New Hotline Begs You To Use It

(866) 908-7236

{For ScruHoo's background on the story - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
{For Mtn. Xpress' background}
{For Mountain Alliance's background}

Ashevillein via the Mountain Xpress discovers a beautiful thing:
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"According to the Mountain Express, "Buncombe County government is announcing a new “Whistleblower Hotline,” a place for citizens to report suspected incidents of “fraud, theft, illegal or unethical behavior” by county employees. The toll-free number is (866) 908-7236."
[...]
Incidents worthy of reporting include:
· theft of county property – money, materials, time
· waste or abuse of county property
· inappropriate or unethical behavior by a county employee or employees

Of course we all know that the Buncombe County commissioners who engaged in the back room deals leading to the proposed Diesel Power Plant in Woodfin are "county employees" who engaged in "unethical behavior". Follow me below the fold for action...

This hotline is a great chance for all of us to blow the whistle on the ducking and dodging done by the skulking County Commissioners who are trying to sell our energy future and our children's health down the road.

Please call today. I know the person answering the phone may be tired of hearing us all day long, but this is how messages get passed along. Go ahead and call.

(866) 908-7236

Cecil Bothwell's January 24th Mtn. X column or the Canary Coalition's site will give you all the information you need to make a cogent argument that Nathan Ramsey, Carol Peterson, David Gantt, David Young, and Bill Stanley voted for a plan that was devised behind closed doors, avoided public scrutiny, and was ramrodded through the commission despite "overwhelming" opposition.

Hell, just read them this: "In the course of a public hearing, Chairman Nathan Ramsey affirmed that the commissioners had been meeting secretly with Progress Energy over the past two years. "But there was never a quorum present, so it was legal," he said. Contacted later, Commissioners David Gantt and David Young told Xpress they hadn't attended any of those meetings." But then Gantt and Young went ahead and voted for it anyway.

It's unfortunate that the commissioners forfeited the health and welfare of our citizens through this unethical course of action. Now we've got a hotline to let the county's internal mechanisms know that our elected officials are breaking the public trust.