Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 6, 2011: Addendum Workshop on code enforcement and commercial building updates.

All Council members were present. City Manager Berry initially addressed the Council. He stated that this would be an update of work that had been initiated in December 2010. In September 2010, the Council appointed the Rental Property task Force and put them to work, working in conjunction with members of the Hickory Police department and Code Enforcement . They met for a number of meetings and came back to the Council with recommendations. This is a follow up to explain how those recommendations have been implemented.

Reed Baer initially addressed the Council from the podium. He first gave an update regarding the chronic violator ordinance. As an update to the issue of Chronic Violators of the City’s Nuisance Statutes, Mr. Baer pointed out that two property owners at the end of last year (2010-11) accounted for 25 cases. The department projects to have 10 to 12 individuals cited as chronic violators by the end of this fiscal year. Even if these individuals only are responsible for 5 cases a piece that would result in 50 to 60 cases. The North Carolina General Statutes have changed and this has helped in dealing with repeat offenders as stated in Chapter 20 of the Nuisance Ordinance. This ordinance was changed by City Council in October 2010. This year the Department will no longer have to go through the full process of notification in dealing with these chronic violators. Each individual case can take up to 30 days. With the Chronic Offender label, the process becomes expedited. Captain Baer believes that this change of code is working.

There have been 3,182 nuisance cases, 441 Housing cases, and 113 demolitions since the Code Enforcement Unit was established. Of those demolitions, only 4 have been presented to Hickory City Council as to whether to demolish or bring up to code. When looking at Current Open Cases (still in the process), we see that there are 124 cases total, of those 54 are related to minimum housing standard issues and 70 are violations of the nuisance ordinance). That is an average of 41 open cases per the three Code Enforcement Officer. These are not static cases. Cases are getting closed out and opened every day. Currently there are 54 active housing cases and 70 active nuisance cases. Initially, when this program began they were dealing with mostly nuisance cases and now they are dealing with mostly housing cases. He stated that this is related to the economy.

Captain Baer next talked about the issue of Proactive versus Reactive Enforcement. Proactive Enforcement is defined as the Code Enforcement Officers discovering a violation and reporting it. A reactive enforcement issue is when anyone else reports a violation to the Code Enforcement Department. When the program was first initiated in 2008-09, 80% of the cases were of a Proactive nature. That number fell to 25% is 2009-10 and last year (2010-11) it fell to 5%. What has happened is that in the first year the program was new and people in the community didn’t realize its existence. In subsequent years more citizens, along with the police and fire department officials (during routine inspections) have called in and reported issues and violations.

What Code Enforcement is seeing now is a lot of vacant properties. The Western Piedmont Council of Governments has helped Code Enforcement establish the fact that there are approximately 400 empty commercial properties within the city limits of Hickory. Two hundred of these are free standing buildings. When looking at Code Enforcement Issues of Commercial structures versus Residential Structures one sees that in 2011, 30% of the total code enforcement issues that the city faces involve commercial properties, last year (2010-11) that number was 11%, in 2009-10 that number was 6%, and in 2008-09 the number was not tracked, because Mr. Baer stated that issue had not come to mind during the initial stages of the program. What we see is more businesses closing as a result of the economy and people walking away from these properties. We also see absentee owners becoming a big issue with the people who have inherited these properties not realizing the issues with their properties.

Alderman Lail compared the 5% reactive enforcement to the 30% commercial building code violations and asked how citizens would have any idea about what was inside a building and a violation. Capt. Baer stated that it isn’t what is inside the building. It is what is on the outside. The Fire Department also is doing routine 6-month safety inspections and reporting the issues. Alderman Lail stated that this is proactive (Fire Department), because it is City initiated. Alderman Guess rhetorically asked that the Department is no longer able to be reactive, because they have to work on cases that have been reported. Capt. Baer agreed. The other part is with the transition from nuisance cases which take 30 days, the commercial cases can take up to 90 days depending upon the violation.

Captain Baer next got into the issue of the work overload that the Department is facing. He addressed the issue of 9 residential cases and 8 commercial complaints that have been started due to a current lack of resources. This was qualified by stating that there were presently no public safety issues involving these properties. Captain Baer displayed where these properties were located and regarding the commercial units, 6 of the 8 were located on the southern quadrants of the city.

In 2010-11, there were 156 housing cases completed. There are currently six cases ready for presentation to the City Council for resolution. All six cases are residential properties. They are scattered throughout the city, unoccupied, and all are owned by heirs of an estate or absentee property owners. It takes time to chase the owners. It can take six months or more.

When looking at the 782 nuisance cases from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, one sees that 297 (38%) cases were due to overgrown grass and vegetation, 125 (16%) cases were due to Junk vehicles, and 360 (54%) cases were due to trash and debris. A big issue is that commercial buildings are being cleaned out and the debris is being left outside of the building. Alder Fox asked if the city cleans that up like they do the grass? Captain Baer stated that there is a system in place where they can, but the first step is to contact the property owners and take them through the process. Alder Fox asked about the percentage that have not paid? Capt. Baer answered that collections would have that number. He added that we definitely have property owners who are walking away from their property. Police Chief Adkins addressed the council stating that it was about 5% of the cases where the city has had to abate issues through contractors.

Captain Baer focused on a specific building in presenting an issue that city officials believe could indicate issues for the future involving abandoned commercial properties. The property is the former Southern Desk Building. The case was opened on March 29, 2011. The Fired Department initially reported the structural issues with the building to Catawba County Building Inspections. They saw that there were piles of junk sitting outside of the building. It was initially a nuisance issue. Currently there are over $16,000 in fines that have been assessed against the building. The Power will be cut off to the building on September 6, 2011, because Catawba County has posted the building as unoccupiable and at this time the property will most likely become an HPD Code Enforcement case. The building currently has issues involving graffiti, trash, debris, deteriorated structure, and unsecured premises.

The building owner has done nothing with the nuisance case and they continue to expect that he will operate in the same manner and not abate the issues. Capt. Baer anticipates starting a minimum housing case, because the property is unoccupied empty commercial building.

The trends show that the city will see more of these issues. Alder Patton asked how much it would cost to abate this issue, whether the building owner or the city? Captain Baer stated that estimates to take down and clean up the property are $150,000. Alder Patton then asked about the tax value of the property? Capt. Baer answered $50,000 (Land). The building is pretty much unrecoverable. Alderman Lail asked if this was an issue of the property owner being unwilling or unable to deal with the issue? Capt. Baer stated that they have indications that the property owner is set to declare for bankruptcy.

Alder Fox went into the issue of how this property has been a problem for years. Capt. Baer answered a question from Alderman Guess about how long it will take to deal with the issue by answering that there are laws that allow a quick resolution based upon the severity of the danger.

Alderman Lail stated that in the end that the public is going to have a lien interest, 4 times the property value, in this that is unrecoverable. He stated that he doesn’t know what the city council can do about that. Attorney Crone stated that in a case like this obviously you don’t want to spend $150,000 on a property and find out that it is benefitting a bank or someone else who has priority as far as a lien on the property. There may be a way around that, but we’ve just got to look into it. He says that there is some collaboration, because he is sure there are unpaid taxes (Tax liens) on that building. The property isn’t in foreclosure according to Staff Attorney Arnita Dula and Mayor Wright stated that he is sure that the banks don’t want to foreclose on this property. It was further pontificated that there may not be a banking interest, because the building may be paid off.

Attorney Crone stated that after tonight there will be a title search done on that piece of property. Atty. Dula stated that they have already done a title search on the building and there are no liens on the building.
Capt Baer interjected that not all commercial property issues are gloom and doom. There have been successes, such as the Mongolian BBQ that was on Hwy 70 that was torn down and a new building is going in its place. He also added about the Village Inn Pizzas that burned and restored.

Alder Patton asked about the budget in dealing with this Southern Desk Case ($150,000 for demolition)? There is a line item for demolitions and this property does exceed it for the whole year.

Alderman Meisner asked about boarding the property up for safety nreasons. Capt. Baer stated that it would have to be boarded up to code. The city would also be responsible for monitoring that property to ensure that it remains secured. Alderman Meisner asked about Code Enforcements authority to make this decision to board up or demolish. Capt. Baer stated that the officer with Building Inspector certification does have the authority to make that decision. City Manager Berry interjected that typically this is done by the owner – boarding up. Capt. Baer added yes, if they are able to board it up, but there is a certain level that it has to meet.

Manager Berry spoke of how this sort of property is in Planning Director Brian Frazier’s field of expertise from his previous experiences and this type of property can possibly be used as an industrial park. The reality is that the city is going to be upside down in it. Attorney Crone added that this property may have environmental issues and one of the last things you want to do is buy a piece of property that has environmental issues.

Alder Patton added that one of the things that she has seen in studies, such as Hickory speaks, is how tired these empty industrial buildings make the city look. They just bring everything down. We need to have a big enough budget to take down these eyesores one-by-one. Obviously they have a plan and this would improve the overall appearance and viability of Hickory.

Manager Berry spoke about the Conover Station and redevelopment in speaking about what the city can do if they are willing to take ownership through various processes, because it does open up other avenues for other revenue sources. You can access different pots of grant money that the public doesn’t have access to. The Sothern Desk property is 4 acres.

Alderman Meisner stated that it is just the nature of the beats that these properties are not located in prime areas. We could be sitting on these for 10-20 years. Manager Berry added that in talking with Scott Millar there is a small narrow market out there for internal redevelopment opportunities. Maiden has a site like this. Alderman Meisner then talked about the issues with the Joan’s Fabric building.

Alderman Guess next asked about when the Danger Issue becomes the City’s problem? Manager Berry answered that from tonight it is being brought to attention that it will shortly become our problem. Alder Fox added that this property has been coming our way for years. Unless we begin to cklean up other things that are going on over there, it is going to be very hard to redevelop those 4 acres. In the last two weeks she has had a property and business call about break-ins. We are just dealing in minimums. There are other areas that say, “This is not what we want.” She listens to the West Hickory folks… It’s like, out of sight, out of mind…. Jill is right about the branding initiative. Riddled throughout that book are comments about empty buildings. Just because that is not an area where we all go. That’s not fair to the stable people that live over there and the business owners that live over there. In the long term, $150,000 is not a lot of money.

Alderman Lail spoke to successes along Tate Boulevard and stated that Highland Avenue and down Old Hwy 70 is also an issue and maybe we need to do some redevelopment zones.

Captain Baer answered a question about recommendation for the future of Code Enforcement. Capt. Baer stated that they need more resources including another Code Enforcement Officer. Alderman Guess added a question about how many more officers they needed. Capt. Baer stated that they needed an officer per Police Pact (5 Pact) would be ideal, but anything added to help out with the load would be beneficial. Alder Patton asked about costs of demolition and Capt. Baer stated that it depended on the condition of the building, but the average for residential buildings has been $2,500. These commercial buildings will be significantly more.

Manager Berry expressed that this is the reason why he brought up the issue of Southern Desk, because these issues are going to be more complex and adding an officer isn’t necessarily going to take care of the problems and bring forth a burst of activity. Alder Fox asked if this was the largest commercial property where we currently see multiple problems and Capt. Baer answered yes.

Manager Berry stated that another issue would be, if another officer is hired, current property owners becoming upset about more proactive Code Enforcement and they will be getting calls about why code enforcement officers are giving them such a hard time when they are struggling to make their business run.

Alder Patton interjected if it is a residential building and there are issues, would you like your wife, mother, daughter, or granddaughter living there? When people complain about having to take care of their property that is what you are expected to take care of it and don’t let things slide. Alderman Guess stated that they get plenty of calls from the other (residence) side of it. He wants to move forward with this and add personnel. He understands that there are ramifications to it. It does more positive for the people in neighborhoods. Alder Patton and Alder Fox concurred. Alder Fox talked about the stability of 17th street and how one other property needs to be gotten rid of and it would be a very stable street. The manufacturing problem has been a drag on that end of town. . It isn’t fair to the people that live there.

Mayor Wright stated that he had no other way to judge the backlog of 17 cases. He doesn’t understand what a reasonable amount of caseload would be. We need to commit some money to demolition. Capt. Baer reminded the Mayor that the caseload is not a stagnant 41. There are cases opened and closed every day. The Mayor stated that the backlog of 17 cases is probably about normal isn’t it? A city of our size, we have 3 enforcement officers and a supervisor. Is that not enough. Capt. Baer reminded the mayor that we have two officers and a supervisor. The supervisor handles a full caseload too.

Alder Fox tried to pinpoint when action would be taken to move this process forward. We put this off and we keep looking at these properties and with the current climate, it doesn’t take one or two properties to drag down stable areas. She stated that she would like to have something before us in two weeks.
Manager Berry said it wouldn’t take a lot of time, but he wants to caution that we are moving into a new policy area for the City of Hickory. They have tried to paint the big picture of how these things could ultimately end up. He tends to want to be more cautious when moving into new areas to make sure that you know what you are doing.

Alder Fox asked why we are stepping into new areas when we have this division and obviously they need more help. Manager Berry responded that it is because we have this big building here and obviously it is going to cost more... hundreds of thousands of dollars... to get taken care of and have big legal issues wrapped around in terms of ownership and how they get disposed of. It isn’t as simple as putting another person on the street that takes care of tall grass and junk vehicles. The Manufacturing buildings have more teeth, nuance, and cost involved with them. Alder Fox backed off stating that she guessed the action part of it is about the personnel. Manager Berry added that the personnel issue is all about being able to spend time on the Southern Desk type of case.

Alderman Lail made a point that it isn’t just about work load. It is a matter of all of these big vacant buildings that people aren’t going to do anything with. The mayor interjected that =it isn’t like there is this building and we’re just going to tear it down. There are too many variables involved. Alderman Lail stated that in conversing with Atty Crone that we could potentially set a precedent.

Atty Crone talked about case-by case bases for these issues. Once you own things in the chain, you can’t just indemnify yourself out of it by selling it for a dollar. He went on to talk about the issues of bankruptcy. Council needs all of the facts and data to make decisions on a case-by-case basis. Alder Fox said her point is that she has seen the Southern Desk problem for years. If these people need another person give them another person. Manager Berry stated that it isn’t the city’s issue until it crosses that safety boundary etc. It might be an eyesore, but it might be structurally sound. The Mayor finished by saying that ideally if we have to act that we want somebody to have to pay us back. Alderman Guess stated that he sees it as two different issues. Southern Desk stands by itself and it needs to be researched about how we tackle it, but the other issue is that he doesn’t think it is normal to have 17 cases outstanding, that they don’t have enough resources to put forward. You have 17 cases now. How many are you going to have six months from now? It’s two separate issues. The Mayor compared a backlog of 17 cases and stated that in his business they always want a backlog, Alder Fox responded that she doesn’t think they want a backlog of nuisance issues and vacant buildings dragging down otherwise fairly stable streets.

The Hound believes when you ask Manager Berry for an Apple, he’s going to bring out a rotten orange and when you ask him for an orange, he’ll bring you out a rotten apple. People don’t want either. They want what they ask for. Captain Baer and the police force are saying that they are overwhelmed and the stats show that they are overwhelmed. In these times, when the economy stinks to high heavens, It is obvious that they are going to need more help, because there are going to be more issues. Just go ahead and get them another officer.

The issue with Southern Desk isn’t complicated at all. Get the ducks in a row and tear the building down and expedite the process. You can look at that situation and see that it needs to be dealt with and Alder Fox is right that it should have been dealt with long ago. Maybe someone on that Council could get with our local media and explain to the people of this community what a serious issue all of this is. If 10% of those 200 vacant buildings need to be torn down at an average cost of $50,000, then that equals ($50,000 x 20) = $1 million. If it costs another million to facilitate the paper work, then so be it. $2 million to get rid of those buildings that are never going to have a useful purpose again is money well spent.

The mayor’s comments and his history show that he is reluctant to spend money on anything. I understand not being wasteful, but we aren’t talking about waste at this point. What we are talking about is the viability of our city. The Mayor seems like he doesn’t ever want to do anything and Manager Berry carries out those wishes. Like I said, you talk about Southern Desk and he’ll talk about a Code Enforcement Officer. You talk about Code Enforcement Officer. and he’ll talk about Southern Desk. They talk everything to death and run around in circles like a dog chasing its tail. I honestly don’t think anything is going to get done on this issue unless someone steps up and is forceful about moving forward in this process.

I think one of those old manufacturing buildings would be ripe for redevelopment as an amphitheater. Don’t waste the materials. Dismantle the building and recycle what you can to mitigate the costs. Think Camden Yards in Baltimore and how that revitalized the Inner Harbor. What about partnering with Lenoir-Rhyne to revitalize that Highland Avenue Area for use as student apartments and classrooms or to build a bigger arena for athletics?

Don’t give up on manufacturing! We just have to work with others to bring a level playing field as far as fair trade practices, then we need to position ourselves for modern manufacturing in energy, robotics, and other mash up industries that will be formed by future trends. Hey Brad and John Crone. Precedents are a good thing. We were a world leader in manufacturing. We need to be a world leader in setting a precedent of how to get out of this freaking maze we find ourselves in. Sitting on our hands and waiting for others to figure out our problems isn't going to accomplish that.

Or we can continue to talk everything to death and wait until the buildings cave in to deal with the problem and see real estate values continue to plummet and the city continue to sour. I am with those that are ready to take action on this issue. It is time to overthrow those who all too willingly desire to pass the buck down the road. Once again who is going to look out for the younger generations? It seems like the only thing we’re going to be handed down is problems.

What is Going on at Hickory City Hall?!?!?

The Hound: Today we crossed the 50,000th Unique Viewer mark and last week, August 28, was the 3rd anniversary of the Hickory Hound. We have come a long way, but in the end we haven't gotten as far as I would like to be at this point in time. I truly appreciate those who care about this community and the encouragement that they have lent me during these trying times.

The following letter was sent to me personally through an anonymous source. The funny part is that at first I did not even open the letter, because I thought it was junk mail; but when I did, I knew it was very relevant to thoughts that I and others have expressed to one another in communications over the last several years. This is a source who I guarantee is one of those people who I describe above. These people don't like the direction in which this community is headed. They aren't complaining. Many of them are angry, frustrated, and fearful of what they see. The local media acts like a megaphone for our local government, never asking questions... never allowing debate. Why would people not be frustrated, when the perception is that local official's interests do not seem to embody our own.

I have redacted two statements in the letter that might distract from the topic at hand. Most of what is detailed in this letter has been expressed to me by several sources in the past; the vast majority of whom do not want to go on the record. Issues, such as these, are constantly explained away as isolated incidences by the leaders of this community. What we see is a pattern and that pattern establishes credibility of those who have chosen not to go on the record for fear of retaliation and implied intimidation. So without further adieu, I present a letter that says a lot about what is going on behind the scenes in the Halls of Governance of Hickory.

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To whom it may concern,

How can the citizens of Hickory trust the judgment of a leader who cares more for his personal gains than the needs of the residents? In this case, I am talking about City Manager Mick Berry and his "Mormon pipeline." How can Mr. Berry continue to recruit, hire and promote only those with his personal religious beliefs?

Several years ago, he started an internship program that has brought the City of Hickory 5 interns - all but 1 were Mormons from BYU (Mr. Berry's alma mater). Yes, that is in Utah! Yet a very respectable Public Administration program is just up 321N at Appalachian State University, not to mention the various other schools that are much closer. His first intern, Mike Bennett, had a position created for him (although the rest of the city was in a hiring freeze). Since then, Mr. Bennett has been the recipient of several promotions and pay increases(while others have been under a pay freeze since 2008, his pay has changed from $40K to $75K). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.. Conflict of interest?

Mr. Bennett was the recipient of a "new" position, Assistant to the City Manager, that was created for him after his internship ended. He was then moved into a temporary position leading Piedmont Wagon (bus system) until it broke off from the city. He was then promoted to Finance Director in February of 2010. Then Mr. Berry created an entirely new department for him by combining Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology and called it Administrative Services only a few months later in June 2010. This was supposed to save money and improve services. What?! Yet there continues to be several city departments that only have 2 - 5 people, including the City Manager's Office. Were these promotions for Mr. Bennett offered to anyone else? No one I know saw or heard about these jobs! I think they were simply appointments made solely for him by Mr. Berry.

This practice was also evident in the Google fiber-to-the-home project that the City of Hickory and Lenoir bid to receive. Hickory hired 2 "consultants" to work on this application that was later awarded to Kansas City. It was stated that Paul Baird was a fellow Mormon. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. According to public records, Mr. Baird was paid $21,375 and xxxxxxxxxxx was paid $19,325! This was for about 2-3 months of work which could have easily been accomplished with volunteers in our community and cooperation with Corning and Commscope. Was this a good use of the city's money? Did it have anything to do with the Mormon relationships and keeping the money in the church? Also, neither of these people were engineers who could propose a design for Google - they were marketing people only. GottaGettaGigabit!

I read an Internet article about Mormon discrimination. And, no, it is not about other religions discriminating against them! There was a chart showing that Mormons were more often defendants rather than plaintiffs. Mr. Berry is using his position to further the careers and pad the pocketbooks of his fellow church members. Who controls the actions of the city manager? These are city tax dollars and I would much rather see our sanitation workers get a slight pay increase (when they have to work in extreme conditions and on many holidays) as opposed to another promotion for Mr. Bennett or $40K+ for Mormon consultants to work on a project with no direction!

A few months ago, there was a scandal involving City of Hickory employees who sold scrap metal from a demolition site. According to the Hickory Daily Record, this resulted in 2 people being fired and 4 on probation. Yet, according to sources inside the city, Mr. Berry decided to cancel his city cell phone and move the l-year-old Droid phone (paid for by city money) to his personal account. How can he publicly attack these workers for not maintaining the trust of the citizens when he takes home public property for his personal gain? It is even worse since he is the highest paid person in Hickory and the third highest in Catawba County!

Like many of us, I know several people who work for the City of Hickory. According to these contacts, morale is extremely low inside the organization. With Mr. Berry's personal agendas, unfair hiring and promoting practices, hiring freezes for non-Mormons and no pay increases since 2008, I understand why! As soon as the economy improves, we stand to lose a lot of good public servants.

If the Hickory City Council chooses to continue ignoring the self-serving, biased practices of our city management, then we (the citizens of Hickory) need to make a statement by replacing them! We are past due for a change in leadership. Hickory deserves a council and mayor that are progressive, innovative and willing to make a difficult decision when it is necessary. The time for strong conservatism and looking the other way has past.

Thank you.

The Corporate Mindset vs. Survival -- by Silence DoGood

Has anyone paused or stopped to consider how, exactly, Washington can create jobs? By that I mean, while perhaps well intentioned, how can the President or Congress force/encourage/cajole companies to hire new employees? I’m giving both the benefit of the doubt at present with the “well intentioned”.

The direct method is that Washington has the ability to create jobs through expansion of its own labor force. You can interpret that as new Federal civilian employees and the military. However well intentioned that concept might be, how can the nation sustain such a hiring blitz on the basis of reduced revenues and a lack of productivity in the private sector? The more optimistic of you might think that would have been a better use of the money used to stabilize the financial institutions and support any number of other programs used to support an idle labor force and it gets people at least working. The pessimistic among you will think this is just another way of increasing the size of government, increase the tax burden, or social engineering. So how many people could the Federal Government put to work? Well, a few actually. I’m sure there is a new program that needs administering or a new place with lots of sand or jungle that we haven’t fought over yet. They could even trickle money down to the States and Local Governments to drive them forward… for a while. The big stimulus is getting ready to run out of funding. When that happens, projects started or continued and people hired are going to be eliminated because recovery and sustainability has not been what or where it should be.

The indirect method is instituted by lowering the corporate tax rate or offering tax breaks to companies relieving part of the income tax burden as a means of generating hiring. Does it work? There is really no direct answer for that question. It can work low scale, but what happens after the tax breaks run out? Why would companies hire new employees with no prospects for sales or market for their products? According to the last numbers I saw, recession recovery is being done without hiring. Jobless recovery is the term used today. Technology is replacing some of those positions, others have been outsourced, and some just simply aren’t coming back. In this new paradigm of jobless recovery, the numbers are estimated at 2.2 million jobs lost that will never be recovered. Gone, ain’t coming back, wave good-bye. With the tax breaks option, the optimistic number of jobs that could be generated is in the range of 700,000 on the top, 250,000 on the bottom. The total number unemployed at present hovers around 10 million.

So in the interest of listening closely to what is being said, how precisely, is government or any politician going to create new jobs? And an even better question to ask is, what kind of jobs are going to be created if they can, in fact, accomplish this feat? Politicians and Presidential hopefuls like to cite their records on job creation. What they don’t tell you is what kind of jobs they are bringing in, since they don’t really create job one unless they hire someone themselves. They create environments or make conditions suitable to Corporate America to hire people. Basically, Government is willing to eat a loss of revenue across time to bring a large corporate monolith to your area, in addition to sweetening the pot with promises of cheap labor, why, corporate America is all ears. So again, what kind of job is it that is being fostered through tax incentive?

It’s true the economy is growing so it’s not all doom and gloom I suppose, but the growth is at the top of the economic scale. The Koch brothers each saw their earning increase by $15 billion each this year alone and we’re just into the 3rd quarter. Corporations have seen their profits grow, and the top earners come mostly from Wall Street. Millions and millions of dollars are pumped into political causes in an effort to maintain control and perpetuate economic growth at the top of the scale. And these people and corporations pay that money to ensure that the rules stay in place so that they continue to amass wealth.

Now can someone explain to me why it is that the people, all of these millions of people that are out of work and looking or trying to find work, are supposed to do more with less, but why can't the Koch brothers and corporate America do the same? Why can’t they take $7.5 billion and invest it in something viable to help America? Why can’t GE, or Glaxo, or pick-a-corporation reduce the size of their lobby budget they use to buy influence and use that money instead to inject growth in the American economy? Why can’t Exxon-Mobil take half the profit they’ll make per quarter and reduce fuel to an affordable level in an effort to help everyone and reduce the negative effects of recession, since we’re all in this, allegedly, together? They’re still making money hand over fist compared to the rest of us, how about giving the rest of us a chance just to make it at least.

Why not, indeed! There is nothing to be gained by Corporate America or the dandies of Wall Street or those on the Billionaire list to do any of that. They know that compliance and docility comes from having those you seek to control in a state of weakness; economic, nutritional, and educational. Which is why they pay the money they do to the lobbyists they hire in order to get the legislation passed that makes practically everything they do legal, or at least legitimate.

There is nothing legal or moral about starving, in a literal or figurative sense, millions of people into submission. You can color it, twist it, package it, or spin it any way you feel the need to. It doesn’t change the bottom line of what is. There have only been two other times in our history that so much was owned by so few. The aftermath of those times brought Federal regulations with one and a global depression with the other. Don’t you think that there was a really good reason that Woodrow Wilson instituted a progressive tax on the wealthy and that it was allowed to remain in place as long as it did until Reagan abolished it? That reason was that Wilson knew the dangers of concentrating so much wealth at the top.

Whether you agree or disagree with me, in whole or in part, we all know that something has to be done. It’s the how of it that is presently in contention. But I’ll leave you with this observation. As long as the bulk of capital remains located at the top, those with it will only use it to gain more and to enhance their control of everything they can. Until that money starts flowing down, in the form of loans for houses, cars, and durable goods that serves to put people to work, things will not change. Until the rules that allow money to be off-shored and that allow goods to be imported and take advantage of cheap labor in other markets, things will not change. Billions have been spent to foment the creation of those rules. Words and votes must be fomented to bring about their elimination. What we have to understand and grasp the concept of is, it is a better use of capital for millions of American workers to buy a house, a car, or furniture than it is for a couple of billionaires to buy a mansion for $35 million, a painting for $10 million, a Ferrari for $500,000, or Congress for a bunch of meals at five star restaurants or some plane rides around the country, or hiring the Congress member’s kid into their corporation with a do nothing job and a big salary.

It’s time we reasserted the notion that merely because you have money doesn’t give you title, benefit, or privilege beyond anyone else that may not have the assets you enjoy... That owning a successful business makes you good at business and a bit lucky, not a Demi-God of economic prowess... That with greatness comes greater responsibility and not just to yourself, but mankind as a whole... Because how is it you have been successful in the first place? What good is the product or gadget if there isn’t someone who purchases it? It's time Corporate America took stock of that second word in the title; America.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- September 4, 2011

Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years - CNN Money - Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney September 2, 2011 - Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%, the Labor Department reported... "This month's numbers continue to bear out that longstanding pattern that minorities have a much more challenging time getting jobs," said Bill Rodgers, chief economist with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University... Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972. (The Sense of Urgency needs to shift from vacations and travel to how are we going to help the poor and middle class find jobs. The Black population needs to wake up to the fact that they have been used by Barack Obama and realize that he hasn't done anything to represent the socio-economic group that the vast majority of them belong to.)

U.S. creates no jobs in August - Active Post - September 2, 2011
Gallup: Unemployment Went Up—Again—in August - CNS News - Terence P. Jeffrey - September 1, 2011



Roubini Sees 60% Chance of A Double Dip in 2012, China and Brazil Also at Risk - Business Insider - EconMatters - Sep. 1, 2011 - Party heardy NYU economist Nouriel Roubini went on Bloomberg TV on Aug. 31 to give his latest prediction of the global economy: "We’ve reached a stall speed in the economy, not just in the U.S., but in the euro zone and the UK. We see probably a 60 percent probability of recession next year, and, unfortunately, we’re running out of policy tools.....and sovereigns cannot bail out their own distressed banks because they are distressed themselves."Regarding markets and QE3. "There’ll be more monetary easing and quantitative easing done by the Fed and other central banks, but the credit channel is broken. ...the market is rallying on the expectation of QE3, but I think it will be a short-lived rally. The macro data, ISM, employment, and housing numbers will come out worse and worse, the market will start to correct again."The bond market is already expecting a recession.

Precious Metals Surge As QE3 Now Merely A Formality - Tyler Durden - Zero Hedge - September 2, 2011


U.S. Is Set to Sue a Dozen Big Banks Over Mortgages - New York Times - NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - September 1, 2011 - The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter..  The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims...  The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.


DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar - Red State - Ben Howe - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas. In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information.

CHRIS DANIEL:  Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor?
HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ:  They actually wrote that in a pleading.
CHRIS DANIEL:  Excuse me?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ:   They actually wrote that it a pleading.
CHRIS DANIEL:  That your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of our labor?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ:  Yes

In America The Rule Of Law Is Vacated Bank fraudsters, torturers, and war criminals running free -by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - August 31, 2011 -With bank fraudsters, torturers, and war criminals running free, the US Department of Justice (sic) has nothing better to do than to harass the famous Tennessee guitar manufacturer, Gibson http://rt.com/usa/news/gibson-guitar-raid-wood-489/ , arrest organic food producers in California http://rt.com/usa/news/food-agents-year-milk/  and send 12 abusive FBI agents armed with assault rifles to bust down yet another wrong door of yet another innocent family, leaving parents, children, and grandmother traumatized. http://rt.com/usa/news/fbi-family-adams-home/...What law did Gibson Guitar Corp break that caused federal agents to disrupt Gibson’s plants in Nashville and Memphis, seize guitars, cause layoffs, and cost the company $3 million from disrupted operations...No US law was broken. The feds claim that Gibson broke a law that is on the books in India. 

Gerald Celente - Economy is going to get Much Worse: I begun trading   Gold   in 1978 , my first buy was at 187 dollars and fifty cents an ounce , and what's different now and then that people do not understand and why they think it is a bubble and it is not is back then it was only the United States that was really playing the gold market you had guys like The Hunt Brothers that had cornered the silver market for example it is a whole different world now , back then there was the red Chinese nobody was doing business with them and Russia and Eastern Europe were locked behind the Soviet Union's iron curtain , there is a whole global game going on it is a global meltdown and Gold is the ultimate golden safe heaven that's gold is going so high it is because everyone knows that the only way that the Europeans or the Americans can get their way out of this mess they are actually not going to get out of it but to keep the Ponzi scheme going is by printing more money but they put those white shoe boyz labels on it such as 'QE2' and 'QE3' it means just printing more money and by the way : interest rates the FED have said that they are going to keep them down near zero until mid 2013 and the European Central Bank ECB is talking about lowering them and so the lower the interest rates go and they stay low the higher the price of gold goes it is simple arithmetic ...there is another thing too that I wanted to mention when people are talking about comparing gold to the real estate bubble and the Dot Com bubble , those are real bubble , the Dot Com bubble was built on these silicon valley con artists that had no business plans but a lot of Wall Street barkers hype , and the real estate market was just that a bubble , they created remember they had those wonderful adds on TV you know your house is as good as a piggy bank take out a home equity loan , people flipping homes buying pre construction priced condominiums in Florida that's a bubble this is not a bubble , the bubble is the fake money that the Federal Reserve and the European Central Banks are printing ....

I apologize

I want to apologize for not being able to do more than I do. I am sorry that I am not more effective in discussions with the public. It is truly unsatisfying that I can't get through to people, whether because people don't accept the message, because it is too complex or I don't go into enough detail. Why am I doing this at all? It isn't acceptable and it really doesn't even matter.

I am sorry that I have pointed to areas of disagreement that I have with various members of the government. They are smarter than me or they would not hold the positions they do. Who am I to provide an opinion. I understand that they have feelings and that some of what I have said has harmed their ego or self-esteem. It hasn't been my goal to hurt people's feelings. It isn't my goal to harm them. My goal has been to show where I feel that the government is not representing the best interests of the people, but who am I to question motives? We should trust that these people have all of the answers and we really have no right to question them, because we are the ones who empower them and give them their authority. We should know that they are going to look out for our best interests.

I am sorry that there are many of us in this community who are made to feel that we are less worthy than others and don't deserve to expect better or aspire to climb the ladder towards a better way of life. Who are we to desire a better standard of living, just because we work hard; after all we are supposed to be here for the people who have established themselves as the best individuals who come from the best families. The members of these families can't help they came from wealth and their grandparents and great grandparents and so on provided for them. It is just natural that they are better than we common folk. They are the Better People. They are Special. We commoners should just learn to understand our role in life and move on to and accept how life is and is supposed to be. We are not here to question. We are here to provide our obligation.

I apologize for not accepting my role. I am saddened that I have not been worthy enough to be able to establish myself in such a wonderful community where everyone looks out for one another and has everyone's best interests at heart. If I get in trouble with the law it should be looked at differently than if a member of the Better People runs afoul of the law. They deserve that margin of error, because one of their parents or grandparents afforded them that luxury. It's alright if one of them robs somebody or drinks and drives or snorts cocaine, because they can afford it. We commoners should know better, because we have no business doing things such as that. Why? Because that's just the way it is.

I truly appreciate what my family has done for me and the principles and values that they provided as my foundation. I regret that I have not been able to do them proud and rise higher than I have on the ladder of success.

In the end, I know it has to all be my fault, because I constantly have heard such thoughts expressed in the community. I guess I'm just lazy and really not all that smart. Although I have always kept in good financial stead, I am sure that those who haven't have willfully chosen to not meet their financial obligations. I am sure there are plenty of good reasons to explain why so many people can't find jobs in this community and are having difficulty making ends meet. It has to be their fault.

The numbers don't lie. Those numbers reflect how lazy a lot of people are in this community. If people are struggling, then they need to learn to do with less, that is the lesson that I have been learning over the last several years. Who needs a house, a car, a significant other? I mean, in the end, why do you even need electricity or food or water? Everything in life is a luxury meant only for those who deserve it. Why do any of we commoners desire to have goals or pleasures in life? We are here to work and provide for those who are better than us. That is our role. We are here to be the worker bees.

We should be happy, because some of us still have jobs. We should be thankful that it is taking so long for the robotics to be developed that will do our work and not grouse or expect anything in return. At that point in time there will be no use for us at all. All we are is vermin, who are sucking up oxygen and stealing from the Better People by utilizing their resources and they are forced to endure us. Be glad, for time is running out for people like us. Get on you knees and beg for forgiveness, because we are not worthy. Praise be to the Better People.

Morganton Shenanigans - Wide Ranging & Far Reaching Implications

From WSOC-TV: Burke County Takes Over Morganton Elections (Dave Faherty surprised Burke County Board of Elections Director Debbie Mace on Tuesday and posted the story to WSOC TV's website.)

"It's so nonpolitical. We don't get wrapped up in other governments like school board races,” said Mayor Mel Cohen. “Fortunately we don't have that political atmosphere in our city. We appoint people by who they are not what political party they are." Many voters said they had no idea why the city held its elections early. Betty Carson has been voting in Morganton for five decades and wasn’t aware of the reason, but she said cost should be factor. "As the way we are in financial difficulty right now, it would be better to do it all together to save money,” she said. The Board of Elections hopes to revisit the timing of the elections some time after all the votes are counted.

(The Hound): The reason why Morganton holds this election separate from other elections is because they want to reduce the turnout, which helps the local elected officials better control the outcome. In Hickory, there was a 6+ fold increase in voter participation in the 2008 Presidential election compared to the 2009 city election and the 2010 Federal Election saw several times the turnout of the 2009 election. I believe that local officials don't want Federal and State elections to hold influence over voter decisions regarding City officials. A public that is likely to sweep out incumbents at the State and Federal level would be just as likely to sweep out local officials and in my opinion justifiably so.

To me the money issue is a non-issue. The City (government) is the body that has chosen to hold these separate elections for years. The City officials have chosen to do it this way. Here in Hickory, we have a Mayor that is trying to keep a referendum about the confusing and befuddling "Modified At-Large" system of city voting from garnering enough signatures by expressly telling people that it will cost money -- ( probably $800,000 like the city owned pools that he wanted torn up last year - haha!!!). What he fails to tell people is that we already spend extra money on elections that aren't necessary, because of the way this modified election system works with Ward Primaries in October and a General the first week in November. It is all about trying to control who sits on the Council, as best as they can, just like in Morganton.

As Mayor Wright has stated, they don't want people on the Council who don't focus on City Wide Issues. What does this mean? They don't want people who might bring ward specific concerns to the table. They want people who are willing to go along to get along with the Power's That Shouldn't Be's agenda, which might just (and probably) have negative consequences towards your own ward. If ward constituents don't like specific policies, then tough, they are going to shove it down your throat anyway and they don't want a "Trouble Maker" sitting on the Council giving official credence to those concerns.



The Governor is feeling the heat of corruption in the Democrat party. This is the reason for her "shake-up." Juliegh Sitton, an attorney from Morganton and until late last week was the Director of the Governor's Western Office, is accused of campaign "issue" involving a local millionaire in Morganton who is a Fast Food magnate. This Fast Food magnate has been implicated in several scandals including with the former Governor Mike Easley, Governor Bev Perdue, and from what I have read and heard the Football Scandal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Juleigh Sitton is the daughter of former Superior court Judge Claude Sitton.

Connect the Dots:
SBI investigates contributions for Perdue's campaign flights - Morganton News Herald - Mike Baker - October 8, 2010

Why Did Perdue Campaign Not Use Cheaper State Plane? - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - September 30, 2010

Dozens Involved in Aircraft Provider Program for Perdue, Easley - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - October 28, 2010

Unnamed Source Paid for Perdue Campaign Flight - Lincoln Tribune - February 24, 2011

 

( The Hound ): Who can you trust in this area. Every time we see the light shined upon one of these issues it looks dirty. We always look to the eastern side of North Carolina and point a finger towards the corruption we see there. What about the corruption we see in our own backyard? It's the same thing!

Those that don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it - by Silence DoGood

I think it safe to say that we’ve all heard the phrase, “Those that don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” I’m talking about the upcoming election cycle, but probably not in the context in which you might be thinking. Does everyone remember how Adolph Hitler came to power? For those of you not alive during that time in history, Germany had been stripped of her wealth and ability coming out of World War I. Germany was forced to pay war reparations on the basis of, ‘to the victors go the spoils.’ Germany was in the middle of a great political struggle between a myriad of factions. And the world was heading into The Great Depression.

You may hold the opinion that there is nothing of that era that is even remotely close to things as they are today. I would like to differ with that view. An entire people had been stripped of their national identity and forced into abject poverty as a nation. There was no clear leadership and indeed, the numerous factions vying for political control of the nation were literally fighting in the streets for superiority. The people themselves had no hope and were forced into subservience. Adolph Hitler rose to power, a figurative phoenix rising from the ashes if you will, and was able to pull Germany together and give it a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose based on racial and ethnic superiority and a military economy to re-arm and re-equip the Army, Navy, and Air Force of Germany.

Today, the United States rests in the shadow of it’s former self, just like Germany prior to the arrival of Hitler. Individual and Corporate greed has stripped our ability and our status as leader in the free world, just like the Allied powers stripped Germany immediately after World War I. We are incapable of sustaining ourselves as an industrial nation.

But the coup d’tat that was to become the greatest horror of the 20th Century began as a political rallying cry from a political extremist with well orchestrated moves. The rhetoric that propelled Hitler into power was based on nationalism and fervent pride in the German people and Nation. There was no political discourse after Hitler assumed power. The only detail to be concerned with was the Nazi detail and whatever Hitler said was the way it was, in essence, might makes right. Today, rather than finding ourselves in discourse over political direction, which ideally would be slightly left or slightly right of the middle, we find ourselves locked in mortal combat as political adversaries with each other, not to accomplish the most good for the most people, but as a game of one upping each other in order to win. Just like that period of time in Germany, each faction is trying to gain political control. And as if that weren’t enough, there are factions in both mainstream parties that want to splinter and faction themselves off. Yes, the Tea Party is an example of that concept. It pays to bear in mind that America and Americans atypically gravitate toward the political middle or moderate view/stance. Few take radical or extreme stances in politics. Yet, we have this radicalization of politics and as may be elucidated in a broad and general sense, when these factions fail to succeed in one aspect, they often are willing to try another. What that means is, if they are unable to win their objectives politically, they are oft times willing to try to gain their objectives with force and violence. Take a look at how most terrorist groups grow and evolve. Born out of social strife and struggle, they fail to win or garner influence through traditional means so they turn to violence as a means to an end. Am I implying that your local tea partier will resort to violence? No, but there is that potential. To provide levity, look at groups such the Animal and Earth Liberation Fronts (ALF and ELF) that resort to criminal acts and violence in order to perpetuate their ideas on others. Who dares wins? No one seems concerned about the whole, unless it involves waving a flag and the sphere of interest encompasses that pinpoint ideology that each adheres to.

Don’t take the next few statements out of context. The only reason I use the political right is because they are currently at the forefront of the national spotlight and easy to view and assess. If it were turned around, I would do the same with the left. The political frontrunners of the right tell us that all it takes is for America to stand strong. Well, I’m all for that. It’s time we started making our own cars, televisions, furniture, appliances, machinery, and food again. But it seems the only thing that we can build is bombs, tanks, and planes. It’s time we rejuvenated our steel industry, our electronics and oil industries. It’s time we made it so expensive for those criminal corporations to off shore themselves and try to do business here that it is cheaper to hire, reside, and produce here. Now you can call that a tax, tariff, or protectionism it matters not. What it does is take away the advantage of going off shore in the first place. It protects our people, our workers, and our industries. Those that clamor for a free market economy are often the ones that stand to benefit the most. They want free markets, but they likewise want tax shelters, breaks, and subsidies paid to them. They want it all. And again the corollary shows between the US and Germany during the rise of Hitler. Hitler watched the corporations grow fat on war profits and stripped the people of the means to live, subsist, and make a decent life for themselves. And he turned the focus of the people on those corporations and demonized them. Look at the insane profits being generated at present by the corporations in the United States and held off shore. I’m not talking small business. Small business is hurting right along with the middle class.

The right or conservative factions scream that it is the fault of the current sitting president. Deficit spending, huge debt, printing money devaluing the currency, all equate to a backslide of the United States from hegemon. We have stood by and watched the protections of the Constitution erode on the basis of personal safety. We aren’t any safer than we were 10 years ago, as we approach the anniversary of the bombing really, of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There is an illusion that we’re safer. But what happens when you feel safe, regardless of whether you are or not? You relax, you let your guard down, and bam. Sure there have been reports every now and then about this, that, or the other terrorist threat or attempt successfully abated. That is to keep the masses pacified and prevent words such as these. If these words challenging the voracity of such action do arise, then it provides ‘proof’ that the Patriot Act is working.

“Freedom isn’t Free” is another one of those terms that we’ve all heard before. And it’s true. The structure of our society is such that we have the greatest personal liberty, or did, of any sovereign nation on the planet. There are risks inherent to that concept and living that way, including the occasional loss of life. Be it through a criminal act like armed robbery or a terrorist attack, domestic or international. But the fact that our system succeeds is the testament to greatness. That the people are resolute in their will to exercise the freedoms they have, despite being bombed, slashed, or repressed. Where we fail is that we barter away our liberties a bit at a time for the benefit of feeling safe, or want of a job, or a million and one other things that are of little consequence to survival.

Because that is where we are at present folks. We teeter on the brink. The middle class of this nation has been reduced to the point that it is simply getting by. The elites of this nation and world are increasing their wealth in leaps and bounds and we are admonished that we merely have to work hard in order to succeed. That day has past I’m afraid. We must work hard now just to survive. To provide food, shelter, and basic needs, we are forced to settle for less than what we are deserving of, simply because we are in a moment of weakness and accept what is offered rather than hold out and demand what is ours by right. And you know something? We have quite literally done it to ourselves. We take what we are told at face value and give control to those who would make a mockery of our freedoms and processes. So while I brought the Presidential aspirants of the right side of the line into focus earlier, it cuts hard across both sides and all political ideologies, and that brings me back to the original premise of this piece. This nation is rife for the assent to power of a person such as Adolph Hitler. This nation is at a political low tide and feelings of desperation are pervading the population. As more and more people figure out how we’ve been duped and how they’ve been taken advantage of by those who take advantage of rules and laws they’ve had passed for the express purpose of running rough shod over a vast majority of the population, all in the name of making a buck, class conflict moves closer and a person of the ilk of Hitler taking power comes closer to being a reality.

I’ve covered quite a bit and if you’re still reading, thank you. The reason I hit so many topics is because those are general topics of the talking points we all hear on what is now a regular basis. I haven’t covered them to great depth, since to do so would increase this to something of a thesis. But look at the time and number of words used to briefly bring each into context. Now look at what the politicians are wanting you to decide on a 30 second blurb of tilted logic. We are going to hear quite a bit in this election cycle, locally as we move closer to November and nationally as primary season approaches mid 2012. I would urge and encourage you to dig deep on your selections and then choose wisely. And lastly, be careful what it is you ask for. You just might get it.