Rudy Wright throwin 'em under the bus -- You Next?

Another Recording from the Conover Crusader. Rudy calls out NC Senator Bob Rucho of Charlotte to the Catawba County Democrats. He says that Bob Rucho is pretty much "Persona Non Grata" in Raleigh.

How convenient and hilarious that the Mayor goes before the Catawba County Democrats and calls out Bob Rucho, a Republican, as being "Persona Non Grata" and essentially saying he is despised. I remember last year when he went before the Republican women's group and called out Hickory City Council member Sally Fox for being too liberal.

Throwin Senator Bob Rucho of Charlotte under the bus.





Throwin Sally Fox under the bus at the Catawba County Republican Women's Forum.





The day after I released the Referendum Debate at the Republican Women's luncheon presentation, I was asked to take it down, because a certain someone went to the head of the Republican party and said that Republicans don't do this to Republicans. Last time I looked, Bob Rucho is a Republican.

This full debate was put back up after Joe Brannock and I continued to be hammered about our participation in the CEG and in the referendum battle. The Mayor says this is all supposed to be non-partisan when it is favorable for him to do so, but when people attempt to work in a non-partisan manner and build coalitions across Hickory, he casts aspersions and denigrates their efforts to truly unite the people of Hickory. He said as much when he said that Jody Inglefield was bringing partisan politics into the chamber and that he would do everything he could to make sure that Dr. Inglefield and his wife Rebecca didn't become Mayor. Last time I looked it isn't a co-mayorship and I don't see candidates battling it out with Donna Wright as this campaign moves forward.

Mayor Wright also makes his push for the 1% prepared food tax here saying it is not a regressive tax. I disagree and think it is a Pass The Buck tax and this tax has failed in most communities where it has been put to a vote of the people, because the average person is tired of being nickeled and dimed to death for political pet projects. This tax affects lower income people more, because fast food is a staple of their diets in the Underemployment Economy and food is a higher percentage of their incomes. The riots in Egypt were caused because food prices were negatively affecting poor people. I'm sure you all have been grocery shopping lately. There are a multitude of reasons this tax is bad and the Conover Crusader points to some issues I had not even thought of.

Thanks for the jumper.

Rudy Wright - Inspiring Spaces - $80 million for Beautification

This is another of the recordings from the Conover Crusader that I planned on putting out today. Thanks again CC. You have done a great service here. In reading the following comment from "mbg", it fits vurry well with this presentation.

mbg commented on "Rudy Wright - Accountability from this day forward" on July 30, 2013:

While I do not hold Rudy Wright solely responsible, I do think this is indicative of the lack of an effective plan fromm our leaders to grow job opportunities in the Hickory area.

I recall listening to "Monday Morning With The Mayor" nearly 2 years ago while I was driving up to Virginia to put together a new manufacturing operation that had decided to locate there. Hal asked Rudy what were we going to do about jobs in Hickory. The next 10 minutes were spent talking about Hickory's new logo which evidently was the "plan". This stuck in my mind because the company I was working with looked at Hickory first before Virginia. They were evidently under Hickory's radar, but SW Virginia really put the full court press on. Needless to say I am still in Virginia today. I have yet to see a company that cared about logos or slogans.

I have heard what mgb states here many times over the last several years. There was an opportunity for Hickory to participate/place a bid for Honda Jet engines and the city administration showed no interest. There were federal grants available to fix the city swimming pools and the city refused to even apply. There have been many education initiatives that Hickory could qualify for and the local government has refused to act. In my opinion, this is a dereliction of duty (no not the military term), when they are not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility to act on the public's behalf. Just because an opportunity doesn't fit your personal agenda/priorities does not mean you should not act.

The Mayor talks about $80 million for beautification. The term beautification isn't going to play well in Peoria or Hickory. We truly need to reassess what is the Inspiring Spaces program. It has become a catch all program and there is a huge lack of focus when so much is incorporated under this one  umbrella.

An example is that the Mayor now wants a splash pad, since he was called out in the HDR in relation to the closed swimming pools a couple of weeks ago. To be fair he initially did push the idea of a Splash Pad as set forth by Site Solutions park plan of 2010, but in the meantime he has not mentioned it. Now they want to build this splash pad under the Inspiring Spaces umbrella. Well, he pulled this rabbit out of the hat here at election time, because he knows that the majority of the people in the community think that there should be aquatic recreation in the community. He believes that this would appease the masses at the same time it will give him a talking point going into this election. I don't think it's going to fly. If programs aren't specific, then we have seen how they become boondoggles.

You can find out more from this July 9, 2013 Inspiring Spaces presentation that was held at City Hall.

This program was created as a result of trips by Hickory Administration and City Council to various cities in the region including Burlington, Asheville, Durham, Greenville, SC, Chattanooga, TN,  and Roanoke, VA. A panel of well connected business and non-profit people were handpicked by Hickory City Council and then they came forward with recommendations for projects including Greenways, Gateways, Parks, and what are termed Special Places. In witnessing Hickory task forces of the past, I wouldn't be surprised if the project list wasn't determined before the first meeting took place and the outcome guided by city staff.

The biggest problem that I have seen thus far with this program is the open ended talks of a funding mechanism. They are putting the cart before the horse. The Mayor is pushing this 1% prepared food tax as a funding mechanism, while saying that it will cost $80 million over 10 years to fund this program with $20 million coming from the Local Government, $20 million coming from the State, $20 million coming from the Feds, and $20 million coming from private sources. They believe that they can raise $13 million over 10 years through this prepared food tax for the local part and one would have to assume that the other $7 million would come from the General Fund.

From the sources I have spoken with and the evidence I have seen by reading hundreds of stories about the economic situation here in North Carolina and the United States, these funding assumptions/formula are the stuff of pure folly. We cannot move forward with this overarching program until the funding is set in stone. Could you imagine moving forward with even $40 million of this and then the funding mechanism falls through. If that happened, then the community would be on the hook.

Specific parts of this program can be pulled out and funded individually as you would normally do, but this needs to be an open and transparent process. It is time for the days of Hickory City Funds going to the same insider entities all the time come to an end. It isn't anything against those businesses. It is giving all of Hickory's businesses an opportunity to participate and another thing is that Hickory businesses should come first, when it comes to projects.

I am inspired by people not property!

Rudy Wright - Accountability from this day forward

Another Soundbyte from our friend the Conover Crusader: Rudy Wright and his surrogates have taken no responsibility for what has happened to the local economy over the last 12 years. I will be fair. There was a perfect storm that hit this community's economy in 2001. We had a convergence of the bursting of the Dot.com bubble decimating Fiber Optic production, NAFTA kicked in full throttle and had a very negative effect on our furniture and textiles, and then 9/11 was a haymaker that accelerated this reality and sent us reeling.

Many people knew that we had troubles long ago, because the type of manufacturing we had in this community was low-skilled and labor intensive. These were the first jobs that would be offshored. Jim Rice, who was a manager with Superior Cable and now is the founder of Visionaire Jets, knew that it was necessary to diversify our local Manufacturing Economy for the sake of its long term viability - Jim Rice - A Man ahead of Time - He wanted to diversify Catawba County Industry in 1977.

For years of his tenure, I'd listen to Mayor Wright do Hal Row's show on those first Monday mornings talking about how we were going to turn it around and how this was going to be our year. This Mayor and City Administration pushed the idea of moving retirees in here and turning Hickory into a retirement community and now he says that was never an emphasis. I sat in a room 4 years ago where Mick Berry talked about the Low Hanging fruit of retirees, how easy they were to attract with our infrastructure,  and how it would be very difficult to get the younger generations to come here. When he didn't like the direction the conversation was heading, he split. That was a huge part of their plan, whether they want to change history or not.

This is not about me, but the constant refusal to talk about our realistic situation frustrated me to no end and that is the reason why I wrote my first letter to the editor, which they allowed as a guest column six years ago: An All-American City deserves first-class leadership - July 15, 2007

Rudy has taken no ownership over our local Economic Malaise since he took office. He was given a pass over the first four years, "because the downturn wasn't his fault and Jay Adams was one of those Wascawie Develwopers." Then Rudy had the audacity to talk about what an honor it was to be unopposed in 2009 and pushed his "All of one Mind" Council Agenda. He got everything he wanted and we're still in the same economic rut and time is still a wastin'.

Rudy's Go To Economic Development strategies/philosophies are short and sweet..... 1) Scott Millar, 2) City Staff 3) It's all Washington's fault, 4) It's all Raleigh's fault, 5) The other local communities are dragging our numbers down, 6) It's out of our control. 7) The Insider Boondoggle of the year, 8) Obfuscation with the help of surrogates.

Honestly, most rational people will understand that it would be a lot easier to actually try to accomplish some difficult tasks and let the chips fall where they may. That is the reason why Term Limits are very effective, because they render such messes as above futile. You know what or get off the pot!  

Rudy was taken to task about his never accepting responsibility for his 12 years as Mayor. He's the CEO and we've lost 30,000 jobs. There aren't career options for young people. Family children, other than those of the top of the food chain around here, move away and parents don't get to see them much.  Much of our problems come from the loss of these generations.

In answering, Rudy sounded incredulous that anyone would ever mention his name in the same sentence with the downturn. That is the attitude of much of the upper government of Hickory Inc. When asked about accepting responsibility, he talks about not casting blame (as if he never does) and then says that he is responsible from this day forward. What will be different in the next 4 years compared to what we have seen in the previous 12 under the continuation of a Wright Regime?

If it weren't true, it would be hard to believe.

Rudy Wright - The Hickory Daily Record prints Garbage

Back in late June, I received an e-mail of interesting links from a meeting that was attended by Mayor Rudy Wright in which he said some "vurry intursting" things. I alluded to one of the statements that really ticked me off, where he talks about the Hickory Daily Record article from June 2, 2013 related to Hickory being the 5th most miserable metropolitan area in the United States. He says that people are entitled to their opinions, but the paper doesn't have to (shouldn't) print them. He talks about "people called in with axes to grind" and belittles people -- many his constituents.

Hey Rudy, no one "called in." The paper asked questions on their website and in the hard edition. People responded and the paper utilized those responses to form an article. They had over 400 people respond to their poll that was on their website. That's a pretty respectable amount of respondents and that is probably what bothers you the most. The HDR did not create this story, as you state, their audience did. That is what any good business model does. They listen to their customers. Hickory Inc. should try that!

You can read about it here
Readers say Hickory area needs some work - June 2, 2013 
Hound responds to HDR "Readers say Hickory area needs some work" - June 3, 2013

I received these e-mails from an anonymous source who goes by the name "Conover Crusader". It seems that whomever this is that they are doing a takeoff of some of my work. "Conover Crusader", you can get in touch with me again at the e-mail you sent this to the last time. I'd certainly like to talk or at least have some sort of correspondence.

Anyway, I think that y'all will find this more than interesting. It certainly doesn't sound like Mayor Wright thinks very much of the people who submit Letters to the Editor. We know that he wanted to have a meeting last week with the Hickory Daily Record staff. I assume that he did have that meeting. After that meeting was when the HDR came out with the article that had a headline about there being no basis to Joe Brannock's questions at the last City Council meeting. They also didn't allow Joe to respond to Alder Patton or to Mayor Wright's assertion that 'the law doesn't matter to Joe Brannock.'

The HDR article against Joe Brannock even showed that Bruce Meisner had appointed his business partner to the Rental Property task force that Joe had served on and this person was his business partner in the property in question that had been in violation of Code issues, and Alderman Meisner did indeed vote against the motion to beef up code enforcement that would have directly affected properties such as the one in question. So where is the logic in the "No Basis" summation by the HDR?

I am not pointing out any of this to take the HDR to task about what we have seen in the last week and a half. It is what it is. I do stand by the statement that they were the ones who brought the Conflict of Interest discussion into play, so why run scared?  Logically one can see that the HDR is allowing themselves to be bullied by the local Powers That Be in this community. This has been going on for a long time. Maybe, we should see if  Mr. Buffett likes his media entity being bullied. I just want to see a level playing field as we move forward into this election. Rudy and his Army will do everything to keep that from happening. And we will continue marching forward.



Who were the money interests???

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- July 28, 2013

The Biggest Oil Discovery In 50 Years? - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - July 23rd, 2013 - In a virtually uninhabitable section of South Australia, a discovery has been made which could rock the world.  Some are calling it the biggest discovery of oil in 50 years.  Earlier this year, a company called Linc Energy announced that tests had revealed that there was a minimum of 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent sitting under more than 65,000 square kilometres of land that it owns in the Arckaringa Basin.  But that is the minimum number.  It has been projected that there could ultimately be up to 233 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the area.  If that turns out to be accurate, the oil sitting under that land is worth approximately 20 trillion dollars, and it would be roughly equivalent to the total amount of oil sitting under the sands of Saudi Arabia.  In essence, it would be a massive game changer.                            If the 233 billion barrel figure is accurate (and some have even suggested that the true number could actually be 400 billion barrels), that would make it nearly 10 times larger than the Bakken formation, 17 times larger than the Marcellus discovery and 80 times larger than the Eagle Ford deposit down in Texas.                     It would also mean that Australia now has more "black gold" than the nations of Iran, Iraq, Canada and Venezuela.                    The closest town to this oil discovery, Coober Pedy, is in the process of being totally transformed.  It normally only has about 1,700 inhabitants, but news of this discovery has drawn in 20,000 additional people already and real estate prices in the town are absolutely skyrocketing.                 So does all of this mean that gas prices will go down soon?                     Well, unfortunately that is not likely to be the case.                   First of all, the oil in this formation in Australia is going to be quite expensive to extract.  It has been estimated that it is going to cost up to 300 million dollars just to get this site ready for production.                      In addition, many of our politicians are absolutely determined to greatly punish the use of oil because they believe that it is the primary cause of global warming.  So they continue to raise taxes on gasoline consumption.                   Today, motorists in the United States pay an average of 49.5 cents of taxes per gallon of gasoline, and in the state of California motorists pay an average of 71.9 cents of taxes per gallon of gasoline.                      Hopefully the price of gasoline will come down a bit over the next few years, but even if it does I would not expect it to come down too much.                       But what we can be sure of is that the world is not going to run out of oil any time soon.  Those that have been predicting that we are are on the verge of an "energy doomsday" can take a rest for a while.                   Sometimes it is funny to look back and remember some of the ridiculous things that our politicians were saying about oil in the old days.  For example, U.S. President Jimmy Carter made the following statement back in 1977….


It Is Happening Again: 18 Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - July 25th, 2013 - If our leaders could have recognized the signs ahead of time, do you think that they could have prevented the financial crisis of 2008?  That is a very timely question, because so many of the warning signs that we saw just before and during the last financial crisis are popping up again.  Many of the things that are happening right now in the stock market, the bond market, the real estate market and in the overall economic data are eerily similar to what we witnessed back in 2008 and 2009.  It is almost as if we are being forced to watch some kind of a perverse replay of previous events, only this time our economy and our financial system are much weaker than they were the last time around.  So will we be able to handle a financial crash as bad as we experienced back in 2008?  What if it is even worse this time?  Considering the fact that we have been through this kind of thing before, you would think that our leaders would be feverishly trying to keep it from happening again and the American people would be rapidly preparing to weather the coming storm.  Sadly, none of that is happening.  It is almost as if they cannot even see the disaster that is staring them right in the face.  But without a doubt, disaster is coming. The following are 18 similarities between the last financial crisis and today...                        #1 According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch equity strategy team, their big institutional clients are selling stock at a rate not seen "since 2008".                       #2 In 2008, stock prices had wildly diverged from where the economic fundamentals said that they should be.  Now it has happened again....


McDonald's falls short, warns of tough year - McDonald's profit falls short of expectations, warns of challenging year ahead - Associated Press - Candice Choi, AP Food Industry Writer - July 22, 2013 - McDonald's Corp. is mixing up its menu to lure more customers but not enough of them are biting.                 The world's biggest hamburger chain on Monday reported a second-quarter profit that rose 4 percent but fell short of Wall Street expectations. It also said July sales are expected to be relatively flat and warned of a tough year ahead.                         Its stock edged down more than 2 percent at $98.05 in premarket trading.                           The company, based in Oak Brook, Ill., says global sales edged up 1 percent at restaurants open at least a year for the three months ended June 30. The figure rose by the same amount in the U.S., where the company has been trying to adapt to changing eating habits with items such as its new chicken wraps and egg-white breakfast sandwiches.                           But the tepid growth in the latest quarter reflect the challenges facing McDonald's, which for years had been a standout in the fast-food industry. Part of the problem is that economic conditions remain weak in many parts of the world. But another factor is that dining habits are changing, particularly in the U.S., with people increasingly opting for foods they feel are fresher, healthier or higher-quality.


Role Reversal: How the US Became the USSR — Paul Craig Roberts - July 23, 2013 - I spent the summer of 1961 behind the Iron Curtain. I was part of the US-USSR student exchange program. It was the second year of the program that operated under auspices of the US Department of State. Our return to the West via train through East Germany was interrupted by the construction of the Berlin Wall. We were sent back to Poland. The East German rail tracks were occupied with Soviet troop and tank trains as the Red Army concentrated in East Germany to face down any Western interference.                 Fortunately, in those days there were no neoconservatives. Washington had not grown the hubris it so well displays in the 21st century. The wall was built and war was avoided. The wall backfired on the Soviets. Both JFK and Ronald Reagan used it to good propaganda effect.
In those days America stood for freedom, and the Soviet Union for oppression. Much of this impression was created by Western propaganda, but there was some semblance to the truth in the image. The communists had a Julian Assange and an Edward Snowden of their own. His name was Cardinal Jozef Mindszenty, the leader of the Hungarian Catholic Church..


Paul Craig Roberts ~ The Total Destruction of America from Within

This video goes into the info from the article above and then goes further.

The Hickory Daily Record rejected this response too

The Hickory Daily Record allowed Jill Patton and Rudy Wright to make statements about Joe Brannock and the CEG, but created barriers to not allow Joe Brannock to respond. All of what the HDR reported about what was said by Joe at the last City Council meeting is up to interpretation.

Reporter Tinkelenberg did nothing other than his job when he reported what Joe had said at that meeting. It is no different than saying that it was 81 degrees at 1pm today. Are the local Powers That Be going to get mad at the HDR reporter because they are mad about it being hot outside?

The Mayor is on record as saying that the HDR prints garbage and he basically says that they should censor the news apparently to fit the Authoritarian template. I gave the HDR the benefit of the doubt that they were going to show some independence; but once again, like Charlie Brown and kicking the football while Lucy is holding it, I was only fooling myself. The HDR isn't going to stand up to the bullies. We know that Mayor Wright was giving them the business this week and we assume that this has been an ongoing thing during his tenure.

Let the HDR fall in line and be subservient to their masters. We're gonna crank this thing back up again.

Joe Brannock made this submission the other day to the HDR. They told him they were going to publish it and then reneged by creating a candidate policy after the fact that apparently doesn't include incumbents. Thus Joe could not respond to personal statements made by Jill Patton and Rudy Wright. Once again understand that the HDR were the ones that ramped this Conflict of Interest stuff up a couple weeks ago and as soon as they got the least little pushback from the local Powers That Be, they go looking for a scapegoat to throw under the bus. How Manly!!!

Are we the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave or the Land of those who Flee and the Home of the Slaves?



Joe Brannock - submitted on July 22, 2013 to the Hickory Daily Record in response to a Sunday Letter to the Editor by Jill Patton that among other things labels him as the Chairman of the Citizens for Equity in Government:

In response to Mrs. Patton's comments in this past Sunday's paper I would like to point out that no accusations were made against her or anyone else. Questions were asked. It is not surprising that Mrs. Patton took offense to questions being asked, as that seems to be the typical response the City has when questioned.

Unlike Mrs. Patton, I am able to admit when I'm mistaken; as I did in the follow up HDR article concerning conflicts-of-interest. But let's talk about getting one's facts straight, Mrs. Patton.  I have been and continue to be a spokesperson for the CEG, but I am NOT the Chairman. Had you ever taken the time to check that out rather than denigrate the CEG, you might know that.


Who helped Rudy get elected in 2001?

Reality - Trust No One - Verify Everything

I have watched and read programs over the past several years that state that if you want to find out what is going on in America then you have to watch foreign news sources and if foreign nations want to find out what is going on in their nations, then they have to watch American television. The same thing happens on the local level.

Everyone loves to point the finger at other communities... other parts of the government, but there is an unwillingness for self-introspection. That is cowardice. I just don't see how people can face themselves in the mirror when they can't even be honest with themselves. I know that I have made several mistakes along the way. I have made several bad investments and didn't take advantage of some opportunities afforded me. I have learned, but wonder if I will ever have those opportunities again.

I love my house; bought it nearly 8 years ago in August. I spent years saving the money to buy it. I didn't pay attention and look at the negative momentum in this community. It's supposed to be the American Dream. It has turned into American Bondage.

Buying this house was an investment in this community. It tied me down to this community. I was making more money back then and I bought this house for nearly $20,000 less than what it was on the market for and $7,000 less than what it had been appraised at. Does that not sound like a good investment to you? And yet, I feel like I had bad information all around and I failed to recognize that bad information. That is on me.

The younger generations, the Ys and Millenials, do not want to be tied down to what is called Real Estate. Real Property isn't "Real" when its price is not attached to "Real"ity. I understand marketing, but the premium in the "Real" property market created by marketing B.S. is creating a hindrance to the economic realities of the property markets in communities throughout this country and beyond, especially when you have all of this married to the idea that providing un"real"istic expectations, embellished and just plain bad information is somehow good for communities. And to have droves of arrogant Overlord types provided with inside information that they use for personal gain, at the average person's expense, goes against the trust needed in a Free Market Capitalist system.

This lack of self-regulation is what has led to the necessity for the burdensome regulation we see today. But, in the end, those regulations do not create harsh enough penalties to stop those they were intended to regulate in the first place. And usually they create barriers to entry that further help insiders, while keeping start-ups from entering into the marketplace, thus hurting overall economic progress.

(Wikipedia) - A conflict of interest (COI) occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in another...              The presence of a conflict of interest is independent from the execution of impropriety. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs.

For those geniuses that might not understand, what the above says is that it is not about the violation resulting from the Conflict. It is about the acknowledgement of potential conflicts. Such acknowledgements lead to transparency and usually lead to the prevention of personal Acts of Conflicts of Interest. And at least the public is better informed. Too many times we see elected officials acting towards the interests of a select few at the expense of a great many; all the while telling us about how it is for our own good.

Why would young people want to invest in this community at this point in time? Why would active seniors want to invest in this community at this point in time? Why would you want to invest in a community that refuses to get real with itself -- that refuses any standard of accountability? Why would you want to invest in a community that believes we just need to tweak a few things and everything will be alright; a community that has created its own economic stagnation? A stagnation that has been going on for over a decade.

The Ys and the Millenials have voted with their feet. They aren't going to bind themselves to this community. They need to be flexible in the realities of this economy so that they can get to where the jobs are. That is what the statistics show. Of course I pointed to this before it became a trend and long before it was accepted. Now that this reality has been accepted, we are told that we just need to convince (ie market to) these young people that they should stay and give Hickory a chance. All of this at the same time that the people at the top of the socio-economic structure move their children out of the community and tell them not to look back, with those children very willingly obliging. In other words they aren't practicing what they are preaching. They have gotten their children to the lifeboats, while they are telling the rest of us to ignore that gash in the starboard side and go back to sleep. You can always tell people's character by whether they practice what they preach.

The good jobs are few and far between here. And even with good jobs, you will be paid less than market value in this community. And they brag about this in National Publications!!! Wow, what wonderful leadership. The "It's Good Enough" mentality. This is the reality of our local Underemployment Economic model. Educated people understand that. Why should a young person accept that? Why should they invest in a community that for years has refused to invest in them?

So what am I getting at? In this age of propaganda and rogue entities only representing their own self-interests and not looking out for the good of the ecosystem, you have to do more than due diligence to assess situations. You have to read between the lines. The days of common sense and ethical conduct are out the window. There is no face value. It's a free-for-all and the onus of expectations are going to be placed on the individual -- placed on you. The young people do not trust the people who have bred this lack of trust.

If you are honest and above board, you will find yourself at a disadvantage to those who do not accept practical codes of ethics. Unfairly, I and others that I associate with have definitely been held to a higher standard than others in this community are willing to accept for themselves. We accept that it is what it is and we will continue to refuse to make excuses and lower ourselves to their (lack of) standards and practices.


This is where Hickory is headed if we don't change.