election ended up pretty much right where it started. As I said earlier, the Status Quo has eroding support. Dr. Inglefield got less than one-third of the vote in his Senate race against Austin Allran and he got 44%+ of the vote here.

Dr. Inglefield was up against it because he was painted as the Liberal Democrat and people around here pretty much vote according to Politically Ideological labels. It doesn't matter about policy or what you truly represent. The local media did what they always do and that is quite a shame.

As elections move forward, the internet is going to play a more prominent role. People caught on that there was information available through alternative means out there. When one looks at the primary, they see that Jeff Brittain came up in the rankings. In Dr. Inglefield's poll he was less than 5% and he climbed up almost double that in the primary. Candace Harold also climbed and I feel that was due to her getting out and meeting people and also what she said in the debates. But, currently the elections are dominated by the voting of the older demographic in this community and they don't get their local news from the internet.

It was a very interesting election for everyone except those fighting tooth and nail to maintain the status quo. Everything played out pretty much as it should under the current electoral circumstances in the community. We don't know much about what the Incumbents stand for, but we are 99% certain they are going to raise your taxes. Lot of valuable lessons to be learned here. Some will learn and others.... ehh, they already know everything anyway ;).

To the victors go the spoils

Old Hickory wins... the Old Hickory Platform - to the victors go the spoils

1) Divine Right City Council as authorities
2) Family, Personal Friends and Business partners get first dibs on Boards and Commissions
3) Who cares what outsiders think. They don't understand us. We do things our way! The Hickree way!
4) Health? Who're you calling fat. We were built on Beer and Cigarettes. Y'ain't gonna live fer ever.
5) Bring me yer ideas and I'll talk with my buddies about 'em.
6) Information belongs to US. What don't you understand. Don't like it,  then lawyer up. Dare ya.
7) Town Halls... why in the world would we want to do that?
8) Public-Private partnerships. Private as in privacy.
9) There are no conflicts about our interests. We know what they are.
10) Neighborhood Associations are for our benefit not yours buddy, Get it! Got that!

The Complete "Platform for a 21st Century Hickory"

Hickory Hound by the numbers

I've met a lot of people here lately that have a hard time with mathematics, because they have a complete lack of interest in anything related to numbers. That is one of the saddest states of affairs in this nation. If you don't understand math, then how do you think you are going to understand money? Money is math. I digress.

Last month there were over 6,000 unique views on the Hickory Hound. I have that set up in the most conservative fashion possible with the ISP statistic program I utilize, because with myself I want as realistic of numbers as possible.  I also had, in the month of October, 10,411 pageloads of the various articles that have been written over the past 5 years.

Now detractors are going to dismiss any numbers as small potatoes and that is their right. I think we all know that this site becomes more relevant each and every day. This is journalism. Unfortunately, the Old School media's journalism has become all about not upsetting the apple cart and about sales. Many of you have been supporting a system that works against you. A system that by its design puts you in a box. A quarter of the people that come here are the people that want to put you and keep you in that box. They come here to study the person they view as an enemy's playbook. The other three quarters are coming here to seek information they can't get elsewhere. They know that what they are hearing from the old school sources just doesn't feel right.

But when you put 6,000 unique views in October in its proper context, think of Hickory (proper) as being 40,000 people and the largest city in our neighborhood Charlotte (proper) as having a population of 775,000 people. So Charlotte is  19.375 times the size of Hickory when it comes to population. Think about a Economic and Political information resource such as the Hickory Hound that was devoted to Charlotte's issues. Comparing a per population number. of 6,000 unique views would equal 116,250 views in a month in such a scenario. That is the context in which you need to view the Hound's numbers. Not in some sort of static small potatoes mindset.

Speaking of which, Charlotte's population today is 775,000 and ours is right around 40,000. In the year 2000, Charlotte's population was 570,000 and Hickory's population was 37,000. In the past 12 years (2000-2012 rounded), Charlotte's population grew by 36% and Hickory's population grew by 7.5%. The numbers diverge even greater over the past few years. We know that the Hickory population grew in the AARP group of 55 and older. We can also see where those 18 to 44 year olds have moved to, can't we.

Moving Forward with Reality

We lost again, but we won again

Dr Inglefield had a very solid showing and it is obvious that the Status Quo's automatic support is eroding. 55% to 45% with a heavy turnout for a municipal election is a lot better than the 66% to 33% we have seen over the past generation. The Status Quo has seen over 10% of their support erode. 

Rudy has stumbled into fortunate political consequences, because had Hickory Inc.s policies not run the 20 to 44 year olds out of town, then Rudy would not have been re-elected tonight. On the other hand, the city cannot survive without those young people. Oooh... what a conundrum.

I will go over the stats tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the day Status Quo. We salute you.