HEY, RIGHT HAND, WHAT'S THE LEFT HAND DOING?

As you have read in the P&C, there has been a huge furor created over a meeting of the Transparency Subcommittee that was held last Monday night. It seems the meeting did not receive the proper notice to the public. For surreptitious reasons, the Democrat Councilman from District 3 has conscripted the cooperation of his favorite surrogate to stir the pot on this issue. This less than informed mouthpiece obviously did not do his homework and has made some rather unfortunate statements.

The finger of blame for not properly noticing the meeting has been pointed, by this sub, at an innocent person. To the chagrin of the Democrats, popular opinion is that the County attorney had the ultimate responsibility to assure that the public notice had been issued. Since the attorney knew of the meeting in advance and did, in fact, attend the meeting, would it not be reasonable that she should have assured public notice?

In their attempt to falsely assign blame for this mishap they have drawn undo attention to this matter and the BC administration has done what it does best, create a circular firing squad, inadvertently hitting one of their own.

Also, the Democrats got their facts wrong on the people who attended the meeting. They listed several private citizens who were nowhere near the administration building that night. This misinformation further erodes what little credibility these people had.

Now that you know what actually happened, lets get into WHY it happened.

Informed sources have spread the word that the SLED investigation on the "burn your house down" issue has concluded. Without the excuse of a pending investigation, why isn't the approval of the February 22, 2010 minutes on the agenda for Monday night's County Council meeting?

Also, the issue of the purchase of the fairgrounds property for the Dan Davis Health and Human Services Campus IS on the agenda for Monday's Council meeting. The unanswered questions about this transaction could fill a book.

According to the BC tax records, this property is owned by the Agricultural Exposition, Inc. GE&P has learned that three local businessmen are the principals in this organization. Nowhere on the tax records is the name of the American Legion connected with this property. There is no "sale history" on record since 1978. And, the taxes owed for this property have been reassessed DOWN so many times in the last year it would make your head spin to read the record. GE&P inquired about these unusual records but was unable to get an explanation from any BC office. The only definitive reply we were able to get was, "I've never seen anything like this so you'll have to speak with my boss." After that transfer to "the boss" was completed, the well of information sort of dried up.

The plans for this project (Facilities Study) notes the need of 7 to 8 acres of land. The fairgrounds property in question contains 16 acres. As we understand, Mr. Davis wants to buy the entire tract, use part for the Campus, and try to resell the remainder at some point in the future, for a profit. This tract has been assessed by the sellers at $1.6 Million. That amounts to $100,000 an acre. According to BC records, the BC Assessor concurs with this assessment. Several real estate experts in the area disagree. These experts say this price is inflated and resale at a profit would be doubtful, to say the least. The big question is,"Why would Mr. Davis be so agreeable to paying an inflated price for this property?"

There is yet another fly in the ointment when it comes to purchasing the fairgrounds property for Mr. Davis' new Campus. Have you heard about the other property that has been offered to BC for this project? Oh yes, there is an alternative.

This other property is conveniently located; has easy access; is exactly the right size; and can be purchased for a MUCH more reasonable price. You may wonder why you haven't heard about this other property. Well, there's a good reason. Mr. Davis is hell-bent on building his Health and Human Services Campus no matter what the taxpayers think. He and the four other Democrats on Council have the votes to do it. There is no way to stop this project. If it became public knowledge that the County has the ability to purchase the necessary land for a fraction of the price of the fairgrounds property, the outcry might just upset this apple cart. (or should it be 'this table' under which this $1.6 Million has to pass?)

In this situation, as it is with almost every issue in which this County government is involved, be sure to ALWAYS look behind the action. Don't ever think the current flap is the real issue. Just because you think you know what the right hand is doing, don't take your eye off the left.

GE&P urges all taxpayers to attend the Committee meetings next Monday night. Admittedly, due to the new organization of Council, only the 5 Democrats (4 Councilmen and Supervisor Davis) have any influence on any of the votes, but you will still have the opportunity to witness government corruption at its best.