Councilman Steve Brewer has joined Charles Taylor in the blogosphere.
So far, his blog looks like it’s shaping up to be a fount of information on local issues big and small, from background on the planned increase in your water and sewer rates, to who’s responsible for paving the potholes along your daily commute.
I think it’s extremely cool to have councilmen so readily available to the public for communication in yet another venue. Check it out.
So I was at the Herald late last night, typing furiously about sewer rates and college presidents, trying to get everything in on deadline and my tired self home by midnight.
The main story of the day was the chicken protestors in front of City Hall for the council meeting, encouraging councilmen to allow backyard chickens in Sanford. Every now and then, they would spontaneously bust out in the Chicken Dance….which got me and News Editor Kevin Degon to thinking. Our trusty Wikipedia yielded some surprising results.
Apparently, this staple of roller skating parties and wedding receptions of my youth was penned by a Swiss accordion player named Werner. He originally dubbed it Der Vogerltanz, but it was the 1977 cover by a Dutch electronica band that made it an international smash hit.
In Germany, it apparently has lyrics that include “Last night at the club, I drank too much red wine.” (Wonder what the dance is to go with that one?)
And, my favorite part:
“At the Cincinnati Oktoberfest on September 20, 2004, Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil served as the Grand Marshall of the World’s Largest Chicken Dance. The U.S. cable television channel VH1, in its compilation of the 40 Least Metal Moments panned this performance as the single least metal moment in Heavy Metal history.”
Um, definitely. But I so need to see that performance.
EDIT: Well, ask and you shall receive:
I’ve gotten a lot of calls in the past two weeks asking me why former superintendent Jim McCormick resigned, and a lot more saying that they knew exactly why and wanting to know why I was showing favoritism or poor journalistic standards by not putting it in the paper.
The answer to that last part is that yes, I’d heard all of the rumors flying around, but that we don’t print things we can’t confirm, even if they’re everywhere and everyone is 99.9 percent sure they’re factual. The rumors were such that a very limited number of people could confirm them, and all declined to do so. The worst thing I can imagine is printing something untrue and personally detrimental to someone, so we’ve continued to research and wait until we had something concrete, frustrating as it was when it seemed like the whole world knew why he resigned.
That being said, we now have documents confirming an allegation against McCormick, filed this morning with the Lee County Clerk of Court. This has not been confirmed as the reason for his resignation, but the suit does name his position as Lee County Schools Superintendent as a significant factor in the situation, and the allegations are cited as having happened during his tenure at the Heins Building.
The suit, filed by a local man, accuses McCormick of “alienation of affection and criminal conversation.” More information at the Herald’s Web site.
At their called meeting this afternoon, the Lee County Board of Education appointed retired LCS teacher Gary Jackson to fill Jim McCormick’s shoes until an interim superintendent can be found. Jackson also served as Hans Lassiter’s pinch hitter at Southern Lee High School in April when Lassiter unexpectedly resigned as principal at the end of the school year. Both times, Jackson has said it was a complete surprise; after this, though, I imagine he’ll start packing his bags every time a resignation rolls in. Poor man just can’t stay retired.
Jackson’s duties as temporary superintendent will include things like signing checks and giving personnel reports, something that was scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting but couldn’t happen due to the lack of a superintendent to deliver or delegate it (NC School Board Association rules). From what I’ve seen, LCS staff has been handling the situation very efficiently, which can’t be easy when you suddenly lose your boss.
Aspire to interim superintendentship? Applications are now being accepted! You do have to have things like a superintendent’s certification, though, which is the only reason I’m not putting in for the job…superintendents get paid a darn sight better than reporters.
Quick update: former superintendent Jim McCormick tendered his resignation to the Lee County Board of Education as of about 4:20 this afternoon. Partial story on the Herald’s Web site, full story in tomorrow’s Herald, and (possibly) more on here tomorrow.
Nobody wants to go back to work on Monday morning. You’ve just really gotten into your weekend groove of sleeping late and ignoring your to-do list. You feel good. Your mind and body have finally remembered how to relax.
Then, BAM. It’s Monday again.
This morning was like that. I have to work late tonight, so I dragged myself into work at 11, grumbling the whole way. I turned on my monitor, glared at my planner, and decided to commiserate with fellow reporter Jonathan Owens for a while instead.
And then! Kim comes by with the mail. Only half paying attention, I rip into the first envelope, slightly puzzled by the return address. And what do I find inside but a gift certificate to La Dolce Vita Pizzeria, with a note of congratulations for being this week’s winner of their business card drawing.
First of all, I never win anything. Second, La Dolce was the first restaurant I ever went to in Sanford, and has remained one of my absolute favorites. All my co-workers know that if you let me pick where to go to for lunch, dinner or afternoon tea, we’ll be going there every single time. I’m pretty sure some of the waitresses recognize me. I think I’ve tried every single sandwich and wrap they make, and their pizza with the capers & tomatoes & feta cheese is to die for. And don’t even get me started on their quadruple chocolate pie….
Monday suddenly got a lot more bearable. As did my lunches for the rest of the week; Sanford, you’ll know where to find me.
Well, I blogged about it before, and after another $18 late fee at the library in April (yeah, I know, my mom has been saying the same thing for years), I took the plunge. And ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you: having the books of your choice delivered to your front door as fast as you can read the old ones and send them back? (nerd alert) Christmas, once a week.
I’ve had one shipping problem, but that was cleared up quickly. The books are always in excellent condition, and they have a really good selection and will order the book for you if they don’t already have it available. On days when I’m expecting a shipment, I rush home from work and get this surge of adrenaline as I’m rounding the stairs to the mailbox.
Before, I was worried about the price. Then I worked out the numbers: at the library, it’s $2 a book to order one, plus gas to get there and late fees when I (always) forget to return it on time. So assuming about 4 bucks a book there, you need to go through 7 BookSwim books a month to justify that over the library.
You manage that by strategic book-ordering. The key is groupings of two skinny books and one thick book at a time. You race through two skinny ones and send them back right away, then polish off a big one while you’re waiting for your next shipment.
You also have to be kind of a bookworm to make it worthwhile; I shut my cable off in May (don’t EVEN GET ME STARTED on hidden costs and price hikes and LOUSY customer service), so I’ve been devoting even more of my time than usual to reading.
So far, thanks to my Strategic Ordering System, I’ve managed it. They also have a neat little counter telling you how much money you’ve saved by BookSwimming instead of purchasing books — after 22 books, mine’s $528.15 and counting.
….or maybe that just tells me I need to look into getting my cable turned back on.
Looks like incumbents Shawn Williams and Lynn Smith are back on the Lee County Board of Education, as well as newcomer Cameron Sharpe. Current chairman Bill Tatum is also in as of right now, but we won’t know for sure until 436 provisional ballots are counted in next Tuesday’s canvass — challenger Kim Lilley trails Tatum by only 132 votes.
This morning was former President Bill Clinton’s first ever visit to Sanford. Plenty about that in tomorrow’s paper, but one thing that didn’t fit into the article: the Very Pink Tie was a bold move, but (after much newsroom analysis) experts agree that he pulled it off well.
Photo courtesy of local blogger Melissa, who tells her story of the day’s events in her most recent entry.
Personal attacks have been ping-pong-ing back and forth between certain council members since that fateful April 15th council meeting — the one where the council decided to keep the business privilege tax, and Councilman Charles Taylor went down the table stating how the tax would affect each and every member (including himself), in the process making comments on public television (such as that Councilman Walter McNeil is illegally running a business out of his improperly-zoned home, which he is not) that have angered many on the council.
Taylor feels that he was doing his job, and acted fairly; others feel his comments were uncalled for. Details on what transpired at yesterday’s meeting will be in Friday’s paper, but one of the things I was asked to investigate that didn’t all fit into the article was a certain amount of behind-the-scenes name-calling, specifically from Taylor and Councilman Steve Brewer.
Suffice it to say, both confirm that some not-nice things were said before and after meetings on both sides, once face-to-face and other times to various constituents or city employees, and some very-not-nice language was used by Mr. Brewer on two occasions.
Taylor says that he has been attacked since the beginning of his campaign for office, but that he has gotten a number of supportive phone calls and e-mails from constituents, and that he will continue to represent the people of Sanford.
“I’m tired of the personal attacks, but is it going to change my level of service, no. I’ve been very focused on the responsibility of the job all along,” Taylor said.
Brewer says that there was more to the conversation where the very-not-nice things were said than Taylor’s version.
“I’m not at all proud of what I said, and should not have said it,” Brewer said. “However, I do get very offended when someone accuses me and fellow councilmembers of being corrupt.”
He declined to comment further, saying that the discussion could go on forever and that, though angered by Taylor’s approach to the situation, he prefers to move on.
In an interesting side note, the whole situation put Councilman Mike Stone, the council’s former lightning rod for lively discussion, in the new position of mediary and (attempted) peacemaker at Wednesday’s meeting.
“Mistakes will be made, but we’re elected to be professionals and move forward,” Stone said.
It’s hard to disagree with Stone, and both Taylor and Brewer have said more or less the same thing. I have no problem with City Hall getting lively from time to time (keeps my job interesting), but I think we’d all rather it be over something more weighty than a tennis match of “he said/she said”-type allegations.
