Cabarrus Cheap Seats

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

Wow! There were about 24 comments posted to two articles on this blog over the past week. That’s a new development. Unfortunately, most of them were filled with incoherent, mindless drivel or were responses to the same. I figured it would only be fair to take a little break from working this weekend to respond a bit to what people have posted as comments or e-mailed to me.

Clarifications

First, I’d received an e-mail from a Concord City Councilman explaining in greater detail the decision that was made at the Concord Planning and Zoning board meeting referenced in the Downtown Concord to County: Drop Dead article. In my post, I didn’t explain that the Planning and Zoning board approved the zoning request from the County but postponed granting a Conditional Use permit under the auspices of needing more information from the architects.

Second, there was a comment that I made a claim that I really didn’t make. Here’s the pertinent text of the comment:

Let’s talk about Justins safety issue… he claims the jail will be a great asset to the safety of our downtown citizens. I just Would like to know who mentioned that they felt unsafe downtown? Did the community get together and state they were UNSAFE? Or was it one person? And was the solution A jail to feel safer, “HEAR YE, HEAR YE, Lets put a jail in for our citizens to feel safer….If that’s the case, then lets tear down Bobcat stadium and surrounding buildings and build a residential neighborhood so citizens can feel safer. 

I didn’t suggest that a jail would “be a great asset to the safety of our downtown citizens” nor would I suggest that a jail would bring a “feeling” of safety for residents of Downtown Concord. The expansion of the existing jail would allow local law enforcement to incarcerate more criminals and suspects. This would keep them from roaming freely throughout the rest of the community. Currently, the District Attorney and the Sheriff must make determinations as to setting bail and how long (and even if) they hold someone in jail based partly on the restricted space in the jail. So, there are probably people in this county who belong in jail; but are not there because there is not enough space. As Cabarrus County grows, there will be an even greater need for jail capacity. I believe that the decisions that law enforcement and the judicial system makes in preventing and prosecuting crime should NOT have to factor in if there is enough jail space – there should be enough provided for the justice process to be carried out effectively and efficiently. People who belong in jail should not get house arrest because there’s no vacancy at the jail.

My “Option A vs. Option B” argument was not about Downtown Concord – it was about the entire county. People in the rest of the County matter, too. Their safety is more important than the largely taxpayer-funded “historical preservation” of Downtown Concord. Likewise, the jail is not about Downtown Concord. The jail is part of the Countywide Justice system. Having the jail, courthouse, and Sheriff’s office spread out around the County would be costly, inefficient, and less safe than having a consolidated Justice Complex with all three. If Downtown Concord wants the jail “somewhere else in the County”, then the Justice Center should follow.

Logical Fallacies

There’s this really interesting site called “Steven’s Guide To Logical Fallacies” and in it he lists the most common logical fallacies. It also presents definition and examples. The first commenter to Downtown Concord to County: Drop Dead has Fallacy of Exclusion covered:

As a taxpaying citizen and a devoted design professional. I believe that the citizens of downtown Concord have made a monumental step in the right direction. The downtown area of Concord is in fact, tiny, compared to where the Mecklenburg jail sits in Mecklenburg County. If one would take a quick “field trip” to visit the placement of the Mecklenburg county facility. One would notice you will NOT find historic, stately homes within one block of the facility. 

The argument is that historic, stately homes cannot exist within one block of a jail facility. However, what the commenter failed to mention is that the County Jail is already in Downtown Concord. This argument cannot be true; because the County is proposing not to move the jail to Downtown Concord; but to add to the current facility at its present location near “historic, stately homes”

Then there’s “Changing the Subject” by “Attacking the Person”. An inordinate number of comments were dedicated to trashing Joni Juba or bringing up where her daughters live or if their houses are for sale. What does Joni Juba or where her daughters live have anything to do with the location of the jail? While we’re on this subject let me say this, every post that I make has MY name on it. Even when I make blog comments, here or elsewhere, I sign the comments with my real name. I think it speaks volumes about the character of the commenters who have been spreading rumors and making accusations of Joni Juba’s impropriety that they lack the intestinal fortitude to sign their names to those comments.

There’s one that I got a kick out of.

Right back at you,commentator #11! Daughter 3’s house isn’t for sale. We are just waiting for that one to come up…But, two have signs in their yards. Need us to download a picture and do our own blog,commentator #11?? We have the pictures,for anyone that wants to see them. Maybe next time you blow smoke you just might want to remember who you might be dealing with:)Harold? Coy?You can only wish it was them….hate to ruin your teatime,dear. 

Oh, really? Who might we be dealing with? Well, it’s a Road Runner customer in Harrisburg…I wouldn’t share your IP address – that wouldn’t be very nice. It’s someone who has taken it upon themselves to basically stalk Joni Juba’s kids. And who’s “we”? If you’d like to start a blog - Blogger.com is free and the interface isn’t that bad. Really, I don’t pay a dime to run this blog. Go ahead. Start that blog. I promise I’ll link to you. We need more people blogging on local matters and not just posting cowardly anonymous threats on other people’s blogs.

A Good Challenge

It seems that only one comment really came out as a strong challenge to something I wrote, and for that – they deserve kudos. This was in response to the last Politics in an Odd-Numbered Year post.

Justin;Did you consider that Food Lion might just want to be in Kannapolis so they can sell beer? This doesn’t explain the other voluntary annexation, but seems to explain Food Lion’s willingness to increase their taxes. 

Honestly, I didn’t even think about the ABC factor. This is a really good challenge to my statement that “There’s only one explanation for that decision - these business owners don’t trust the potential government of Odell, NC to be as efficient as Kannapolis, NC”. For Food Lion, there’s another explanation – beer sales would be a strong motivator on their part.

Still, if Kannapolis is the mess that Harold Smith claims it is AND following his suggestion that the entire “Odell Community” is in perfect solidarity toward incorporation and will run Odell, NC better than Kannapolis – then BOTH of those land owners would not have made the effort to be annexed into Kannapolis. The fact of the matter is that not everyone in the affect area wants incorporation. The local media should stop referring to them as the “Odell Community” and start using something more accurate like “Odell Incorporation Supporters”

More to Come

There’s been a lot going on in my world, and there have been a number of issues that I wanted to post articles about; but just haven’t found the time. Anyhow, thanks to everyone for stopping by.