Ballantyne, NC – Ballantyne Hotel was the site of a flurry of activity. An over flow crowd was in attendance for the January 27th property revaluation meeting. Ballantyne Breakfast Club was the host for the discussion and drew the largest attendance thus far for this series of public sessions taking place [...]]]>

Ballantyne, NC – Ballantyne Hotel was the site of a flurry of activity. An over flow crowd was in attendance for the January 27th property revaluation meeting. Ballantyne Breakfast Club was the host for the discussion and drew the largest attendance thus far for this series of public sessions taking place county wide. District 7 City Council Member Warren Cooksey helped organize the meeting for Ballantyne residents. Mecklenburg County Vice-Chair Jim Pendergraft apologized on behalf of District 6 Board Member Bill James who was under the weather and unable to attend. Mr. Pendergraft went on to explain that the county website for the property revaluation is up and running at http://reval.charmeck.org and all of the meeting information is available there. The county expects to mail the private property revaluations by February 7th and hopes the county will remain revenue neutral, however this does not mean taxes will not increase. The county will decide the new tax rate sometime in June.

Mecklenburg County Tax Assessor Garrett Alexander was present to talk about the appeals process. The state statute gives each property owner 30 days from the date the property revaluation is received in the mail.There are approximately 319,000 privately owned properties in this county. The county hopes to mail the commercial revaluations on March 1st, 2011.The county is still analyzing the 2010 fourth quarter tax data and expects to be done analyzing all of the data shortly.

The lead appraiser For The ReValuation Team is Chuck Hicks. Mr. Hicks did a power point presentation explaining the process (available on the website).The last time the property revaluation was done in this county was 2003. The 2003 process was partly based on 2002 property values. Two major factors influence the current process. One is market value. This is defined as the most probable price in an open market in a typical sale in the absence of undo stimulus. The second factor is equity. This is defined as the reflection of the current value applied fairly. Every county in North Carolina is bound by the state appraisal standards when doing revaluations.

In the past, foreclosures were not included in the revaluations. This years revaluation will include foreclosures. Appraisers can use a cost approval approach or a sales approach. The state has mandated that all counties do a property revaluation a maximum of every eight years.

Between the years of 2002 – 2006, the federal government lowered the interest rates several times. This temporarily increased property sales and prices. Some time after this there was a ‘market correction’. The ‘top’ of the housing bubble was in 2007. In 2009, the county was scheduled to do a revaluation but the commissioners decided they wanted to postpone this revaluation.

The ratio used by the county is the assessed value divided by the actual sale price which equals the assessment/sales ratio. If your property has increased in value since the 2003 revaluation, your ratio is below 100% (meaning your taxes will likely increase). If the price of your home has fallen, then your ratio is above 100%. If the value of your house is approximately the same as it was in 2003, then your ratio will be at or near 100%. The county board of commissioners will decide the new tax rate in June.

All property owners should receive a new property revaluation form. This is a perforated piece of paper and all appeals should be filled out on the lower portion of this same form. After filing an appeal, the owner should receive a post card from the county. Owners have 30 days from the date they receive the new property revaluation form to appeal the value. An example of a reason to appeal: if you have several unsold properties in your neighborhood and you feel the county has not taken this into account. Another example of a reason to appeal would be if there are a large number of rental units in the neighborhood that you feel the county did not take into account. A third example of appeal would be if the county has the square footage wrong or if it has changed since 2002. This would be time to fill out the lower portion of the form and mail it to the county with the number of unsold properties in your neighborhood. Please included a reason of why the county’s value is not the actual value.

The ‘Board of Equalization’ will be handling the appeals (click here for appeals info). This board is required by law to handle these appeals starting the first Monday in April and be finished by the first Monday in May. Each owner will need evidence to show why the value should be changed. Right now this board has nine members. This board member size was decided in 1981. The current board of county commissioners would like to control the size of the ‘Board of Equalization’. The county commissioners would like to increase the size to 15 members in a revaluation year. This is due to the number of appeals that are expected. There is a bill in Raleigh right now to allow the Mecklenburg County Commission to establish an ordinance to control the membership size of the ‘board of equalization’ locally. The other idea is to have two concurrent or successive panels in order to speed up the appeals process. All of the appeals forms will be scanned and put into a ‘queue.’ Property owners have 15 days after receiving a decision from the ‘Board of Equalization’ to file a second appeal. The reason for this board is a system of ‘checks and balances’.

The county now has seven appraisers on the revaluation team and seventeen appraisers who handle new construction.The county appraisers are using the median and not the mean. Here the reason the mean was not chosen. For example, if a neighborhood has an average sales price of $400,000 but one house sells for $1 million. This $1 million dollar sale would skew the mean for that particular neighborhood. The median takes this kind of anomaly into consideration. Using the median, all the rest of the neighborhood would not have unusually high property values due to one house that sold for $1 million. This will help the county arrive at the fair market value for properties.

A question was asked about why the county is choosing ‘30 days’ for appeals rather than giving property owners until May 15th. Mr. Alexander stated that there are statutes and case law to support the idea of a ‘30 day window of time’ to appeal. Another question was asked about lack of data. What happens if there are no sales of properties in a neighborhood for 2009 or 2010? Mr. Hicks explained that trend sales from 2007 and line of best fit are used to best estimate the fair market value. The appraisers use the best data available to arrive at the fair market value.

The county suggests that property owners go to the revaluation web site before the revaluation form arrives. Type in the address of your property and check to see what value is listed.The county is using a median analysis system of doing the revaluation. The date on the revaluation is January 1, 2011. The county expects to mail the private property revaluations by February 7th.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

Follow Susan on Twitter @susanjspaulding

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Ballantyne, NC - The Ballantyne Breakfast Club is holding a special meeting on Thursday, January 27th. This is the next property revaluation meeting. It will be held at the Ballantyne Hotel in the Fairway Ball Room at 7:00 pm. Councilman Warren Cooksey will have a presentation to explain and clarify the revaluation [...]]]>

Ballantyne, NC - The Ballantyne Breakfast Club is holding a special meeting on Thursday, January 27th. This is the next property revaluation meeting. It will be held at the Ballantyne Hotel in the Fairway Ball Room at 7:00 pm. Councilman Warren Cooksey will have a presentation to explain and clarify the revaluation process. County representatives will be present. On February 12th, The Ballantyne Breakfast Club will meet in the Ballantyne Hotel. This is the ‘Priorities 2011 Meeting’. ‘On hand’ will be elected officials from the state, county, city, CMPD, CMS, the district attorney’s office and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. All will speak about their top three priorities for their respective areas. All are encouraged to attend both meetings.

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This reporter was anxious to attend my first meeting in the chamber of the government center. I am happy to report that it was a very informative and thought provoking process. I did learn much about how this board makes decisions.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board of Education met on December [...]]]>

This reporter was anxious to attend my first meeting in the chamber of the government center. I am happy to report that it was a very informative and thought provoking process. I did learn much about how this board makes decisions.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board of Education met on December 14th, 2010 in the chamber of The Charlotte Government Center at 6:00 pm. The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance and the amended agenda. Per the board rules, Dr. Gorman was presiding over the vote for the board chairperson. C.M.S.District 5 Representative Eric Davis was nominated by At-Large Representative ‘Coach’ Joe White. At-Large Member Trent Merchant was also nominated for the position of chairperson.
However, At-Large Member Trent Merchant declined this nomination. The votes went to the incumbent Chairman Eric Davis. Chairman Davis was presiding over the vote for vice-chairperson. District 4 Representative Tom Tate, At-Large Representative Kaye McGarry and District 6 Representative Tim Morgan were all nominated in that order. District 4 Representative Tom Tate won this vote.

Next were the public speakers. One speaker is an advocate for ‘Classroom Central’. This is a ‘free store’ for teachers in Charlotte that is no longer funded by C.M.S. ‘Classroom Central’ has been in operation for nine years. They serve 122 schools and 7,770 students. One of the major sponsors of this project is The Goodrich Corporation. The speaker for ‘Classroom Central’ would like to have this project reinstated in the C.M.S. Budget. Several speakers would like to get E.E. Waddell on the list of open schools instead of the list of schools to close. Several parents who have children in magnet schools also spoke about the cuts to magnet transportation.

Guy Chamberlin, C.M.S. Associate Superintendent for Auxiliary Services, also briefly spoke to the board about minority participation in the electrical retrofit project. This project will help make more schools more energy efficient. C.M.S has more than the minimum amount of minority participation for this and other projects.

At-Large Representative Kaye McGarry made her case for mandatory audio-taping of every closed door board meeting. She cited the open meting laws as one reason to record the closed meetings. On September 28th of this year, the C.M.S. Board stopped recording their closed door meetings. At that same meeting, one board member was insistent on personally recording the meeting. Several board members cited that fact that Nancy Daughtridge takes detailed notes of these meetings as a reason not to record. The board did vote to not have audio-recordings of their closed door meetings. This measure failed by a vote of 2 to 7.

Carol Stamper, C.M.S. Executive Director of Transportation Director and Derek Graham both spoke about ways to save money through transportation changes. Mr. Graham is the Section Chief of Transportation Services for The North Carolina Department of Transportation. Ms. Stamper outlined several different ways money can be saved. Buses are the safest and most environmentally sound way to transport children to and from schools. Children are 45 times more likely to remain safe on a bus versus riding with a teen driver. The current number of C.M.S school buses transport 56,000 children. This keeps many vehicles off the road and increases safety for all in Charlotte. In one year, the C.M.S. Transportation Department uses 7 million gallons of fuel that costs $20 million dollars.

Mr. Graham then explained the funding formula used by the state for the amount given to each county for school transportation. There are three elements to this formula: 1.The funding base 2. The budget rating 3. Budget rating X (multiplied by) base funding. Local funding for school transportation is capped by the general assembly of the state. Mr. Graham stated that efficiency is key. Ms. Stamper stated that option #1 to save money would be not transporting any students who live less than 1.5 miles from their school. This would equal a major re-arranging of the C.M.S. Transportation Zones. The initial savings for year one of this idea is $5 – $6 million. Unfortunately, in year two, this would also mean a 15% drop in the money received from the state. The state has a ‘simulator’ that is not as helpful as it sounds. This ‘simulator’ is one year old data.

Along with a complicated and outdated formula the state has ‘frontier counties’ that are doing well, in the state’s estimations. There are 100 counties in North Carolina, only two or three are ‘frontier counties’. The current state transportation formula is from 1990. C.M.S. At-Large Representative Trent Merchant and District 1 Representative Rhonda Lennon both commented that this formula is outdated and not as efficient as it could be. District 1 Representative Rhonda Lennon suggested that all of the board should be contacting the state representatives about this formula. Ms. Lennon would like to speak to Representative Thom Tillis and the need for more flexibility in funding. Chairman Eric Davis is also anxious to speak to Representative Thom Tillis about the formula. He would like to suggest an ‘urban’ funding formula.

Ms. Stamper went on to present the idea of cutting funding for magnet school transportation. The cost savings would depend on which track the board chooses. The first option that board can choose is to stop transportation for only full magnet schools. The second option is to choose to stop transportation for full and partial magnet schools. The option for only full magnet schools would save $6.7 million dollars. The second option would save $6.7 plus another $2.8 million. This would be approximately $9.5 million dollars in total savings if the board chooses the full and partial magnet school transportation option. However, this $9.5 million might not be fully realized due to logistics. If some students opt out of going to a magnet school and choose to now go to their ‘home’ school there are costs associated with that choice. This might cause the savings to be approximately $5.1 million even with the choice of full and partial magnets. In other words, it might cost the schools $4.4 million to transport these former magnet students to their ‘home’ schools.

A change in bell schedules in order to use each bus more often during a school day was another option put on the ‘table’. January 8th, 2011 there will be a ‘magnet fair’. The deadline for the magnet school applications is February 7th. Final decisions will need to be made before this February 7th deadline. The January 25th board meeting will be this date when major transportation decisions will need to be final.

District 3 Representative Dr. Joyce Waddell asked Ms. Stamper a question about bus driver duties. Can the bus drivers take on other responsibilities, like teacher’s assistant or work in the cafeteria? Ms. Stamper explained that this idea is no longer feasible. Most of the bus drivers are full time and work at least 7.5 hours per school day. Currently some buses drive students to four schools every morning and evening. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan reminded all that a school in his area, Hawk Ridge Elementary, there are buses driving to four and some to five schools each school day. This idea would expand this concept to more schools in C.M.S. Ms. Stamper went on to say that as many as 51,000 students might not have buses as a option in the future. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan asked if all of the schools are equipped for ‘stacking’. Dr. Gorman explained that some of the older schools are not as equipped for vehicles to to be ‘stacked’ in order for parents to drive their children to school. Dr. Gorman further explained that most of the newer schools are very will equipped for vehicle ‘stacking’ that might occur if fewer buses are used in the future.

District 6 Representative Tim Morgan asked about children being left on school buses. Mr. Morgan personally spoke to several parents who were not too happy with C.M.S after their child had been left on a bus. The C.M.S. Transportation Department has a new, required driver training program in place for safety. This new training program is designed to prevent just such an occurrence of children being left on school buses. Ms. Stamper went on to explain that this new training program is called the ‘check-mate’ system. When a school bus is turned off the driver has a short time to walk to the back of the bus to push a button or a warning will sound. If the driver does not push this button at the back of the bus, then the horn will automatically start honking. All of the drivers for C.M.S have been through this ‘check-mate’ training.

Dr. Gorman explained that C.M.S now has a new option of a two-hour weather related delay. For some parents this presents a problem of who will care for children during this two-hour window. This also can be a challenge with giving all children breakfast and lunch in time.

Ms. Stamper explained the new T.I.M.S system. This is when bus drivers give written notice of exactly which children are riding their bus. It is important to know which children are choosing to ride the bus every day and which are not riding the bus at all. Ms. Stamper is also anxious to go to some of the schools where bus ridership is a low number. She would like to promote bus ridership at these schools.

Derek Graham explained that magnet schools actually increase the need for more state funding. These magnet schools are usually further from where the students live and cost are more per magnet school student. This helps to ‘level’ the playing field in the state’s estimations. Homeless students also cost more per student. There are many ideas of how to save money. Final decisions by the C.M.S. Board have not been made yet.

(NOTE: Please look for Part 2 of this board meeting soon! )

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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How will personal property values change in 2011? The breakfast meeting on December 31, 2010 started with the talk of the city council meetings. The council talked about canceling their January 3rd, 2011 meeting due to the small agenda. The 2011 Housing Revaluation is the only topic on the agenda. Garrett Alexander [...]]]>

How will personal property values change in 2011? The breakfast meeting on December 31, 2010 started with the talk of the city council meetings. The council talked about canceling their January 3rd, 2011 meeting due to the small agenda. The 2011 Housing Revaluation is the only topic on the agenda. Garrett Alexander is the county tax assessor for Mecklenburg County. He will be speaking to the council on the property revaluation process. The county will be ‘reevaluating’ all personal property in 2011. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (C.M.P.D.) is not ready to talk in a closed session about the proposed changes to the hiring process. This should happen soon.

The city is usually revenue neutral when re-evaluating property. For example: if the current rate is $0.45 then revenue neutral would be approximately $0.40. District 6 Representative of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Bill James recently stated that he wants the county to be revenue negative. If we follow this example, revenue negative would be approximately $0.35. Mecklenburg County and the city do not have tax delinquency problems. Right now 99% of the people pay their taxes on time. To make budget, the city must have 95% of taxes paid on time. The city is expecting 2011 tax collection difficulties for commercial and personal property taxes. The county and the city are also expecting appeals on the housing property revaluation process. The expectation is around 20,000 appeals. Personal property has gone up in numbers faster than commercial property in this county.

Several attending the breakfast meeting talked about how long they have owned their homes and how they feel about the county revaluation. Most in attendance have owned their homes between six and ten years. In those years, the county has raised the property taxes several times and the city has raised property taxes only one time in fifteen years. The last time this process was done was in 2003. In 2009 the city instituted a 9% property tax increase. At their retreat last year, the county decided that The Parks and Recreation Department and the libraries were not a priority. The county decides their priorities at their yearly retreat.

All personal housing property owners will receive notifications of their new revaluations by mail in January 2011. This will included the new amount of taxes owed on said personal properties. In September of 2011 the tax bills will go out. At this time no one is sure if foreclosures will be a part of the tax revaluation process. In 2003 the city had a tax fee of $0.42 and the county had a fee of $0.73. In 2010 the city has a tax fee of $0.45 and the county a fee of $0.83. The county has implemented a significant tax increase in the past seven years. In 2003 the county paid $12 per ton for solid waste treatment. In that same year, the city paid $45 per ton. In 2010 the county pays $50 per ton and the city pays $45 per ton. The State of North Carolina requires that local governments reevaluate personal property a minimum of every eight years. The county expects to make this new revaluation revenue neutral and is awaiting the appeals of constituents. The city must make their decisions about the revaluation process by the June 13th budget deadline.

The city’s restructuring government committee recently had a meeting. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Department (C.M.U.D.) is anticipating an increase in fixed costs and lower variable costs. C.M.U.D encourages citizens to conserve water by their tier structure rates. Those who use more water pay more per c.c.f. Those who use less pay less per c.c.f. A c.c.f. is a unit of hundreds of cubic feet of water. Some at the breakfast meeting have not received timely responses from the C.M.U.D staff when repairing water problems. The city sewer rates did recently go up in cost.

The current tax value of personal property is not based on the ‘sold’ price of a property. What happens if one family member sells a piece of land to another for $100? Obviously, the ‘sale’ price on a piece of property can easily be manipulated. In the past, Mecklenburg County has tried to reevaluate personal property every four years. Recently this evaluation has not happened.

Right now, sewer costs are fixed and water treatment costs are variable. At this time, 94% of the city ‘customers’ are using below 15 c.c.f water per month. This water usage equals a sewer charge of 24 c.c.f. The new proposal is to lower the tier 1 rate. This would change the amount of sewer usage assumption for people using below 15 c.c.f of water. The residential tier 4 water comprises 8% of the city residents. But this same 8% is paying 24% of the revenue. The city does not like the word ‘punitive’. The city does like the word ‘encouraging’ to describe their water rate tier structure. Is the charge for tier 4 water usage too high?

Droughts and floods greatly change the water and sewer rates. If there is a flood, people use less water and the rates go up. If there is a drought there is less water available and therefore the rates go up. Currently, individual water consumption is down but the overall water consumption is going up because the city is still growing. In 2011, the city will still use the four tier system. 50% of the overall water usage is in tier 1. Tier 4 comprises most of the water complaints. Districts 6 and 7 comprise most of the tier 4 water usage. If constituents currently in tier 4 start conserving water then there is less revenue generated. Currently the city can not cope with less revenue because of budget constraints.

The annual rate increase of five to seven percent that has happened for several years pays for the city’s capitol program. Property taxes pay for police, fire and debt services. District 7 City Council Representative Warren Cooksey does not want to vote for a property tax increase. But he has stated that he will not vote for a decrease in property taxes. Councilman Warren Cooksey believes that the scope of government should be limited but not the size. Government protects people, transports people, disposes of garbage and sewer and brings clean water. If anyone wants to know their current personal property evaluation they can go to:
http://polaris.mecklenburgcountync.gov/website/redesign/login.asp

Several ask about the funding for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (C.M.S.) The state does provide most of the funding. The local funding comes from the county. The federal government is now providing a bigger percentage of the C.M.S. Budget money. This means there are fewer flexible dollars since federal dollars are very restrictive. Currently 50% of the county property tax dollars go to the C.M.S budget. Tom E. Bowers is surprised at the high car insurance rates in this county compared to Washington D.C. Some are not surprised by the obnoxiously high car insurance rates in this county. Councilman Warren Cooksey noted that typically during election years the insurance rates go down.

In other local news, a man in a black truck did ‘attack’ two C.M.P.D. Officers on December 30th. The driver of the black truck purposely backed into one officer and then purposely hit another officer in a head on crash. It took firefighters over 25 minutes to free the second officer. Homicide and Internal Affairs were both quickly on the scene. Tom Bowers would also like to see judges give longer sentences to those driving drunk.

The general council for the city is DeWitt ‘Mac’ McCarley. His full-time pay is $194,000. Mr. McCarley is also the supervisor over the city’s other 22 attorneys. The attorney that works part-time for the county and represents council members only is Marvin Bethune. Harry L. Jones is the county manager. Mr. Jones takes all of the board items and puts them into action. He is charge of all of the many facets of the county government.

Monday, January 3rd, 2011 will be a historic day. Mecklenburg County will see the swearing in of a new district attorney. Andrew Murray will be sworn in at 8:30 am. He will be leaving his private practice to be the new district attorney. This is the first time our city has had a new district attorney in 35 years. Many look forward to positive changes in the office of the district attorney.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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Do you have questions about the value of your property? District 5 Representative Neil Cooksey from the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners will be offering a public forum on January 5th, 2011. The county is preparing to reevaluate all private personal property this year. Some residents have questions about the value [...]]]>

Do you have questions about the value of your property? District 5 Representative Neil Cooksey from the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners will be offering a public forum on January 5th, 2011. The county is preparing to reevaluate all private personal property this year. Some residents have questions about the value of their homes. This public forum will be at Alexander Graham Middle School on Wednesday, January 5th from 7:00 pm until approximately 8:30 pm. The forum will take place in the multipurpose room. The location of Alexander Graham Middle is: 1800 Runnymede Lane, Charlotte, NC 28211. The public is welcome.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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The following post is from a recent email sent out by District 6 County Commissioner Bill James last week on his stance regarding the recent repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. Bill Jmaes represents the Ballantyne area on the County Commissioners Board….

As you might have noticed, liberals and homosexuals are [...]]]>

The following post is from a recent email sent out by District 6 County Commissioner Bill James last week on his stance regarding the recent repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. Bill Jmaes represents the Ballantyne area on the County Commissioners Board….

As you might have noticed, liberals and homosexuals are all up in arms at the thought that anyone would state the truth that homosexuals are predatory. Not that every homosexual is, but as a group, yes.

With the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) immorality has gained a foothold in the barracks and showers of the US Military. Liberals say ‘There have always been homosexuals in the military and nothing has happened’. True, but like a whore in church, homosexuals have been on their best behavior because that behavior was illegal and they didn’t want to risk being kicked out. Now that DADT has been repealed, Congress and the Citizens of the US need to develop rules to protect young heterosexual military members from such predatory behavior by homosexuals.

I can hear liberals screaming into their monitors: “They aren’t predators!”

I disagree. Go down to the Dowd YMCA and let them show you the ‘red phone’. They had to put it in to stop homosexuals from ogling straight business men in the showers and changing rooms. The same upper-crust of Charlotte who claim to be for diversity have to install special equipment to protect themselves from the predatory behavior of homosexuals in a place that should be safe, if homosexuals were not predatory. This isn’t news but it is hypocritical of Charlotte’s Observer elite. Charlotte’s red phone isn’t the only one. All across the US there are procedures in place to prevent homosexuals from preying on men at the Y.

Take a look at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police records and they will show you that the police run ‘sting’ operations to target homosexuals who gather in parks. In most of the last few years, 250 homosexuals have been arrested each year by the CMPD for ‘soliciting a crime against nature’. Homosexual conduct is still illegal in NC but even though it is, the red phone and sting operations are still necessary.

A few years ago the County had to spend big bucks redesigning Kilbourne Park so that it did not attract homosexuals. The County Commission spent your tax dollars to protect you and your kids from homosexuals and joined with the police to run a sting operation to identify and arrest them.

Ultimately, the louder liberals yell; the more irrational homosexuals froth at the mouth; the more I am convinced that I am correct to speak about the matter as the next Congress will have to debate and adopt rules to insure that heterosexuals in the military are not targets of unwanted sexual advances.

This all started because NC Senator Burr (a Republican) voted to repeal DADT without even working out the details on how to protect young service members. Shame on him. The attention on this was focused in media articles because of an ill-conceived letter request from BOCC Chair Jennifer Roberts and my comments that service members would be at risk now that DADT was repealed.

As you might imagine I have received a lot of mail, including some from overseas military. One service member said:

“I am currently in my second tour in Iraq, and I have a ….. address. Thanks for having the courage to speak up. I am afraid that from now on, in the military, I will be punished for speaking up now that immoral conduct is condoned. I prayed that this would not happen, but my prayer was not answered in the way that I wanted it to — maybe God has other plans for the USA that I do not understand.”

Senator Burr, who voted for this has an extra-ordinary responsibility to fix this and protect heterosexual military men and women.

Currently, Men and Women are separated because it would cause sexual problems if men showered, changed, and maintained personal space with women. That is common sense and basic biology. Now that homosexuals are in the military ‘out and proud’ the US Government (and Burr Specifically) should insure that those that ogle men are separate from those that do not, and those that want to ogle women are separate from those that do not.

If you had a 18 year old daughter (let’s call her ‘Buffy’) and she wanted to serve in the military to afford college (G.I. bill) and serve her country would you want her to share a shower with some 35 year old butch lesbians who ogle her (or worse)? That is what is at stake with the repeal of DADT.

Repealing DADT was a left-wing political move made before Christmas by a lame-duck Democrat Congress. That vote comes with some severe consequences for military readiness. The left-wing of America and radical homosexuals will be out in force to try and prevent any rules that would protect Buffy or her male counterpart, Wally. Young kids who enlist will become sexual targets in the new US Military.

Parents with kids in the military (especially in the enlisted ranks) should band together to demand rules to protect their kids from unwanted advances in personal spaces (barracks, showers, and other areas). They can’t put a ‘red phone’ in every military shower but they could separate homosexuals and put them with their own.

The louder they scream the more I know I am right to bring the matter up and Challenge Senator Burr to fix this. The fate of thousands of young military men and women (not to mention the military readiness of the US) hang in the balance.

Regards,

Commissioner Bill James (R, District 6)
Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners
600 East Fourth Street, 11th Floor
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center
Charlotte, North Carolina 28202

HTTP://billjames.org

Facebook: Meckcommish
Twitter: Meckcommish

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Ballantyne, NC – What is ‘green’ waste management? The December 17th breakfast meeting opened with talk of the new green project on the horizon for The City of Charlotte. The ReVenture vote was last Monday night. Forsite President Tom McKittrick is in charge of this ReVenture Project. ReVenture is building a [...]]]>

Ballantyne, NC – What is ‘green’ waste management? The December 17th breakfast meeting opened with talk of the new green project on the horizon for The City of Charlotte. The ReVenture vote was last Monday night. Forsite President Tom McKittrick is in charge of this ReVenture Project. ReVenture is building a ‘brown field’ that is ‘green and renewable’. It might be located north of the Whitewater Park in Charlotte. The city is only in charge of garbage collection. Then the garbage is turned over to the county who is in charge of where to put the garbage. Republic (aka Allied) Waste has the long term landfill contract with the county. Republic gets paid $26 per ton of garbage. Compacted ‘nugget’ trash is a ‘nutricake’. Right now the county has two major landfills. The first is the on 521 and the second near the N.A.S.C.A.R. Speedway. The landfill on 521 is also known as the ‘521 Foxhole’. The ‘521 Foxhole’ handles recycling, yard waste and construction waste. The ReVenture idea is to burn the waste and convert the waste to electricity. ReVenture was using 80 megawatts to burn. Now they are using 20 megawatts to burn. Charlotte is now the regional ‘green’ hub or ‘green’ capital.

The Sierra Club does not like the ReVenture idea because they do not like burning trash. They were protesting the ReVenture idea at the last city council meeting. The Sierra Club does not approve of burning or dumping. They are using the children from Whitewater Academy Elementary as an excuse to protest the ReVenture Project. They are claiming that the burning would cause too much air pollution for the children. C.M.S. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan stated that The Sierra Club has not yet attended any C.M.S. Board of Education Meetings to raise concerns. The contract for the landfill at the speedway is up soon. The ReVenture Project might trigger a ‘buy back’ of the tree save ordinance.

The city will have another water rate hike in the next ten years. Will the county use ReVenture? In order to make this ReVenture Project work, air and water quality permits will be needed. Part of the larger idea is to sell electricity back to Duke Energy. C.M.S. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan also asked where the money is coming from for the ReVenture Project. City Councilman Warren Cooksey explained that the money is from a silent partner in Forsite. The silent partner is Springs Industries. The McAlpine Water Treatment Plant is at 97% – 98% capacity some days, which is NOT a good thing. When the city has projects and construction, they simply except themselves from the tree save, sign ordinance, etc. The idea is to have ReVenture Burning waste 24-7 in order to make the project efficient. ReVenture will be charging $25 per ton. The ‘tipping fee’ to ReVenture is $10 million dollars. Councilmen Barnes and Mitchell are concerned about the potential of large numbers of trash trucks driving along 521, near the speedway and to the Whitewater Park. Will New Jersey trash be hauled to the speedway landfill?

Mayor Foxx gave his State of the City Speech on December 7th. So far Councilmen Andy Dulin and Warren Cooksey have not received any copies of this speech, despite numerous attempts to get a copy. The mayor’s office ‘claims’ that there are no copies of this speech. Mayor Foxx spoke of the changes he has made to the city and the problems he inherited. His three main points were: collaboration, consolidation and children. The consolidation issue is talked about by the mayor and a few others in local government. However, there is no ‘grass roots’ effort to make this change. Consolidation can be a matter of perceived efficiency. The mayor would also like to see Crossing Guards and School Resource Officers(S.R.O.’s) back in the city budget. When Pat McCrory was mayor he did not have any state of the city speeches. When Sue Myrick was mayor she did give state of the city speeches. Mayor Foxx’s speech was relatively short.

In response to the mayor’s speech, Councilman Warren Cooksey stated that he is not in favor of the city helping C.M.S. Councilman Cooksey cited the need for accountability. The city is already helping fund the libraries. The voters are already ‘confused’ on the count of who is required to fund the libraries. The library system in Charlotte is actually an independent creation of the state general assembly. The library system does NOT report to the county manager nor are they required to do so. The library has it’s own governing board. The outgoing city district attorney, Peter Gilchrist, stated that consolidation of the city and county boards is a good idea. He stated that the district attorney’s office can do more with the amount from a combined government board. The Administrative Office of the Courts (A.O.C.) said no to this idea. Who will the voters hold accountable if there are multiple government entities funding C.M.S.? Does the public want the city to ‘step in’ to help with C.M.S.?

The law firm of Kimball has several lobbyists who lobby on behalf of the city. The city would like this firm to push the blue and red lines of the light rail expansion so that these lines can soon be built.

Larry Huelsman reminded all that Tim Newman of the C.R.V.A., just hired Lori Wilkes as the new Director of Marketing. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority is not asking for any more money for operating costs. Lately the C.R.V.A. Board has been doing much strategic planning for the next five years. In five years the C.R.V.A. Is up for renewal. Dr. Chuck, from Queens University, has been helping with the C.R.V.A. Board forecasts. The board must be neutral with the budget and can not get to their reserves of money. The Charlotte Observer is asking many questions relating to the money spent by the C.R.V.A. The board and the C.R.V.A. are becoming more efficient. The board is becoming more efficient in these areas: expenditures, computers, electrical and reducing the budget.

The C.R.V.A has a video that welcomes the public at Charlotte-Douglas Airport. Numerous names in the dialogue captions are misspelled in the video including Mayor Foxx, Winston Kelley and the name of the C.R.V.A.

The legislative agenda delegation breakfast was more cordial this year compared to other years. State Representative Thom Tillis was present. The entire delegation was at the delegation breakfast this year as well. Unfortunately, Councilmen Turner, Barnes and Cannon were not present. There is no dollar limit to the design build for the three bids necessary by the city. The city tried to do a design build on some property where it no longer has rights. If the city does not claim the property in fifteen years the original owner can get it back from the register of deeds. The city has fifteen years to build and pay for the property before the original owner can claim the property. The city wanted to build ‘IKEA Boulevard’ recently but could not build it due to this situation. The original owner to ‘IKEA Boulevard’ now has the rights to this property again.

If anyone requests emails from The City of Charlotte, that email address becomes public information. The city is discussing this ‘big brother’ issue. Should the city provide these email addresses to the public?
Ron Kimbell and Councilman Barnes were recently in the budget committee discussing the 4% general fund. This recently generated $18 million dollars. Dan Clodfelter is also concerned about the general fund. This fund is a flat tax. The city gets more money from this fund than other government entities. How long will this tax be levied?

C.M.S. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan asked how many years can the city continue to annex areas of Mecklenburg County? Councilman Warren Cooksey explained that the city can annex for another twelve years. Ballantyne was the ‘best scenario’ in terms of annexation for the city. The city made more money from the annexation of Ballantyne. It normally takes two to three years for the city to see profit from an annexed area. It might take five years to see profit from the proposed annexed area in District 5. The reason the city needs this area is to expand the water main to others in Mint Hill.

Dan Clodfelter is confident in the leadership of the new Republicans in the state house and state senate. Tim Newman is expecting the final decision of the Democratic National Convention any minute now. Will Miller is in charge of the Charlotte 2012 initiative.

Councilman Warren Cooksey was interviewed by W.F.A.E recently. This radio station is anxious to hear how Tisdale was able to breach security at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport. There is a question of whose jurisdiction was breached. No one working for the city, including Councilman Warren Cooksey would like to talk about this ‘sticky’ subject. Does Charlotte-Douglas Airport have a security problem?

The city council has their annual retreat coming up soon. This will be in early in 2011. The city manager’s compensation will be a big topic. Along with the C.R.V.A., C.P.C.C., ReVenture and the new towing ordinance.

Tom asked everyone if they trust the crime statistics being given. The group had a mixed reaction. Some trust these statistics and some do not.

C.M.S. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan explained a few items that the board is now discussing. C.M.S. is now working on the new budget for the 2011-2012 year. C.M.S also has a option of a new two-hour weather delay. C.M.S can now look at this option due to decreased numbers of buses. In times past, there were too many buses and too little time to put gasoline in the all of the buses then send them out again with a two-hour delay. The C.M.S. Board is currently working to save up to $12 million dollars through transportation changes.

The current transportation budget is around $60 million dollars. One option to save money is to stop transportation for all magnet schools. The other option is not to transport any students who live less than 1.5 miles from their school. This option could prove to be dangerous since many areas of Charlotte have no sidewalks. C.M.S is anticipating more parents being upset due to a change in transportation in the same areas that have schools scheduled to be closed. If the 1.5 mile option is exercised, this could cause traffic problems due to increased numbers of vehicles at each school every day. The parents of magnet students must have transportation information soon in order to make decisions about magnet school enrollment. The magnet fair will be held on January 8th, 2011. The application deadline for a magnet school is February 7th. Therefore, the transportation decisions must be finalized at the January 25th board meeting.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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(This is a correction article. The original article was from the breakfast meeting of 12-03-10)

Ballantyne, NC – Representative Ruth Samuelson, C.M.S. Board Member Tom Tate and County Board of Commissioners Member George Dunlap are unfamiliar with Ballantyne. They somehow missed the facts of the growth in Ballantyne. Representative Ric Killian [...]]]>

(This is a correction article. The original article was from the breakfast meeting of 12-03-10)

Ballantyne, NC – Representative Ruth Samuelson, C.M.S. Board Member Tom Tate and County Board of Commissioners Member George Dunlap are unfamiliar with Ballantyne. They somehow missed the facts of the growth in Ballantyne. Representative Ric Killian is concerned that these individuals are not familiar with the facts of Ballantyne. Ballantyne’s schools are also overcrowded. Ballantyne is a very densely populated area in Charlotte.

Budget constraints in the millions are also causing big changes at C.M.S. District 6 C.M.S. Board Member Tim Morgan is concerned about several school buildings soon to be closed. He is would like to see others in the community use these buildings wisely. He would have preferred that the board consider moving the education center to Smith. Sadly, the education center is in the process of being moved to eight new locations.

C.M.S. District 6 Representative Tim Morgan would have preferred to save more money by placing the montessori schools at Oakhurst. This could save $1 million dollars per year. Oakhurst is ideal because it has such large classrooms and great outdoor spaces. C.M.S. Area Superintendent Joel Ritchie’s contract has not been removed. The C.M.S. Board of Education is working to ‘shrink’ the size of the staff members to save money. Some in the room would like to see C.M.S consider cutting teacher supplemental pay as a cost cutting measure.

The new K-8 schools are a great idea. Often the teachers and staff at a K-5 school envision a ‘little area’ of goals for students. At the K-8 schools, the big picture is more clear for the teachers and staff. Better goals will equal better students. C.M.S. Board Member Tim Morgan has been working to find ways to save money and keep more teachers in the classroom. Unfortunately, P.T.A.’s can not raise money to keep more teachers in the classroom. The National Charter for the P.T.A.’s will not allow this move. However, the money raised by P.T.A’s can be used for funding non-certified schoolhouse positions, such as teacher’s assistants. The board of education is anxiously awaiting a report on West Charlotte by a foundation that has a study group. Several private education groups have pooled their resources. The group represents twelve schools in West Charlotte. Hopefully other P.T.A’s can copy what this study group recommends.

In January 2011, the board will begin discussing the start times of schools as part of our budget discussions and ways to save transportation dollars. This budget discussion is for the 2011-2012 school budget. The board will have more discussions on the budget in their next regular meeting. The next regular meeting for the school board is Tuesday, December 14th at 6:00 pm in the chamber at the government center.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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CHARLOTTE, NC – 24 Hours of Booty, Inc., which runs the Official 24-Hour Cycling Event of LIVESTRONG and the only national 24-hour road cycling charity event in the country, announced today that it will be kicking off registration for its three events, including the 10th Annual 24 Hours of Booty presented [...]]]>

CHARLOTTE, NC – 24 Hours of Booty, Inc., which runs the Official 24-Hour Cycling Event of LIVESTRONG and the only national 24-hour road cycling charity event in the country, announced today that it will be kicking off registration for its three events, including the 10th Annual 24 Hours of Booty presented by Blumenthal Cancer Center in Charlotte, on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 at 9 a.m.

The annual charity cycling event in Charlotte – geared for teams and individuals and open to participants of all ages and skill levels – is scheduled to roll on the “Booty Loop” in Myers Park from 7 p.m. Friday, July 29 to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 30, 2011. Event registration will be capped at the first 1,200 registrants. Carolinas Medical Center’s Blumenthal Cancer Center is the presenting sponsor of this year’s event where participants gather at the Queens University of Charlotte athletic fields for camping, food and fun. For more information about fundraising commitments and to register for the event, visit www.24hoursofbooty.org.

In addition to the Charlotte event, 24 Hours of Booty will also host the Third Annual 24 Hours of Booty of Columbia, Md. at the Gateway Business Park “Booty Loop” on August 27-28, 2011 and the Second Annual 24 Hours of Booty of Atlanta at the Stone Mountain “Booty Loop” in Fall 2011.

24 Hours of Booty will also offer its reboot program again for the Charlotte event, whereby reboot riders can ride between 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 30. A $25 registration fee and $100 fundraising commitment is required to participate in the program. All reboot participants will have full access to drinks and snacks, receive an event t-shirt, and be eligible for fund-raising prizes. For more information, contact info@24hoursofbooty.org.

“This coming year will be a banner one for us as we celebrate our tenth anniversary of the Charlotte event and continue to grow the events in Atlanta and Columbia,” said Basil Lyberg, executive director of 24 Hours of Booty. “The 2010 Charlotte registration drive closed out in just ten days so we are anticipating the 2011 registration drive to fill up even faster. Our goal is to break the 10,000-rider mark for all years and events combined in commemoration of our tenth-year event. We look forward to another fantastic event this July and appreciate the community’s support in our fight against cancer.”

About 24 Hours of Booty
24 Hours of Booty, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charity located in Charlotte that provides extraordinary cycling events that are safe, fun, and open to all levels of cycling ability. Its mission is to conduct 24-hour cycling events that increase public awareness, funds, and support for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and local cancer organizations. Local organizations include The Keep Pounding Fund at Carolinas Medical Center and the Brain Tumor Fund for the Carolinas in Charlotte, the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults in Columbia, Md., and Children’s HealthCare of Atlanta.

In 24 Hours of Booty’s nine-year history, more than 7,500 riders have raised more than $5 million. Last year’s events included the Ninth Annual 24 Hours of Booty presented by Blumenthal Cancer Center in Charlotte and the Second Annual 24 Hours of Booty of Columbia, Md., and the inaugural 24 Hours of Booty of Atlanta, which collectively raised more than $1.5 million. For more information, call 704-365-4417 or visit www.24hoursofbooty.org.

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# # #
Contact:
Basil Lyberg – 24 Hours of Booty, Inc. – 704-365-4417

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Ballantyne, NC – Who is getting the large salaries in Charlotte? This Monday night is ‘dinner meeting night’ for the city council. A few of the topics are: Gang Of One, Hall Of Fame and a closed session on economic development. The breakfast meeting on December 10th opened with items being discussed [...]]]>

Ballantyne, NC – Who is getting the large salaries in Charlotte? This Monday night is ‘dinner meeting night’ for the city council. A few of the topics are: Gang Of One, Hall Of Fame and a closed session on economic development. The breakfast meeting on December 10th opened with items being discussed by the city council. This month the city will contemplate closing an alley near Mint Street. A hot topic is the new federal legislative agenda. How will the new Republican run House of Representatives handle earmarks? The firm of ‘Holland and Knight’ handle lobbying for the city. Charlotte would like money for extending the light rail ‘blue line’ and the Briar Creek Relief Sewer Line. Another topic is the extension of the federal service transportation program. The federal government has a proposed bill called the ‘Safe Water Drinking Act’. American cities would like to keep local control of drinking water.

Another proposed bill in the U.S. Congress is bargaining tools for public safety employees. This measure has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Senator Kay Hagan has not been clear on how she will vote on this measure. Senator Harry Reid has said that he will vote ‘yes’. Mayor Foxx commented recently that he is not sure this ‘bargaining tool’ bill will pass at all. The unions are not happy that Charlotte is not a union town. Mayor Foxx would like to see the Democratic National Committee Convention be held here in Charlotte. Is this a move by the Mayor to help increase our chances of having this convention? If Charlotte shows that it is not opposed to unions, will the convention be in Charlotte?

Councilman Michael Barnes made a motion to the restructuring government committee. He is asking why we pay large salaries to several groups. These four groups are: The Charlotte Regional Visitor’s Authority(C.R.V.A.), Center City Partners, The Charlotte Regional Partnership and The Arts and Science Council. Mr. Bryant is in charge of The Charlotte Regional Partnership. Center City Partners would like to begin helping with The Plaza/Midwood Areas and The South End. The job of Center City Partners is to ensure a ‘higher level of service’ for the center city of Charlotte. This includes having the streets cleaned everyday. Property taxes in the center city are also higher. And the revenue from the uptown is great. There is another group similar to Center City Partners, the University City Partners. Mary Harper is in charge of University City Partners. The property taxes in four districts of Charlotte pay for all four of these organizations. Other types of taxes and taxes from other districts in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County do not help pay for these groups. This is an ‘on or off’ switch and the city council can not ‘tinker’ with the details of these groups. Is this a fishing expedition? Councilman Barnes is ‘casting out a big net’. What is Councilman Barnes hoping to find?

Mayor Foxx stated that he is interested in changing the way the city council governs. He recently ‘opened a can of worms’. In the past, the city manager and the mayor only could put new items on the agenda. Other city council members could put new items on the agenda only with a unanimous vote. The new way that Mayor Foxx is now doing the governing involves just the opposite. Any city council member can put anything on the agenda at anytime. This may result in the city discussing some interesting subjects. Councilman Warren Cooksey suggested that this idea be deferred until the next city council meeting.

Another new item on the city agenda is a grant for delinquency prevention. This is a juvenile justice grant. This grant is for approximately $300,000. This money would fund a facilities manager and a few other positions to run this program. Councilman Warren Cooksey will be voting ‘no’ on this in the next council meeting.

Reventure will be building a ‘brown field’ north of the whitewater center soon. This solid waste will be converted to electricity. Some of the electric from this plant will go to the new northern waste water treatment plant. The ten year plan for solid waste in Mecklenburg County will need to be amended so that this new ‘brown field’ plant can be built by Reventure. This will help make Charlotte more ‘green’.

The Charlotte-Douglas Airport is receiving $135,000 in federal stimulus money. This money will help with the new ‘in-line’ baggage system. The department of urban development in the past five years has received 236 complaints. These are complaints about community housing. There is a new 84-page report that will be given to the city council this coming Monday regarding the department of urban development. The city will review this new report.

Does the new recycling company get overtime for late pickup? No, the city pays the company a set amount of money for the city’s recycling. If there are late pickups, the recycling company does not get anymore money from the city.

The Charlotte light rail blue line was originally scheduled to receive $40 million in federal dollars. Later this was changed to $30 million. The latest sad news is that the light rail blue line will be receiving $3.5 million from the federal government. Councilman Cooksey has voted six times against the street car. The city has already paid for one study that costs $5.5 million dollars for this short street car line. The shelf life of this study is five to seven years. Will the street car be finished in this time?

In the past the city paid for 40% of the cost to have C.M.P.D. Officers at C.M.S. Schools. This cost includes training and equipment needed. Another 40% of the costs were paid by C.M.S. Now the city has decided that over the next four years it will not help pay the 40%. This will be a gradual move to 0%. The school resource officers (S.R.O.’s) at the schools are critical at this time when schools are encountering more violence. Do S.R.O’s have any authority? Is the city choosing fluff over substance?

The federal stimulus money also paid for new C.M.P.D. Officers in Charlotte. The stimulus paid for 50 new officers and the city paid for 75 in the beginning. The city has a public safety pay plan. This was at one point 8% and later 3%. This year the city is not even giving a market adjustment to public safety employees. The new pay plan is for half the workforce. This might change the 2012 budget. The city has solid financial policies.

Recently Chief Jon Hannan of the Charlotte Fire Department talked about how the moral of his officers is down. Here is a partial list of fire department salaries: Fire Fighter: $ 47,813 and Fire Captain: $73,148. The city is spending $295 million on the fire department. This includes the new 5% pay increases. If fire fighters of all ranks are ‘good performers’ they will be paid accordingly. The city gives these performers salary that is within 5% of the pay of fire fighters in comparable U.S. Cities. The city fire department has it’s own pension plan separate from the main city pension plan. The fire fighters in Charlotte do not have collective bargaining. A fire fighter trains for one year before getting a paycheck. The police train for 22 weeks. The C.M.P.D. Officers make the following: Officer: $ 54,000 and Sergeant: $ 75,000. The pay for officer is equal to 97.8% of the national average. The pay for sergeant is equal to 106.2% of the national average. The total cost for the city of fire, police and debt services is $365 million dollars. The city employees get a pension and a 401k. The pension is figured on 80% of the three highest salary years. The city pays 2% of the pay into each employees 401k. The city is in the top three with regards to public pension plans of cities in the nation. Soon the city will need to have a ‘breakpoint’ in their plan for pension plans. The city can not sustain this level of pension plan for all former and current city employees. One suggestion was to change the level or eligibility for all employees hired after a certain date. Another was to restrict which employees are eligible for the 401k plan. The State of Illinois recently was in a similar situation and was forced to borrow $1 billion dollars.

The efficient review task force met recently. They suggest the city make the corporate technology line item more like other line items from the city. Right now the city has MANY software programs to manage all the ‘parts’ of the city government. The task force suggests one database for the city to simplify training and costs. The city could have this new database done in conjunction with the opening of the new 911 call center.

Mayor Foxx gave his State of the City speech this past Tuesday. His main topics were children, consolidation and collaboration. Next week Councilman Cooksey will cover more on this speech by the mayor.

In the news is The N.A.S.C.A.R. Hall of Fame. Out on news stands now is the Special N.A.S.C.A.R. Edition of Sports Illustrated. The Hall of Fame is featured on 25 pages of this edition. Thursday, December 16th the Hall of Fame will have W.K.K.T. Toys for Tots Event: details to be announced. Saturday, December 18th the Hall of Fame will have ‘HALLidays in the Hall’ with W.L.N.K.: A radio promo with Sherry and Santa. Also there will be a W.L.N.K. Movie Matinee: $5 for a holiday movie in the theater and story time with Sherry. Former C.M.P.D. Officer Marcus Jackson was recently sentenced to two years jail time including time served. Reverend and Mrs. Jinwright are facing eight years and six years of jail time respectively. Some noted the discrepancy between the jail times of Mr. Jackson versus The Jinwrights.

Susan J. Spaulding
Public Policy Writer

http://ballantynescoop.com

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