Iredell County sheriff's deputy indicted

A grand jury has indicted yet another Iredell County law enforcement officer for obstructing justice.

Thomas Lane “Tommy” Adams, a sergeant with the Iredell County Sheriff's Office, was indicted earlier this week. The State Bureau of Investigation apparently served Adams, who was then processed and released from the Iredell County Jail on an unsecured bond.

Just seven months ago, a state grand jury indicted former Mooresville Police Chief John Crone for obstruction of justice and embezzlement. Crone's case has been continued twice; his next court date is Feb. 14, 2011.

As of late this week, Iredell County's clerk of superior court still had no record of a warrant being served on Adams.

It is unclear if Adams is still employed by the sheriff's office. Sandra Gregory, director of human resources for Iredell County, said yesterday that she could provide Adams' public employment information – including his most recent salary and change in status – within “a day or two.” However, she did not respond to an immediate follow-up email, asking if the sheriff's office still employs Adams.

Sheriff Phil Redmond has continued to employ Adams for five years after the incident from which the charge against him was brought. In fact, in a Sept. 17 e-mail to the Report, Capt. Darren Campbell, on behalf of Redmond, said, “The Iredell County Sheriff's Office and SBI conducted a proper and thorough review of this matter, Sheriff Redmond is satisfied that North Carolina law has been followed in all respects, and professional law enforcement standards and practices continue to be applied and enforced for the benefit of Iredell County citizens.”

In an e-mail yesterday, Campbell refused to answer whether Adams is still employed by the sheriff's office, responding simply: "I am forwarding your e-mail to the Captain of Personnel and Training."

The obstruction of justice charge stems from an incident that took place in or around 2005, when Adams retrieved two guns, cases and ammunition from a convicted felon. Adams signed an evidence sheet, indicating that he had submitted the property to the evidence room. But about a year later – after the defendant in the case had pleaded guilty to the charges against him – it was discovered that the guns were either missing or had never been turned it.

Upon being questioned by Campbell, Adams originally denied knowing the whereabouts of either gun. But after further questioning, he retrieved one gun from his personal residence and one from his personal vehicle and turned them over to the captain.

Sheriff's office personnel say Adams was never punished for the incident.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time Adams has had a brush with the law. At the time he was hired at the sheriff's office, Adams' former employer – a major retail store in Winston Salem – had charged him with felony embezzlement. Adams pleaded the charge down to a misdemeanor, which remained on his record when Redmond hired him to work at the Iredell County Sheriff's Office in the early 2000s.

The county paid Adams, an unsworn sheriff's office employee, to attend Basic Law Enforcement Training, covering his tuition and fees, even while most other rookies have paid their own way through BLET, taking classes while working at the sheriff's office at opposite times of the day.

Immediately out of rookie school, Redmond promoted Adams to detective sergeant, a practice that is virtually unheard of in the law-enforcement community, according to a dozen North Carolina police chiefs contacted by the Report this summer.

For more detail, visit http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2010/10/are-law-enforcers-above-law.html.

Town officials optimistic about MI-Connection's new direction

In a recent press release, MI-Connection officials said they had two things to celebrate this month: the cable company’s third-year anniversary and its move toward more self-sufficiency by splitting with management company Bristol Virginia Utilities.

But let’s face it: After three years of scathing reports about MI-Connection’s financial woes – including $4.4 million needed from the Town of Mooresville and $2 million from Davidson in fiscal year 2011 – suffice it to say, a “celebration” isn’t in order.

For the first time since the towns purchased the cable system, however, town officials – even those who have vocally opposed Mooresville’s ownership of a cable company – seem to be a little optimistic. Why?

“We have been subsidizing a system that we had no say or control in how it was being managed or operated,” Commissioner Miles Atkins said. Moving the management and operation of MI-Connection to Mooresville “means there will be oversight and accountability for the first time since the system was purchased.”

Mayor Chris Montgomery says he believes a shift to more local control will have a “positive impact on subscribership, profitability and (the) overall success of the system.”

But on the other hand, eliminating an outside management company also means that one “barrier” between local government and media is being eliminated. When Mooresville and Davidson were considering the cable system’s purchase, many local residents argued that government has no place owning a private business and worse, a form of media.

Government officials, to placate those skeptics, said BVU and MI-Connection’s board of directors would provide a barrier between the government and the media. But with BVU almost out of the picture, is government one step closer to managing and controlling local media?

“Did we really ever fool anybody into thinking that government wasn’t controlling it?” asked Commissioner Chris Carney. “We may not have wanted to be in control, but once they asked for money from the towns, we were in control.”

Montgomery and Commissioner Mac Herring said the MI-Connection board of directors – whose voting members are appointed by Mooresville and Davidson commissioners – will continue to serve as a barrier between the government and media.

Commissioner Rhett Dusenbury, who along with Montgomery made MI-Connection somewhat of a campaign stumping issue last year, said he is still opposed to government owning a private-industry company. However, he said, “If a change in the company makeup saves the taxpayers money, I would support the change.”

Carney said it’s pointless to “argue philosophy” at this point because what’s done is done. He said MI-Connection “got off on the wrong foot,” and town officials owe citizens an apology for “the serious mistakes that were made.”

However, “fast-forward to today, and what you have is a complete re-launching of MI-Connection,” Carney said. “By us, along with Davidson commissioners, being more hands-on, a much better plan has emerged. We have the right groups of people in place. We have attacked it from every angle we can, and now we’re seeing results.

“We’re looking to get customers and cut serious costs that allow (MI-Connection) to be more effectively and efficiently run, and that’s a good thing. That’s real progress.”

MI-Connection, once the final agreement with BVU is in place, will be taking over the system’s finances, marketing and sales, business development and human resources. BVU – according to the recently signed memorandum of understanding with MI-Connection – will continue handling billing, customer-service calls and technical support.

Montgomery, in a sit-down chat this week, actually sounded excited about the possibilities once MI-Connection’s sales and marketing move from Virginia to Mooresville. He is eager for MI-Connection to start marketing itself as the small-town alternative to a corporate-giant like Time Warner Cable. And since one of his favorite parts of being mayor is interacting with people, Montgomery said he has even considered making personal calls to residents to chat with them about MI-Connection.

The fact is, MI-Connection needs more customers to generate more revenue and pay its debt service. And as was pointed out by Davidson Town Manager Leamon Brice in a February 2010 letter reprinted at www.DavidsonNews.net, “until new customers sign up for telephone, internet and cable services, the towns will be required to subsidize MI-Connection.” Although the potential extent of that subsidy is frightening, residents are tired of being “scared” into signing up for MI-Connection, especially when public opinion was overwhelmingly against the town’s purchase of the system in the first place. And clearly, bullying residents hasn’t proven to be effective.

While perhaps “unsophisticated” and unlikely, since government officials don’t have time to personally call each and every Mooresville and Davidson resident to chat about cable, Montgomery’s approach is a breath of fresh air compared to the alternative. He says it just makes sense: “I don’t believe in shoving it down people’s throats. I would just like to talk to people about it. Time Warner is a corporate machine. We need to bring MI-Connection down to a level where it’s more personable.”

And moving MI-Connection’s operations from Virginia to Mooresville means marketing and sales ideas will be tailored to local people by local people.

Still, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Many promises were made to Mooresville and Davison residents about MI-Connection, and the cable system, in its three years, hasn’t delivered. We were told MI-Connection would be profitable in five years and that the original debt for the system’s purchase would be repaid entirely through system revenues. That hasn’t happened – by a long shot. We were told MI-Connection would build fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure, making the system a driving force for economic development. That hasn’t turned out to be true, either.

The optimism among government leaders – even those who have opposed MI-Connection in the past – isn’t going to magically make everything better. It isn’t going to fix the mistakes that have been made, and it isn’t going to make the system successful or profitable overnight. But it is nice to know that a little hope exists in an otherwise seemingly hopeless situation.

Optimism is a welcome change.

This column was originally printed in the Dec. 17 edition of Mooresville Weekly. To participate in the discussion, leave comments here or at http://mooresvilleweekly.com/opinion/2010/12/‘mi-correction’/

MI-Connection ends management relationship with Bristol Virginia Utilities

Bristol Virginia Utilities' “sweetheart deal” with MI-Connection is over.

On Wednesday, officials of MI-Connection, the town's cable system, and representatives of Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU), the system's operator, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), ending BVU's operation of the cable company – and the $1.5 million management fee that MI-Connection pays BVU every year.

MI-Connection will now pay BVU $300,000 a year to be a “service vendor,” working under contract to continue providing customer service, billing and technical support for the cable company, according to a press statement issued Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, employees in the Mooresville MI-Connection office – currently employed by BVU – will become MI-Connection employees, and several departments and responsibilities, including human resources and finance, will transition from BVU to MI-Connection, the release states.

Some town leaders have agreed that changing the relationship with BVU – with MI-Connection assuming more self-sufficiency and day-to-day control over its own operations – is a step in the right direction. They also say that having a system that is not only locally-owned but locally-operated will allow the company to respond faster and grow to meet the needs of the marketplace. The MOU “is an important and necessary step to form a common line of action,” said Mooresville Mayor Chris Montgomery. “A focus on managing costs and building on community spirit provides an exciting opportunity citizens should support.”

The MOU is a non-binding agreement that represents MI-Connection's and BVU's intentions on how to proceed with the negotiation of an eventual binding contract that will detail the two companies' new relationship. The transition is expected to be complete by the second half of 2011.

The new arrangement with BVU is not expected to increase costs. In fact, the $1.2 million recouped from the management-fee reduction will be used to pay the new employees and support the departments that the system will acquire, the press release states. MI-Connection customers are not expected to see changes in service during the transition. Customer-service phone numbers should remain the same.

“After three years of significant improvements to the system we inherited, an almost double-digit growth in our customer base in the past 12 months and a 7 percent revenue gain in 2010, we feel it’s time to forge a bridge of independence from BVU,” said MI-Connection Chairman John Kasberger. “While we have benefitted greatly from BVU’s guidance and expertise over the past three years, we feel the need to move toward becoming self-sufficient in our operations.”

This month marks MI-Connection's third-year anniversary, and all three years have been marked by controversy and citizen unrest over the town's purchase of the system and the financial consequences. Despite the dark clouds, Mooresville and Davidson government leaders have maintained a positive public attitude. But outside of press releases and public meetings, a different story has been told the past three years.

In a conversation last year, a clearly frustrated town leader called BVU “a third-party spender that's running the show.”

“They manage and operate the company with no accountability for its performance.”

He said BVU “is not connected to Mooresville” and had little to no experience managing, operating or marketing a cable system before landing the “sweetheart deal” with MI-Connection. “We are their guinea pigs,” he said.

Mooresville Commissioner Mac Herring – in an email obtained in a public records request last summer – seemed to back up that sentiment. “There's a storm brewing,” he wrote. “The financial model is flawed, … and the confidence in BVU at running the system is faltering. Their operations seem to be sound, but there has been little success at marketing the business applications.”

An e-mail Thursday afternoon to BVU President/CEO Wes Rosenbalm and Vice President/CFO Stacey Bright, asking who initiated the end of the management relationship, was not answered.

MI-Connection's move toward more independence is a hopeful sign of good things to come, said Davidson Mayor John Woods. “Like its subscriber growth, MI-Connection’s willingness to take on more responsibility for its employees and operations is a sign of its growing maturity as a company and a sign of its tremendous potential,” said Davidson Mayor John Woods.

Kasberger said that the MI-Connection board is aware of its challenges but that the system is well-prepared for what lies ahead: “We are gaining confidence every day, and we look forward to assuming some of the responsibilities that BVU has so capably carried for us since 2007.”

Downtown Mooresville prepares for Christmas parade

If hearing “Silver Bells” at retail stores since Halloween hasn’t been enough to stir your holiday spirit, never fear. After Tuesday, it’ll begin to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Mooresville.

Nothing kicks off the holiday season quite like the downtown Christmas parade, which makes its way down Main Street every year the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Thousands of people are expected to gather for the parade, which is put on “by the community, for the community,” says Ron Johnson, chairman of the Mooresville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The parade is a tried-and-true tradition, enjoyed by generations since 1944.

“My great-grandson is seven and has been at every parade since he was a baby, and there are people a lot older than him that have been coming since they were his age,” Johnson said.

He said one reason so many people love Mooresville’s parade is because it is reminiscent of hometown parades from days gone by. And that’s because in 66 years, “we’ve never changed anything,” Johnson said. “Sixty-six years ago, they kicked off the parade on a Tuesday afternoon with Scout troops, bands, businesses and churches walking down the street. Today, it’s the same thing. We have never changed the flavor.”

Anna Kooiman, a co-host on “FOX News Rising, Charlotte” will serve as this year’s grand marshal.

Johnson said the parade will feature 3,500 to 4,000 participants in about 150 units.

“That sounds like a big number, but take Acrofitness for example,” he said, explaining that the popular fitness/tumbling program in Mooresville has traditionally boasted up to 400 parade participants who flip, hula-hoop and dance their way down Main Street, from Statesville to Mills avenues.

This year, Mooresville-based Travel Plus of North Carolina will collect toys and donations for Toys for Tots during the parade. Marines and Travel Plus personnel will be stationed with collection barrels at the corner of North Main Street and East Moore Avenue from 1:30 to 6 p.m.

Need a little extra incentive to give? Shane Proctor, a top-ranked professional bull rider in the Built Ford Tough Series World Finals, will be on hand for autographs and photos in exchange for donations.

Parade kick-off is at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Even beginning that early, Johnson said, it’ll be dark before Santa and his reindeer – who always end the parade – roll down Main Street.

But the downtown holiday celebrations don’t end after the parade. Throughout the month of December, downtown Mooresville will become a Christmas village of sorts, complete with Christmas trees, a festive light show, Santa visits and nostalgic horse-drawn wagon rides.

Take a stroll through the quaint John Franklin Moore park, at the corner of Main Street and Center Avenue, which will be adorned with Christmas trees decorated by downtown businesses, said Kim Atkins, executive director of the Mooresville Downtown Commission. And don’t forget to take the family downtown for the annual wagon rides, accompanied by Christmas carols by local church choirs, hot chocolate at extended-hour downtown businesses and of course, visits with Santa. The three-Friday event – Dec. 3, 10 and 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. – is weather-permitting and free of charge.

“Downtown offers a great family atmosphere and is a great place to build memories and traditions,” Atkins said.

She said the commission is excited about its new addition to downtown’s holiday celebrations: a light show – featuring up to 35,000 lights – on Town Hall’s lawn.The lights, set to music, will automatically recur throughout every evening in December. The downtown commission paid for the lights, and a Christmas-light enthusiast from Mooresville volunteered to create the show.

This article was originally published in Mooresville Weekly on Nov. 19; find it here: http://mooresvilleweekly.com/news/2010/11/downtown-prepares-for-christmas-parade/

Republicans sweep local election races (yawn.)

(Reprinted from the Mooresville Weekly, Nov. 5, 2010; leave your comments at the end of this posting or at http://mooresvilleweekly.com/opinion/2010/11/republicans-sweep-local-election-races-yawn/)

Tuesday, as expected, was a great day for the GOP when it gained several seats in the Senate and took control of the House of Representatives in a historic national election. Locally, Republicans also swept the Iredell County elections, but that wasn’t surprising. Why? Because being elected to public office in Iredell has almost always been as simple as running Republican.

To the majority of Iredell voters, moral character and fiscal responsibility are irrelevant, as is how much money is raised or spent campaigning. It doesn’t even matter if a Republican candidate is a liberal-at-heart (or even if they’ve previously registered Democrat). Most Iredell voters don’t care who the candidate is, or what baggage they carry, as long as they carry the “R” behind their name.

Tuesday’s Iredell election was no exception. It was boring. (Yawn!) Anticipated. Predictable. After all, every contested partisan seat, as expected, was won – easily – by a Republican.

Of 43,077 ballots cast in Tuesday’s election in Iredell County, 16,008 voters cast straight-ticket ballots, with 10,292 of those being Republican.

Sheriff Phil Redmond, a Republican, easily carried his race, thanks in part to those straight-ticket voters. But how many of his supporters realize that Redmond was a Democrat before deciding to run for Iredell County sheriff in 1994? Redmond changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1987 – 13 years after he began working for the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office and seven years before he became sheriff.

Bill Stamey, the Democrat who challenged Redmond, collected only 9,321 votes on Tuesday, compared to Redmond’s 24,431. Though on paper Robert “Skip” Alexander, who is unaffiliated, was the most qualified candidate for sheriff – with prior service as a law-enforcement officer, a lawyer and a special agent with the FBI – he garnered even fewer votes than Stamey, finishing with only 8,897.

Let’s face it: Redmond didn’t need to campaign to win; he’s not only a registered Republican, he has also been Iredell’s sitting sheriff for 16 years. But according to campaign finance records at the Iredell County Elections Office, Redmond raised $10,700 in campaign funds, primarily through individual contributions.

Redmond’s campaign expenditures totaled about $12,800, including refunds/reimbursements from his campaign committee and in-kind contributions. Redmond spent the majority of his campaign collections on newspaper and radio advertising, shirts, cards and campaign signs.

Stamey raised a fraction of Redmond’s campaign bounty. He collected about $8,800 – $3,000 of which he loaned to his own campaign. Stamey’s expenses, including in-kind contributions, totaled about $8,500. The majority of Stamey’s campaign collections were applied to advertising, cards and campaign yard signs.

Then there’s Alexander, who spent about $19,500 of his personal money on advertising, printing and promotional materials, such as rulers, jar openers, caps and shirts. Alexander did not raise money from individual contributions.

Just as Redmond easily secured his fourth term as Iredell’s sheriff because he is a Republican, a 20-year county officeholder lost her seat primarily because she isn’t.

Brenda Bell has been Iredell’s Register of Deeds since 1990. It was presumed that since Bell was the long-time incumbent, she had a natural edge on Tuesday. Another factor appeared to give her even more leverage: Bell and her experience were being challenged by a young, political newcomer, Matt McCall, who had just turned seven years old when Bell first became Iredell’s Register of Deeds.

Bell secured $4,000 more in individual campaign contributions than McCall, and she spent double what McCall did on his campaign. But Bell lost the race, 18,807 votes to McCall’s 23,471.

Don’t get me wrong: McCall seems like a great guy. He is young, personable and energized, and he will almost certainly introduce new, fresh ideas to a little-known office in Iredell County. But he received nearly 10,300 straight-ticket votes right off the jump simply because he’s Republican. He knows as well as the next guy – and I’d bet he’d be willing to admit – that the “R” behind his name gave him an immediate advantage over Bell in Iredell County.

Even while Redmond and McCall arguably would have won the election without raising or spending the first penny in campaign materials, credit belongs to both men, especially McCall – who called a press conference to air some of his concerns about the Register of Deeds office – for demonstrating the spirit of democracy by actively vying for their seats.

The top three vote-getters in the Iredell County Board of Commissioners race – all Republicans – campaigned more like what could be expected of Republicans who know they are government shoe-ins.

Compared to the tens of thousands of dollars spent in other county races, Marvin Norman, a Republican incumbent, spent about $1,800 on promotional materials and dinner tickets to a Republican Party event. Republican incumbent Steve Johnson spent about $4,200 on campaign signs and radio advertisements. Newcomer Renee Griffith spent about $1,920 on a photo for newspaper advertising, promotional items and entrance to an event where she campaigned.

All three Republicans easily edged out their one Democratic challenger, Theodore Geary, who collected only 11,912 votes compared to Johnson’s 30,299, Norman’s 30,013 and Griffith’s 29,283.

In a separate election to determine who will serve the remainder of the late Godfrey Williams’ term on the county board, Republican Frank Mitchell easily defeated Democrat Chuck Gallyon. Both spent about the same amount of money in their campaigns. Mitchell spent about $1,265, primarily on campaign signs, and he collected 27,690 votes. Gallyon spent about $1,350 on cards, handouts, posters and emery boards. He collected only 14,532 votes.

Finally, in the election for Iredell County Clerk of Superior Court, Republican incumbent Rena Turner easily defeated Democrat challenger, Erin Mendaloff-Green, 30,073 votes to 12,110, respectively.

Nothing except party affiliation matters in an Iredell County election – not the time or money spent campaigning and not who’s most qualified for the job.

Perhaps many Iredell voters would say “don’t fix what isn’t broken” – certainly those who are registered and voted Republican on Tuesday are happy with the status quo.

But I wonder if those same Republicans realize that when they vote straight-ticket, they may easily be voting for a true-blue Iredell Democrat who has switched party affiliation simply to have that “R” behind his or her name?

After all, one’s record doesn’t have to speak for itself. At least not when you’re in Iredell County. And not when you’re running Republican.

If you enforce the law, are you above the law?

What happens when law enforcement officers behave as if they're above the law? At the Iredell County Sheriff's Office, the answer to that question apparently depends on who you are.

Take the employment of Tommy Adams for example.

Redmond violated his own policies when he hired Adams, a private citizen, in the early 2000s. Applicants considered for employment at the sheriff's office, among other requirements, must “be of good moral character” and “have not committed or been convicted of a crime or crimes as specified in 12 NCAC 10B.0204 & .0307 (felony, certain misdemeanors),” according to http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/departments/sheriff/employment.asp.

At the time Redmond hired him, Adams' former employer – a major retail store in Winston Salem – had charged him with felony embezzlement. Adams pleaded the charge down to a misdemeanor, which remained on his record when Redmond hired him to work at the Iredell County Sheriff's Office.

Adams worked as an unsworn employee at the sheriff's office before enrolling in Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) in or around 2004. Iredell County paid Adams' tuition and fees, according to the county's finance department, even while many rookies have paid their own way through BLET, taking classes while working at the sheriff's office at opposite times of the day.

But Adams' luck didn't end there. Redmond violated his hiring policies – again – when he promoted Adams to detective sergeant straight out of basic training.

Detective-applicants at the sheriff's office should have a minimum of “3 to 5 years of experience in law enforcement; or any equivalent combination of training and experience,” states a recent job posting at http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/departments/sheriff/employment.asp. While Adams had worked at the sheriff's office for a while before enrolling in BLET, he had never been a sworn law-enforcement officer.

Such a promotion – fresh out of rookie school with no prior training as a sworn officer – is virtually unheard of in the law-enforcement community, according to several North Carolina police chiefs and one sheriff-hopeful that responded to recent Report questions.

“It is highly unlikely that someone would go straight in to investigations right out of BLET,” said Wilkesboro Police Chief Robert Bowlin. “They may possess the education at that point, however, they would not possess the 'street smarts' knowledge or just basic law enforcement skills to be effective as a criminal investigator.”

The Raleigh Police Department requires an applicant for detective to have four years of law-enforcement experience with two years of continuous experience at the Raleigh PD. Applicants for sergeant must have six years of law-enforcement experience and two years of continuous service at the department.

Beaufort Police Chief Steve Lewis, as many chiefs contacted by the Report, said one exception may exist to the general rule: “Sometimes there are officers that have years of law-enforcement experience, leave the profession for various reasons, and then return having to pass through BLET again.”

However, Lewis said, he “definitely” would not promote “a rookie without any experience.”

Perhaps experience would have kept Adams from making the mistake he made in or around 2005.

Adams, accompanied by then-Det. Sgt. Ron “Duck” Wyatt, arrested a convicted felon who was living in a dwelling with firearms, which is a felony in North Carolina. Adams collected two guns, cases and ammunition from the felon's residence and signed an evidence sheet indicating he had submitted all of it to the sheriff's office evidence room.

Approximately one year later – after the defendant in the case had pleaded guilty to the charges against him – it was discovered that the guns were not in the evidence room, after all.

Upon learning that the guns were missing, or had never been turned in, two of Redmond's top cops, Capt. Jimmy Craven and Capt. Darren Campbell, questioned Adams, who initially denied any knowledge of the handguns' whereabouts. Adams later said that he and Wyatt were planning to keep the firearms, but, responding to questions, Wyatt told Craven and Campbell that besides being there when the guns were seized, he knew nothing about the firearms' whereabouts. With Adams' acknowledgment that he was in possession of one firearm, Campbell escorted Adams to his residence, where Adams retrieved the gun and turned it over to Campbell.

Adams was told that Wyatt's house had been searched for the second firearm and that Wyatt did not have the gun. Only after that did Adams retrieve the second firearm from his personal vehicle. He turned it over to Campbell.

In an August 2008 Statesville Record & Landmark article about the strength and security of Iredell County's police evidence rooms, Redmond referenced the years-old incident. Though he never mentioned Adams' name, the newspaper quoted Redmond as saying that “a deputy … didn't follow the right procedures in submitting those weapons to the evidence room.”

In a clear attempt to make light of the situation, Redmond said in the article that “the weapons were not evidence in any case.”

That's simply not true. The guns were, in fact, evidence in a criminal case. While the defendant had already pleaded guilty in the case, his firearms should have been handled in accordance with a Superior Court judge's ruling; in this particular case, a judge had ordered the guns destroyed. Adams and/or the sheriff's office could have submitted a request through the district attorney for the guns to be turned over to the sheriff's office for use or training purposes. But they didn't. The guns, therefore, were to remain as evidence until destroyed or a Superior Court judge changed his or her disposition to allow for other actions to be taken.

Redmond said the deputy “got in trouble” for his actions. Sheriff's office personnel dispute that. They say Adams wasn't punished at all for converting evidence to personal use.

Regardless of whether or not he was punished, the fact that the sheriff's office employs him to this very day indicates that he did not receive the punishment that he apparently would have at many other law-enforcement agencies in North Carolina.

“I would fire that officer fast, quick and in a hurry,” said Monroe Police Chief Debra Duncan, responding to Report questions asking how chiefs and sheriffs would respond if an officer, with no extenuating circumstances and no permission from a supervisor, converted evidence – guns, drugs or money – to personal use.

Said Statesville Police Chief Tom Anderson: “I would hope this would not happen at any agency, but I assure you that if this were to happen at my agency, swift and proper action would follow.”

“This is public trust 101,” Anderson said. “I would initiate an internal investigation immediately. I would review the general information with the District Attorney and initiate a separate investigation due to what would look to be a felony larceny and possible obstruction of justice."

Apparently following a tip, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) became involved quite some time after the incident occurred. At some point during its "investigation," Adams' criminal record was expunged, permanently removing the misdemeanor charge that had been on it.

Steve Wilson was the SBI agent in charge of the case. His investigation included interviews with several people, at least one of whom has said that the intent of the investigation was to clear Adams and the sheriff's office by finding no criminal misconduct in the handling of the evidence.

Wyatt, who has since retired from the sheriff's office, initially declined to comment on the matter. But when asked if he retired because of the Adams incident and the resulting SBI investigation, Wyatt laughed and said no.

He confirmed speaking to Wilson on several occasions as part of the investigation, and “I asked if I was being interviewed as a suspect or a witness," Wyatt said. At that time, Wilson said he was not sure if there was a criminal investigation and he simply needed clarification on a few matters, Wyatt added.

Wyatt was asked if he outranked, supervised, trained and/or assigned cases to Adams or if he signed off on Adams' work. Wyatt said he did not.

Wilson took notes during the interview and told Wyatt that he would prepare a written statement from the notes for Wyatt to sign, but Wyatt said he never received that statement from Wilson.

Wyatt said he did, however, meet with Wilson and another agent in the summer of 2009. At that time, they again discussed the Adams case but also Wyatt's participation in golf tournaments to raise money for the re-election bid of Redmond for Sheriff. When asked if that investigation was linked to former sheriff candidate Mark Nicholson's recent reference to an SBI investigation of Redmond and his top cops for using county equipment on county time to campaign for Redmond in 2006, Wyatt declined to comment, citing his need to speak with his attorney before responding to additional questions.

"I'm concerned about my family's welfare," he said, referring further Report questions to the SBI. "If the SBI was doing an investigation they should be able to answer your questions."

An e-mail to Attorney General Roy Cooper went unanswered.

Both Redmond and Campbell also declined to answer Report questions. The sheriff responded through Campbell, citing personnel and saying: “Our attempt to craft an answer to each question presents practical and legal difficulties for us.”

However, they issued this statement: “The Iredell County Sheriff's Office and SBI conducted a proper and thorough review of this matter. Sheriff Redmond is satisfied that North Carolina law has been followed in all respects, and professional law enforcement standards and practices continue to be applied and enforced for the benefit of Iredell County citizens.”

When asked if the “proper and thorough review” had been completed, and if the state had cleared Adams of any wrongdoing, Campbell did not respond. He also didn't respond when asked why the sheriff wouldn't answer the questions if he was “satisfied” with the results of the “proper and thorough review.”

The downside to digital conversion

The Report is excited to announce we'll be contributing a commentary to the Mooresville Weekly every other Friday, beginning today. Below is today's article. Have your own opinion regarding Mooresville's laptop program? Share it here or at http://mooresvilleweekly.com/opinion/2010/10/305/

Mooresville Graded School District students are participating in a science experiment of sorts. But in this experiment, they are the mice.

Students in grades 4 to 12 are toting school-issued laptop computers between home and school. The district is on the leading edge of the conversion from textbooks to laptops and is a model for other districts across the country considering the digital change.

But the school district is learning as it goes, cutting its digital teeth on the backs of its students. And that has proven to be both good and bad. Were administrators truly prepared for the underbelly of this digital conversion? Are they capable of controlling it? Are they even acknowledging it?

Unfortunately, a 2-hour meeting this week with district Superintendent Mark Edwards and Chief Technology Officer Scott Smith, while informational, did little to ease my biggest concerns.

The computers certainly open countless windows of opportunity for students. Just recently, Edwards said, a group of students were able to monitor live seismic activity from their laptops, while another group studying the state of Illinois was able to “Skype” (video-call through a computer) a classroom of students in Illinois.

Skyping, Edwards said, is much more interesting than reading a textbook.

But so is playing Solitaire.

Some students say playing games on the laptop is a common pastime in classrooms. Edwards, however, said his teachers would take personal offense to that suggestion. “They would say ‘that reflects poorly on my teaching, and it’s not true,’” he said.

Administrators and teachers apparently tell students not to play games in class. But if they don’t want them tempted in such a way, why include games on the machines in the first place? Why do the laptops have search engines with associated chat rooms and e-mail programs? If the laptops are used strictly for educational purposes, why aren’t they stripped of all the bells and whistles?

Though the district subscribes to “Nettrekker,” an educational search engine, it has not disabled other search engines that have associated e-mail and chat-room programs. Why? Because “there’s a lot of good stuff out there that Nettrekker does not find,” Smith said.

Edwards said the district pays a subscription fee for a service that blocks student access to inappropriate websites. The district can add its own blocks and override the service’s blocks. “It’s not perfect, but it catches almost everything,” Smith said.

“By default,” added Edwards, the filters will block chat rooms but not e-mail programs. The district, he said, “does not endorse ‘outside’ e-mail use by students.”

He admitted that “no filter is perfect, and students find ways around (it).” Indeed, students have learned to access sites like Facebook and YouTube, even though filters supposedly block those sites.

“Parents are the best filter,” Edwards said. But many of the issues are happening in the classroom where parents can’t serve as filters. In fact, Apple Remote Desktop, which allows administrators and technology personnel to remotely peek at students’ computer screens while they’re in the school network, “does not work in student homes or other public locations,” Edwards said, so the district can’t determine if policies are being broken once the laptops leave the school network.

At school, students are punished via in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension for “misuse of school technology,” which Edwards said includes bullying, viewing inappropriate content and even adding stickers to the laptops. According to data provided by the school district this week, 44 Mooresville Middle students received in-school suspension and two received out-of-school suspension last year for misuse of school technology.

While Edwards and Smith said after-school detention is used only for “excessive tardy offenses,” middle-school students were, in fact, placed in after-school detention last school year for misuse of school technology. The district said this week it would compile that information, but it has not yet released it.

As of Oct. 15, five middle-school students have been sent to in-school suspension for the 2010-11 school year for misuse of school technology. In the same time at the high school, six students have received in-school suspension and two have received out-of-school suspension.

Last school year at the high school, 45 students received in-school suspension and 10 received out-of-school suspension for misuse of school technology.

Edwards said the “information about our filter and its limitations is shared with every parent during the parent training when students first received their laptops.” But parents were also told at Mooresville Intermediate School in August 2008 that students would not be able to access chat rooms or instant messaging on the MacBooks, and the school district, at that time, would not allow student-to-student e-mailing.

In regard to giving students more freedom with their laptops, Edwards said the district is simply trying to create conditions where students make the right choices. “I truly believe the vast majority of our students are responsible with [the laptops],” Edwards said. “They do what they’re supposed to do. They’re conscientious about it and follow the rules.”

While we all wish that were true, it smacks of denial, especially when the chief technology officer acknowledged that monitoring students’ Internet usage “is a constant job, and we’re trying all the time to catch the holes.

“But the kids are smart.”

A Mooresville High School senior who plans to attend a four-year college said she believes the laptops are good for research. However, she said, they’re primarily good for games – and cheating.

Some students say they cheat on homework by downloading it onto USB flash drives and sharing it with others. A 2009 Mooresville High School graduate, now in college, said laptops make cheating on tests easy, too. She and her classmates would e-mail or chat with friends – some who had taken the test earlier in the day – to ask for answers to certain questions.

Students also used search engines to find answers to questions during tests, she said. In a matter of seconds, a simple Google search yields answers to countless questions. An inquiry about the largest desert on earth produced, in less than a second, the answer to that question and the names of the hottest and driest places on earth. How many calories are in a Big Mac? More than 500. What’s 23.62 percent of 4,615.23? 1,090.11733.

Students have also learned to selectively delete certain visited websites from their browsing history so teachers won’t be as suspicious as they would be if an entire browsing history was deleted.

It’s also easier to cheat off a neighbor’s computer screen than a piece of paper on a desk, students say, especially when a teacher is on her laptop or otherwise occupied in class.

Edwards said state tests prohibit the use of any outside aides other than a calculator on certain math assessments, and SATs are conducted outside the school district. He said the numbers speak for themselves: Without the use of laptops, Mooresville’s average SAT score increased by 10 points in 2010 even with an increase in students taking the test.

But some local tests allow use of the laptops. Edwards said the district is testing software that “locks down” the laptops during an online assessment.

“Preliminary testing has been good,” he said. “If this software continues to be successful, it will be deployed to all machines.”

Smith, the technology officer said teachers can digitally arrange questions on the same test, so question 5 on one student’s test may be question 20 on another’s. Edwards added, the district encourages alternate layouts of classrooms so teachers can keep a better eye on laptop screens, but that’s been difficult in some of the smaller high-school classrooms. Administrators are also stressing to teachers the importance of walking around instead of teaching in one place, Edwards said.

The laptops offer a wide new world to students – one that could certainly prove beneficial to them in the long run. But in all the hoopla of the digital conversion, it seems students are becoming secondary to technology. To suggest parents are the best filter to the risks, when the issues are happening in the classroom, is dismissive and unfair.

When teachers are stretched too thin – especially with the added burden of “constantly” staying on top of kids’ computer use – and when administrators live in a rose-colored world where 1,500 hormonal high-schoolers “do the right thing,” it makes it natural for parents to speculate if the adults responsible for our children Monday through Friday are actually able to protect our kids while they’re being educated by Mr. World Wide Web.

Sheriff's office 'immoral, unethical, corrupt,' says former detective/sheriff candidate

Mark Nicholson, the former Republican candidate for Iredell County sheriff, is speaking out, calling the sheriff's office, under Phil Redmond's leadership, "immoral, unethical and corrupt."

A 19-year veteran of the sheriff's office, Nicholson ran against Redmond, his boss, for sheriff but fell short in the primary five months ago. That same week, Nicholson turned in his two-week notice to the sheriff's office. Working at another law-enforcement agency – which hired him almost immediately upon his resignation from the ICSO – Nicholson recently sat down with the Report to tell all.

Why did he feel compelled to run for sheriff against his boss? Why take such a risk? Why, after losing the primary, did he resign from the sheriff's office? Where is he now, and what are his future plans?

“I observed and worked with the current sheriff, Phil Redmond, for almost 16 years,” said Nicholson. “He is not the type of person who should be running the most important law-enforcement agency in the county.”

Citing inappropriate and criminal behavior – including private use of county time and equipment – and “bullying tactics” employed by the sheriff and his top brass toward those who question or don't follow the status quo, Nicholson said he resigned from the sheriff's office because he could no longer tolerate the “unethical, immoral and illegal behavior [he] observed there.”

Criminal use of public time, equipment

Nicholson said Redmond has acted illegally in his use of county-jail inmates for personal jobs and favors. In one instance, said Nicholson, a passerby observed inmates building a fence at the sheriff's house. Nicholson said the inmates have also been used to wash the vehicle of the sheriff's wife.

On another occasion, said Nicholson, “The sheriff sent [then-jailer, now-sergeant] Joel Hepler and jail inmates in a county vehicle, on county time, using county money, to spread gravel on Phil Redmond's home lawn.”

“Joel Hepler told me that out of his own mouth,” said Nicholson, adding that he remembers exactly where he was – “a KFC, eating an all-you-can-eat-buffet with another sheriff's detective” – when Hepler told both men about the incident.

Nicholson said a sheriff using jail inmates for personal use is not only against the sheriff's office “standard operational policies,” it is also against state law, classifying as “misapplying and wrongfully converting to his or her own use other property that's held in trust by the public.” And that, Nicholson said, is a felony, according to N.C. General Statute 14-92 (click on the documents to enlarge):

Nicholson also said – and other sources have corroborated – that Redmond and a few of his top cops illegally used county equipment on county time to campaign for Redmond for Sheriff in 2006. They say the State Bureau of Investigation looked into the matter but no one has heard anything from the agency since it investigated.

“I don't have a bit of use for the SBI,” said Nicholson. “I used to want to be an SBI agent. I looked up to them. But the SBI is pathetic. They've literally had things handed to them on Redmond, but they don't do a thing with it.”

When asked if he had ever been asked to participate in criminal behavior during his 16 years under Redmond, Nicholson said: “He knew better than to ask me to participate.”

Intimidation, bullying tactics

At least two Nicholson supporters have stated they were bullied by Redmond and at least one of his sergeants during the campaign season before the May primary. In one instance, the sheriff apparently pulled into the driveway of a man who had a large Nicholson campaign sign in his yard. According to that man, the sheriff said: “I hope you have everything tied down around here.”

Another man with a Nicholson sign in his yard said a sheriff's sergeant visited him and stated: “If your house is broken into, who's going to come out and investigate?”

But if Redmond and his top brass are such bullies, why did Nicholson continue working at the sheriff's office, under Redmond, for so many years?

Nicholson said he loved his job as an ICSO detective but he felt suffocated by the atmosphere that the current administration creates there. He said he also has immense respect for the people that he worked beside at the sheriff's office. “I've watched employees get stepped on around there while the ones that should've been in trouble got by with whatever,” Nicholson said. “The good ones were severely reprimanded or fired for some reason.

When he began to campaign for sheriff, Nicholson asked his colleagues not to publicly support him. “Most people there are job-scared,” he said. “I asked them not to support me publicly because of fear of retaliation.

“As expected,” Nicholson added, “that fear came true.”

He is referring to Redmond's decision, immediately after the primary, to drop the certifications of several part-time/reserve officers who supported Nicholson during the campaign. (See “Sheriff on collision course with Constitution?” at http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2010/06/sheriff-on-collision-course-with.html.)

“I hoped if I resigned it would take some of the heat off some of my friends and supporters who either worked there or used to work there and their certifications were being held by the sheriff,” Nicholson said. “Redmond has a reputation of using bullying tactics against anybody that opposes him in any way, shape or form.”

But if that's true, why didn't Redmond fire Nicholson? That's simple, said the former candidate for sheriff: “Federal law states that a person can't be fired because of … political reasons.” However, Nicholson added, “when re-swearing comes back around in November, he could have chosen not to swear me in. He can do that for any reason.”

Nicholson said when Redmond first took office in 1994, “he didn't re-swear 15 people, but two of them were re-hired due to public outcry.” Of the 13 others, Nicholson said, “two of them were arguably the hardest-working, most honest and fair men there. And they were let go for no other reason than to make room for Redmond and his cronies coming with him.”

So why now? Why didn't Nicholson take this strong of a public stance when he was running for sheriff? “The public needs to know what's going on at the sheriff's department,” Nicholson said. “My hope was that Redmond could be removed without a bunch of embarrassment to the county and at the expense of the county and other people.”

Staying more in the background and running a more above-board campaign, Nicholson said, “was the decent way to try to get it done. But since that failed,” he added, “the sheriff's department needs to be exposed for what it is.”

Nicholson said he wants Iredell taxpayers to know how their money is being spent. “The taxpayers are are paying for everything that's getting done – legal and illegal,” Nicholson said. “And they need to know.”

Nicholson said the sheriff is in the office “for two hours, tops, most days – usually from 9 or 9:30 a.m. to 11 or 11:30 a.m..” He said it is frustrating to watch Redmond claim the glory for the work of the rank-and-file at the sheriff's office.

“I'm sick and tired of Redmond taking all the credit when he knows hardly a thing about what's going on,” Nicholson said. “He wouldn't have a clue what he said until he reads it in the newspaper. The Record & Landmark knows that's going on but does it anyway.” In doing so, Nicholson said, “they're printing a bunch of falsehoods.”

Nicholson pointed to one instance in particular that he said demonstrated the height of Redmond's narcissism. While detectives were interviewing a suspect in the murder of four Iredell residents, “the sheriff interrupts the interview to get a picture of himself, leading the suspect in, for the newspaper," said Nicholson. "He interrupted an interview with a murder suspect,” Nicholson repeated, this time growing visibly more frustrated, “for a photo opp.”

What's worse, said Nicholson, when the suspect was taken back to the interview, “she had clammed up.”

Nicholson said he firmly believes the detectives were on their way to securing a confession, but they didn't get it because of the sheriff's desire to have his face in the newspaper.

When asked about the remaining candidates for sheriff – Redmond, Democrat Bill Stamey and Unaffiliated Skip Alexander – Nicholson said he likes both Stamey and Alexander. But he wouldn't comment on the candidate that has earned his vote. What Nicholson made clear, however, are his plans to run for sheriff in 2014 when the seat is again up for re-election. “You've got to stand up for what's right,” Nicholson said. “If everybody who knew something would stand up and talk, Redmond would be gone from office.”

The Report has sent Redmond a list of Nicholson's allegations, asking for responses. His response, if provided, will be posted here.

McCall: Incumbent's actions "too little, too late"

Matt McCall, the Republican challenger for Iredell County Register of Deeds, issued the following statement on Friday in response to the article "Register of Deeds fires back with facts" (http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2010/09/register-of-deeds-fires-back-with-facts.html):

"According to the current officeholder, there have been only been 18 requests to the Register of Deeds office for online redaction of Social Security numbers since 2005. The lack of public awareness is unquestionable. In my investigation of this matter, I talked with two county commissioners and the county manager, and they all had not heard of a budget request for this serious problem. I’m glad to know that this important item was finally included in this year's budget. I’m surprised that it is costing Iredell nearly twice what another county of similar population has already paid, which is an important consideration as well.

"This situation should have been dealt with immediately, and yet for almost a year since the statute was amended allowing online redaction, my opponent failed to act. How many Iredell residents were the victims of identity theft while she did nothing? Protecting our citizens' identities are important enough to warrant an appearance before the Board of Commissioners to request an appropriation or shift other funds that were wasted, including a needless car and travel allowance, over a year ago before this law even went into effect. In fact, budget amendments are common in every bi-weekly board meeting. According to [Iredell Finance Director] Susan Blumenstein, 69 amendments were made before the board for FY2010 alone.

"My opponent has had since at the latest October of 2009 to rectify this, but her department didn’t make the purchase order until exactly one month ago (see attached purchase order). In this case it’s clear that proactive effort and common sense are lacking. My opponents actions are too little, too late."

(Click the copy of the purchase order below to enlarge.)

Register of Deeds fires back with facts

Not so fast, says Brenda Bell.

The current Register of Deeds, in a phone conversation with the Report this morning, responded to allegations by her Republican challenger, Matt McCall, that she hasn't been proactive in redacting private information from public documents on the Internet (http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2010/09/identity-theft-made-easy-in-iredell.html).

As a matter of fact, Bell said, the county has approved funding for the redaction services, and the company that will help has already been hired and paid. "I requested money in this year’s budget to be able to do this project," she said in a press release issued earlier today. "The work has been in progress for several months."

Bell said she has been on top of this issue at least since the N.C. Identity Protection Act was passed in 2005. At that time, private information could be removed from online public records only per a citizen's written request. When the law became effective, Bell said, the Register of Deeds office "put this information out to the public" and also placed an announcement on the Register of Deeds webpage. The website also contains the form for a citizen to request that his or her social-security/drivers' license numbers be removed from the online records. (Go to http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/departments/regdeeds/register.asp then click on "Online Records Search" in the links to the right).

In the past five years, only 18 people have requested to have their personal information removed from the online public documents, Bell said.

The Act was amended in October 2009, giving registers of deeds discretion to scrub personal identifying information from public records on the Internet without a citizen's request.

McCall, Bell's opponent, said the current Register of Deeds "has taken no proactive measures to redact the social-security numbers." He said that he had spoken with Iredell County Manager Joel Mashburn who said that he could not recall Bell approaching the county about appropriating money to have the sensitive information removed from the online public documents.

In an e-mail to the Report yesterday, Mashburn confirmed that he had spoken with McCall. "I did say that I did not recall but that did not mean it did not happen," Mashburn said. "I further stated that I would be glad to review the budget request as far back as I have them to see if I can find anything in writing. At that point," Mashburn said, "Mr. McCall stated that it would not be necessary so I did not pursue."

McCall also said in the press conference that he had spoken with County Commissioner Scott Keadle, who said he would be in favor of allocating money to have the private information removed from online public documents.

But the county has already allocated money for that service, said Bell. And that was confirmed today by Iredell Finance Director, Susan Blumenstein. Responding to a Report inquiry, Blumenstein said that Iredell County Purchase Order No. 222, in the amount of $71,000, was issued on Aug. 31, 2010 to Cott Systems for "Redaction Services."

"The project is currently in process," she added.

Bell, responding to her challenger's accusations that she hasn't been proactive in protecting Iredell citizens' identities, said over the phone today: "I chose not to put anything out there because I don't like to stir up great alarm. Timing is everything."

She stressed the importance for citizens to understand that the removal of social-security and drivers'-license numbers is specific only to online records. "Not to cause further alarm ... (but) the permanent record will stay the same." The law, she said, does not allow registers of deeds to alter permanent public records. "The records in the Register of Deeds Office are public records with some restrictions. We cannot change anything pertaining to the official record."

Bell said the county will examine more than 3.5 million images from 1934 to the present. She said she chose the "basic package," which means "the project will involve staff to complete at some point, and it is certainly not cheap by any means." But the debt, she added, "is being paid for out of the Register of Deeds Technology and Preservation fund and not from tax dollars."

She said a survey of potential cost for the service revealed that prices range from 5-10 cents per image to $2 million for larger counties. And while the state passed the law giving counties discretion in scrubbing personal information from the online documents, it didn't appropriate money for the counties to perform the service. "One of the concerns of the N.C. Association of Registers of Deeds," Bell said, "is that laws are passed with no money being appropriated to fund it for the counties. Some of the smaller counties will never be able to afford to do this."

She said county registers "have to be very careful in choosing companies to do this work" since the information involved is so sensitive.

To further protect Iredell's citizens, Bell said, the Register of Deeds will also soon have software in place to allow people "the means to receive notification if anything is recorded in their names.

"This will be at no cost to the citizens," she said. "We have worked with our computer software company for some time on both of these identity-theft and land-fraud issues."

"I have done everything I believe I should have done," Bell said. " I had chosen to wait until the redaction project was complete and the land-fraud software in place before doing a news release, and I certainly did not want it to look like a political move."

Have concerns or questions? Bell said her office wants to hear from you. Call 704-872-7468.