Do you really want Small Government? -- Silence DoGood

I’m not really intending this to be a political treatise, nor am I trying to be an ideologue.  However, let me say that I’m not that opposed to the size of the Federal Government, per se.  Now before you starting tuning up, let me finish.  Given a nation the size and complexity of ours, it takes much more than the generalized premises of the US Constitution to facilitate and make it go.  The founding fathers knew that the document they were drafting was simply an outline of what was to follow.  The reason it was written in such general and broad language, and some would perhaps use the term vague in places, is to allow formulation and adaptation to time, prosperity, and the unknown.  I’ve heard it spoken more than once that the Founding Fathers could have never conceived the scope and breadth this country has grown in to in the past 236 years, their approval or disapproval thereof aside.  Then take a look at The Federalist Papers.  Three writers, only one of which would eventually become President, but they each offered comprehensive insight into what the intent was behind the document for what the Central Government was to be and the ideals thereof.  All three were in a position to know and convey what the framers of the Constitution had in mind and those pleas and arguments came forth in that collection of documents.  But the point is, it is the compromises and contrasts between these men and their ideas which has brought us the government we have; for better or worse.  And thank God that all were honorable men!  The Constitution as ratified had no Bill of Rights and yet the promise to so amend the Constitution was made on the proposition that it be so ratified.  Can you imagine making such an agreement today among politicians or business people to adopt a literal foundation of something so inclusive first and then amend it after passage, based on a promise and verbal agreement?  That was the gee, wow portion of this piece.

Now, can Government stand to be scaled down?  I’m sure that it can.  Can government likewise run leaner than it does?  Again, I’m sure that it can.  In that regard however, I’m going to borrow the next bit from George Carlin.  If you’ve ever watched anything about Nazi Germany, then you’ve seen efficient government in action.  Accounting for each tooth, eyeglass, piece of clothing, and scrap of hair from each prisoner sent to the gas chambers.  Gentlemen, that is efficient government and quite frankly, I’m glad we have waste.  Bean counters want a strict accounting of debits and credits, the problem is, you have to be able to plan with foresight and that includes factoring the unknown.  So government and business are imprecise entities.  They depend on measures of precision to set and achieve goals, but they themselves are not.

Not to pick on anyone’s views and I certainly don’t mean to sound as if I am, but I want to examine two groups proffered in another piece in a bit of detail, without taking away from, or making any inferences about, that message.

Those groups would be the Libertarian Party and Tea Party Patriots, Inc.  Both groups profess an adherence to small limited government and free markets.  Well, let me point this out first of all.  Government doesn’t have to be small to be limited, nor large to be overbearing.  Now, reading the platform (http://www.lp.org/files/platform-2010.pdf) of the Libertarians, I find their views a bit more palatable than those of the Tea Party Patriots, Inc., because the Libertarians at least try to explain what they’re for and the ideology they have.  In fact, the Tea Party doesn’t even seem to have a platform, just a corporate philosophy: “Tea Party Patriots, Inc. as an organization believes in the Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, and Free Markets.”  That quote is taken directly from their website and I find that statement… confusing. They don’t go on to define what those terms mean to them or even what they are.  So ambiguity of purpose seems to ooze from that entire splinter faction of the GOP.  But, since both use or make inference to, the premises of, “Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government, and Free Markets” lets look at what those terms would mean in implementation.

Fiscal Responsibility.  Okay, to most everyone, that means not spending more than you bring in.  That works as a general premise for everyone in the United States.  However, does anyone know how many years, since the United States has been a country it has been debt free?  The debt incurred from the Revolutionary War was finally paid back in the 1830’s and for a brief period of time, the US was relatively debt free.  Then the War Between the States rolls around and the United States has experienced some level of indebtedness ever since.  Now, not to the level of indebtedness we are currently experiencing for sure.  However, we have likewise not taken on as many commitments, foreign and domestic, had as many citizens, or maintained a standing military the size and breadth of the one we presently have in the field.  So fiscal responsibility in the form of debt abatement has only occurred once in the history of this nation since 1788.  Now think if you will about subsidies, farmers, businesses, emergency loans for catastrophe, none of that is fiscally responsible nor provided for in a responsible nation whereby all persons and corporate entities are held accountable for the decisions they make.  It is not the responsibility of government to act in the capacity of safety valve.  All of the ‘welfare’ is gone and off the table.  It is now sink or swim and there will be no life preserver or rescue boat coming.

Small Limited or Constitutionally Limited Government.  A reduction in the number of persons, scope, and authority across the two terms seeking to restrict or throttle back government.  Very well.  First of all, what are the implications for you?  For me, it takes everything off the table and puts back only those things provided for in the United States Constitution.  Now, you’re going to have read the Constitution to grasp what things are provided for. Basically if it’s not in the Constitution, you don’t get it.  You as a citizen have the freedom to make decisions and you are thereby held responsible for any consequences, good or bad, for the decisions you make.  That’s called rational choice theory and it posits that every individual always makes a rational choice to do everything they do or not.  Hurricane?  Didn’t stock up on supplies?  Sorry about your luck.  The airplane you just boarded sounding a little bit out of tune or there is a delay in it getting off the ground?  I guess that ‘first come, first serve, everything clear your way Bob’ take off and landing process needs some manners or a cop to stand at the intersection and direct traffic.  Maybe they could just install a yield sign.  But that’s what they talked about after the last 3 crashes.  Took all of your spare pennies, since there is no social security to invest in the stock market… until it crashed, did you?  I really hate that for you.  You should have chosen a better financial adviser.  Can’t afford to send your children to school because there is now no public school or education system?  I certainly hope that you have time to devote to the education of your children.  Perhaps you will be able to enter into a cooperative with others in order to share education responsibilities.  Of course, there is no telling what they may be taught, but that’s the way it goes I’m afraid.  Are those all gross exaggerations of outcomes?  Perhaps, in those exact words and phrased in that manner.

Free Markets.  The market dictates what pricing is in the marketplace.  It runs wild and free with no controls whatsoever.  It’s also known in some other circles as laissez faire economics.  No such thing as market stabilization on price (see fiscal responsibility above for elimination of that).  No such thing as anti-trust, or rules against monopolization of the marketplace.  The pricing is based on whatever the market will bear.  To illustrate that, look at some of the local gas stations around town, belonging to the same company.  Look at how they each price gas at different levels, based on what their competitors are selling fuel at around them.  The market and competition has shrunk from being town wide now to district or within a few blocks or each other.  Price fixing runs rampant…on the upper side.  Since it isn’t now based on competition in the marketplace, but rather, what your competition is selling at and you’re neither going to over price or severely undercut them.  And we all know that ABC gas is paying the same rate for each gallon they sell at each of their stations.  And yet, the price variation can be as much as ten cents on the gallon.  Lose your crop because the fields flooded?  I guess you should have seen that one coming.  Now you can sell out to cover your losses and go to work for Mr. Corporate Farming Cooperative.  It’s a buyer beware state of affairs now.  That new medication that you were just prescribed for your latest malady?  The one you have to have the med for since you won’t live without it...  Well, since it is the only medicine on the market for what you have, it’s $1,000 a tablet and you need 3 per day.  How free are you feeling today?  Since there is no such thing as Medicare/Medicaid, or healthcare… you lost all your money in the stock market, remember?  Yes more exaggerations.

Am I trying to scare you?  No, because the groundwork for those things is already being laid and has been talked about by some of the players now in contention for positions of power.  The problem, particularly with fuel at the moment is how can you do without it?  Electricity, and the overall cost of energy, is projected to increase by as much as 33% across the next decade.  And living isn’t going to get any cheaper for you.  And in this world, how can you do without those things and live?  Most of you have never had to and don’t know how.  That is a raw fact that isn’t lost on those that provide those services. 

I’m trying to enlighten you just as much as Thom and Harry are on this blog, to what is going on right before your eyes.  Right now, those in control are brash enough to not care if they conceal what they’re doing or not.  They have the money and resources to do as they pretty much please and they know it.  Right now, there is a fierce competition for your vote because votes are going to decide the course this nation is going to travel.  Those same upper echelon elites are trying to get you to freak out and make irrational choices, under the guise that there is something that you can immediately do to change this, that, or the other; but erstwhile, they are trying to ensure that politicians vital to their cause and their agenda are in seats of power.  They want you to look short term, while they have a long-range vision in place.  The only glimpse of the future you are given reference to is, that your children will be saddled with the payments on the current debt.  The only way of doing that is by hoodwinking you into electing those who parrot those hot button topics and buzz words.  Fiscal Responsibility, Small Government, Free Markets are broad categories of terms that are given no explanation or specific meaning.  Is that done intentionally?  There is a reason that no one has talked about the specific implications of what will happen if those policies are put into place, only how much the debt will be reduced and how much money will be saved.

Judge for yourself however.  And I say that a lot.  I leave a lot up to you to read, research, and understand.  Why?  It is not my intention or purpose to sway or influence you to any appreciable degree.  It is merely my intent to make you curious enough that you will want to go and search for the facts and truth in the things you hold as important.  Not information from political pundits, or speechwriters, or those who skew the facts or tell half-truths in order to influence.  Just the facts, both sides of the issue, so that you can inform and enable yourselves to make the decisions you need to make.  That is what I implore you to do, not only for yourselves, but this City, this State, and this Nation.  If you want to take this country back, that is what you have to do.  If not, someone else will be happy to do your thinking for you and you become the mindless automaton that is stuck with the outcomes of your actions, based on someone else’s capacity to think.  Another amazing revelation there isn’t it?  You are implored to think and consider only those things that you are told or prompted as important, but just those things.  Ironic don’t you think?  The choice, as they say, is yours.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- September 11, 2011

Bob Chapman - The International Forecaster - September 10, 2011 - Bank of America Corp officials have discussed slashing roughly 40,000 jobs during the first wave of a restructuring, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the plans... The number of job cuts are not final and could change. The restructuring aims to reduce the bank's workforce of 280,000 over a period of years, the Journal said.

BofA to cut at least 40,000 jobs - The layoffs reflect Bank of America's deepening woes and are likely to take a heavy toll on its California operations. - Los Angeles Times - Walter Hamilton and E. Scott Reckard - September 10, 2011 - Bank of America Corp. is preparing to slash 40,000 or more jobs nationwide, a dramatic retrenchment that reflects the deepening woes of the country's largest bank and the magnitude of the U.S. economic slowdown...  The layoffs will come mainly from the BofA's sprawling consumer-banking operations, which will take a heavy toll on branches, loan centers and other offices throughout California...  Bank of America has 45,000 employees in the state, about 1 in 6 of its nearly 300,000-person workforce, and is expected to roll out the job cuts over the next several years. The company, which for years was based in San Francisco and maintains its huge mortgage unit in Calabasas, also is in the process of closing 10% of its branches nationwide.



Bob Chapman - The International Forecaster - September 10, 2011 - In the past decade, the number of seniors in the labor force has grown nearly 60 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2018, the number of workers 65 or older is projected to climb to 11 million, from 6.5 million today... So employers face a dual challenge. They have to keep older workers productive and then, when those workers do leave, find qualified people to replace them. In 22 industries among them engineering, agriculture, real estate and health care more than three in 10 workers are 50 or older, according to a 2007 study from the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. “Companies are not very long-term-oriented,” he added. “They don’t spend much time worrying about what might be coming down the pipe in the future.” ... “It’s been mitigated a little because of the economy, but I think it’s a huge problem for us,” Redlo said. In Texas, home to Dow and the Lockheed unit, public schools have de-emphasized vocational education, said John Ray, dean of information and community resources at Brazosport College. “Today, you don’t have students with experience in working with their hands,” Ray said.

As workforce ages, industries struggle to prepare for wave of retirements - Washington Post - Jason Alcorn and Jason Tomassini - September 2, 2011 - human resources experts, workers and executives from a range of industries say businesses are largely unprepared to accommodate an aging workforce or to cope with its eventual retirement... “They are oblivious,” said economist Steven Sass of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College... Many industries find themselves in a quandary. They often need older workers for their expertise, yet they also may need to accommodate their physical disabilities and their desire for more flexible schedules. And as workers stay on the job longer, they may need training in new technologies or work procedures... In the past decade, the number of seniors in the labor force has grown nearly 60 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2018, the number of workers 65 or older is projected to climb to 11 million, from 6.5 million today... Baby boomers are fueling the trend. Healthier and better educated than any previous generation, many plan to continue working, at least part time, well past traditional retirement age. Human resources managers say voluntary retirement nearly stopped after the stock market collapse in 2007.


Goldman Head Gold Trader Speculates About "Authority" Intervention In Gold, Sees Precious Metal Pushing Higher - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - September 8, 2011 - From Goldman's head gold trader Zak Dhabalia (i.e., someone that can not be found on 360) who says what only fringe blogosphere dares to speculate: namely that central banks and/or metals excahnges (CME/LBMA) openly intervene at key inflection point to slam the price of gold down. More importantly, according to Zak, now that the latest "authority" intervention has been priced in, it is up, up and away for the yellow metal yet again... After rallying nearly 100 usd last week from 1795 to 1895 with demand coming from the official sector and some leveraged players rebuilding length following the severe prior correction we traded to new all time highs of 1922 on Tuesday shortly before the Swiss Franc intervention. The immediate aftermath was in complete contradiction to prior recent episodes of intervention and what anyone would have expected. Instead of spurring a further gold price rally on the basis that it was one of the few remaining safe haven “currencies” we saw a 50 usd collapse in minutes. The source of this flow seems hard to pin down with some speculating over whether “authorities” were concerned about the signals of an accelerating gold price and its impact on other fragile markets. Soon after, much of the losses were recovered but the psychological damage had been done and there followed a series of liquidations from within the leverage space with gold closing down 50 usd on the day. This was then exacerbated by a near 60 usd flash crash within 2 minutes during the Asian session... However official sector activity, and PWM is already using this latest dip to re-accumulate and it may be the case the market is already close to clean positions at ever higher prices...



The Obama Presidency by the Numbers - The president constantly reminds us that he was dealt a difficult hand. But the evidence is overwhelming that he played it poorly. - Wall Street Journal - Michael Boskin - September 8, 2011

Damon Vickers interview on Coast to Coast AM speaking about creating jobs by building an Entrepreneurial Economy. - Damon Vickers is a Seattle-based investor. He is also a periodic commentator on investments and social and economic trends in the general and financial press, maintains an investment-oriented channel on YouTube, and is the author of the New York Times business best-seller, The Day After the Dollar Crashes.

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 6, 2011

This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.

At right of this page under Main Information links is an Hickory's City Website link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, at the left of the page you will see the Agenda's and Minutes link you need to click. This will give you a choice of PDF files to upcoming and previous meetings.

You will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.

Here is a summary of the agenda of the 9/6/2011 meeting. There were a couple of important items that were discussed at this meeting and the details are listed further below:

Please remember that pressing Ctrl and + will magnify the text and page and pressing Ctrl and - will make the text and page smaller. This will help the readability for those with smaller screens and/or eye difficulties.

Invocation by Karla Woggon, Rector, Episcopal Church of the Ascension

Special Presentations:

A. Presentation of Proclamation to Marvin Hewitt, Executive Director, Flynn Home of Hickory, NC, Betty Wright, Administrative Director; John Murdock, Residential Services Director; and Susan Huttman, Community Resources Director Proclaiming the Month of September, 2011 as “National Recovery Month” in the City of Hickory

B. Update – Hickory Play Day on September 24, 2011 - Parks and Recreation Director Mack McLeod will present an update on a special Hickory Play Day scheduled for September 24, 2011 and will also give an update on a prestigious award. This is a Community Picnic and Canned food drive that will last from 10am to 1pm to be held at Geitner Park (2085 13th Street Drive NW) The Mayor will give a proclamation, There will be a walk/bike ride in honor of Zahra Baker, there will be games and a nature hike. There will also be Fishing, Canoeing, and Badminton. The Hickory Police Department will talk about Bike Safety. The Humane Society will be there. Balloons by Jackie Crump. You can bring your own lunch or purchase hotdogs from a local vendor.

Kaboom! Is a national non-profit dedicated to saving play for America’s children. It’s mission is to create great playspaces through the participation and leadership of communities. Ultimately, we envision a place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Kaboom states that 2011 Playful City USA communities demonstrated creative commitments to addressing the Play Deficit. Playful City USA celebrates and highlights these unique initiatives developed by communities across the country. A primary goal of Playful City USA is to encourage cities and towns to share creative ideas, concepts and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children.

There are 151 Playful Cities in the USA. Playful Cities in North Carolina are Hickory, Albemarle, Creedmoor, Durham, Greeville, and Mount Holly. Hickory will receive two Playful City USA signs for highways. Playful City USA festivities will be combined with events going on at every center and park throughout the year.


Consent Agenda:
A. Proclamation – Proclaiming Saturday, August 20, 2011 as “A Day of Celebration of Holy Trinity Christian Church”

B. Proclamation – Recognizing and Expressing Support for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance  - PH C. Certificate of Sufficiency and Preliminary Resolution Relative to Street Improvements Along a Portion of 8th Street NW – No. 01-12 (Authorize Public Hearing for October 4, 2011)


D. Amendment to Traffic Ordinance by Prohibiting On-Street Parking Along Both East and West Margins of 13th Street SE from the Intersection with Main Avenue SE Approximately 1,050 Feet to the Intersection with B Avenue SE - This on-street parking prohibition would eliminate permitted, but unmarked parking along this street segment. During periods when on-street parking activity has been observed, some vehicles were parked so that motorists were very constricted, and turning movements were made difficult, especially those for Plastic Packaging, Inc., who originated this requested evaluation. Motorists are primarily local residents. The Traffic Division recommends that on- street parking be prohibited.


E. Amendment to Traffic Ordinance by Prohibiting On-Street Parking Along Both North and South Margins of 18th Avenue Place NE from the Intersection with 14th Street Place NE East Approximately 330 Feet to the Intersection with 15th Street Place NE - This on-street parking prohibition would eliminate permitted, but unmarked parking along this street segment. During periods when on-street parking activity has been observed, some vehicles were parked so that motorists were very constricted, and turning movements were made difficult. This requested evaluation originated as VC-3 697959 – Requesting No Parking Signs on Street. Motorists are primarily local residents. The Traffic Division recommends that on-street parking be prohibited.

F. Amendment to Traffic Ordinance By Reducing the Speed Limit from 35 MPH to 25 MPH Along 2nd Street NE from the Intersection with 28th Avenue NE North Approximately 270 Feet to the Intersection With 28th Avenue Place NE, 3rd Street NE From the Intersection With 29th Avenue NE South Approximately 730 Feet to the Intersection With 28th Avenue Place NE, and 28th Avenue Place NE From the Intersection With 2nd Street NE East Approximately 550 Feet to the Intersection With 3rd Street NE - Under the City’s Traffic Calming Program, an application was received for a speed limit reduction along 2nd Street NE as indicated above. Staff determined that a speed limit reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph would be acceptable, if the residents desired. The petition packages were received and were determined by Staff to be valid and met the 75% signature requirement. .

G. Pyrotechnic Display Permit by Lenoir Rhyne University for October 8, 2011 After the Homecoming Football Game - Mr. Leonard Geddes, Associate Dean of Co-Curricular Program at Lenoir Rhyne University has submitted a request to obtain permission to allow Pyro Shows Incorporated to provide a public display of pyrotechnics after the homecoming football game on October 8, 2011. The Fire Prevention Bureau will inspect the pyrotechnics display area prior to the events to ensure compliance with all guidelines.
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H. Vision 100 Block Grant No. 36237.66.2.1 - Agreement and Resolution with NC Division of Aviation (NC DOA) for Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plan, and Runway Approach Obstruction Removal Survey in the Amount of $42,832 (Federal Share 90% - $38,549; City’s Share 10% - $4,283) - This grant agreement is administered by NC DOA and utilizes only a portion of the Vision 100 Grant previously approved by City Council in January, 2011 ($166,667 total grant funds previously approved). This grant includes a federal share of 90% ($38,549) for these projects from the Airport Improvement Plan budget, with the City’s share being 10% ($4,283). These grant projects are part of the continuing Airfield Improvement Program of the Hickory Regional Airport. The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures Plan are mandated by the new Stormwater General Permit issued by NC Division of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) and NC DOA. The Runway Approach Obstruction Removal Survey is mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the NC DOA. of the grant agreement and resolution.

Do people even know? Hickory Airport Operators (River Hawk Aviation) in Bankruptcy

Mind Blowing - The City's Mismanagement of the Hickory Regional Airport.

I. Vision 100 Block Grant No. 36237.66.3.1 – Agreement and Resolution with NC Division of Aviation (NC DOA) for Construction of New Aviation Fuel Farm in the Amount of $343,906 (Federal Share 90% - $309,515; City’s Share 10% - $34,391) - The Hickory Regional Airport has been awarded a Vision 100 Block Grant through the NC DOA for construction of a new aviation fuel farm. There are currently two fuel farms at the airport, both being owned and operated by the current FBO (River Hawk). These fuel farms are in need of maintenance and refurbishment and are not in compliance with EPA mandated secondary containment requirements which must be met by November 10, 2011 or the FBO will be out of compliance. The current FBO has filed for bankruptcy. With these issues drastically affecting the airport and the need to insure a reliable supply of fuel to its customers, the City’s intent is to design and construct a new aviation fuel farm to be owned and operated by trained and certified city staff. The estimated time for completion is mid-December, 2011.The total grant amount to be applied towards construction of the new aviation fuel farm is $343,906, with a federal share at 90% ($309,515) and the City’s local share at 10% ($34,391). Based on the urgent nature of this situation, Staff has requested consideration by the FAA and NC DOA to fund this project in combination with remaining Hickory AIP funds currently in the FAA’s possession and the City’s Vision 100 and block grant funds. and acceptance of the grant agreement and resolution.

J. Approval of the FY 2010-2011Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) - The US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development requires the City, as a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement funding recipient, to report on CDBG monies spent within the previous fiscal year. This report evaluates the effectiveness of the use of resources in addressing identified goals and objectives cited in the Annual Action Plan, which is prepared before the fiscal year begins. .


K. 2011 Urgent Repair Program Grant, Assistance Policy and Procurement Policy - The City of Hickory, through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency’s Urgent Repair Program, has been awarded $37,500 to assist a minimum of 10 eligible homes with urgently needed repairs in an amount not to exceed $5,400 per housing unit. The City will provide $3,750 in matching funds, which is available from rental rehabilitation program income. In order to comply with the NC Housing Finance Agency requirements, the City has prepared an Assistance Policy and a Procurement Policy reflecting program requirements. .

Budget Ordinances
1. To appropriate $5,000 of General Fund Balance to the Police Department Training, Meals and Lodging line item. This appropriation is necessary to pay for supervisor legal and case strategy training. $5,000 represents Police Federal Reimbursement balances from previous years (2009 and 2010) that have rolled into Fund Balance at year end; therefore an appropriation is necessary.
2. To budget an $18,456 insurance claim check from Trident Insurance Company in the Police Department Maintenance and Repair of Vehicle line item. This insurance claim is for damage to Police vehicle on 07-10-11.
3. To budget a $100 Library donation in the Books line item to purchase assorted books for the Carolina Room.
4. To transfer $352,350 to the appropriate line items in the City’s various funds for employee performance based merit increases. Performance based merit increases will be granted to eligible employees on October 1, 2011. Eligible employees whose job performance was rated “Meets Job Requirements” will be
granted a 2% increase, and eligible employees whose job performance was rated “Exceeds Job Requirements” will be granted a 2.5% increase. City of Hickory employees have not received performance based merit increases (raises) since July 1, 2008. As the City Manager outlined in his Manager’s Message with the FY2011-2012 Annual Budget, additional Contingency funds were set aside to guard against the possibility of the State of North Carolina withholding local funds. Since the State did not withhold any of our funds, a portion ($352,350) of these additional Contingency funds are now being made available to fund employee performance based merit increases.
5. To amend the Vision 100 Airport Grant by transferring $12,383 from the Transportation Capital Project to the General Fund. The scope of the original grant request was revised to include only two elements in the amount of $42,832. The Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan and the Spill Prevention Control and
Countermeasures Plan ($25,975) and the Runway Approach Obstruction Removal Survey ($16,857). The net effect is a reduction in the General Fund Contribution in the amount of $12,383.
6. To appropriate $8,750 of General Fund Balance and transfer to the Grace Chapel Road/US 321 Hwy Multi-Year Project Fund to pay item for negotiations, acquisitions and Temporary Construction Easements (TCE) necessary for the project.


New Business - Departmental Reports:
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1. Report - 10th Anniversary of 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance In tribute to all of the victims of 9/11 and the many who rose in service in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, September 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of 9/11, will be observed as a voluntary Day of Service and Remembrance.

2. Report – September is Disaster Preparedness Month - The month of September has been designated as Disaster Preparedness Month. The Hickory Fire Department and Hickory Police Department have worked together to develop a presentation to be delivered to City of Hickory residents during scheduled neighborhood meetings to help citizens to be better prepared and informed in the event of an emergency incident in the City. Fire Chief Tom Alexander addressed the council. What he addressed is are local Families ready? Does their family have a disaster plan or a disaster kit? The Hickory Fire Department has instituted a Readiness Program. The “Ready” campaign is a national effort to encourage individuals to have an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan and be informed about the different threats that may affect them. Disasters can happen anywhere at anytime. BGy taking the time to create an emergency supplies kit, your family will be prepared in event of a disaster.

Suggestions:

Discuss with your family members what to do in an evacuation. When told by officials, go immediately to a shelter as instructed or to the home of a friend or relative who lives out of the area. Find out about your local shelters beforehand.

Know evacuation routes. Pre-establish several different routes in case certain roads are blocked or closed.

Family members can be separated during an emergency. Be prepared by creating a plan for how to reach one another. Establish an out-of-area contact (such as a reklative or friend) who can coordinate family members’ locations and information should you become separated. Make sure children learn phone numbers and addresses, and know the emergency plans.

Quiz Children every six months so they remember what to do, where to go, and whom to call in an emergency.

Decide how to take care of pets. Pets are not allowed in places where food is served, so you will need a place to take your pets if you have to go to a shelter.

Post emergency phone numbers (fire, police, ambulance, etc.) by the phone.

Assemble a family disaster supplies kit and keep another one in the trubk of your vehicle.

Warning, Watch, and Advisory Definitions:

Warning - A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely. A warning means weather conditions pose a threat to life or property. People in the path of the storm need to take protective action.

Watch - A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location or timing is still uncertain. It is intended to provide enough lead time so those who need to set their plans in motion can do so. A watch means that hazardous weather is possible. People should have a plan of action in case a storm threatens and they should listen for later information and possible warnings especially when planning travel or outdoor activities.

Advisory - An advisory is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely. Advisories are for less serious conditions than warnings, that cause significant inconvenience and if caution is not exercised, could lead to situations that may threaten life or property.

Chief Alexander lastly spoke about Tornadoes and Hurricanes. The definitions of different levels of those weather events and the level of the damage they can create and how they can affect our area. He spoke about the Emergency Alert systems that are used or can possibly used to alert people in the event of a disaster, such as Public Sirens,Code Red (reverse 911), Signs, Media, Police and Fire Sirens, NOAA emergency radio,Text Messaging, and Emergency e-mail notification. The City utilizes a Code Red System, which is a high volume – high speed service available for mass emergency notification. Code Red employs an internet mapping capability for geographic targeting of calls, coupled with a high speed telephone calling system capable of delivering customized pre-recorded messages directly to homes and businesses. The system is capable of over 50,000 calls within 15-20 minutes.


3. Update – Hickory Pink Heals Tour Events for September 22-24, 2011 -  The Pink Heals Tour Steering Committee will present a brief report to describe the final preparation for the September 22-24, 2011 Hickory Pink Heals Tour. A summary of activities, programs, marketing campaign efforts and events
scheduled will be presented. Deputy Fire Chief George Byers addressed the Council. They last addressed the council on March 1, 2011 about this event. The event will move from Hickory to High Point to Fayetteville. Pink Heals Tour Hickory Website. The Pink Heals Tour-Hickory is a collaborative community initiative to assist the "Cares Enough to Wear Pink" campaign in the effort to raise awareness and money for cancer patients through local non-profit organization.

100% of the profit raised through The Pink Heals Tour-Hickory will go to Through Healing Eyes. So your generous purchase or donation stays in the community to help those in need. With the support of those that protect and serve our community The Pink Heals Tour-Hickory is striving to help women of all ages with cancer and by promoting community awareness. If you have any questions, please contact us at hkypinkhealstour@gmail.com. Deputy Chief Byers spoke extensively and thanked the various collaborative partnerships with businesses in the area.

Pink fire trucks and more will parade through Hickory September 22 - 23, 2011.
Founded in 2007 by a firefighter, the Guardians of the Ribbon is based out of Phoenix, AZ. Guardians of the Ribbon, dressed in pink fire suits, drive pink fire trucks across the country every year to spread an awareness campaign supporting women in their fight with cancer. They ask cities to support women in their community with a "Cares Enough to Wear Pink" campaign, where money is raised for local non-profits that help cancer patients. For short, it's called the Pink Heals Tour.

Through Healing Eyes funds go to the community to provide for breast health and education, as well as diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for individuals with breast cancer.

A parade of pink fire trucks and local fire trucks and police cars will begin on September 22 at 5:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza, which is at the intersection of US 70 and Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard. The parade will continue on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard, take a left on 7th Avenue, NE (near LRU), veer left on 5th Avenue Place, NE (pass McComb Park), cross NC 127, turn left on North Center Street (in front of Frye Regional Medical Center), pass the Julian G. Whitener Municipal Building, take a right on Main Avenue and stop in Downtown Hickory. A welcome ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. and trucks will be on display until 7 p.m.

On September 23, the trucks will visit health care facilities and be on display at Valley Hills Mall between 4 and 7 p.m. This effort will carry forward through December 14, 2011 where an event will be held at Blue Ridge Harley Davidson with a drawing for a motorcycle and a check delivered to through healing eyes.

Request to be heard 

Deb McNure spoke to the Council thanking Code Enforcement and the Police Department for helping take care of problems with a trailer park in the West Hickory/Westmont neighborhood. She further spoke about problem with that areas GIS numbers related to the GIS system and how the police department/code enforcement had difficulties finding the locations of properties in the area. This brings to concerns to the people of the area, because of response to disaters. She alo thanked the city for providing a stove/oven to the Westmont Recreation Center. She mentioned the Bean Supper that will be held soon at that facility.

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 ....