Newsletter about the City Council meeting of May 1, 2012 -- Rebecca Inglefield requests items F & G be removed from the Agenda

When it was time for the Council to pass the Consent Agenda, Attorney Rebecca Inglefield stood up and asked that Items F and G be removed from the Agenda. The Mayor stated that she had a right to speak at the meeting to which Attorney Inglefield stated verbatim what is written on the front page of the Council Agenda Pamphlet displayed below.

Attorney John Crone stated that what it says on the pamphlet is wrong and that a citizen must call the Wednesday prior to a City Council meeting to ask permission to be placed on the agenda and that it is up to the discretion of the City Manager as to whether he deems their issue important enough to place on the Agenda.

The Hound wants to ask how you are supposed to address a point of contention you may have when the Agenda Packet is not released on the website until the previous Friday at the earliest? Are we supposed to have mental telepathy? And why is the City Manager given this autonomy to make such an overarching decision, when he has a vested interest in the Agenda packet??? And this has been on the agenda pamphlet for years, if this has been wrong then tell me why it has gone this long without being corrected? Is it that they want to control and stifle dissent at any costs?

In the end, thanks to the cooler head of Alderman Brad Lail, it was decided to allow the removal of the item from the Consent Agenda and allow Attorney Inglefield to address the Council in what would be the end of the meeting.



Assistant City Manager Andrea Surratt spoke in two addresses of the City Council that I will discuss later in the regular City Council Newsletter. The first issue was about a "Inspiring Spaces Plan Proposal" and then the second was related to the structure being built on Union Square:

Request for Additional Funding from the Capital Reserve Parking Fund and Consolidate Public Service Department Expenditures into the Union Square Pavilion Project (Exhibit IX.B.3.)

The project scope broadened when the project moved into the engineering phase in January. The increase in the contract with Neill Grading is $58,852.00, and the consolidation of Public Services Department expenses is $59,288.00. The remaining cost is an estimate of $25,000.00 for outdoor furniture for the space.

Staff recommends approval on two readings for additional funding from the Capital Reserve Parking Fund and consolidation of Public Services Department Expenditures into the Union Square Pavilion Project in the amount of
$137,940.00 for Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 21 and Capital Project Ordinance Amendment No. 1.

The above is related to the issue of the items F & G that Attorney Inglefield asked to be removed from the Agenda as per a citizens right according to the information on the front page of the Agenda pamphlet:

F. Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 21 (Exhibit VII.F.)
1. To appropriate $137,940 of Capital Reserve Parking Fund and transfer to the Canopy Project. This budget amendment is explained in Departmental Report No. 3.

G. Capital Project Ordinance Amendment No 1 (Exhibit VII.G.)
1. To accept a $137,940 appropriation of Capital Reserve Parking Fund Balance and budget in the Canopy Project construction line item.

After Ms. Surratt finished with her presentation, Attorney Inglefield came back to the podium and presented her concerns and she was followed by Cliff Moone and Walter Witherspoon. The Council then unanimously approved the additional expenditures on the project. Alderman Lail expressed regrets about the process that has taken place with this project, but stated that we cannot halt the project at this point and that he believes that the structure will be a good addition to Union Square.



Below are some of the points made by Attorney Inglefield, Reverend Moone, and Walter Witherspoon:

1. At the 3:37 mark Atty. Inglefield asks about the appropriate way to ask for a line item request of the canopy project. She was told that she needed to put it in writing by Mayor Wright and Atty. Crone and Atty Crone went on to say that the City is welcome to all such requests and will provide the information.

2. Atty. Inglefield next asked about the cost of the fabric for the structure to which Council members either could not or would not provide stating that it would be a matter of public record. Next she asked about the maintenance cost of the structure. Atty. Crone stated that this was not a time for back and forth discussion, but the city is real easy to get along with. Put the request in writing and they will follow up. He said that the city is very open about all of this.

3. Atty. Inglefield stated that when we realized that these additional items related to engineering would be necessary in January, then that would have been the perfect time to stop and reassess the project and decide if we wanted to spend the additional money. She related the issue to the swimming pools and agencies, such as harbor House, that have needs. She talked to the Mayor about comments in the past that he made that the pools were bulldozed, because they were frills. She asked if public swimming pools would be part of an inspiring space. The mayor stated that this was not a debate... not a time for give and take... The Mayor said it was her turn to talk and their turn to listen. Atty. Inglefield went into specifics about agency needs that are going unanswered by the Council.

4. Cliff Moone wanted a clarification about Ald. Lail's second motion related to the front page of the Agenda pamphlet. Atty Crone stated that that the issue would be cleaned up... he agreed that the language should be cleaned up and citizens need to understand the procedure. Rev. Moone also went into the issue of the Poverty Tour that came through the city that no one from Council attended. He didn't know if they hadn't been invited.

5. Walter Witherspoon asked about all of the names that have been given to the structure. He has three documents. One document calls the structure the Farmer's market. A second calls it a canopy structure. A third calls it the Pavilion project. Are these one project or seperate projects... are these the budgetary names? He wants these issues squared away in his mind. He sees that the city is involved... now heavily involved... there was a contingency fund of $25,000 and now it is $137,000. That is 35 to 40% higher than the original price. Was this considered initially. Were we in such a hurry to get the structure up that we lost foresight... that we didn't have objection. With rust going on here that sounds like money down the drain to me. There should be more public input. When you vote think about those things.

The Consent Agenda was reconsidered, except for F and G, and passed by the City Council. Discussion took place related to the structure on Union Square and Alderman Lail stated his approval of the project, but stated that looking with hindsight he should have asked more question and he does regret the process. They don't have a whole lot of options other than to move forward with the project. Mayor Wright made statements along with Alder Patton related to their approval of the project.

The Hound: The only person that had input in this project that has said anything that relates to understanding of the issue was Alderman Lail when he stated that he regretted the process. And that is the first person that is a City Government official that has gotten it. It seems like a few of these people think they are Overlords instead of representatives. 99% of the people aren't against a structure being built on Union Square. What they are tired of is this regime's by hook or by crook governance. Open government is what this nation was built upon and when it works best. What was open about this process. The cost overruns and every fault with this project has been related to the process.

A friend said something profound tonight. The City of Hickory Government throws a dart at a blank wall and runs up to the wall and paints a bullseye around it (the dart)... The end justifies the means... The cart is before the horse... The outcome is decided before the process begins. In any large successful business organization you would be fired for something like this.

I read the Hickory Daily Record's preview for this meeting and the headline was "Donations, budget changes at Hickory City Council meeting." Reading further into the short summation there was zero mention about this $137,000 being added to the $285,000+ that was already appropriated for this structure. What is up with that? They talked about the poverty tour, but they won't talk about the priorities of this city's leadership. A leadership that chooses to constantly favor the well to do and connected over those who are struggling. And don't think the other media outlets around here deserve a pass either. Their priorities and personal favoritism has played right into the hands of all of this ill advised decision making.

Honestly, I hope God's peace, love, and mercy find shelter for us all.

Now up to $420,000+ for the Tent on Union Square
Union Square Canopy Cost Figures
$285,000+ : Bang for the Buck???
Hickory Farmer's Market questions the Big Tent on Union Square - March 17, 2012
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of January 3, 2012
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of December 20, 2011 -- Addendum on Union Square's largest Awning yet - $285,000

I want to tell you all, now that this has happened, that we have been planning this since the night of December 20, 2011. We read that front page and realized that the key was there the whole time. We didn't think the Council understood the procedures of the ordinance and would do exactly what happened tonight. I mean they reacted point blank as we thought they would tonight. We are not bragging about this. All we want is open government, which means open processes and level playing fields without conflicts of interests and deals behind the scenes. It is that simple!

Attorney Crone stated that the city welcomes all public information requests and is easy to work with. I have been told otherwise, but according to the State of North Carolina it is our information and their responsibility to provide it to us. Below is a template to request information from the City of Hickory:

Place the Date on this line (ex: January 1, 2012)

Ms. Arnita Dula
Staff Attorney
City of Hickory
N. Center Street
Hickory, North Carolina 28601


Dear Ms. Dula, This letter is a request for all public documents pertaining to (The issue that you would like information on). I am entitled to the public information that I am requesting according to Chapter 132 of the General Statutes of the State of North Carolina’s General Assembly.

According to the North Carolina Public Records Law, “The public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government or its subdivisions are the property of the people.” Your cooperation is greatly appreciated in my attempt, as a public citizen, to understand the facts of this issue.


Thank You,
(Your Signature Here)

Name
Address
City
Phone Number for contacting you

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hounds Advice: If under any circumstances you are given the runaround, I want you to contact us at hickoryhound@gmail.com. We want to publicize such incidents and get to the root cause of why the City would not willingly provide the information.

Now up to $420,000+ for the Tent on Union Square

I keep wanting to move past this issue, but the only way to do that is to capitulate and why should we do that? I know that city leadership banks on the people of Hickory being asleep at the wheel and so far that has been a winning game that allows them to do whatever they want.

Here is the latest per the Hickory City Council Agenda packet for May 1, 2012:

Request for Additional Funding from the Capital Reserve Parking Fund and Consolidate Public Service Department Expenditures into the Union Square Pavilion Project (Exhibit IX.B.3.)

The project scope broadened when the project moved into the engineering phase in January. The increase in the contract with Neill Grading is $58,852.00, and the consolidation of Public Services Department expenses is $59,288.00. The remaining cost is an estimate of $25,000.00 for outdoor furniture for the space.

Staff recommends approval on two readings for additional funding from the Capital Reserve Parking Fund and consolidation of Public Services Department Expenditures into the Union Square Pavilion Project in the amount of $137,940.00 for Budget Ordinance Amendment No. 21 and Capital Project Ordinance Amendment No. 1.

The initial appropriation for this structure was $285,976 and now add an additional $137,940 and that brings us to a grand total of $423,916. How are you (137,940/423,916=) 32.5% off on your initial cost structure for this project. It sure doesn't seem like the budget and accounting gurus had their I's dotted and T's crossed on this one. Of course they will say that I am Monday Morning Quarterbacking, but I dare you to go look and see what I wrote looking forward on December 20, 2011 and subsequently about this project.

Isn't it ironic that we can't come up with $400,000 (city government estimated cost) that can be amortized over multiple years to build a pool, but we can come up with $285,000 Johnny on the spot to put up these structures and Zagaroli states that the fabric has a lifespan of 10 years. One issue for the poor and one issue for the connected, which one wins? Who wants to bet that a decent pool could have been built for less, but this structure and the ancillary expenses are going to cost much, much more.

Now how much were those pools going to cost again? The city estimated that it would cost $850,000 (that's $425,000 per pool) to completely rebuild the two swimming pools and make them fully Handicap accessible. Of course we associated with the Hound were told and shown ways to get around the issues facing the pools and drastically reduce those costs. The city also never looked into competitive bidding to see ways to reduce costs. We believe that they wanted to come up with a big number to justify what they set out to do to start with and that was to completely shut down the City Swimming Pools.

What is the priority? This is pure and simple logic for anyone with a half a brain cell left. This is an apples to apples comparison. $425,000 for a pool for poor and middle class kids or $425,000 for the connected friends of Hickory City Leadership and you see how this works.

On one hand we had pools that the city never properly maintained and so they fell into disrepair and the city says shut them down and bury them asunder. On the other hand we had a fully functionable Farmer's Market that by all accounts was working and a stage and set up for Downtown events that by all accounts worked just fine. Yet, the decision makers associated with Union Square are demanding an upgrade and they expect the City to pick up the bill. And don't forget the people in the Ridgeview Community approached the city about taking over the swimming pools and running them through a non-profit. Have the property owners and businesses at Union Square offered to contribute to these upgrades on Union Square? Upgrades that if they play their cards right that they will directly benefit from.

More Points: What does Capital Reserve Parking Fund mean? How is this being utilized for parking. People complain about Washington this and Washington that. This is the exact same thing as the TARP boondoggle. Passed for one purpose and utilized for something completely different. If we are going to complain about it happening in Washington, then we need to complain about it happening in Hickory. It is pure and simply a slush fund folks. You might want to live in denial, it may personally benefit you, or you might not have the courage to admit what it is, but in the end it is what it is.

They spent this money in January and apparently they are doing it all off budget (with the parking slush fund) and this City Council sits back as if this is business as usual... Nothing to see here folks... move along, move along. They might play a shell game to justify this and my last name being Shell, I understand shell games, but anyone with any sense can see that this is unethical. Hello local news media... H-E-L-L-O!!! is there anybody out there?

There are many more questions that should be answered. Will there be a public discussion about this?

(P.S.) Is the naming of this structure being rigged in the favor of Alderman Hank Guess's son? If one goes to the Hickory Speaks website, they will see the first place name being "The Front Porch." 

Isn't there a cash prize associated with the naming of this structure? If an Alderman's son is awarded cash based on this little contest, would that not be an obvious conflict of interest? The name "Front Porch" came from Julia Rush's editorial in the HDR last year in which she stated that Hickory Alive wasn't a "Classy" event and that Union Square was our "Front Porch" and only classy events should be allowed to take place on Union Square -- The Front Porch.

You can't make this stuff up. 

(As of 5/5/2012 the name "The Front Porch" has been removed from the above site - Maybe local officials realized that the way it was introduced was an obvious conflict of interest - Thank You.)

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- April 29, 2012

Does Believing in the Recovery make it Real - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - Charles Hugh Smith - April 28, 2012 - Basing a "virtuous cycle" on lies and propaganda is self-defeating.           Does believing in the "recovery" make it real? The propaganda policies of the Federal Reserve and the Federal government are based on the hope that you'll answer "yes." The entire "recovery" is founded on the idea that if the Fed and Federal agencies can persuade the citizenry that down is up then people will hurry into their friendly "too big to fail" bank and borrow scads of money to bid up housing, buy new vehicles, and generally spend money they don't have in the delusional belief that inflation is low, wages are rising and the economy is growing.                  In other words, the "virtuous cycle" of new debt feeding economic growth is based on conning (or brow-beating) the American public into believing that the "recovery" is real. Our "leaders" hope this baseless belief will spark a buying frenzy that then fuels a real recovery.                    Perception may seem like everything to our Delusionol(tm)-soaked "leaders," but reality still trumps the con. Real wages are declining and debt loads are still crushing, so the new cycle of borrowing and consumption the Fed and Central State want to create requires trillions of dollars of free money, either guarantees or subsidies from Federal agencies or trillions in monetary printing via "quantitative easing."             Everybody loves free money, but once again reality trumps fantasy, for guaranteeing lenders from loss leads to moral hazard, and distributing free money leads people to gamble it on speculation or other forms of unproductive mal-investment.                       So all the free money is squandered or gambled away, but the Federal government is left with the debt it took on to fund the trillions in give-aways. That means the cost of servicing all that new debt rises, which means either government spending on other programs has to be cut or taxes have to rise, reducing disposable income, savings and consumption.
Free money and guarantees incentivize speculation and mal-investment, so the money is squandered, leaving the immense debts behind to be serviced from now until Doomsday (December 21, 2021--the Mayan astronomer/sage was dyslexic.)

Chart Of The Day: Change In Q1 American Debt And GDP - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - April 27, 2012 - Presented without much commentary, because little is necessary: the only ratio that matters for the US economy, the change in US public debt ($359.1 billion) and US GDP ($142.4) in the first quarter, hit 2.52x and rising. It takes $2.52 in new debt to "buy" $1 of economic "growth"

Epic Fail Part 1 - The Burning Platform - Jim Quinn - April 23, 2012 - The first fact that can’t be ignored is how many Americans are actually unemployed today. Here is some truth you won’t get from a politician or media talking head:

• There are 243 million working age Americans.
• There are 142 million employed Americans.
• Only 101 million of the employed Americans are working more than 35 hours per week. This means that only 41.6% of all working age Americans have a full-time job.
• According to the government drones at the BLS, 88 million Americans have “chosen” to not be in the labor force – the highest level in U.S. history.
• The percentage of Americans in the workforce at 63.8% is the lowest since 1980 and down from a peak of 67.1% in 2000. The difference between these two percentages is 8 million Americans.
• The BLS reports there are only 12.7 million unemployed Americans in the country, down from 15.3 million in 2009.
• The BLS reports the unemployment rate has dropped from 10% in late 2009 to 8.3% today. Over this time frame the working age population grew by 5.7 million, while the number of employed Americans grew by 3.6 million. Only a government drone could interpret this data and report a dramatic decline in the unemployment rate.

Cooling Job Market Takes Toll on U.S. Confidence: Economy - Bloomberg - Timothy R. Homan and Shobhana Chandra - April 26, 2012 - More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week and consumer confidence declined by the most in a year, signaling that a cooling labor market may restrain household spending.             Jobless claims fell to 388,000 from a revised 389,000 the prior week that was the highest since early January, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index declined to minus 35.8 from minus 31.4 the previous week.              “There has been some slowdown in the labor market,” said Yelena Shulyatyeva, a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas in New York, who correctly projected the level of jobless claims. “That makes consumers feel less confident, and makes them more cautious about their spending. We could see some weakness in April payrolls.”



US Economy Grows at Tepid 2.2% Pace; Misses Estimates - Reuters through CNBC - April 27, 2012 - U.S. economic growth cooled in the first quarter as businesses cut back on investment and restocked shelves at a moderate pace, but stronger demand for automobiles softened the blow....               Gross domestic product [cnbc explains] expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its advance estimate, moderating from the fourth quarter's 3 percent rate.             While that was below economists' expectations for a 2.5 percent pace, a surge in consumer spending took some of the sting from the report. However, growth was still stronger than analysts' predictions early in the quarter for an expansion below 1.5 percent.


Insight: Falling home prices drag new buyers under water - Reuters - Tim Reid - April 26, 2012 - More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgages in the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.                      That figure, provided to Reuters by tracking firm CoreLogic, represents about one out of 10 home loans made during that period.                     It is a sobering indication the U.S. housing market remains deeply troubled, with home values still falling in many parts of the country, and raises the question of whether low-down payment loans backed by the FHA are putting another generation of buyers at risk.                 As of December 2011, the latest figures available, 31 percent of the U.S. home loans that were in negative equity - in which the outstanding loan balance exceeds the value of the home - were FHA-insured mortgages, according to CoreLogic.                    Many borrowers, particularly since late 2010, thought they were buying at the bottom of a housing market that had already suffered steep declines, but have been caught out by a continued fall in prices in wide swaths of America.                 Even for loans taken out in December - less than four months ago and the last month for which data is available - nearly 44,000 borrowers, or about 7.5 percent of the total, now find themselves under water.                          "The overwhelming majority of the U.S. is still seeing home prices decline," said CoreLogic senior economist Sam Khater. "Many borrowers continue to be quickly wiped out."....


U.S. Firms Add Jobs, but Mostly Overseas - Wall Street Journal - Scott Thurm - April 27, 2012 - Thirty-five big U.S.-based multinational companies added jobs much faster than other U.S. employers in the past two years, but nearly three-fourths of those jobs were overseas, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.             Those companies, which include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., International Paper Co., Honeywell International Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc., boosted their employment at home by 3.1%, or 113,000 jobs, between 2009 and 2011, the same rate of increase as the nation's other employers. But they also added more than 333,000 jobs in their far-flung—and faster-growing— foreign operations. (Subscriber Article)


The Family Farm Is Being Systematically Wiped Out Of Existence In America - The Economic Collapse Blog - An entire way of life is rapidly dying right in front of our eyes.  The family farm is being systematically wiped out of existence in America, and big agribusiness and the federal government both have blood all over their hands.  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of farms in the United States has fallen from about 6.8 million in 1935 to only about 2 million today.  That doesn't mean that there is less farming going on.  U.S. farms are producing more than ever.  But what it does mean is that farming is increasingly becoming dominated by the big boys.  The rules of the game have been tilted in favor of big agribusiness so dramatically that most small farmers find that they simply cannot compete anymore.  Back in 1900, about 39 percent of the U.S. population worked on farms.  At this point, only about 2 percent of all Americans now live on farms.  Big agribusiness, the food processing conglomerates, and big seed companies such as Monsanto completely dominate the industry.  Unless something dramatic is done, the family farm is going to continue to be wiped out of existence.  Unfortunately, it does not look like things are going to turn around any time soon.                 The way that the farming industry is structured today, it is simply not economically feasible to operate a small family farm.  According to Farm Aid, every week approximately 330 farmers leave their land for good.                 Many old timers are trying to hang on for as long as they can.  A very large percentage of family farmers are in their fifties, sixties or seventies at this point.  Today, only about 6 percent of all farmers are under the age of 35.
Most young people these days are not too eager to choose farming as a career.  A lot of young adults that grew up on family farms have decided that investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a business that requires you to work 12 hours or more per day most of the year for very meager wages is simply not worth it.             In recent years, many family farmers have been forced to find second jobs in order to support their families.  Many farm families are constantly on the verge of financial ruin.  It is a really tough life for many of them.             Sadly, less than 25 percent of all farms in America bring in gross revenues in excess of $50,000.  The following comes from the EPA website....




‘Prison complex one of the fastest growing industries in US’ - PressTV - April 26, 2012 - “The prison industrial complex is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States,” according to Randy Short, a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Baltimore, who spoke to Press TV on Thursday.                   Describing the exploitation of inmates in the U.S., Short said, “American prisons now have industries that run from high tech to furniture, so there’s a large amount of products being made for even fortune 500 companies in particular, I would mention Microsoft and Mr. Bill Gates who everyone thinks is such a wonderful humanitarian.”                  “If you look at who’s being arrested and who’s being put in prison for the longest terms, this has always been the way the United States has made it,” Short said.                     The Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest private prison company, has offered to buy nearly all the nation’s state prisons. “To ensure their profitability, the corporation insists that it be guaranteed that the prisons be kept at least 90 percent full.”

TEDx Hickory April 21, 2012 - Part 3 - Crumpler & Inks and Hartman

Jonathon Crumpler and Zach Inks teach Computer Science courses in Morganton at Western Piedmont Community College.

Carol Anne Hartman is a photographer, art instructor, and initiator of Hickory Arts -- a ccenter of multi-faceted artistic endeavors.

TEDx Hickory April 21, 2012 - Part 2 - Edwards and Simmons

Barry Edwards - Catawba County EcoComplex

NORTH CAROLINA'S CATAWBA COUNTY SELECTS NEXTERRA/GE BIOMASS CHP SYSTEM
Nexterra debuts biomass CHP system
Future Economy Council Meeting #17 - (August 20, 2010)


Rob Simmons - Local Entrepreneur - Frontiers

The New Frontier - The Hickory Hound - Tuesday, September 27, 2011

TEDx Hickory April 21, 2012 - Part 1 - Horan and Brzorad

TedX Program and Notes - April 21,2012 - Hickory Hound

TedX Program Guide - This is a guide to all of the people who made presentations and TedX and what the TedX Hickory Event is about.





The Hound's TedX Notes - (PDF File) - These are the notes that were taken in relation to each presenter at the TedX Hickory Event.



One at a time over the next few days I will be putting out the audio of each of the presenters. I know that Alan Jackson and the Media Guild will soon be putting out Video from the event. It was a very exciting event with 150 people in attendance. The attendees were limited because this was the first year of the event. This event was awesome and I would highly suggest that you attend next year's presentations.

Often  the Hound is criticized for putting out negative information. The information is what it is. This information is very positive. It relates how entrepreneurs-innovators-artists are making a go of it in our area. These people aren't making a killing, but they are in charge of their long term destiny and they are pursuing their passions.

So I hope as these presentations are released to the public that you will afford yourself the opportunity to find out about the leaders in this community -- The Doers and Makers.