The Western NC September 27th Flood

 

"While most of the images are coming out of Asheville, Boone, and more populated areas, there are hundreds of small communities off narrow, winding roads that are difficult to reach in good times. I fear for those people and wonder how long it will take to reach them."

--Thomas Mills 

Many roads on creeks have simply ceased to exist for long stretches. Big trees are down everywhere, many still across one or more lanes of traffic. Untold numbers of people cut off and without electricity. Some are considered "missing" only in the sense that friends and families can't reach them and haven't heard a word about how they're faring. Cell service, Internet connection, WiFi went dead for thousands, and is still spotty.

I know of people in a rented house on Winkler's Creek who watched a mudslide come down the mountainside from an upslope development that had clear-cut. Big timbers, riding on the cushion of moving mud, slammed into their house, knocked it off the foundation. They had to break a window to get out.

The rescue people and the restore-electricity people and particularly the water department in Boone and the people cutting trees off roads have been saviors, often self-sacrificing and always dedicated to the tasks. Quiet heroism. The volunteer spirit is alive and robust and downright inspiring.

Yesterday, Jon-Dalton George, the 25-year-old Mayor Pro-Tem of Boone, was wading through mud to knock on every door in a flooded-out trailer park, doing wellness checks, and coming back where necessary with water and other supplies. Another young man, a student at AppState, joined many others who showed up at a staging area for volunteers in the recovery and offered his help. He got teamed up with Councilman George, door-knocking trailer parks.

This disaster should occasion an honest assessment of modern development in narrow Appalachian valleys in the context of climate change which brings bigger storms and more sudden water. The historic development all along what is known locally as Kraut Creek in Boone, the whole Blowing Rock Rd. corridor, is historically and morphologically a natural floodway that has been culverted and covered over with asphalt and concrete. In the new reality, we can't keep the lid on that creek without more major damage. It's gonna happen again.

Being Young Isn’t Enough – We Have to Be Courageous

By Jon-Dalton George 

“Young gets it done!” I said grinning ear to ear in a Boone Town Council meeting. We had just gotten a big infrastructure win that I was proud to play a part in. It’s been awhile since that meeting, but one of the folks in attendance still brings that phrase up when he sees me about town. "Young gets it done!"

If you’re under the age of 30 and you’ve attended any sort of political gathering or meeting, you’ve likely heard some variation of “It’s so good to see young people! You're the generation that will save us!”

It’s a sweet sentiment, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t inspire me at times to do more, trying to deliver on the lofty political and organizing expectations placed on an entire generation. 

When I was running for political office at the ripe age of 22, folks took notice. And while a few skeptics had some unfair criticism because I hadn’t had enough revolutions around the sun, others cheered me on, even without knowing much about me or my platform. Young people across the state continue to grab positions of power, win elected office, and more. But, unfortunately, being young doesn’t automatically mean that you’re the perfect person to step up.

Here’s the thing: I’m so confident in young people that I think we have every capability of being as terrible as previous generations. The trappings of politics impacts everyone, regardless of age, and young people can make the same missteps generations before them did. Trust me, I’ve seen egoism, nepotism, infighting, selfishness, and more among my peers. The allure of some of these eternal political traps have snuck into my mind at times too, so this is not meant as a critical piece of writing, but a cautionary one. 

The reality is, any aspiring public servant that’s seeking elected office for themselves will only continue to add to the problems of our political landscape. 

That’s not to say that there’s no truth in the message that this generation has the potential to save our political process. Young folks in the political arena have the ability to look at our political history to learn how our political system hit such a snag. On how we’ve ended up in a place where we need saving to begin with. 

So the task before our generation, as we work to create better communities, is to challenge the way things have always been done. To find our own voice, not to emulate what a “politician” looks like. 

As both a young elected official and a person from a working-poor background in rural North Carolina, I’ve heard both messages — One, that young people will save us, that we alone can right the direction of our nation. The other, that anyone in political power will not care for those seen as less than, that to wait to be saved by those in power is to be resigned to defeat. And in all honesty, I think that the second message has a lot more going for it to justify its sentiment. 

I’m always conscious of this dynamic and I truly hope to be a small part in that cultural shift. to alter that latter message and belief and to be one of the “young ones who get it done.” 

To end positively, I’ve had conversations with young electeds and power holders across the state who seem keenly aware of the trappings of politics, who work hard to defeat those negative cultural forces and keep the danger of ego in check, who understand well the plate they’re stepping up to when entering this world. 

Anderson Clayon, the Chair of the NC Democratic Party, is another excellent example. And while some may see her and seek to emulate her, they miss the point. Her power comes from the fact that she’s herself. She’s taking on politics authentically and with courage. I think we’d do well to learn from that as much as we learn from her youth.

Jon-Dalton George is Mayor Pro-Tem of Boone and works for the Endangered Species Coalition.

Is There A Quick Fix For Our High Country Housing Woes?

 

Guest post by Dalton George

Housing is the issue, and it has been for quite some time. The Housing Council — a group that was created from the ambitious and successful series of housing forums conducted earlier this year -- has been working towards some possible solutions, and they’ve got some great folks on the case. This energy isn't only relegated to activism. Local elections may now hinge on the issue. 

Still, as time goes on, it seems like a quick local fix to the housing crisis is nearly impossible. While some published articles (like the one in the recent NC Business Magazine) provide a prescription of extending town services out of town, allowing development with little regulation (and in turn creating a potential disaster for our natural environment — see The Cottages), most data doesn’t really support that. See Oregon, where once they eliminated those pesky zoning laws, rental rates actually increased. 

Even more troubling, housing can be framed as a NIMBY v. YIMBY choice (Not In My Back Yard v. Yes In My Back Yard) that introduces a level of polarization to an issue that otherwise typically should create some unity. While I don’t strongly identify with either NIMBY or YIMBY, I can say this — We desperately need more housing, but I have never been a fan of giving the keys to developers and expecting them to do the right thing. Boone has been bitten in the ass by this countless times. 

Then we have our Congresswoman, Virginia Foxx, writing an Op-Ed damning local regulations and championing the cause of the YIMBY, all while never participating in any of the housing movements in her district. I could write a whole piece criticizing her, but she’s been in Congress since before I was born, so her inability to improve the district she represents speaks for itself. 

I’ve said it a few times, to little effect, but Boone has tried already to deal with some of these issues, so some solutions are already in place that we can utilize. I’ve continued to reexamine our minimum housing code for the safety of tenants and have introduced an agenda item for breaking up the discrimination happening in student rentals, which would open the market in an impactful way (the only items related to housing affordability/safety since the Air-BNB regulation in December of 2021). Boone even recently tried to adopt a penny for affordable housing on every hundred dollars of valuation, though we ultimately compromised by moving the revenue equivalent from our general fund. 

In April of 2020, the Town Council introduced a resolution detailing some of the very problems newer housing groups have identified. It gained some traction, resulting in a response from the state’s Attorney General. However, our two state representatives, and ever passionate-about-housing-Congresswoman, did nothing. Here are the items that Boone asked our reps to take action on:

The $800 per apartment in non-refundable fees to pursue credit checks on tenants and their parents, while potentially not using that money for a credit check.

Landlords not publishing or disclosing certain rental charges and non-refundable fees imposed until the tenant applies for housing. 

Fines on tenants, which are not disclosed or directly included in the leases in some multi-family complexes, that make tenants abide by rules and regulations made by the management, which they can freely alter.

Renting by the bedroom, but requiring each tenant to guarantee full rent for an entire four-bedroom apartment, even though the tenant may not have any prior relationship with other tenants.

Tenants not being properly or effectively advised of the chance for a property to flood, or of the landlord’s refusal to take responsibility for flood damages until after the loss.

Landlords regularly deducting amounts from security deposits that represent charges for normal wear and tear.

Landlords using leases that are so complex people untrained in the law can’t decipher the many predatory and one-sided provisions.

New pushes like the Watauga Housing Trust provide some of the first local initiatives for affordability. Still, a housing trust model is but one piece of a much larger puzzle. Inclusionary zoning is a prospect for the Town, though the lack of clear mechanisms to hold developers legally accountable poses a problem, further worsened when you realize most inclusionary zoning programs only force affordability for a limited number of years. 

The heart of our housing issue is simple — rampant greed in an economic system that encourages it — and since housing activists are working in that framework, we’re already playing against a stacked deck.

Ultimately, we keep trying, and in Watauga that’s thanks to a robust community of passionate activists, but as we watch nearly every other city in North Carolina deal with housing issues, one must wonder if it’s time to hold state legislators accountable.

Dalton George is a member of the Boone Town Council.

Local Bill H193 Is Kaput

 

Ray Pickett

Issued before 9 a.m. this morning, this bottomline news: Watauga County Commission requests the shelving of that special legislation introduced by Rep. Ray Pickett and will follow the town's UDO in the building of a parking garage, a facility that both parties believe is needed.

Here's the money in the last paragraph:

We have reached a consensus so that the local law will be withdrawn, litigation can be avoided, and consideration of the County’s parking garage project can move forward as speedily as possible consistent with the Town’s development ordinance.

 

Boone Town Council Takes a Stand on the Power Grab

The Boone Town Council issued the following statement at the end of its regular monthly meeting
held on June 8, 2022 in response to a “local law,” House Bill 193, recently offered in the
General Assembly at the initiative of Watauga County:

“We as a Town Council have discussed in closed session a local law introduced in the General
Assembly at the initiative of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners relating to a parking
garage that the County is planning for downtown Boone. This local law, if passed, would
exempt the County’s proposed parking garage from Boone’s Unified Development Ordinance,
including the downtown historic district standards.

As a Council, we feel blindsided and extremely disappointed with this action by Watauga
County. This Council has tried hard to improve relations with the County and to work together
with the County. Most recently, the Town and the County reached an amicable settlement of a
lawsuit over water service; we worked together to move the County’s new 911 call center
forward, and we combined our 911 communication operations. This Council would have been
happy to talk to the County about its parking garage project, and to do what the Town reasonably
could to facilitate it. Yet, the County did not even approach the Town to seek cooperation.

The Town still stands ready to facilitate proper consideration of the parking garage project as
quickly as local regulations allow. But the standards that apply to every resident and business in
this town, and to the Town itself, should apply equally to the County.

This proposed local law, House bill 193, sets a dangerous precedent both for us as a town and for
municipalities across the state. Watauga County should be subject to the same standards that
apply to all other property owners. We urge the County to rescind this bill and reach out to us.
We stand ready to work together.”

County Commish Calls a Special Meeting Next Monday

The Underhanded, Horrible, No-Good Screwing of Boone NC

 

Rep. Ray Pickett introduced a "local bill" (H193, that the governor can't veto) which will exempt the development of the Oscar and Suma Hardin House property (a.k.a, the Turner House) in downtown Boone from following the rules in Boone's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The Watauga County Commish wants to build a parking deck for the Courthouse, and they don't want to be bothered with following rules that will include a public hearing. If you recall, they refused a public hearing before they demolished that historic house.

That Ray Pickett, who served on the Blowing Rock Town Council and who would not, we think, have screwed his own town with a bill like this, is apparently happy to screw Boone speaks to a political moral compass somewhat out of whack.

The Town's UDO development standards apply to everyone, whether a government, a major or minor devloper, or even a person wanting to build a storage shed. Why should the big, powerful players be exempt from the rules all the rest of us have to follow just because they have the means and power to get a special law introduced in Raleigh?

But we have other questions. Who on the County Commission approached Pickett to get this bill introduced? And what secret meetings went on behind the scenes that led the Commission -- without ever taking a public vote that we know of -- to take this underhanded path. Who met with whom and who was there? And why the need to operate under cover and in the dark of night without public input or knowledge? And what says the Boone Town Council about such a blatant and dangerous subverting of local control?

Disdain for Unions Just Ain't Appalachian

 

Guest Post

Recently, Boone’s Starbucks became the first Starbucks in the state of North Carolina to unionize. An excellent piece of news and one that fits into Appalachia’s long legacy of labor movements, it’s fitting for Boone to lead the way in this effort.

While you’d expect support from the working class of our community, you may be surprised. I skimmed some comments on some of the most circulated articles about the news and was a bit disheartened by some of what I saw. Obviously, I could talk about Appalachia’s bloody fights for labor, coal miners, cotton mills, lumbering, and the like, but that’s a history lesson that most should be familiar with but obviously aren't. 

If folks like my dad, a former long-time employee of NC’s furniture industry, had had Union protection, I’d have better teeth, we’d have had less worries about foreclosures, and he’d have more to show for his years of labor and dedication. So for the sake of those future children, I welcome any union expansion.

For those upset, threatening to boycott the business, I have some questions. Why are you, as someone in Watauga County or Boone, more for the corporate elites who have never been to Boone and who likely never heard of it, than for workers in our community? Why do you think paying or treating employees fairly will increase prices any more than the rampant profit-centered nature of Starbucks? Do you think that, even when coffee costs $8, Howard Schultz and Co. are barely scraping by?

I’m honestly at a loss and frankly a bit disappointed. Being angry at the workers in your community that are advocating for fairness just ain’t Appalachian. While I do understand the sentiment of supporting local, and try to do so myself, if the final straw between you and Starbucks is a union, you have some reflecting to do.

On a positive note, the organizers of Starbucks United Boone credited their success in unionization to community support and the dedication of their partners. I think we should all reexamine our attitudes toward the service workers that have put up with so much for the past couple of years and support them in their fights for better treatment. As for me, I’ll do whatever I can to support them in my personal capacity.

Dalton George 

Boone Town Council

Demolition of Historic House Rankles Watauga Commish Primary

 

Turner House before demolition

Eric Plaag, the chair of Boone's Historic Preservation Commission, president of the Watauga County Historical Society, and a noted authority on historic preservation, has published "An Open Letter to County Commissioner Carrington Pertalion," taking her to task for misrepresenting the events leading up to the bulldozing of the Oscar and Suma Hardin House (a.k.a., "the Turner House") for a parking lot.

Plaag quotes Pertalion's answers to a questionnaire from PamsPicks.net and argues that they are either a mistaken recitation of what led the County Commission to order the burning of the house, or a deliberate obfuscation. Plaag maintains that the county flouted open meeting laws in making its decision to destroy the landmark.

Based on Pertalion's responses to her questionnaire, PamsPicks.net endorsed Pertalion's opponent, Angela Laws King, in the Democratic primary now underway (which will be concluded on May 17th).

It All Comes Down to Sheri Everts

Last Wednesday, Oct. 27th, some ambitious faculty members at Appalachian State University -- alarmed by the chancellor's governing style and her administration's evident ambition to bend town government to the maximum benefit of ASU -- invited everyone from the university and everyone from the non-university community to come to a town hall in the county library and air both grievances and potential solutions for a major university's tendency to eat the town of Boone. The town hall was organized by ClimAct, a student environmental club, and the Appalachian State chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Clark Maddux, American Studies specialist, presided.

Today the High Country Press published both a detailed account of the town hall and a response to the criticism submitted by Megan Hayes, Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Communications Officer for ASU -- Chancellor Sheri Everts' flack. You have to scroll way down for Hayes's answer to the townhall, though you may end up wondering why she would have taken the time for this, pablum-stained wallpaper about how Chancellor Everts has lots of meetings with lots of university groups. And she'll keep on meeting.

In that same High Country Press article, and following Megan Hayes's non-answer to the mounting criticism, Clark Maddux answers Hayes:

“Whenever any faculty member, or group of faculty members, decides that we are going to do anything that could appear faintly critical of the chancellor, the Board of Trustees or the Board of Governors, we ask ourselves, do we need to hire a lawyer? And what is she or what is the board going to do in retaliation? That says a lot about the environment that she creates … She’s had six years to become a partner with this community. And all of the so-called conversations and listening sessions and programs that she holds have clearly not done that. She has not created a partnership with this community. And so I think it’s up to faculty who care about the community to do that.”

An environment of retaliation. 

I know faculty members who are visibly squeamish about any show of political thought -- even bumperstickers on their cars, or receiving email from hell-raisers like me. They often express outright fear that the administration will notice and come down on them. While well known members of the Board of Trustees feel perfectly free to strut their political stuff.

Boone Voters Reject the AppPAC

 

The Appalachian PAC's chosen candidates got buried last night in Boone's municipal elections. Both Eric Woolridge and Benjamin Ray finished well behind the three Democratic winners in the main contest:

Todd Carter 1,042

Virginia Roseman 1,027

Jon Dalton George 986

Eric Woolridge 531

Benjamin Ray 399

The AppPAC had billed itself as "non-partisan" and went well out of its way to try to live up to that billing by also endorsing Democrat Edie Tugman in the race to fill two unexpired terms. Tugman incidentally rejected the endorsement. The PAC also endorsed Democrat Tim Futrelle for mayor, but he was running unopposed and was going to win anyway.

Looks like a winners' mandate to me.

Todd Carter, Edie Tugman, Tim Futrelle, Jon Dalton George, and Virginia Roseman

Town Hall Condemns Appalachian State’s Unresponsiveness to Local Concerns

 

What impact is Appalachian State having on Boone? 

This was the question explored by a town hall held last night in the Evelyn Johnson Room of the Watauga County Public Library. The event was sponsored by the Appalachian State chapter of the American Association of University Professors and ClimAct, a local environmental group. The room was packed, with over forty citizens in attendance and that many more joining via Zoom.

The town hall left little doubt that there is a lot of concern—from community members, students, and faculty—that the university may be adversely impacting Boone and the surrounding area. Kellie Reed Ashcraft of the Watauga Compassionate Care Initiative noted that Boone’s poverty rate is significantly higher than the state average. There was a lot of worry expressed about the university’s aggressive enrollment growth goals. Many noted that the town is increasingly full of shoddy housing and that it is expensive, too, forcing many people who work in Boone to seek housing elsewhere. Some students bemoaned that App State is becoming a degree mill, and that reckless growth is resulting in lower quality of students, diminishing the quality of an Appalachian degree. One participant quoted Edward Abbey to chastise the university’s priorities: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”

Frustration was also expressed about the university’s lack of responsiveness to the Boone community, even to answer questions. At one point, the question was asked: “Who has even met Sheri Everts [the App State Chancellor]?” Only a few hands were raised. Many noted that the core problem is that Everts owes her $375,000 annual salary to the UNC Board of Governors in Chapel Hill—and that the Board is the only constituency she really cares about. Needless to say, the Board is appointed entirely by the Republican majority in the General Assembly.

Finally, some attendees pointed out that, on top of everything else, the recent revelations about App Pac and the lavish donations by two members of the App State Board of Trustees suggest that the university is now trying to buy the Boone Town Council. What a convenient way to get land owned by the university rezoned to meet its interests—and those of wealthy real estate developers.

Enough is enough, it was decided. App State used to be the pride of Boone. But, as one resident pointed out in one of the evening’s most moving testimonials, the university is now exploiting the local population, forcing out people who have lived in the region for generations.

The event’s organizers promised that more was soon to come.

More Questions About Big-Dollar Donors to AppPAC

Additional background on Mark Ricks and Brian Tracy, two maxxed-out donors to the AppPAC in the Boone Town Council elections:

In November 2017, at the time Mark Ricks was giving $10 million to AppState athletics, Brian Tracy was senior associate athletic director for external affairs at the university and very involved in securing that unprecedented gift from Ricks. The next year, in 2018, Ricks was appointed to the AppState board of trustees.

Last month on September 15, when he gave $5,600 to the AppPAC, Brian Tracy listed his address in Round Hill, Va., and his employment as "COO of DWF." I understand COO to mean Chief Operating Officer, but DWF momentarily stumped me. DWF? I didn't immediately understand that stood for Double Wood Farm, "an equestrian sanctuary for retired show horses in Bluemont, Virginia," owned by BOT member Mark Ricks. (I'm grateful to "Octavia" who made the connection in a comment on "Who's Funding the Appalachian PAC.")

So Brian Tracy is now working for Mark Ricks and living near Double Wood Farm in Virginia? And maxxing out to the same political action committee that Mark Ricks is supporting?

Why are so many of the big-dollar donors to AppPAC from out of state? We understand why so many have clear connections to AppState.

AppPac's Expenditures Report -- Hard To Figure

 

The expenditures report submitted by the Appalachian PAC to the State Board of Elections is one confounding document, since the PAC treasurer in Raleigh wants to claim a year-to-date expenditure for two Democrats running in the BooneTown Council races as $6,936.54, which is not just misleading -- it seems deliberately misleading, because each of four candidates, including the formal PAC endorsements of Eric Woolridge and Benjamin Ray, are all also listed as receiving the exact same amount: $6,936.54. In actuality, this same report clearly shows that the PAC spent only $19.57 each on its support for Tugman and Futrelle (for putting their names on a flyer? Who knows what could possibly have cost less than $20?).

Let's be clear: the PAC gave no cash to any of the candidates. That almost-$7K is an indirect contribution in the form of PAC mailers, yardsigns, buttons, etc. In fact it looks as though the PAC added up all (or most?) of its combined operating expenses, came up with $27,746.16, and divided it four ways, as though the two Democrats, Edie Tugman and Tim Futrelle, have benefitted equally with the PAC's actual endorsements of Woolridge and Ray.

How dumb do they think we are?

Edie Tugman is on record with this statement: "I have not sought endorsement from any PAC. I was sent a questionnaire by the Appalachian PAC and responded. I was then contacted and interviewed as they were making decisions about who to promote. As they were not forthcoming about who their Board Members are, who their donors/supporters are and had no position papers, I declined to be considered. After the interview, I wrote to Travis Critcher that I would not seek or accept support of any kind from the organization."

Tim Futrelle wrote this: "I have not sought any endorsement or financial contribution from any PAC. In full disclosure, during the first week of my campaign, a member of the North Carolina Association of Realtors contacted me to participate in an interview regarding a regional comprehensive housing study that would include our area. A few weeks after the interview I received a contribution from their organization. This is the only contribution of this type I have received. All others have been, and will continue to be, individual donors."

The PAC, in its continuing effort to look "non-partisan," sort of patted Tugman and Futrelle on the head, ignored Tugman and Futrelle's request that they not be endorsed by the AppPAC, and put Tugman and Futrelle's names on their PAC yardsign in much smaller type (the pat on the head). I guess they're saying that pat on the head is worth $6,936.54.

Again: how dumb do they think we are?

Who's Funding the Appalachian PAC?

"Political Committee Disclosure Reports" are due at the NC Board of Elections by this weekend, and the report from the Appalachian PAC, the newest organized political influencer in Watauga, was actually delivered early. Here are the donors as reported:

Maxxed Out

Rick Harmon, attorney with Harmon & Davies, Lancaster, Pa. -- $5,600

Mark Ricks, owner, Double Wood Farm, Boone -- $5,600

R. Thomas "Tommy" Sofield, owner, US Bldgs, Boone -- $5,600

Brian Tracy, COO, DWF, Round Hill, Va. -- $5,600

NOTE: Both Ricks and Sofield are members of the ASU Board of Trustees

NOTE: What is "DWF" in Round Hill, Va.? 

 

2nd Tier 

Jay Harrill, COO, Echota Resort, Avery County -- $1,000

Arthur H. Barber, owner, Charleston Forge, Boone -- $500

Susan M. Barber, owner, Charleston Forge, Boone -- $500

Chad Seigler, VP International Business, NASCAR, Stanley, NC -- $500

NOTE: Chad Seigler is a sports marketing executive and a member of the board for the Appalachian Foundation

Also Gave

Sallie Aceto, Owner, Design & Media Group, Raleigh, NC -- $278.08 (in kind)

Sallie Aceto, ditto -- $278.08 (credit card)

Travis Critcher, Director, Samaritan's Purse, Boone -- $100

Richard Woods, nurse anesthetist, Boone -- $100 

 

AppState Denies Any Involvement in the Appalachian PAC

 

On Monday, Oct. 11, AppState political science major Adam Zebzda addressed a letter to the university administration "respectfully requesting" an investigation into the involvement of two AppState trustees in the launch of a political action committee (PAC) whose stated goal is to take over Boone town government for the betterment of the real estate industry and housing developers. I have a copy of that letter.

 

Zebzda wanted answers about whether "any Trustees violated North Carolina General Statutes or the UNC Policy Manual and Code, either explicitly or in spirit, which govern the political involvement of public State officials…."

 

Quickly the deputy general counsel for Chancellor Sheri Everts answered Zebzda in a two-page denial on Oct. 12, quick turnaround for a bureaucracy! (I also have a copy of that letter.) There's been no untoward political activity by the two trustees nor by Appalachian State University, wrote the deputy. 

 

Much of his denial seemed based on the photograph of the two trustees that was published on this site: 

 

The deputy counsel wrote: "Their only involvement seemed to be that they were photographed together. The photograph further illustrates that neither of these individuals wore any indicia of Appalachian State University affiliation and were pictured talking to each other and not candidates or officers of App-PAC."

 

The wording is interesting: "Their only involvement." The flat denial implied by that word choice gets undercut immediately by "seemed to be," which made me flash on the university's Latin motto: To Be Rather Than To Seem. The physical evidence in this case is a "seems," at least for the deputy counsel, and is utterly without substance. (But the involvement of high-ranking university officials in a PAC was never the implication of an otherwise innocent photograph. It's the stuff that stands well outside the view of any camera that concerns us. And the lawyer's argument is silly.)

 

None of it matters, anyway, because the deputy counsel hurries to his main point: The rules against political activity applies to employees, not to trustees (tiers of power):

 

"…this North Carolina law only applies to employees, as it is entitled Political Activity of Employees. Trustees are not Appalachian State University employees." 

 

Flatly stated, the two trustees are entitled to their political activity. I certainly agree with that. The question for me was always this: Does their political activity represent political policy for the university?

 

The deputy counsel says "no."

 

"To be clear, App-PAC is not affiliated with the University. Most importantly, the University is not affiliated, not associated, not connected and otherwise not part of the PAC in any way, especially when individuals, whether they be faculty, staff or students, are permitted to attend these types of political events on their own time."

 

I accept that categorial denial and wonder why the chancellor did not also say this at the ASU faculty senate meeting last week. I've apparently been roundly condemned on campus for publishing that Zoom clip of Chancellor Everts remaining mute (and not a little miffed) when asked the direct question about university knowledge of or involvement in the Appalachian PAC. If her silence did not signal guilt, then I have to assume it's just arrogance and irritation at being questioned about anything at all, ever.

 

That's now the corporate style at AppState.

 

And the overriding question behind all this controversy remains: What are AppState ambitions in Boone regarding real estate development, and what kind of levers of power can they marshal for those ambitions?

The Appalachian PAC Endorses Two Candidates for Boone Town Council

 

The announcement came yesterday on AppPAC's Facebook page:

Eric Woolridge and Benjamin Ray

About as anti-climactic as any political endorsements ever were.

PamsPicks Has Published Her "Take" on This Year's BooneTown Elections

 

Pam's Picks, including her extensive research, discussion, and endorsement of 2021 candidates for the Boone Town Council, has gone live.

She extends the information particularly on the "Appalachian PAC" and its plans for making the real estate industry happy and Appalachian State University more prosperous. Although the PAC hasn't as yet publicly endorsed any candidates, they're pretty clearly involved behind the candidacy of at least two candidates. The third dropped out weeks ago.

Where O Where Are Those AppPAC Endorsements for Boone Town Council?

 

Early voting in the BooneTown elections begins in less than a week (next Thursday, Oct. 14), and I'm wondering where those candidate endorsements are that the "Appalachian PAC" promised us. On September 21st -- more than two weeks ago -- they promised their endorsements by the end of that week. But since then ... crickets.

We know from other evidence the candidates they either outright recruited or were grooming for an endorsement, but we'd like confirmation. They promised it. We expect it.

(Incidentally, the photos of their "launch" party showing the attendance of two ASU trustees have disappeared from their Facebook page.)

AppState Chancellor Stonewalls Questions About AppPAC

 

The footage below, shot with a cellphone during Monday's AppState faculty senate meeting on Zoom, captures two different moments when Chancellor Sheri Everts shrugged off the chance to say anything about the Appalachian PAC, which claims it will endorse candidates for the Boone town council who wish to advance "University prosperity." Warning: the sound quality is very poor, so turn up your volume.

At the beginning of the clip, a male questioner can be heard asking for any explanation of the AppPAC. Chancellor Everts maintains a stony if slightly irritated silence after the man mentions trustees Mark Ricks and Tommy Sofield. Then we hear a female voice asking the same question, getting nothing but silence and shrugs, and so she repeats the question. You can judge the chancellor's silence/curious lack of interest for yourself.

Sauce for the Goose Ain't Necessarily Sauce for the Gander

 

Guest Post by Mata Hari

Can App State trustees help "launch" a political action committee (PAC) designed to influence municipal elections in Boone? Especially in view of this: On August 26, ASU’s General Counsel, Paul Meggett, sent a harshly worded four-page document to faculty and staff warning against “Political Activities of Employees, Candidacy for Elective Office; Office Holding (Elective and Appointive Public Office) and Free Speech and Free Expression.” It stated the following (among other fine points):

“No employee may use his or her position, state or university funds, services (including mail or email service), supplies (including letterhead), equipment (including telephones and computers), vehicles or other university property to support or oppose a candidate, party or issue in an election involving candidates for office. See, N.C. Gen. Stat. §126-13 (applicable to SHRA employees); see, UNC Policy 300.5.1 (applicable to EHRA employees).”

There are perfectly sound reasons for such policies. But as Meggett also notes, being a “state employee does not mean you lose your constitutional rights to participate (or not participate) as you desire in the political process as long as such participation is not on work time and does not involve the use of university property.”

Were two AppState trustees violating at least the spirit of the "no politics" clause? Worth noting -- section 101.4 A 5 of the UNC Code (the governing document for the whole university system) clearly intends to keep service to the UNC System and electoral politics separate.

Ethics is as much about avoiding the appearance of conflict of interest as it is about breaking the law. Chancellor Everts and Provost Norris implied, at the Faculty Senate meeting on Monday, that they knew nothing about App Pac. Shouldn’t the Boone community be skeptical when the chancellor and provost say they never discussed with App State trustees a plan to elect a town council that is favorable to the university’s real estate interests?