How town commissioners will eventually vote on funding the Mooresville Downtown Commission (MDC) is anyone’s guess. But the day before they’re expected to hear a presentation by the MDC’s board of directors, it appears at least two of the six town commissioners will vote to fund the MDC.
A reader, responding to my April 2 blog entry (Why nix downtown funding now?), asked me to track down Mayor Bill Thunberg’s official position on the MDC issue. So I tried.
In fact, I decided to track down the positions of all seven elected officials, including Thunberg and Commissioners Mac Herring, Frank Rader, Chris Carney, Miles Atkins, Thurman Houston and Mitch Abraham.
I sent an e-mail at 11 a.m. today to their town e-mail accounts. (By the way, Mooresville taxpayers provide BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices to elected officials, enabling them to send and receive e-mails wherever and whenever they may roam.) I asked all seven elected officials to provide and elaborate on their stances regarding the MDC, and I requested responses by 6 p.m. Of the seven, I heard back from three: Ward 3 Commissioner Mac Herring, Ward 4 Commissioner Chris Carney and At-Large Commissioner Miles Atkins.
Ward 1 Commissioner Mitch Abraham and Ward 2 Commissioner Thurman Houston – whose districts include the downtown area – did not respond. Neither did Thunberg or At-Large Commissioner Frank Rader.
Herring, who says he’ll vote to fund the MDC, had already posted his position as a comment on my April 2 blog entry. He wrote: “I will levy one of the 6 votes to support our Down Town. The Down Town is in a time of change, and needs our support as much if not more so than at any other time.”
Herring also stated that he will work to ensure that downtown remains a “vital part of our economic infrastructure, just as my family has done for generations.”
Atkins, whose wife owns a downtown business and is chairman of the MDC, said he supports the efforts and direction that the current MDC board of directors is taking the downtown commission. He also said he believes that those board members “should be afforded the opportunity to bring a new executive director on board to demonstrate how effective and accountable it (the MDC) can be with a respected, talented and qualified director to help move it forward.”
Additionally, Atkins said he would support extending/expanding the downtown district, which would increase the amount of money the MDC receives. The district tax is 16 cents per $100 valuation.
As an aside, in e-mails that circulated through downtown businesses recently, a Main Street lawyer accused the Atkins’, because of their positions, of having a “direct ethical conflict.” Miles Atkins publicly disclosed in a recent budget meeting that his wife, Kim, is indeed the MDC chairman.
If I recall correctly, Town Attorney Steve Gambill said at a town board meeting some time ago that unless an elected official stands to directly financially benefit from a matter being voted on, that elected official is required by law to vote.
But back to the elected officials' stances on the MDC:
Though Carney said it’s difficult to answer a question about his stance on the downtown commission before tomorrow morning’s presentation by the MDC board, “I know the MDC has gone through great trouble and effort to be able to present a vision for the Downtown," he said.
“My position has always been one of accountability,” Carney added. “We need to understand what the return is on the taxpayers' investment. That was the question I raised 3 years ago and still today. Any organization that requests money should be able to answer one simple question: how is Mooresville better off for the investment by the citizens’ money?”
Carney also asked: “If we were not going to hold funding back in the past, then what has triggered a change in philosophy?”
That's the question a lot of people are asking.
To the person asking me to get Thunberg's official position: sorry I couldn't accomplish that today. Perhaps those of you reading would have better luck. If you're interested -- for this issue or any in the future -- here are your elected officials' e-mail addresses:
bthunberg@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Bill Thunberg)
frankrader@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Frank Rader)
mabraham@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Mitch Abraham)
thouston@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Thurman Houston)
ccarney@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Chris Carney)
mherring@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Mac Herring)
matkins@ci.mooresville.nc.us (Miles Atkins)
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1 comment:
Sour grapes Ms. Gatton--The mayor and the town commissioners don't owe you an explanation or position on any issue in this town. They are elected by the taxpayers, paid by the taxpayers, and wined and dined by the taxpayers--so they owe you nor any other taxpayer an explanation! I don't know how you missed the memo, the elected official's in Mooresville are omniscient, and should be respected as such. I guess since taxpayer dollars are used in a project, we should make all financial details of a project avaliable to the public--well maybe everywhere else in America, but this is M-ville--our town--our rules!! I commend you for trying, but I've lived here all my life and things change, but not players or direction. I wish we could have a town government that acted for all the people instead of for a few folks who have been here all their lives. I think M-ville could be a model small town, but interest trumps vision. I'm hopeful and optomistic, but until town government "feels the heat" things won't change. Good Luck
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