Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Beginnings are often fictionalized accounts of inspiration. Someone can tell you why they decided to run for office and you have little choice but to not believe them and wait. Endings are the sum total of our true motivation and the fruits of our effort. Where someone ends up pretty much tells you all you need to know.

That’s why I find it funny at the end of the 2006 local elections when all of the candidates leave the voters with a final, lasting impression - Coy Privette will be the only one who chooses to run an attack ad. He’s also the first one I’ve ever seen to use a political ad to attack people that aren’t on the ballot, and does so largely by lying.

Harold joins in the charade by saying that this was an article in the Concord Standard - that wasn’t the case.

To start, let’s deal with what Harold wrote and the ad in the Concord Standard - here it is:

Coy Privette responses to John Clark 

In an article published in the Standard amd Times on Thursday, Coy challenges the comments by John Clark, chairman of the Cabarrus Democratic Party.

“He (John Clark) contends that Bob Carruth, the Republican Chairman of the County Commission, is considering voting for a Democrat on Nov. 7. Why would Carruth do such a thing? Is it because some of his unethical shenanigans have been exposed?”

“Clark contends that Fletcher Hartsell is owned an apology. It was Hartsell’s law firm that failed to show up for a hearing before the State Personnel Commission that resulted in the county having to pay a $130,000. Hartsell’s malpractice insurance carrier paid $30,000, but guess who had to pay the other $100,000 … you, the taxpayer. In light of this, it is Hartsell that owes the taxpayers of the county an apoloyg.”

“Clark also contends that an attack has been made upon the character of County Commissioner Joni Juba. No one has questioned her character just her judgement.

“On August 26, 2005, at the close of a commissioner’s retreat at Camp Spencer, then Chair, Carolyn Carpenter instructed the commissioner not to leave because Commissioner Juba had a matter to present. She recommrnded that the contract for the proposed jail be given to Turner Construction Company but ‘I must be recuse (excused) from voting due to a potential financial conflict.’ What was the financial conflict? Her company Juba Aluminum is a sub-contractor for Turner Construction. In light of that, she should not have made the recommendation.”

“Then on September 1, 2005, she made the motion that the contract be approved for Turner Construction. What happened to her conflict of interest?”

You can read the entire article ” Why is the Democratic Chief defending Republicans?” on page C3 in Thursday’s Concord Standard and Times.

Harold Smith

First off, the fact that Harold Smith calls this an article is worst type of insult to Dale Cline and the staff of Concord Standard. This was not an article; but an ad paid for by Coy Privette. Any journalist would have checked the record and found out that the accusations he made were mischaracterization of the facts or flat out wrong. By the standards I was raised the whole thing was one, big, fat lie.

If you find yourself giving the Reverend Privette the benefit of the doubt, let me take care of that by addressing the two major accusations:

• Commissioner Joni Juba - First, the meeting where the Contract Manager was selected was on August 20, 2005 and not August 26, 2005. Commissioner Privette mischaracterized the meeting as if the last thing they did was approve Turner Construction - there were two other items considered before the meeting adjourned after that vote. If you really care, you can read the minutes here. Also untrue, on September 1, 2005, Joni Juba did not make the motion to select Turner Construction (actually, they were drafting a “letter of intent”); but Bob Carruth did (with Robert Freeman seconding the motion) - don’t just take my word for it - check the record.It is also untrue that Joni Juba herself recommended Turner Construction. Joni Juba served on a Committee including County Staff and Law enforcement. If you want to read more about how the Juba Scandal was manufactured by Coy Privette and his friends lying to settle some scores - click here.
• Senator Fletcher Hartsell - it is true that someone from the firm that Fletcher Hartsell is a partner with failed to attend a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. What Coy doesn’t mention is that opposing counsel also wasn’t present. Also, there were several hearings after that one before the $130,000 settlement. In addition to that the Administrative Law Judge did not, and could not, set the final judgement in this matter. For more of the facts on this, click here.

The point here isn’t that Coy Privette was the first and only person to lie in a political ad in Cabarrus County, or that he had negative things to say in his ad. It’s that he attacked people who weren’t even on the ballot. He’s so sure that he’s going to win that he’s spending campaign money attacking the very same people he’s going to ostensibly be working with. To this voter, that speaks volumes about his character.

I have friends whose political involvement start and end with watching the O’Reilly Factor or The Daily Show (I recommend the later - humor is better when it’s intentional). They moan and grown about how there are no good people to vote for. That frustrates me, because we have plenty of good people in office. It’s just the miscreants that get the press.

While as a Republican Party Precinct Chair, I will be voting and working to resist the efforts of John Clark and the Cabarrus County Democratic Party. However, his move criticizing Coy Privette was shrewd politically. The Republican Party in Cabarrus County has gained dominance by running capable candidates of strong character that reflect local values like Fletcher Hartsell, Linda Johnson, Jeff Barnhardt, Robert Carruth, and Robin Hayes. John Clark knew that he could find little opposition among independently thinking Republicans and unaffiliated voters to competent and qualified candidates like those; but Coy Privette and his record doesn’t present the same problem - his character and performance make him a welcoming target. John Clark was exploiting a vulnerability in our party - Coy Privette and the Paleoconservatives he’s associated with. Voters have shown they have good judgement by rejecting many of Coy’s allies including Harold Smith. John Clark was doing his job by seeing if he could get the good people of Cabarrus County to vote for someone other than Coy.

There are good people in office and there are good people running for office. The people that Coy attacked are good people of impecible character and who have a strong record of service to our community. There are plenty of good people who work hard to make this County, our State, and the US to be a better place and deserve your vote on Tuesday. Coy Privette is not one of them.