Jon Lowder

Notes from My Afternoon as a Non-Reporter at a Public Meeting

As I wrote last week I spent about 5-6 hours listening to people speak at the public forum regarding the proposals by WFU Baptist Medical Center to build a hospital in Advance and Novant to build one just four miles from Advance in Clemmons.  According to the Winston-Salem Journal about 700 people were there, which I think is as accurate a count as any.  Following are some notes and observations from the afternoon:

• When I first got there I stood in the atrium outside the meeting room and watched the proceedings on a television for a few minutes.  I was holding a steno pad since I wanted to take notes and I also wanted to be prepared if I got an important business-related call.  I guess I looked like a reporter because a tall, snow-haired gentleman in a suit that probably costs more than my annual salary approached me and nodded hello while giving me the stink-eye.  I nodded back and waited for him to introduce himself.  When he didn't I put out my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jon Lowder."  He shook my hand and said, "Yes."  That's when my prick-o-meter alarm started clanging.  Then he said, "You look like you might be a reporter" to which I replied, "No, I just carry this in case I get an important call."  He didn't seem to be buying it and he just walked off and joined his colleagues from WFU.
  
  Just after that a nice young lady from Novant approached and asked me if I was there to speak.  I said that yes I was and she gave me a green sticker that all the Novant supporters were wearing on their chests.  I put it on my shirt, but since I hadn't taken off my jacket you couldn't really see it.  I went inside and found my cousin, a Novant employee, and made my way to the side of the room where she was sitting.  I decided to lean against the wall and wait until the speaker was done before disturbing anyone to sit next to my cousin and that's when I realized that I was standing next to a reporter (I could tell by her steno notebook and the fact that she seemed to know shorthand) and when I looked up the snow-haired prick gentleman was watching me.  That's when I decided to whip out my notebook and pretend to write furiously for a few minutes while glancing at him intermittently.  A guys got to have a little fun in life.  After he left I went ahead and sat down.
  
• Listening to 150 people say essentially the same thing is very boring.  The reporter was smart and bugged out after number 20.  I was in for the long haul.
  
• If I ever want to be a reporter, or even dream of being a faux-reporter, I need to learn some form of shorthand. If not I'll be the king of paraphrasers.
  
• Two paraphrases leap to mind.  First, when the folks from WFU were given their 10 minutes to respond to some of the citizen comments their VP said that they were shocked when they heard the outgoing mayor of Clemmons say that his citizens welcomed the Novant-proposed hospital and maybe his saying that is an indication of why he got his butt kicked in the election a couple of weeks back. 
  
  The second was from the Davie county manager who was invited by WFU to use some of their response time to share a personal story to help explain what all this is about.  He said that after they'd publicly announced the deal with WFU he was approached by Novant representatives and he asked them how they could have the gall to approach him after what they did to another local hospital (Stokes County).  He said their reply was that it was all about market share.  He then said he told them that it wasn't about market share it was about the people of Davie County.  If this had been a Q&A I would have asked the guy if he thought WFU didn't care about market share as much as Novant, because if they didn't they would be building the new hospital in Mocksville or another central location in the county and not on the eastern edge that happens to be home to the county's wealthiest component and just a stone's throw from the western Forsyth population centers of Clemmons and Lewisville.
  
• Yes I was there to back Novant, but I was also there to say that I would like to see both hospitals built and preferably for Baptist to build theirs in Mocksville near the current Davie County Hospital.  I wasn't the only one of that opinion.
  
• The guy running the PR campaign for Novant was Mike Horn of Horn & Stronach.  He's a former mayor of Lewisville and a current town council member.  It's probably not a coincidence that several representatives from the town council testified in favor of Novant, but they should anyway since it would be the better option for Lewisville residents (in my opinion).
  
• It's interesting seeing people who's public lives become entwined in their private and professional lives.  Winston-Salem's mayor gets questioned every once in a while about his dual roles as mayor and president of the Winston-Salem Alliance, and seeing a town council member like Mike Horn wearing his other hat as PR pro was also interesting.  He didn't speak himself on behalf of Novant, but since many of the speakers had been recruited by either side (WFU or Novant) it wouldn't be a stretch to conclude that he probably asked his fellow leaders in Lewisville and Clemmons to appear.  Again, I'm not saying anything untoward was going on, it's just always interesting to me to see how people who serve in public office balance their duties with their private lives.
  
• The people from Novant and Baptist were all well-behaved. No catcalls, no booing, only intermittent boosterism.
  
• A few of the public speakers mentioned the astronomical costs of healthcare in their comments, but no one from Baptist or Novant addressed that in their responses at the end of the day.  We need a public hearing about that.
  
• One's butt tends to go numb after four hours of sitting.  And if that's the kind of thing that's representative of what reporters do day-in and day-out then they can have it.
  
• Finally, I've determined that I'll carry a steno pad where ever I go.  It scares people and it's a lot easier to lug around than a Fancycam.

What's My Responsibility? What's My Role?

There's an ongoing issue at Lewisville Elementary that I've written about a couple of times (most recent here).  I could be wrong but I think the comments on those posts are the only real ongoing public dialog about the situation, and the evolution of those comments have caused me to question my role or, more accurately, the role of my blog in the community.  Let me explain. 

So far I think the commenters on the posts have been polite, and the comments not particularly confrontational.  I honestly think that the commenters have the best intentions and even if they may come from different sides of the issue they also want the same things: better communication from the school and the conclusion of the investigation of the teacher who has been suspended.  That said, here are my concerns:

• This blog is a personal endeavor of mine, something I do for fun and to feed my writing jones.  Normally most of the stuff I write about is inconsequential and goofy, but when issues like this arise I feel compelled to write about it.  Is that something better left to "mainstream media"? 
• So far I think the comments on the posts have been good and in some ways helpful in revealing the viewpoints of some folks within the Lewisville School community.  But I worry that the comments could turn cruel or vindictive and that I'd be facilitating more harm being done.  Do I have that right?   I would certainly delete any bad comments as soon as I saw them, but the cat would be out of the bag for the few people who might see them before I do so.  I could also change my blog's setup so that I moderate all comments before they're published, but somehow that just doesn't feel right.  I've never had cause to worry about it before, so this is new territory for me.  And here's the key question: if someone does write something really negative am I responsible, are they responsible or is it a shared responsibility?  I'm not talking in the legal sense, but in the moral sense.
• As a member of the community I've heard lots of rumors and different sides of the story.  All of this information comes from sources I trust and in a private conversation I'd feel fine in sharing it, but I wouldn't feel right sharing here.  Am I being overly cautious or is this the right approach?
• I've been thanked on more than one occasion for providing this outlet for people to write about the issue.  I'm glad some see it that way, but I worry that others might think I'm doing a disservice to those involved in the issue.  The last thing I want is to add fuel to the fire and I hope that's not what I'm doing, rather I hope that by having a forum to look at this situation we are illuminating it.

The funny thing to me is that when I started this blog I figured maybe some friends and family would read it occasionally. I never dreamed it would be read by others or that it would be used in this way.  On the one hand I'm glad that it is, but on the other hand I'm humbled by the prospects.

Job Offer!!

Somehow the email I'm copying below made it through my spam filter.  I share it because it openly, one could say even enthusiastically, invites me and the million other people it targeted to join them in being an international scumbag.  It also purports to be from the chairman of a major investment firm in Singapore.  Actually it looks like an investment firm tied directly to the government in Singapore.  Really in terms of spam it's a nice change of pace from all the stuff that's supposed to put hair back on my head and give me a renewed sexual vigor.  Here it is:

From: notice01@optonline.net
Subject: JOB OFFER!!

From The Desk Of
Mr Lim Siong Guan Chairman,
EDB (Chairman of the Board)
250 North Bridge Road
#28-00 Raffles City Tower
Singapore 179101.
Date; 9th /Feb/ 2007

EDB CO LTD SEEKING YOUR ASSISTANCE IN OPENING OF NEW OUTLETS IN YOUR LOCALITY.
Dear Friend,

This email comes to you from the desk of Mr Lim Siong Guan chairman EDB SEMICONDUCTOR COMPANY LIMITED based in Singapore.EDB is a Global manufactural of Gray market goods,and this are items manufactured abroad and imported into the US without the consent of the trademark holder. Examples of such goods are REFRIGERATORS of all kinds,Electronics and Home Appliances.

We import this products into the World Trade Market at large and due to the high demands of our products , we have been able to acquire outlets all over Europe,Asia and America where our products can be bought. And as at today, there are 10 EDB companies in Singapore, including its Asia-Pacific headquarters and eight manufacturing companies in various sectors, ranging from refrigerator compressors to consumer electronics to advanced displays and semiconductors.

Due to the high rate of sucess in the last fiscal year of trading in the United States and Canada,we have deceided to embark on major expansion plan in these Countries even as the global economy is showing optimistic signs of pick-up.We intend doing this by wanting to open new outlets where our products can be bought from.

This idea of more outlets is making us to contact you today to know if you would be able to perform the following task for us which are listed below
1 Helping in the sales of our products to willing customers that are wanting to buy.
2 Receiving payments from customers by all means of payment method that is available, and one that suits their convinent at that point in time. We want to bring to your notice that this position does not require any relevant experience and it is best suited for all{ graduates, professionals and non graduates}.

If you deem you are fit enough for this job,we would want you to supply or furnish us with the following information via email
1 Your Full Name As It Would Appear On Your Letter Of Appointment
2 Your Contact Address
3 Telephone Number { Both Home And Mobile} / Fax
4 Your Present Occupation
5 Lastly,we would want to know if you have any form of dis-ability

Note that if we eventually deem you fit for this position,you would be placed on a 10% commision for each sales and any amount you help receive from customers.

Thank you so very much for having the patient and time to read this email.We look forward to hearing from you.

Wishing you a Blissful day,
Mr.Lim Siong Guan,
Chairman,
EDB SEMICONDUCTOR.
officeoflimguan@yahoo.com

Really it's a thing of beauty don't you think?

21st Century Neighborhood Watch

Over at Life in Forsyth Lucy has a post titled "Another White Van" that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of a vigilant neighbor armed with email.  It seems that a man was seen trolling their neighborhood in a white van.   A neighbor noticed him, did a little research on the tag numbers, got a name and thought they found evidence that the driver was a registered sex offender.  They fired off an email to warn the neighbors and the neighbors forwarded it to their friends and pretty soon everyone was on the alert.

Well, it ends up that there the person they spotted had the same name as a registered sex offender but he himself had a clean record.  In addition, he was in the neighborhood with his girlfriend to pick up a dance student and since he'd never been there before he was slowing down in front of houses in an effort to find the right house.   Unfortunately the person who knew this wasn't part of the email loop so didn't know what was going on. Luckily one of the people in the loop found out the truth and let everyone know.

Lucy, who is also a 2004 transplant from the DC area, points out the the Beltway Snipers were originally thought to be a white guy in a white van, but in fact were two black guys in a blue sedan.  Her point is a good one: while it's always good to be vigilant we can often be led astray by half truths and speculation. This case also points out the inherent flaws of email; just ask anyone in the working world to tell you stories about someone left out of the loop for a project or meeting because they were accidentally left off the "cc" list.

Luckily no one got hurt in this case, and it seems that at least one of the neighbors did the right thing by contacting the police instead of handling things themselves.  The police were the folks who figured out it was a case of mistaken identity.  I'm assuming they contacted the driver and found out why he was there  so he might have gotten a little fright when they called, but that's infinitely better than getting a beat-down from a bunch of scared neighbors.

Will We Have Fall Cleaning in November?

I bring you a few stories of government malfeasance that should bolster a drive for ousting a bunch of the stinkin' scumbags who are running our country these day.  We have a great opportunity this November and we should take it.  And don't be fooled by party affiliations since the scumbags are running rampant in both parties.

First up is this story (thanks to Lex Alexander over at the Greensboro N&R and his personal blog, Blog on the Run for this one) about four auditors at the Interior Department who are suing oil and gas companies under the Fair Claims Act after they were told by superiors not to pursue oil and gas companies for royalties that the government was owed.  From the article:

In two of the lawsuits, two senior auditors with the Minerals Management Service in Oklahoma City said they were ordered to drop their claim that Shell Oil had fraudulently shortchanged taxpayers out of $18 million.

A third auditor, also in Oklahoma City, charged that senior officials in Denver ordered him to drop his demand that two dozen companies pay $1 million in back interest.

And in a suit that was filed in 2004, Mr. Maxwell charged that senior officials in Washington ordered him not to press claims that the Kerr-McGee Corporation had cheated the government out of $12 million in royalties.

On Wednesday, Interior officials denied that the agency had suppressed any valid claims and implied that the auditors simply wanted a share of any money recovered through their lawsuits.

“If these auditors believed there were fraud and or false claims on the part of the companies they were auditing, they should have followed the proper procedures,” the Interior Department said in a written statement. “Instead, they opted to pursue private lawsuits under which, if they prevail, they could receive up to 30 percent of the monies recovered from the companies.”

In defying their own agency, the Interior Department’s auditors sued the oil companies under a federal law, called the False Claims Act, that was created to allow individuals to expose fraud against the government. People who successfully recover money for the government in such cases are entitled to a portion. A losing company is required to pay triple the amount of recovered money as well as back interest — potentially more than $120 million in the cases brought by the auditors...

In their suits, the auditors contend that they had no choice but to go outside the agency because their supervisors ordered them to “cease work” on five separate investigations and drop their claims.

Documents recently unsealed in Mr. Maxwell’s case against Kerr-McGee, which is scheduled for trial in November, show that federal officials abandoned his claims at almost the same moment that state auditors in Louisiana reached the same conclusions as Mr. Maxwell.

Under federal regulations, companies are supposed to pay the federal government a royalty of 12 percent or 16 percent on oil and gas they extract from federal lands or coastal waters.

Mr. Maxwell’s job was eliminated in 2004. He received a settlement from the government and is now living in Hawaii.

I love the Interior Department's defense: they say that the auditors are in it for the money, yet the auditors wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they hadn't been given orders to not pursue the companies in the first place.  Why would they even bring the lawsuit if there was a chance that they could be caught out in such an obvious ploy?  It will all come out in court and I'm pretty confident that even if the auditors don't win (who knows what kind of technicalities might pop up) we'll see substantial evidence that supports their claims that they were told by superiors to stand down.

Next up is the story of two of our more nefarious Senators trying to suppress an effort to bring a little more sunlight onto the Senates pork-barrel spending operations. Sen. Byrd of West Virginia and Sen. Stevens of Alaska both sit on the Senate Appropriations Committee and both put a secret hold on legislation that would (will?) create a database of pork barrel spending.  From the piece:

It's all about a bill by Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, who wanted to put more details about federal spending in the hands of Americans. Coburn, with co-sponsorship from Democrat Sen. Barrack Obama of Illinois, wants the federal government to establish a searchable database that would allow Americans to track all federal grants and contracts.

That, Coburn and Obama figured, would make it more likely that obscure pork-barrel expenditures, buried deep in omnibus appropriations bills, could be rooted out by a concerned public and examined on their individual merits. Senate majority leaders Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., gave the measure their bipartisan backing.

In the tradition of the Senate, however, somebody exercised his privilege to put a hold on the bill and keep it from going to the floor. Who it was wasn't explained because, again in the tradition of the Senate, he kept his name secret. In all, not a strong endorsement for openness and accountability.

That's when the bloggers went to work, beginning with Porkbusters.org, which deputized the nation to begin interrogating all 100 senators. The appeal went out for citizens to aask their own senators, flat out, if they were or weren't behind the mysterious hold. As the replies came back, Porkbusters.org kept an online scorecard, tabulating who had and who had not denied responsibility for the hold.

It took only a few days for the culprit--two of them, actually--to be revealed. No surprises to learn that Republican Sen. Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens of alaska and West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, the record holder for bacon brought home, were behind the hold.

Byrd and Stevens have harrumphed unconvincing explanations that they just wanted time to study the measure. What a coincidence. That's what citizens want to do with federal grants and contracts.

Remember what I said about this being bi-partisan scumbaggery?  These two are well known for this kind of crap, but really they're just a representative sample.  After all who can forget about the revelations coming from the Abramoff scandal?  To wit:

Former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison on March 29, after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to cooperate in an investigation into his dealings with members of Congress. Sources familiar with the federal probe have told The Post that half a dozen lawmakers are under scrutiny, along with Hill aides, former business associates and government officials.

The scandal prompted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio) to give up their leadership posts, and on Sept. 15, 2006, Ney pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the scandal. Two of Abramoff's former business partners have pleaded guilty. Three men have been arrested in the slaying of Gus Boulis, who sold Abramoff and partners a fleet of Florida casino ships in the fall of 2000. Another former Abramoff associate, David H. Safavian — most recently the top contracting official in the White House Office of Management and Budget — was convicted for lying about his dealings with Abramoff.

Really the Abramoff thing is just getting going, and it will be interesting to see how many more people he brings down. 

This post could go on forever if I tried to detail all the nasty goings-on in Congress and the Executive Branch of our government, but I think these samples give us a nice representative sample of what's going on.  The question is will we as citizens do something about it in November?

More on Diebold's Electronic Voting Machines

I've written before about the dust-up over the proposed use of electronic voting machines here in Forsyth County, NC.  That dust-up led to the resignation of the longtime director of elections because the Board of Elections wouldn't support her proposal to use the Diebold machines, and over time the Board of Elections has been proven correct in their negative assessment of the machines.

Ed Cone has a piece about the trouble election officials are having with the Diebold systems being used in the Maryland primaries.  Things are so bad that Maryland's governor is calling for a return to paper ballots for the November elections.  David Allen, whose been on top of this issue for a long time, has some interesting comments himself.

This is VERY important stuff and we need to get it sorted out by November since this mid-term election has the potential to have the greatest impact on our country's future as any mid-term election in a generation.  And we definitely need to have all this figured out before '08. Is there any doubt that '08 will be the most important presidential election in decades?

Forsyth County Commissioners Show Thin Skin

After the recent Forsyth County budget was announced the number one issue in terms of publicity was the fact that the Downtown Health Plaza lost all county funding (about $600k).  That caused a bit of a stink because of the politics involved, but it got even stinkier when the county's director of health, Dr. Tim Monroe, wrote an opinion column for the Winston-Salem Journal that basically said the county's policy, and by association the commissioners themselves, does not fit with the Christian values of compassion and charity.  In Winston-Salem those are fightin' words!

Two of the commissioners replied in the Journal:

"I think he's very disrespectful to the commissioners. I think he's being misleading to the community," said Gloria Whisenhunt, the chairwoman. "Tim has never been a team player."

Debra Conrad-Shrader, the vice chairwoman, agreed.

"I thought it was inappropriate, and I'm sure the board of health will take care of it," Conrad-Shrader said. "He's their responsibility, and they are in charge of who the health director is."

Well, pardon me but I think the Bush administration has shown what a mess you can make of things if you insist that everyone be a "team player."  The public is not served well if our public servants just sit on their hands when they feel an injustice has been done.  We don't have to agree with what is said but we do deserve to hear all sides of the debate.

For what it's worth I don't like higher taxes any more than the next person but I think it is perfectly legitimate to question how our government spends its money.  Quite frankly the healthcare system is tough on more people than just the desperately poor.  Every day more people go without health insurance and every day it costs more and I think that you'll find more people needing the services of places like the Downtown Health Plaza.  Public health policy is one area that deserves heated debate, not meek acceptance by "team players."

And for the record, Dr. Monroe really points the finger at us, the citizens of Forsyth County.  Here's what he wrote:

But we should not judge the commissioners. We placed them there, and we sent them the unmistakable message of our true values - that they would not be re-elected if they raised taxes. We must judge ourselves. Would it be an unreasonable burden on property owners to pay a 1-cent increase so that the disenfranchised might enjoy an incremental improvement in needed services? Would it damage our economy, as is so often argued by the no-more-taxes-for-nothing-never-no-how contingent? Below are some county property tax rates for comparison. Are the property owners of Mecklenburg, Durham and Cumberland Counties reeling under their burdens?

So if anyone should feel disrespected it is us, but to be honest I'm glad we have at least one public servant with the cajones to stand up and be counted.  Good on 'ya Dr. Monroe.  And to our esteemed councilwomen I can only say, "Grow up."

Another Reason the Forsyth County Elections Board Made the Right Call

A while ago the Forsyth County (NC) Elections Board caught some heat when it didn't support the recommendation of the long-time director of elections to go with a touch screen voting machine.  The dispute caused the director to leave her position to take a job with the state's election office.

David Allen made a convincing argument at blackboxvoting.com for why the board was right and now comes more evidence that the board made a good call.  There's a new report out about some of the security flaws in Diebold's touch-screen system which supports some allegations made against Diebold.  Note that some of this dates all the way back to 2003.

Yup, I'd say the board made the right call.

The Greensboro Kerfluffle

The City of Greensboro has a nice little melodrama that's been evolving over the last year or so.  It involves race, the city council, the police department and the Greensboro News & Record.

The real melodrama started at the end of last year when the police chief was locked out of his office.  Since then a report was prepared for the council and city management by the city attorney's office and Risk Management Associates of Raleigh, NC and the report was eventually leaked to the News & Record by someone.  The resulting stink caused all but one council member to take a polygraph to prove that they weren't the source of the leak...and the one member who didn't take it, T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, has tried to defend her position in a rather lame manner.

Now a bunch of Greensboro folks, many of whom blog, have signed a letter asking for the report to be released to the public per the state's public records laws.  This little kerfluffle is so interesting that even the Winston-Salem Journal is covering it.  This is making the Washington, DC government of crack-smoking Marion Barry look staid and competent by comparison!  I can hardly wait to see what comes next.

North Carolina's Part-Time Citizen Legislature

The Raleigh News & Observer has an interesting article (found via Ed Cone) about North Carolina's traditional part-time legislature.  The basic thrust of the article is that most of the people serving North Carolina are retired, self-employed or independently wealthy due to the fact that the legislators aren't paid much and the job requires an almost full-time commitment that precludes your average person from serving.  There's some mention of creating a "professional" legislature with full-time pay, but others argue that the legislature should remain as it is.  Some of the interviewees also say that they worry that there are not enough young people in the body which might skew the body's deliberation.

One of the points the article makes that I find to be totally irrelevant is this:

It's noteworthy who does not serve in the legislature:

North Carolina has more than 120,000 store sales clerks and 107,000 retail cashiers -- but none in the General Assembly.

There are no lawmakers who make their living as food preparers, freight haulers, assemblers, office clerks, truck drivers, registered nurses, customer service representatives or waitresses -- the rest of the state's most common jobs.

The point of a representative democracy is not that it literally have a representative from every walk of life, but that it enable people from every walk of life to choose who represents them.  If the person chosen to represent them does not satisfy their needs then they are free to choose a replacement during the next election.

It is also highlighted in the article that the percentage of black and hispanic representatives is lower than their respective percentages of the population.  This is an old saw in politics and feeds into the whole gerrymandering debate, but again it really is irrelevant.  No matter our color our vote still counts the same whether we are black or white, rich or poor.  Sure each person's individual influence varies outside of the voting booth, but inside it we are equal and we have the same opportunity to choose our representative in the government.  Does that mean we will always get what we want?  No, but that's not what a representative democracy is all about.  It's about our ability to SAY who we want not our ability to GET who we want.

BTW, I think this argument holds true with regards to age as well.  I know quite a few retirees who are younger at heart than any 30-something I've ever met.  Hell, most of us thirty-somethings are too worn out by our everyday lives (i.e. kids) to feel anything but broken-down and old.  If my old-codger of a rep isn't doing what I like I'll just vote against her next time.

And for the record I am completely opposed to a full-time, professional legislature.  There's enough corruption with them working part time...imagine what some of these jokers could do if they had all year to do it!