RFP Staff/Photographs from Enochville Fire and Rescue Facebook Page

♦ Sunday a high-impact collision took place in front of the Enochville Elementary School on North Enochville Road near Cannon Farm Road in China Grove.  One unidentified driver was trapped in the wreck before being removed and transported to the hospital.  A second wreck victim was also taken to the hospital.  Both cars were totaled and had to be towed from the scene.

Neither the injured driver or the injured passenger were identified.  The extent of their injuries are yet unknown.

North Enochville Road was closed until the damaged vehicles could be moved.  The road has reopened.

The accident remains under investigation.

**This article will be updated as more information arrives.**

Todd Paris, Associate Editor and Salisbury Attorney

♦  So, try this on for size. You have just been newly elected to Salisbury City Council, and at your first real meeting, staff dumps a 165 page document in front of you entitled, “Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2015” prepared by the City Financial Services Department. Pages 153 to 165 are the Compliance Section prepared by law by an Independent Auditor. This is the report sent to the NC Local Government Commission (LGC) so they can make sure we are complying with state laws on finance reporting.

Then, Mayor Alexander explains there was no opportunity for any council members to review this document, as it just was returned by the LGC.  Of course, since this document up to page 153 was prepared “in house”, it was available (at least in draft form) for days –  if not weeks – before the meeting. The Auditor’s Compliance Section had to have been prepared by the CPA’s some days – if not weeks – before, to make it to the LGC. Had the mayor and incumbent council not been provided access to any copy or draft before the meeting?  Really?

Why is this important? The Report is the most important document in the whole city. It tells us what we spent and the financial health of the city. The Audit portion tells us whether financial reporting irregularities exist and if the city is complying with state financial law. You need to know if your city may be stolen from or if it’s breaking the law, right?

The auditor arrives and speaks for a short time, and discussion of the matter is “tabled” to a later time. At no time during her oral presentation does the auditor mention two “negative findings” in the audit.

The first unmentioned negative finding was “Finding 2015-001” in that the broadband fund (Fibrant)  is operating in a deficit, which is in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. 159-13(b)(2) which requires each enterprise fund to be, well, “funded.” They are not allowed to run a deficit. This law is part of the statewide laws enacted after the great depression to prevent cities and counties from going bankrupt. Page 43 of the report shows Fibrant’s net position as over negative 11 million dollars.

The second was “Finding 2015-002.” (Page 154, Paragraph 2) “…our tests disclosed an instance of non-compliance or other matter that is required to be reported under Governmental Auditing Standards.” These are published by the Federal Government Accountability Office.

You can see an overview here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Auditing_Standards

Reading on, we find out that there are insufficient safeguards in City collections such that misappropriations “could result.” Well “could result” doesn’t sound so bad. Looks like they caught it in time! Or did they?

More curious was the statement made by the auditors: “We noted certain matters that we reported to management of the City of Salisbury in a separate letter dated November 18, 2015.” Of course, you, as a new city council member were given no such letter before or with the audit. This was in spite of the fact that the letter was also addressed to the City Council. After a public information request by a local meddling attorney (and perennial pain in the municipal “keester”), we find out that actual misappropriation had occurred and that it was turned over to the SBI and that this was not just something that merely “could result.” It did result.

Well, new Council members, feeling “miffed yet?”  But get this, when the agenda for the next council meeting comes out – the audit is not on it. The auditors did not reappear, and there is no public comment scheduled, even at your low public participation meeting time of 4:00 p.m. (when at least the retired and unemployed could comment on the audit).

Good old Salisbury, NC City Government, as transparent as Yadkin River.

Well, if it doesn’t get into main street media, it never really happened, right? Council Members Kenny Hardin and David Post were elected by the citizens as full city council members, not junior, associate or intern city council members. I demand they be treated honestly and kept “in the loop.”

You can view the Martin Starnes letter not featured in the Report, here: https://rowanfreepress.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/martin-starnes-letter.jpg

Here is my new “public information request” of the City:

Thank you for providing the letter to management of the City of Salisbury dated November 18, 2015.  This letter cites that the city retained an independent auditor to determine the extent of alleged misappropriation in the collections department.  The letter further cites that there was information and findings of the independent audit specialist that was provided to Martin Starnes.

I am requesting the following:

1. All communications between elected officials, staff, and the city’s audit firm and auditor/audit specialist, including emails, letters, and any other communications records.
2. The amount paid to the independent audit firm investigating the alleged misappropriations to include contracts, invoices, and other financial records.
3. All findings, reports, memos, letters, and any other information provided to the city, the SBI, the city’s law firms, and/or Martin Starnes regarding misappropriation in the collections department.
4. The dates or calendar entries of meetings where staff and the elected officials were made aware of alleged misappropriation in the collections department.
5. Financial records that document the amount allegedly stolen or estimating the amount allegedly stolen.

My review of case law shows records regarding a city’s finances are indeed public records and not privileged.

RFP Staff

♦ Sunday April Bostian Peoples, 34, of 860 Kepley Road in Salisbury was arrested by Salisbury Police after a mother drove her 15 year-old son to Salisbury Police HQ to report him allegedly having sexual relations with the Peoples on several occasions.

Peoples was arrested later Sunday and charged 2 counts of statutory rape (misdemeanor). Under a secured $50,000 bond, Peoples was held in the Rowan County Detention Center until her release on bond.

RFP Staff

♦ As violent crime ramps up in Salisbury, the Dodge City of Rowan County, now it can be said that truly no Salisbury community is immune from gunfire and break-ins.  The Country Club, mostly impervious to violent crime, got a taste of it Sunday when a male homeowner, on the 200 block of tree-lined Sudley Circle, reported a bullet hole in his sunroom window.  On a shelf, beneath the window, was a bullet resting on book. The time of the shot is unknown.

Presently no suspects or motives are known for this attack on a Sudley Circle home.  The investigation continues as anxiety grows in a city left unprotected by an understaffed police force in need of competitive pay and experienced officers.

If you have any knowledge of this Sudley Circle incident, please call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333 or Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

RFP Staff

♦ On Saturday Perfect Purbaby Animal Rescue Center notified the Salisbury Police that the rescue center at 901 S. Main was broken into and heavily vandalized sometime between noon Friday and 1:30 p.m. Saturday. During the break-in some of the cats were set free, the walls spray painted with poorly spelled graffiti, the office was significantly damaged and files were ransacked.

At present the Rescue Center Office is temporarily closed.

Perfect Purbaby Animal Rescue Center wrote on their Facebook page: “Thankfully, no animals were harmed. This was not done for theft; it was done for vengeance by some really stupid, low-life vigilantes who believe it is better to kill an animal rather than give it a chance for a good life. It was done by calculated idiots who play God, judge and jury before the law even gets a chance to. All animals are now with loving fosters; we wouldn’t even consider leaving them there.”

Perfect Purbaby Animal Rescue Center said on their Facebook page:”To our faithful followers and true animal lovers, please be patient as the investigators do their job. Pray for the arrest and conviction of these lawbreakers (not the word I’d really like to use) and know that the cats, kittens and even guinea pigs that were there for adoption are now safe, healthy and loved. If anyone would still like to adopt, please contact us here and we’ll make every effort to meet with you so that you can find your 4ever loving companion. Thank you!”

Anyone with any information about the vandalism at Perfect Purbaby Animal Rescue Center Please Call: Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

RFP Staff

♦ Jeremy Edward Austin, 30, of 105 Ashley Drive in Salisbury and who has been convicted of assaulting women, was arrested Saturday on the charge of cruelty to animals (felony) for allegedly hurling a kitten 30 feet and severely injuring the animal.  The kitten sustained a broken hip and leg as well as internal injuries, leading to the Rowan County Animal Control euthanizing pet.  What makes this alleged animal brutalization particularly disturbing was that the pet belonged to Austin’s 7-year old son.

It is not known if the son witnessed this alleged event on Saturday morning or if the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reported this alleged situation to Child Protective Services (Rowan County Department of Social Services).

Under a secured bond of $2,500, Austin is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Jeremy Edward Austin’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0822623&searchLastName=austin&searchFirstName=jeremy&searchMiddleName=e&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ Reginald Carlton Weeks, Jr., 57, of Salisbury, convicted of the rape and murder of his stepdaughter Brittany Loritts back in July of 2005 and out on parole since January of 2015, was jailed Thursday at the Rowan County Detention Center for violating parole. He is being held without bond and is on temporary hold.

Weeks was incarcerated for 7 years after pleading guilty to the rape and murder of teenager Brittany Loritts a high-school student. Weeks and Loritts lived on Scales Street in Salisbury at the time of her murder. Two years later when the Loritts case went to trial, Weeks entered an Alford plea to reduce his charges to second degree murder and second degree rape. The two charges were consolidated, leading to a 9-year sentence for Weeks. An Alford Plea, common to the courts, permits a defendant to plead to lesser charges without having to admit guilt.

Two TV docudramas of the Loritts murder case, “Nightmare Next Door” and “Redrum”, appeared on the Investigation Discovery Channel AKA Discovery ID and are rebroadcast from time-to-time. Also the videos often show up in the Netflix collection of Discovery ID.

Posted below are a large collection of articles on the Loritts murder case on the website: “My Life in Crime”.

Reginald Carlton Weeks, Jr.’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1057469&searchLastName=weeks&searchFirstName=reginald&searchMiddleName=c&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

History of the Brittany Loritts Murder on My Life In Crime:

Brittany Loritts murder 7/11/2005 Salisbury, NC *Stepfather, Reginald Weeks Jr., pleads guilty, sentenced to 9 – 12 years in prison*

Reginald Carlton Weeks, Jr.:

Brittany Loritts:

Public Announcements

♦ On Wednesday January 13th at 6:30 p.m. Nancy Brewer, an author of historical novels and reenactor, will present a program “Between the Pages” based on “War Between the States” artifacts and discuss how she researched local history to write her books.  The program will take place in the Stanback Room of the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury, N.C.  The program is free and open to the public.  Bring your friends.

For more information contact: Steve Poteat at 704-633-7229 or E-mail Rowan SCV@Carolina.RR.Com

WWW.RowanSCV.Org

Magic Math Productions

♦ Was John Sofley Interim Salisbury City Manager When the Alleged Embezzlement Occurred?

Steve Mensing, Editor

♦ On Tuesday Salisbury City Manager W. Lane Bailey announced his appointment of Assistant City Manager John “Magic Math” Sofley the chief architect of “Fibrant Turning the Corner and Showing a Profit Ruse” through the deft manipulation of hiding Fibrant employees in other city departments. And lest we forget squirreling away Fibrant’s deficits in other areas of the budget.  Sofley’s “magic math”, alleging the Fibrant “turned the corner”, proved an embarrassing episode for Salisbury’s City Hall.

What could be done with John Sofley to lessen the heat directed at City Hall and its math department?  The recent audit revelations and the attempts to squelch inquiries about it at city council raised eyebrows.  So how does City Manager Bailey turn down the thermostat short of handing out another “golden parachute?”

We found out yesterday when Bailey shuffled Sofley over to Public Services and Parks and Recreation and got him away from managing the Fibrant.

In a public announcement Bailey stated: “…John’s business and financial experience really came through for us during a challenging transition period, and for that we are grateful.  As we enter the new year, it is now a prime opportunity for John to lend his talents to some of our other departments within the city.”

John Sofley will now emerge in Public Services which includes Stormwater services and Parks and Recreation.  Puzzling.  Those city departments have no real need of a certified public accountant or hide the losses artist.  Will John be twiddling his thumbs?  Or will John covertly engage in “magica mathematica” elsewhere?  After all Salisbury’s City Hall is not known for transparency.

RFP Staff

♦ Salisbury Teen Duo Anthony Mason Cunningham, 16, of Bringle Ferry Road and Daedrion Tramail Blake, 18, of Heilig Road were arrested Tuesday night for allegedly breaking into vehicles parked near “El Patron Mexican Grill and Cantina” on 1030 Freedland Drive and by a home on the 800 block of South Main Street.

The pair’s alleged undoing started when a witness spotted the two teenagers allegedly shining a flashlight into a Jeep Liberty and breaking into it earlier by a home on the 800 block of South Main Street and reported it to the Salisbury Police. The duo allegedly corralled $10 worth of change.

Later Cunningham and Blake were allegedly caught by Salisbury Police after breaking into 3 vehicles owned by El Patron employees sometime after 9 p.m. and rifling them for earphones, a CD player, and an iPod. The police spotted the two who matched the witness’s description and were said to be carrying items stolen from the vehicle break-ins.

Cunningham was charged with 4 counts of breaking and entering vehicles-RR cars and other vehicles (felony), 3 counts of larceny (misdemeanor), resist/delay/obstruct public officer (misdemeanor), possessing stolen goods (misdemeanor), and larceny (felony). Under a secured $5,000 bond, Cunningham remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Blake was charged with 4 counts of breaking and entering-vehicle–rr cars and other motor vehicles (felony) and 3 counts of larceny (misdemeanor). Under a secured $4,500 bond, Blake remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Daedrion Tramail Blake’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1410870&searchLastName=blake&searchFirstName=daedrion&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Anthony Mason Cunningham:

Daedrion Tramail Blake:

Salisbury’s Top Mexican Restaurant–El Patron Mexican Grill and Cantina:

Todd Paris, Associate Editor and Salisbury Attorney

♦ Tuesday night at Outreach Christian Ministries, the City of Salisbury hosted an event called a “Community Conversations”. It was the first of many planned events to allow regular people to ask questions and have an open dialog with City Staff and Officials. Now, this is some of the transparency we have been talking about! Way to go, guys!

This how you conduct a “Community Conversation” – Salisbury City Government style:

You take everyone’s questions and instead of answering them. You write them on a whiteboard and tell the questioners to leave their phone numbers and (or) emails with an employee at the back of the room and that staff will contact them soon to answer their questions.

That’s it. I’m dead serious. Of course, a few city employees were there to inform the public about city services, but reports on the conversation are that few questions were answered. But the answer to almost all questions essentially came down to, “We’ll get back to you.” Pitiful! As transparent as Yadkin river water.

Of course, they have to avoid a debacle like last year when a pesky City Council candidate and perennial pain in the municipal “keester” asked questions that exposed how the Chief of Police was working a second job, had no idea of the numbers of unsolved murders, could not give a single victim’s name, and that the City Clerk had received thousands of dollars of furniture for her office from her husband’s internet sales job. Horror of horrors, that was in front of the media! I bet that does not happen again!

This “conversation” was a bad idea, as executed. The least they could have done is for Lane Bailey, Council and Staff to answer the questions that they could, and use the whiteboard stunt for questions that require specific facts and figures.

This was just like a public comment period, like at normal City Council meetings. Citizens say things within a three minute limit, and council rarely responds other than to have the mayor thank them for coming. A dialogue is defined as an exchange of ideas or opinions on a particular issue, especially a political or religious issue, with a view to reaching an amicable agreement or settlement.  “We will get back to you, privately by email at a later time” does not meet the definition.

Perhaps they are scared of me after the candidate question and answer debacle. I will make them a deal. If they will actually bring the staff to the next meeting and actually answer questions from the public, as best they can, and reserve “We will get back to you” for questions that honestly require facts and figures, I will agree to sit that one out.

This format was disrespectful to the citizens that attended. Those asking questions might as well have stayed home and emailed the staff directly. The one saving feature was that unlike City Council meetings, it was held late enough in the day so that people with jobs could attend. Mayor Alexander and Lane Bailey should have meetings where citizens can have a true conversation instead of being controlled to the point where participation is all but meaningless.

RFP Staff

♦ The Salisbury Police arrested Patricia Ann Fleming, 45, of the 600 block of West Horah Street in Salisbury for Allegedly beating Phebe Daniels, 18, with a heavy stick with a nail in it at the corner of Cherry and Clay Streets in Salisbury back on December 27th.  Daniels wound up allegedly hospitalized with deep nail wounds to the head.  Daniels’ mother Abigail, who attempted to intercede in the fight, was allegedly bitten on the shoulder and wrist by Fleming.  Phebe Daniels wound up being transported to Novant Rowan Medical Center and later to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for surgery.

Tuesday Fleming was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury (felony) and simple assault (misdemeanor). Under a secured $15,000 bond, Fleming was detained in the Rowan County Detention Center and later released on bond.

The alleged stick beating occurred after Phebe Daniels was said to come to the aid of her cousin who allegedly was being attacked by two women who piled out of a jeep at the corner of Cherry and Clay Streets in Salisbury. At this point Fleming allegedly lit into Daniels with the nailed stick and then was said to bite Daniels’ mother when she tried to wrestle the stick away.

Patricia Ann Fleming’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0130505&searchLastName=fleming&searchFirstName=patricia&searchMiddleName=a&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff/China Grove Police Department

MISSING!–Kassey Zapata–Jesse C. Carson Student–MISSING Since January 11th

RFP Staff

♦ Raymond Joseph Anglin, 40, of the 4700 block of Jack Brown Road was arrested for an alleged assault at the King Tut Café & Hookah Lounge on 220 North Lee Street in Downtown Salisbury on Wednesday night.  Anglin, convicted of assaulting both men and women, allegedly was intoxicated when he started swapping punches with his first victim who turned his back and staggered off.

Anglin wanted more as he stalked back into Café at 11:30 p.m. and allegedly started pounding on someone identified as Austin Wood.  A looping right hand mashed squarely in Wood’s face and turned the air around his head into a warm red mist.  Wood’s legs offered little support.  He had no idea why Anglin attacked him.

Anglin swayed and looked on numbly on as Salisbury Police entered the Café.  He loudly berated the officers when they arrested and handcuffed him.

Anglin was charged with simple assault (misdemeanor), disorderly conduct (misdemeanor), and intoxicated and disruptive (misdemeanor).  Under a secured $4,000 bond, Anglin was locked up in the Rowan County Detention Center before he was released on bond.

Raymond Joseph Anglin’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0518228&searchLastName=anglin&searchFirstName=raymond&searchMiddleName=j&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

RFP Staff

♦ On Tuesday evening around 11:20 p.m. Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to 714 China Grove Highway in Rockwell on the report of a fight.  When they arrived at the address they found a badly battered man sprawled on the ground surrounded by a cluster of neighbors.  Witnesses allege that earlier a man named Cody Gulledge from Gold Hill was robbed of $100.  The robbers were said to be Joshua Luke Jones, 27, and Scotty Lee Lewis, Jr., 25, who live on the 700 block of China Grove Highway.

Not long after the robbery, two friends of Gulledge, Joshua Yost and Brandy Dixon, attempted to get the money back from Jones and Lewis who had other ideas.  Jones and Lewis started beating Yost and Dixon who was sixteen weeks pregnant.  Dixon attempted to shield Yost from to the face and head.  Cassandra Durden AKA Cassandra Lewis, 46, living on the 700 block of China Grove Highway, allegedly joined in kicking the pregnant Dixon in her stomach.

Yost was taken at first in Novant Health Rowan Medical Center in Salisbury and then later transported to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center with rib and facial fractures.  He was placed in the critical care unit where he is said to be in critical, yet stable condition. Dixon’s condition is not yet disclosed at this time.

Jones and Yost were each charged with common law robbery (felony) and assault with serious bodily injury (felony).  Under secured bonds for $75,000 each, Jones and Lewis were locked up in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Cassandra Gay Durden was charged with simple assault for kicking pregnant Dixon in the stomach.  Under a secured $2,500 bond, Durden remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Cassandra Durden AKA Cassandra Lewis’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0850055&searchLastName=Durden&searchFirstName=cassandra&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Joshua Luke Jones Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1072395&searchLastName=jones&searchFirstName=joshua&searchMiddleName=l&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Scotty Lee Lewis, Jr’s. Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1141021&searchLastName=lewis&searchFirstName=scotty&searchMiddleName=l&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Cassandra Gay Durden:

Joshua Luke Jones:

Scotty Lee Lewis, Jr.:

Steve Mensing, Editor and RFP Staff

♦ Without fail anytime I show up on Facebook to post an article or read about what my friends are saying and doing, I see my friend Kenny Hardin, the embodiment of boundless energy, pithy sayings, doing the “right thing”, and initiating and following through on objectives to make young people’s lives and communities better. I’m heartened when people are transparent with their thoughts and feelings or tell you where they actually stand on something. Kenny’s that guy. He is the real deal “Mr. Everywhere”. Like a savvy and intuitive middle linebacker, he’s where the ball is or where it’s going to be, and he’ll make that game changing tackle.

Many of us who watched him in action know him from being a key initiator of the Tsunami Literacy Program, Man Up Mondays, or bringing fire from the sky down at City Council when he would raise issues during public commentary. His mover and shaker resume needs an all terrain 4-wheel drive vehicle to carry its weight.

And recently Kenny was elected to city council as a complete “outsider” a rare event in Salisbury’s notorious history. Already Kenny is standing out when he asked those questions about the budget audit that made the incumbents “circle the wagons” and want to hide that information in private meetings. Kenny took a stand about refusing to honor former police Chief Rory Collins.

Here are just a few days of recent photographs of “Mr. Everywhere” in action:

Kenny Hardin at the first Community Conversation held in the West End:

Kenny Hardin listening intently down at the Community Conversation:

Kenny Hardin raising transparency questions about the city’s budget audit and getting a circle the wagons response from the incumbent council:

West End Initiative Community Meeting:

West End Initiative Community Meeting:

Kenny Hardin weighs in at the Advisory Board for City Parks and Recreation:

Kenny Hardin gets photographed for City Council:

Kenny Hardin at the Tsunami Development Literacy Program office:

Kenny Hardin breaking bread with Tsunami Development Literacy Program friends at O’Charley’s Restaurant in Salisbury.

RFP Staff

♦ Kassey Zapata, the Jesse C. Carson student who disappeared on January 11th, is safe and has returned home early Friday evening according to Kristen Godair Zapata.

**This article will be updated as more information becomes available**

Kenny Hardin, Salisbury City Councilman

RANDOM MORNING THOUGHTS ON RACISM:

For the past 20 years being in the public eye writing for the paper, being vocal about issues and recently taking public office, I receive a number of messages, calls and frequently approached by folk while out.

Some of the messages are supportive, but many are hate filled, racist and threatening in tone.

The ones I enjoy most are from people who try to tell me how to act and feel about racism. One of my colleagues on the Council told me last week they were “disappointed in me” as we discussed race and recent issues. I responded that when you’ve been Black for more than 30 minutes and endure the things I do, then I’ll be concerned about your level of disappointment with me.

I was then told I didn’t always need to use a hammer in my responses, find other tools to use in communicating and I should seek to change my approach to get along better with Whites.

Although I don’t feel as if I have issues working with anyone who treats me respectfully, I responded that when it comes to racism and disrespect directed towards me, I have zero tolerance and will use an even bigger hammer to respond, so the Council just needs to be prepared. I then asked why do I and Black people have to always be the ones to do all the compromising? Why can’t those who create the racial animosity be held accountable and expected to change their behavior?

This is a message I received this morning from a guy who lives in China Grove: “Do your job as a city council member. The city needs a police officer who can handle this wave of crime. Y’all were voted in not to discuss the crap about race relations and all that mess. Although the crimes that are being committed are majority African Americans and gang activity. The goal of the city council should be to get a police chief who can do the job and second to pay our police officers more as they are so underpaid.”

I’ve met with a number of City and County leaders, business leaders and individual residents, and each one has said to me how poor race relations are in this City. My response to one leader recently was that everyone sees the problem, but no one wants to really do anything about solving it.

People want to engage in useless, feel good initiatives that yield no measurable benefits. Many others would rather you just ignore it so as not to make them feel uncomfortable. I told a business leader last week that if we don’t get comfortable with being uncomfortable and address this divisive issue, our City will not prosper.

I refuse to be fake or silent on this issue. I will not laugh when nothing is funny, scratch when I don’t itch or dance when there is no music. So people can stop trying to dictate my thoughts and how I feel on something they don’t experience firsthand.

RFP Staff

♦ A photo gallery containing both the Saturday January 16th Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade through Downtown Salisbury and a selection of Dr. King’s historic civil rights marches from the 1960’s:

Parade Crowd near the Square:

Martin Luther King leads a civil rights march in the 60’s:

City Councilman Kenny Hardin at the Martin Luther King Day Parade in Downtown Salisbury:

March on Selma, Alabama

Mayor Karen Alexander waves at the crowd:

March on Detroit in 1963:

Livingstone College Band:

Martin Luther King marches with labor in the late 60’s.

Council persons David Post, Mayor Karen Alexander, and Brian Miller:

Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to those gathered at the historic March on Washington:

North Rowan High School Band:

Crowd by Spanky’s in Downtown Salisbury:

Crowd in front of Caniche:

Toward Parade’s End in Downtown Salisbury: