A two-page document prompted Friday's spat between two candidates for political office in Mooresville.
Mayor-hopeful Jared Esselman said in a phone interview today that he confronted Skip Alexander, an at-large commissioner candidate, at the town board's agenda briefing Friday about the document which Esselman said Alexander has been handing out.
“He's been spreading a two-page document around, chopped full of lies,” Esselman said.
On Friday morning, when the two men came face-to-face at the town board's agenda briefing, “I confronted Skip and told him, 'You're a liar and a coward,'” Esselman said. “It got loud. I was firm, but I didn't yell. I'm not going to sit and let someone lie about me.”
But contrary to what was reported in the original article about the argument, Esselman said Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins never stepped in to break up the disagreement. “The chief never said anything to me,” Esselman said.
He said Alexander's document “is misrepresenting my information, my campaign and me.”
“He doesn't even know me, and I don't know why he's doing it,” Essleman said.
The document, provided to the Report by Esselman, includes a disclaimer that Alexander is the sole author and that a more detailed letter is being prepared. Alexander could not be reached for comment today (Monday).
In the document, Alexander lists several “observations” about Esselman and his campaign for mayor. Among those observations, Alexander homes in on Esselman's residency, his “lack of local involvement,” his donor-base being primarily out-of-state residents, and what Alexander calls Esselman's “vision to radically restructure Mooresville's form of government.”
“According to public records of the Iredell Board of Elections (IBOE), Jared Esselman registered as a voter in 1999,” Alexander's document reads. He said those same records “indicate Jared Esselman has never cast one single vote (in-person or absentee), and that there has been no break in his Iredell voter registration.”
Citing Esselman's first “35-day report” filed with the Board of Elections on Sept. 6, Alexander points out that “not one of the 36 named donors (to Esselman's campaign) is a resident, taxpayer, or voter in the Town of Mooresville.”
In fact, Alexander points out, 69.4 percent of Esselman's campaign money has come from donations from residents of Massachusetts. Meanwhile, 19.4 percent of his campaign money raised as of the filing on Sept. 6 was from contributions from residents outside the State of North Carolina. Iredell County voters outside the Town of Mooresville limits made up 11.1 percent of the overall total. Esselman's campaign listed no contributions from Town of Mooresville residents and/or voters. (Candidate finance reports are available online at http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/Departments/Elections/finance_reports.asp.)
Alexander also took issue in the document with Esselman's residency. Alexander says in a conversation he had with the mayor-hopeful on Sept. 20, Esselman “acknowledged that, except in his second to fourth grade years, and since July, 2011 (two months ago), he has never been a resident, and never a taxpayer in the Town of Mooresville.”
Also among the issues noted in Alexander's document was an e-mail Esselman sent to commissioners earlier this year that mentioned a restructuring of Mooresville's form of government, essentially eliminating the need for a town manager and instead paying the mayor a full-time salary to carry out the duties now assigned to a town manager.
Alexander's document states that Esselman, in his letter to commissioners, “advocated ... the City Council … to consider revisiting the Town Charter so as to create a Mayor-Council system.”
Alexander states that in the e-mail, Esselman suggested the mayor could be a full-time employee, making an annual salary of .33 percent of the town budget's general fund. That, Alexander stated, would be a salary of approximately $140,000 - “almost 4 times the Charlotte mayor's salary for wannabe 'Mayor Esselman.'”
Esselman's email to commissioners also suggested that the mayor would be authorized to “appoint one or more Deputy Mayors” to “serve at the pleasure of the Mayor,” Alexander stated in his document.
Esselman said he confronted Alexander on Friday, “and I asked him, 'Who did you ask for that e-mail?'”
Esselman said the e-mail to commissioners was simply “a research paper I wrote on styles of government. I never campaigned on a research paper I wrote in college.”
When former Town Manager Steve Husemann resigned while Essleman was still studying at Harvard, Esselman said he contacted commissioners, encouraging them to explore all their options. “My thesis was: Instead of going through the hiring process, here's another option.”
He said much of what he sent to commissioners was “copying and pasting what (other cities) do.”
Esselman said if elected, he will not change Mooresville's form of government: “Hands down, I'm not going to do that. How self-serving would that be?”
(To read Alexander's two-page document in its entirety, click on the documents below. Once I've obtained a copy of the e-mail from Esselman to commissioners that Alexander references, I'll post it.)
Posts
55 comments:
UMMMMMMMM, Already casts of doubt are lurking amongst us... Who's on first??? Surely, Mr Esselman can explain these accusations, which seem legit to me.
That's why it's MILES ATKINS all the way.
Jared has more credentials than both Miles and Kim they only want to rule the town as one past couple did - we do not need to return to a man-wife rule as in past history. We cannot afford the great and grand things that these two want.
Jared has NEVER ONCE voted in Mooresville, he moved into a rental house so he could say he lives in Mooresville and run for office, and he he has collected about 3/4 of his campaign money from up North??? Lol. No thank you.
Thank you for looking into this further, Ms. Gatton. I would love to hear more - a follow-up piece, perhaps? - about the truth behind the claims Mr. Alexander makes in his document. You quote Mr. Esselman as saying they are lies, but don't expand on that and I bet I'm not the only one curious to hear more.
Sure he hasnt been in town for long..but are we going to hold against him serving our country and getting an education? Of course he hasnt been around to vote since 1999.
After listening to the candidates speak on some issues on the MI presented broadcast, there are only 3, 1 running for the at large seat and 2 for Mayor that even seem like they can logically and articulately form and complete a sentence, the others sounded like bumbling idiots, constantly repeating themselves, they could not even speak clearly. No professional presence in them whatsoever, looked like a bunch of slobs.
I am all for getting rid of the Town Mis-Manager if its going to be somebody like Erskin Smith. What the hell are we paying that loser for anyway? Somebody to have eyes and ears inside of everything so that he can find the best angle for himself and his little friends? And all of this while he's being paid with our tax dollars to the tune of over a hundred grand.
You can't be serious Anonymous @ 10:27 AM. I have served and was deployed and still voted absentee every single election.
One thing you can't argue with Esselman about is there HAS been "long term corruption" in this town. It started with Joe Knox's time, and it finally came to a head about ten years ago and it's been a fight ever since. You would have to be an ostrich to not know that.
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Testing
Hey, everybody. You may notice that the comment-area has changed a little. I'm running some tests because a couple of folks have complained about not being able to post. Let me know by emailing me (jaimegatton@gmail.com) if you have problems posting. Meanwhile, say hello to the new comment page. ;)
(Still working on some changes, so bear with me as the comment area may change from time to time today. )
Test # 2
OK....I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not a neighbor of Atkins and I didn't go to an Ivy League college.
My question is simple. Mr. Alexander is running in a very crowded field for an at large seat. Is his campaign going so well that he has time to stick his nose in to the mayoral race in such a public way?
Seems like if Mr. Atkins has a problem with Mr. Esselman's background he should bring it up in the forum later this month, rather than get a buddy to do his bidding.
Too bad....Alexander seemed to make the most sense in the first debate questions posted on the Tribune website. If he's that quick to fight someone else's battles he can be steered by any high dollar lobbyist.
In the mean time...boys... let's not make Mooresville politics any more embarassing than it has been over the past 5 years.
Let's face it...if you didn't have a dog in this fight...you wouldn't be here. Have a great day!!
12:16,
When I stated I don't have a dog in this fight I meant I have no allegiance to any of these candidates. I'm a concerned taxpayer but I haven't decided who I'm going to vote for.
Sorry if that was a little complicated for you.
And I hope you have a great day as well.
Well, lah-dee-freaking-dah, talk about your Yankee in Southern Boy's clothing. How do you like your boy Jared now? I come from a military family myself. My father, grandfather, uncles, brother, cousins, a couple of brother-in-laws, you name it, boyfriends, all voted absentee. I voted absentee when I was away at college. I registered to vote when I was living at grad school and voted there. Has this twit even voted for homecoming king or queen?
Just looking at the campaign reports, Mr. Atkins' appears more professional.
If you don't vote, you don't get to bitch. Period. This guy wants to run the show and get paid big bucks and appoint a posse of his pals on top of it, no doubt a bunch of his Massachusetts college pals looking for a milder winter and some NASCAR good times.
I don't think so. If you don't think enough of the town you haven't even been living in to vote even once, you really aren't involved enough to hold office.
And you really need to get a real job, pal. Grow up. Your ego needs to get into the real world.
When I go to vote I am going to do exactly what Alexanders Campaign signs say: I am going to SKIP Alexander and vote for someone else and hope that everyone else will do the same.
11:37 a.m., you are right. Jared Esselman is correct in stating that there has been rampant corruption in Mooresville. I might also add that as long as Mr. Smith occupies his highly overpaid office in Town Hall there will continue to be corruption in this town.
The problem that Mr. Esselman has is that he has aligned himself with some of the very people who were deeply immersed with the very corruption he now claims to be against.
The sad thing is that he may not even be aware of this fact since he has not lived here for a long time and perhaps has not done his homework by fact checking the recent tumultuous history here.
I think it takes a huge amount of nerve to run for office when you have never cast a vote in the town you now want to run and furthermore you want to turn everything on its ear and get paid handsomely for doing so. Who, by the way, is paying the rent on that little house by the War Memorial where he is now living? I believe the term we used to use during Reconstruction was carpetbagger.
This guy is coming in with his Massachusetts money (home of your old friend Ted Kennedy) and he's going to up the ante of the Erskine Smith Show. Bank on it. This is the equivalent of some guy getting out of MBA school going up to the Wachovia HQ in Charlotte and thinking he's going to get the CEO job because he was at the head of his class. It doesn't work that way, junior.
He's setting up a Potemkin Village at your expense, folks. He wants to use the mayorship of this town as a springboard to something else and line his pockets at the same time. Go back and read Jaime's post about his campaign announcement. Explains the "term paper" thing too, doesn't it? You know, we aren't all that gullible. I've been around the block a few times and I'm not buying this boy's bull. Sorry, Jared. Oh, and 9:46, you're just a shill. Go back to Massachusetts.
6:11 since you are an expert on who should or should not run for office. I have a suggestion why don't you run. We need smart a.. people like you on the board.
Remember that just a couple of years ago you people thought that Rader and Dumberg were the greatest thing that ever happen to our town and now thanks to them and Carney,and Herring look what we have a 96 million dollar dead horse that generation will pay for for ever and at least two members of the board one of who is running for re election are supporting privately a person who is a puppet for them and she thinks that MC-I is the best thing that ever happen to Mooresville just listen to her in the forum a couple of weeks ago.
6:27, I'm smart enough to smell a rat. Mr. Esselman's campaign stinks to high heaven and he got called on it. Now, maybe it wasn't done in the most graceful fashion but by God, it came out and thankfully, it came out ahead of time. Seems to me we have an arrogant young man who has a sense of entitlement because he by God went to Harvard so he knows more than the rest of us and we should just just all bow down to his superior intellect and experience. I don't think so Jared. You know, it might have been a little easier to swallow if you have voted just once. Just once. Oh, and held a job here. Some of us actually get our hands dirty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpetbagger
Sound familiar?
I rest my case.
Who said that Miles Atkins got Skip Alexander to do this? It seems to me that when you put your name out in the public, you are asking for anyone to google you and poke around for skeletons in your closet.
Has Mr. Esselman ever voted? Did he vote for President? Where? Massachusetts? Or as some of you like to call it "TAX-achusetts?" Is he going to bring that down here?
I would hazard to say that Mr. Alexander has risked his own campaign, maybe knowingly so, to bring out into the open the backhanded skullduggery of this young man who is no better than Erskine Smith and who has ambitions at our expense. He's not going to make things better here. It's going to be business as usual. He's just pissed that he got caught.
Sounds to me like somebody has gone to the Erskine Smith school of government. He already wants his salary.
I would love to be 31 years old, fresh out of college, out of the service, and my first full time job pays $140 grand.
I remember when my sister and her husband lived on a military base with their kids and he was on active duty during the first Iraq war and they qualified for FOOD STAMPS. His butt was on the line. Then when they were out in the civilian world, they hustled and scrambled. Both of them. And somebody was always home with the kids.
Oh, yes, they ALWAYS voted. ALWAYS.
So sorry you feel entitled, Jared. The rest of us work for it.
Wow I see a lot of Jealous people
I will not vote for anyone who had a hand in what has happend to our town over the past several years.
Jealous? Of what? An arrogant little jerk who doesn't care enough to take ten minutes out of 12 years to vote just once? Not once? And now he thinks he should run the town? Oh, no, I don't think so. And he has the nerve to send around a document telling the current (and hardly clean) powers that be just how he would change things for the better. Again, I don't think so. Jared Esselman didn't care enough to cast so much as one teeny tiny little vote in 12 years of being eligible to vote and now he wants us to believe that he cares and is involved and engaged in making Mooresville better? I do not think so. What he wants to make better is his bank balance and his resume. Period.
Face it. He got caught with his Havard boxer shorts down around his ankles. Skip Alexander may have imploded his own chances but he did us all a big favor.
I wouldn't be surprised if Erskine Smith helped him write that little term paper. Birds of a feather and laying down with dogs, as they say...
Umm, Mrs. Gatton, I have been going back through some of the posts about Mr. Esselman's announcement and there were emails about sanitation employees actually committing littering and Erskine Smith responding. Is there some way you could find out if they were disciplined or what happened? We'd be interested in knowing. I believe one of the parties actually filed charges.
I just went back and read the Mis-Manager's and John Yvar's emails to this party and you know, it does kind of look bad when the town pulls crap like that. I don't care why they did it. There is no excuse and I think the taxpayers are owed some kind of explanation.
The reason I bring this up is because this axe grinding could happen to any of us and it's a prime example of government gone mad. Mr. Esselman said he wanted to heal the divide. Well, gee whiz. If what happened Friday morning is any example, I'd say there isn't going to be any healing going on with him at the head of the ship of state.
He got called on something and he didn't like it so he started shouting and now he's back-pedaling. He wants to be the glorious leader just like Erskine Smith who has been pushing people around and who let a couple of old women get trashed by paid town employees on town time. What's next? If one of us says something one of them doesn't like or challenges or contradicts them, what happens to us? Do we "accidentally" get our water turned off? Do we get pulled over every time we drive downtown?
This town is sick and toxic. What happened last week at Town Hall was just another symptom. Anyone who makes a wave catches hell. This guy wants money and this town is just spending it like there is no tomorrow and apparently he thinks he can get in on the gravy train and we won't miss it.
The question is, folks, how long is this going to go on and how long are we going to put up with it?
Somebody who doesn't vote and who clearly doesn't know enough local folks to back his horse but he knows plenty of out-of-staters to back said horse. Who do you think he's going to be looking out for once he gets into the job?
Wait just a minute here. While he was still in school up north, sonny boy contacted the commissioners and encouraged them to explore all their options. One of those options is, of course to get rid of the hiring process. Except he'll be hiring God knows how many deputy mayors to "serve at the pleasure of the mayor," pleasure being the operative word here, I'm quite sure. Now he doth protest that he won't change Mooresville government. That would be "self-serving.". Oh hell yes, ya think? It's going to be the same old crap and it is going to be for the greater glory of Jared Esselman.
Sorry. Not buying it. Better luck running for alderman up in Cambridge where all your friend's are.
I find it interesting that Mr. Alexander does not consider Mr. Esselman to be from Mooresville because he lived most of his life just outside the city limits. I spent many years just outside but went to Mooresville schools, shopped in Mooresville stores, ate in Mooresville restaurants, got married in a Mooresville church and had a Mooresville mailing address...wow, now I am shocked to find that I am not really a Mooresvillian.
This is one heck of a race. We have a retarded FBI Special Agent trying to intiminate everyone about his importance and threatening to use his FBI status to check on peoples email traffic and a candidate for Mayor whose wife works for the Chamber so they want to be the new king and queen. We had one couple who did this and controlled this town for years - we don't need another one and his credit is so bad that he will not pay his bills - check the credit bureau - only in Mayberry does this happen
My question to the people of Mooresville is what does it matter if Mr. Esselman gets his money from up north just like Mr. Atkins gets his money from Ala,Fla, Matthews NC and other places these people cannot vote for them so they cannot have a bearing on anything in Mooresvile except for their contributions.
A bigger question is two main contributions to Mr. Atkins. This can be verified on the Iredell Co Elections Board web site.
Randy Marion who cannot even vote in the elections donated $5,000.00 and Dr. Johnston a local Dentist who also lives away and cannot even vote donated $5,000.00 also to his campaign. This is so obivious that these two have bought a potential elected official why else would they give this much money to his campaign. It is rumored that Marion wants a street behind his business so I quess if elected he gets his street. Do not know what Johnston wants but I am sure that it is not on the up and up
Ask Atkins why he had his house put on the Historical site and got his taxes cut 50%,you pay the full amount and he gets 1/2 off of his. His wife after he gets on the board gets a job with the Down Town Commission making over $50,00 a year on your tax money, and they talk about dirty and under handed things going on in the town.
Does anyone know of how many jobs tha Atkins has had in the past several years. Ask and see if he will tell you or post it more than you have fingers. So I guess he has hit the jackpot here.
My mistake it was $4,000.00 each. Still shows that something is rotten in Mooresville as well as Denmark.
Skip isn't running for mayor. Jared is. Skip has a one in seven chance getting elected. How's that for math? By the way, how many times have Skip and Miles voted in elections here? And how many jobs has Jared held?
Funny how that works.
It's funny how people can make statements anonymously.. Please be real VOTERS and identify yourelf. I beleive these are the same person/people restating bad intentions for votes .. BE HONEST and IDENTIFY yourself with any comment.
It's called a secret ballot for a reason. That is our right. Retaliation is real common around here or haven't you noticed? Speaking of anonymous, isn't there a FB page a out Iredell County government watch that includes all the municipalities. I think you can like the page and not have to be known. Maybe we ought to have a Mooresville watch. Enough is enough.
And who are you Harrigan? Do tell?
It never ceases to amaze me how the biggest "issue" some folks in this town can grasp is whether someone is an original Mooresvillian. From what I can tell there are about 6 or 7 families that would qualify to run for any office or whose opinion would be of any value to the community. We continue to discount contributions from outside at our significant detriment.
I have never met Mr. Esselman but, having read his bio, I will certainly take his candidacy seriously. How many mayors have we had that have had advanced degrees from Harvard? How many combine that with demonstrated military disciple and honor? It seems to me that this man seems to pass our first glance at competency and integrity.
Reviewing his donation filings to discover that Harvard graduates support each other unlike any other school does not uncover any conspiracy or make him an outsider to Mooresville. It might further convince me that there are peripheral benefits to attendence at Harvard that might further make the tuition expenses warranted.
Despite the damaging accusations that he hasn't lived or voted in Mooresville, it seems he went to Woods School and then graduated from Mooresville HS. Our town should be open to hiring the best to represent our town government irrespective of where they were born. If we rule out a person that grows up in Mooresville, leaves to serve in the Air Force and then attend Harvard as an outsider, we once again will get what we deserve.
Cindy Lauper said it best......I see your true colors shinin through!!!!!
All of those Esselman's were mean kids in school. I hope he doesn't win.
Damn straight, 4:10. Sounds like their boy hasn't changed his stripes any either. I hear they sharpen their claws for them up in Tax-achusetts for them real good too. LOL. I've been up there a few times. Wicked ugly bunch of suckers. Especially up around Boston. Ever drive there? It's kill or be killed.
Did Miles Atkins support Erskine's promotion to his new position. He was on the board when that happened. Whom did he support??
Someone posted earlier about the question of whether or niot Miles put Skip up to this...well one must wonder how he knew about an email that Jared sent to the commisioners last year....Miles is one of those commissioners afterall
Does it matter who put who up to what? Public record is public record. It was only going to be a matter of time before this crap came out. It's just a fortunate thing it came out before the election and we got stuck with a freaking little egomaniac on a power trip. Haven't we had enough bull in this town already?
I think it matters because it speaks to Mr. Alexander's real motives and how he will act as commissioner. I have not heard a single thing about his campaign FOR himself. But he is out actively campaigning AGAINST Mr. Esselman. Maybe he just doesnt like him, who knows? So, is this how he is going to act when our citizens disagree with him as a commissioner? Is he going to use his investigative skills to find something to throw at them?
@ Oct 5, 749 pm -- yes, miles was in favor of making smith the town manager
Pretty sure the Mayor "salary" is $12,000/year.
Does Miles still support that clown?
They ALL voted for Smith, Atkins, Houston, and Abraham.
What does this tell you VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE.
12:02, that does not answer the question. I asked do they still support him. I am thinking they may not. At any rate, I am not going to vote for Esselman. He certainly has not proven himself worthy of my trust.
I agree with VOTE THEM ALL OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is unprofessional of Mr. Alexander, seems to me that he is working with Atkins to try and slander the oppponent. I have no preference between the two either Esselman or Alexander, HECK IF IT WASN'T FOR THE WHOLE ELECTRONIC EMAIL/TEXT I WOULD BE VOTING FOR RE-ELECTING MONTGOMERY. However, this is not the case, and I just see that if Alexander is allied with Atkins I prefer Esselman, ALEXANDER IS ACTING LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD BABY JUST CAUSE HE WORKED WITH THE FBI DOESN'T MEAN HE CAN BE AN ASS TO ESSELMAN.
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