Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Update: For the full summary of the “Juba Scandal” - click here.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” - Michael Corleone “The Godfather Part III”

Just when you thought it was over. The Juba Scandal had all of the “evidence” and the case was closed, and we could wake up to a brand, new day…Harold Smith goes and posts this:

October 27, 2005
The Juba Scandal: Update
“What would a “prudent individual think?”…

I have had many responses to my series of comments on “The Juba Scandal.” Some have applauded my courage for stating the truth. Some have criticized my statements, not because I stated the truth, but because it made them uncomfortable. Some responses have been from former employees of Juba Aluminum confirming the facts of “The Juba Scandal.” The most comical response came from Juba’s attorney who came before the Commissioners and declared that my comments and “The Juba Scandal” was only political and not based on fact. What a joke! This is the oldest trick in the book to explain away dishonesty and unethical behavior.
Commissioner Juba admitted to a “conflict of interest.” Here are the facts: Commissioner Carpenter appointed Commissioner Juba to review the bids for a construction manager of the new jail. Commissioner Juba reviewed the bids, interviewed the construction companies and recommended Turner Construction to be the construction manager. When it came time to vote for Turner Construction in the Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Juba recused herself from voting stating that she had a financial conflict of interest with Turner Construction. Juba Aluminum was a subcontractor for Turner Construction on other jobs. If Commissioner Juba had a conflict of interest in voting in the Commissioner’s meeting, Commissioner Juba also had a conflict of interest in the selection process in recommending Turner Construction. This is “The Juba Scandal.”
The Independent Tribune recently reported that this Friday at 3;30 PM the Commissioners are scheduled to meet and vote on the construction contract with Turner Construction. This meeting will not be televised. Carpenter, Juba and Carruth do not want the public to see their actions. I urge the Commissioners to vote “NO” to this contract. The selection process needs to start over without any involvement from Commissioner Juba in order to eliminate any “conflict of interest.”
What would a “prudent” individual think if this construction contract with Turner Construction is approved by the Commissioners. I declared to you that a prudent individual would think that this is why Commissioner Juba spent about $60,000 on her campaign to become a county commissioner - to benefit Juba Aluminum.
I rest my case. I leave this in the hands of the Commissioners to do the right thing.

What’s new about this? Well, first off…Harold finally gives us his thesis towards the end of the rant:

What would a “prudent” individual think if this construction contract with Turner Construction is approved by the Commissioners. I declared to you that a prudent individual would think that this is why Commissioner Juba spent about $60,000 on her campaign to become a county commissioner - to benefit Juba Aluminum.
Yep, according to Harold Smith – Joni Juba ran for County Commissioner in 2004 to fix the choice for contractor for the jail project during her term. Before we consider this possibility, let’s review Harold’s “facts”

The Truth – It’s Such a Pesky Thing

Harold says, “Commissioner Carpenter appointed Commissioner Juba to review the bids for a construction manager of the new jail”.

This isn’t ENTIRELY true, and it’s worded in a misleading manner. Commissioner Carpenter was one of the Commissioners who unanimously approved Joni Juba to represent the County Commission in another committee reviewing proposals. This meeting had all of the Commissioners present. Kinda different when you deal with the truth.

Harold says, “Commissioner Juba admitted to a conflict of interest.”

This also isn’t true. Joni Juba avoided a conflict of interest by not voting on the selection of the contractor. Had she voted on the selection of Turner Construction, then she would have been in danger of having a financial conflict of interest; because her company, Juba Aluminum, has worked as a vendor for Turner Construction. However, if you review her client list – you’ll find that that voting for any of the other possible companies would have caused her the same problem – as they were all clients of hers.

Harold says, “Commissioner Juba spent about $60,000 on her campaign to become a county commissioner”

Well, he’s off “about” $12,000. According to the Independent Tribune, she lent her campaign $48,000 and got the remainder from contributors and political action committees. The important number to focus on is the $12,000…that’s a lot of people voting with their pocketbooks.

Joni Juba – Criminal Mastermind?

For a moment, consider Harold Smith’s argument. Let’s say that before she announced her candidacy for County Commissioner, while she was serving on the Mount Pleasant Town Council she decided that she was going to manipulate the selection of the jail contractor for her own personal fiscal gain. What would be the best course of action?

Well, the first rule of crime is not to get caught. Things are easier to catch when they aren’t so visible. A Town Councilperson is much less visible than a County Commissioner. So, it would make sense for her to stay on the Mount Pleasant Town Council, work her connections from inside the Republican Party to direct campaign contributions from the contractors an easily manipulated candidate, and cover her tracks. She could play one side against the other, pick a favorite, and then run with it. She wouldn’t even have to keep her “promise”. As long as there were no paper trail, it would be hard to implicate someone who was far away from the decision.

OK. Let’s say that she not that calculating. Let’s say that greed clouds her mind, and she thinks “Oh, if I could only get on the County Commission – then I could pick the contractor of my choice” Motivated by greed, she campaigns hard and gets into office. At this point she’s visible; but she has to keep from things looking too suspicious. When asked to serve on the selection committee, she says…”No”. Why? Well, if she were to not serve on the committee it would be harder to connect the dots between her and the contractor that got selected. She could work in the shadows and claim that she already settled the “conflict of interest” by not serving on the selection committee. No one would be the wiser.

Now this brings us to what happened. If her intent was to manipulate the process, why would she put herself in the most visible spot in the County, make it known that she was going to represent the Commission on a separate Committee at the agreement of the ENTIRE Commission, confer with the North Carolina Institute of Government on how to navigate a possible conflict of interest, and then state why she would not vote as a “Conflict of Interest”. If Juba Aluminium got anywhere near the jail contract - then she would be in violation of North Carolina law and she’d get to be a REAL expert on jails.

If Joni Juba’s intent was to profit from this situation using her position as a Commissioner to get a sub-contract - that would make her the state’s dumbest crook.

So, this leaves us with two possibilities on the criminal front.

1. Joni Juba did not intend to manipulate the selection of a contractor for her own personal gain.
2. She’s a dumb criminal.

Let’s say that she’s #2, for a moment. Let’s consider that Harold Smith is right…c’mon I know it’s hard; but try. Let’s say that this elaborate plan to spend $48,000 of her own money to manipulate the choice of contractor actually worked; and she got sub-contracts through some sinister channel…what would that do for her business with the other two contractors? Joni Juba runs a business where she’d like all three of the bidding contractors to be her clients in the future. If she were to openly favor one contractor, and do so in an unethical way, do you think the remaining companies would even bother sending her requests for work?

So, this leaves us with two possiblities on the business front.

1. Her involvement with the selection of the contractor for the jail had to be above board BECAUSE of her relationship with all three contractors were vital to her business.
2. She’s a dumb businesswoman.

Here’s the bottom line. If you are to believe Harold Smith, you have to believe that Joni Juba is both a dumb crook and a dumb businesswoman; and, in spite of that, managed to have $48,000 of her own money available and raise $12,000 from contributors (a county record, I believe), and win in a 1.99-to-1 victory (had she only had $50,000 could it have been a clean 2-to-1) in the 2004 Republican primary.

Harold Smith Thinks YOU Are Stupid

There, I said it. Harold Smith thinks that you believe “the government” is out to get you and you need a “savior”.

• He wants you to belive that all government bodies are run by a cabal of insiders who never have to have open meetings.
• He wants you to believe that all government officials are out to get you, yes YOU, and they intend to line their own pockets in the process.
• He wants you to believe that the press lives in fear of the awesome power wielded by local officials, and they are merely stenographers of the elected officials. His site is the only medium that represents the “taxpayers and working families”
• He wants you to believe that “taxpayers and working families” doesn’t include everyone; and that the people in power he disagrees with represent some non-taxpaying, non-working minority that somehow runs everything.
• He wants you to believe that the people who disagree with him can’t simply have a philosophical differenence with him; but are stupider, less experienced, and/or less moral than he is.

This is the 21st post in response to something he has written. 41% of the posts that I’ve put on this blog so far have been in response to his rants. Here’s the funny part - I would venture to guess that when we walked into the voting booth in the 2004 General Election that we both voted for the President, and we both voted for almost all of the same people on the rest of the ticket.

What makes Harold Smith so different? He’s the bearer of all that people dislike about politics. He bring the attacks, the accusations, and the twisted facts. The funny part is that he doesn’t seem to do it out of some philosphical motivation - he does it so that he and members of his “team” stay in office.

In the New Testament, Paul writes that we are “but a vapor”. Our time on Earth is short. It boggles my mind why a man of that same faith would raise a family, complete a successful carrer, and then spend the Autumn of their life attacking good people for a small, fleeting glimpse of political power. To the same degree, I’m sure it boggles your mind why I would spend a small chunk of the best years of my life responding to his drivel.

You Make The Choice

Alright, here it is. The cards are on the table. Harold has written about his contrived “Juba Scandal” and assembled it all on his site. I have responded with this article and here, here, and here.

The decision is yours. Given the facts, you must decide one of the two possiblities:

1. Joni Juba is a dumb criminal, a dumb businessperson, or both.
2. Harold Smith is full of crap.

Given the choices, what conclusion do you think a “prudent individual” would make?