Newsletter about the City Council meeting of June 3, 2014

I began video recording the City Council in 2012, because of my desire that the City do it on their own as any modern 21st century community began doing long ago. I had people tell me that they couldn't make it to the meetings, but they would like to see what is going on. I was also told by some council members that my summaries did not truly reflect the record, so having a video/audio recording cannot be misinterpreted.

So below is the City Council meeting. With each agenda item, you can click on the links and it will take you to that specific point in the meeting. You can always drag the marker on the video display to the point in the broadcast that you are interested in seeing.

Agenda about the City Council meeting of June 3, 2014

Thoughts about the Hickory City Council meeting - June 3, 2014




Invocation by Rev. Antonio Logan, Pastor Friendship Baptist Church

Persons Requesting to be Heard

Mr. Cliff Moone, appeared before Council in an official role as the Chairman of the Democratic Party. On the April 27th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party, a motion was made after some very edifying discussion about Inspiring Spaces initiative, and passed unanimously, to state that the citizens of Hickory should be allowed to vote on a bond referendum before or against the Inspiring Spaces concept. He stated that he was required to bring that before Council.

Mr. James Thomas Shell, addressed Council.  
                                       -  In the Chamber - JT Shell speaks to council


Consent Agenda: Passed unanimously with the exception of Item G, which was postponed to a later date.


New Business - Public Hearings
1. Voluntary Satellite Annexation of 1218 Bugle Lane. - Mr. Jeremiah Turbeville, and wife Tanya Turbeville have submitted a petition for the voluntary satellite annexation of .479 acres of property

2. City Manager’s FY2014-2015 Recommended Annual Budget. - Pursuant to NC General Statutes §159-12(b), a public hearing shall be held before adopting the budget ordinance. This public hearing was advertised in a newspaper having general circulation in the Hickory area on May 24, 2014.

*** Link to the Video of City Manager Budget Presentation
*** Link to the Council Discussion of the proposed Tax Increase (rejected)    

          *** City Manager's Proposed Budget presentation from May 20, 2014


New Business - Departmental Reports:
1. Mack McLeod, Presentation of Zahra’s Tree House. - As part of the City’s fully-accessible Zahra Baker All Children’s Playground, a tree house was conceived to add tremendous value to the facility at Kiwanis Park.  Steve Aaron Fundraising Chairman

2. Vacant Building Revitalization and Demolition Grant for Holbrook Landscaping for Property Located at 2146 Highland Avenue. - Holbrook Landscaping, LLC has applied for a Vacant Building Revitalization Grant in the amount of $30,000 to assist in the renovation of a former mill building

3. Citizen Briefing - The City Manager and Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt are briefing
citizens as neighborhoods, businesses, civic and general public meetings.

Citizen Review - Power Point Presentation 
Ridgeview Citizen Review - Thoughts about the Ridgeview Citizen Review meeting
Citizens Briefing Presentation - 04/29/2014
20140603 - Hal Row 's First Talk - Budget, Inspiring Spaces, & Bond Referendum



General Comments
Alderman Meisner commented that he and Alderman Lail; that Council had appointed through the MPO, had their meeting last week, and three good projects vaulted to the top of the list. Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard is going to get a new northwest quadrant turn. The area where everybody has to turn left, west, now they will be moving around. Also, the 321 bridge, 171 million dollars.  
Mayor Wright commented that needs to be the priority.
Mayor Wright announced Tastin’, Tunes & Tomatoes, every Thursday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Farmers Market. It will include Yoga on the Square, Painting on the Square, Wildskeins Yarn and
Soaps. He stated that former City Councilwoman Sally Fox had requested this public announcement.
Mayor Wright commented that we had the honor of being named one of the top ten cities in North
Carolina to live. It was by an organization called Credit Donkey. We were listed 9th for all of the
reasons that we know, many of the reasons we know this is a great place to live. Short commutes, low random crime. Number 9, we are in company with places like Asheville and many others that are enviable. He was in Raleigh on Sunday and read the Raleigh paper. There was an interested article on Rocky Mount. He encouraged everyone to google it and to read the article, and it would give you a flavor for another city that is going through many of the things that we have only, believe it or not, the outcomes for them has been worse than we have had. Alderman Seaver commented that in his observance of the Zahra Baker playground, nobody worked any harder than Mayor Wright of getting that to happen.
Mayor Wright commented that he is so proud. When we think of Zahra Baker, and that tragedy, we now think of something very pleasant, and not a roadside monument.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hound Note: Nothing to add. There has been plenty of info provided in association with this meeting and the various subjects over the last several days. Click on the links. Do your research. There is plenty to see here. This was a very complex meeting on a lot of levels. Plenty of layers to the onion to discover here.

20140603 - Hal Row 's First Talk - Budget, Inspiring Spaces, & Bond Referendum

The following are two interviews of Hickory City Officials on 1290 WHKYam Radio's First talk program with Hal Row. The  first part is a segment called "Get Hip to Hickory" and it occurs every Wednesday morning. Hal speaks to Dana Kaminske, who is Hickory Inc.'s Assistant Communications Director, about what occurred at the previous night's City Council meeting.

Ms. Kaminske talks about the 2014-15 budget and the rejected 2¢ property tax increase. She talks about the upcoming Bond Referendum and the Inspiring Spaces initiative.


The second part is from the second hour Of Hal's June 3rd program in which he speaks with City Manager Mick Berry and Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt about the Inspiring Spaces initiative and the proposed upcoming Bond Referendum, which will take place in November.

WHKY does not archive these programs and make them available to the public, so I am putting this important public interview up under Fair Use guidelines.


Dana Kaminske




Mick Berry and Andrea Surratt




Previous Discussions involving Inspiring Spaces and the Bond Referendum
Citizen Review - Power Point Presentation 

Ridgeview Citizen Review - Thoughts about the Ridgeview Citizen Review meeting

Citizens Briefing Presentation - 04/29/2014

20131217 - Overview of Concept Plan: Main Av Presented by Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt

Thoughts about the Hickory City Council meeting - June 3, 2014

1) My (JT Shell) Persons requesting to be Heard speech before the City Council

*** Link to the Video

Hound Notes: Why did I write this? Because of some of the things I have witnessed in participating in the Body Politic of our area. Anyone who does not toe the Hickory Inc. company line eventually finds themselves being demonized by the true extremists. We can't have a vigorous debate about the community without some people hitting below the belt and going after others personal lives... 

And I think that it is ridiculous to have members of Hickory Inc. push forward a notion that the newbies to the area know better than the people who have been here. I'm not saying that people have to be born and bred here to know what is going on. What I am saying is that the people who were here before the year 2000 know how successful this community was economically. This area was pushed forward in publications as a beacon and then all of that fell apart. We, who have been here, know that the loss of our industrial base (furniture, textiles, and fibre-optics) is what has decimated this community's economic structure. The people who have moved in here haven't a clue about that.

Many of the new folks think that this is supposed to be a retirement community, because that was what the local Powers That Be pushed forward with the Foresight Commission back in the early to mid 2000s . The efforts made in relation to that report coordinated efforts to market the area heavily to retirees and made no efforts to market, or even maintain, towards the younger demographics. The efforts in relation to bringing the older demographics here did not take into account the necessary balance of demographics necessary to maintain the local economic ecosystem. 

The population was already aging here in the Hickory Metro. We replaced population lost from the losses of industry, but we traded an economically dynamic younger demographic population with an older demographic population; which tends to be winding down as consumers with limited upside economically, because they are on fixed incomes and their wealth has shrunk further due to the economic downturn that began in 2008. Most of the new folks to the area are those retirees that were basically recruited to come here. They think this area was built for them, because that is what they were sold on. Even many of the younger people, as few as there are, who have been recruited here, were recruited under this retiree model and think that is what this area is all about. We have seen the tangible negative consequences of that economic structure. This is not the fault of the new people that have moved to the area. They do however need to understand the mistakes that have been made and why it is in their interest to change our economic model towards something with sustainable growth.


2) No Tax increase in Hickory this year

*** Link to the Video of City Manager Budget Presentation
*** Link to the Council Discussion of the proposed Tax Increase (rejected)

Hound Notes: I am/ We are constantly addressed about how things don't happen behind closed doors and behind the scenes with this Council. Well, here is the link to Hal Row's show from Monday Morning where the Mayor spills the beans about what is going to happen on this night. In witnessing what happened the other night, it defies logic to believe that there was no communication about this subject before the meeting. It is also 100% related to the referendum, moving the Hickory Inc. agenda forward, and the future electability of the council members. It isn't about looking out for the wallets of the public.

*** Hal Row show, Mayor says he does not support a tax increase this year.         

***  20140601 - Monday Morning Meeting with the Mayor

Hound Notes:  Scott Bryan of the Hickory Daily Record was doing a play-by-play on Twitter the other night and he came to much of the same conclusions that I was coming to -- the paving money is necessary and it makes no sense to lump it in with the bond referendum. One of Scott Bryan's Twitter followers said, "@HDR_Scott They hem-&-haw over tax hike for real needs, but when the baseball team wanted ballpark upgrade $, they were all for it." I appreciated what @HDR_Scott said here, "If this building was on fire and a tax increase would put it out, I don't think Hickory City Council would approve it."

If they have a shortfall, then they are now going to have to use money from the unfunded balance (ie the Rainy Day Fund/Savings). Lumping the paving money into the Bond Referendum sure seems like an attempt to cajole the public into voting for the whole Enchilada that is the Bond Referendum for their Inspiring Spaces fund... and they speak volumes about the political dynamics involving the situation. Everyone basically agreed that they cannot raise the tax rate 2¢ now going into the vote on the referendum and then turn around and raise the tax rate again next year and in the future to get to the 10¢ that they need. Also, the values of property have fallen in the area. Assessments in Catawba County are going to be lower for the upcoming year. Tax rates are going to have to rise in order to get back to revenue neutrality. Hmm... where have you read this before?

Thoughts about last night's Hickory City Council meeting - May 6, 2014 - Check out item 3

Hickory Inc. had to take a different tact and not raise taxes before the referendum, but it is already seen that by one way or another that they are definitely (99%) raising taxes next year and going forward to pay for these projects. The only tax they are apparently looking at is the property tax, when every one of the communities they have been to, that they want to take parts from in transforming Hickory, have Business Improvement District taxes. The proposed Downtown Sidewalk should be paid for by Downtown Interests, because the benefit to the businesses there far exceeds the benefit to the general public.

I am not against all of these efforts. I am concerned about the administration of these efforts and the coordination, prioritizing, and accountability going forward in relation to the Inspiring Spaces initiative.


3) Zahra's Playground at Kiwanis Park Treehouse presented by Parks and Rec Director Mack McLeod

*** Link to the Video

4) City Manager Mick Berry presents a Citizen Review to the Council

*** Link to the Video

Citizen Review - Power Point Presentation 
Ridgeview Citizen Review - Thoughts about the Ridgeview Citizen Review meeting
Citizens Briefing Presentation - 04/29/2014

No Tax increase in Hickory this year

The Mayor and the Council voted unanimously to not raise taxes this year. The consensus is that they didn't want to go into the Bond Referendum with a tax increase and then have to ask for another tax increase. Road paving will move forward with the monies coming from the unfunded balance (the rainy day fund). They will take their chances on the operational costs shortfalls (revenue uncertainty) and any shortfall will also come from the unfunded balance built into the General Fund.

In the Chamber - JT Shell speaks to council

My Persons requesting to be heard speech before the City Council:

Thank You Council,

I hope you will be patient with me. I will be as brief and courteous as possible. I am not up here tonight to tell you what to do. That would be a silly, futile endeavor. I am only here to express my opinion.

I am not a Friend of Hickory. I am part of the blood and the fabric of Hickory. I was born two blocks from here at Hickory Memorial. My Mammaw Shell was one of the lead nurses there. Ben Goodman Sr. was my Doctor from the time I was born until he retired and his family was good friends of both sides of my family.

One of my most vivid memories as a child was being in the Medical Arts Clinic, because I had been infected with poison ivy. I told Mammaw that I wasn't going to get a shot and she said I wouldn't have to. Well Doctor Abernathy was there, not Dr. Goodman, and he wanted to give me a shot. Well, his nurse pulls out a needle about this long and I took off running. By the time my grandmother caught me I was six blocks away over on the other side of Lenoir-Rhyne. I know how small Old Hickory was, and living in the St. Stephens area most of my life, I know how big it could be. I know the potential there. Potential that has never really been tapped into. Why? Because the focus has always gone back to the wealthiest areas of this community.

I have been accused of being an enemy of Union Square when I knew that place intimately growing up. I understand it's easier to label others than to try to understand where they are coming from. We all do that to a certain extent. My Pappaw Shell was the switch operator at the depot, before he became a clerk at Hickory Chair, and he took me to see the last passenger train stop at the depot back in the mid 70s. My mother was a personnel recruiter and she worked in the building above McGuire's pub for several years. My family bought our clothes at Spainhour's and Zerden's. My grandfather Padgett bought me food and magazines at the original Post Office BBQ. My other grandmother Mattie Padgett, who is nearly 92 years old, and not in good health these days, was a radio personality for years at WIRC. For years I wondered why people would call her Lillianne and then she did the swap shop until she retired at the age of 75. I can go on and on. but no one can honestly say that I don't know or understand Hickory?

That coffee table at the Snack Bar that you chat at Mr. Mayor, I used to sit there occasionally with my Grandfather Vic Padgett and others. I am not foreign to the good ole boy shootin' the bull that takes place in Hickory.

Unfortunately, I take umbrage at something that Alderman Lail said at the last city council meeting. To paraphrase, he said that the people, the transplants, who have moved here have a better idea of what Hickory is all about than the long time residents.

Now, I've known Brad since we were 14 years old. He might not know that his uncle and my uncle were roommates at Chapel Hill for a time. His grandparent's store was two blocks from my grandparent's house over off Sandy Ridge road. Our families have connections like many of the long time residents of the area. Some of us have been financially more fortunate than others -- congratulations -- and some of us have the perspective of the struggle that are these times -- no congratulations are necessary.

These people that have moved here are more socially and politically malleable than the long time residents who remember what an economically dynamic, hustling-bustling Hickory was like to live in -- it wasn't Quaint. You mistake these people's conformity with what y'all are pushing as some kind of higher calling from those who must know better.

Folks, they are going along to get along with a desire to fit in and tap into the power structure. A gentleman a couple years ago talked about showing the council an "attitude of gratitude" to get them to be more receptive to your interests. Folks, it doesn't matter how congenial you are. If your interests don't fall in line with many of these council people, then you will be pushed to the side. That can be done with a smile, if you just accept the way things are, or you can be painted as a heretic and called evil as some of us have been. If you push back and try to achieve an economic, social, ultimately political transformation, it can yield negative consequences to your personal wellbeing.

This brings me to one final thought, the "Friends of Hickory", which seems to have been formed of, by, and for the Hickory Inc. Power Structure in response to another group that has attempted to be agents to move this community forward towards a tangible 21st century conventional reality. If you believe that the Citizens for Equity in Government movement is the Enemy of Hickory, then you are very much misguided.

I have to admit I am a bit envious of the Friends of Hickory Incorporated, when I see how charmingly they have been treated; especially in comparison to how I have seen others treated. In the end, I say welcome to the arena, because any community organizing endeavor will help move this community forward. We should all work together when possible, but that doesn't mean that we should not have a vigorous debate regarding how this community moves forward.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone with what I have said here; not really. I am an American. I have a responsibility and a legacy to carry on to be free and brave and express myself.