Town of Troutman's parade: as American as apple pie

Independence Day celebrations were plentiful in Iredell County this weekend.

But perhaps the most patriotic, home-grown celebration was in Troutman, where people young and old converged Saturday for the town's annual Independence Celebration Parade.

The flag-lined streets welcomed antique war vehicles, horses, tractors and patriotic floats carrying war veterans, pageant queens and a politician or two. Purple Heart recipients served as the parade's grand marshals.

Here are a few photos from the event:

Getting Back to Basics

Wednesday night’s “town hall meeting” was an eye opening experience – in many ways.

From fraternizing with developers to the treatment of the town’s elderly and special-needs population – mingled, of course, with lively discussion about some of the town’s more controversial issues – the meeting offered citizens a rare opportunity to speak casually, yet candidly, with their elected representatives.

Two commissioners – Ward 4 Commissioner Chris Carney and At-Large Commissioner Miles Atkins - turned out for the three-hour-long informal meeting, organized by Rev. Larry Green and attended by about a dozen local residents, including Iredell County Commissioner Ken Robertson. Green said every commissioner except Thurman Houston responded in some way to his invitation. Mitch Abraham and Mac Herring said they had previously-scheduled plans, and Frank Rader didn’t respond to Green but told the Charlotte Observer that he wouldn’t attend. Mayor Bill Thunberg, said Green, didn’t respond to the invitation at all.

And that’s unfortunate because even though I wasn’t sure what to expect from the meeting – or if it would be fruitful or productive at all – the free flow of information and the uninhibited exchange of ideas was unlike anything we have ever witnessed in Mooresville before.

I left the meeting with fresh insight. Perhaps the most compelling impression that the meeting left on me was that our town and its government is headed in the right direction. It is progress, not perfection, that we expect. And as long as elected officials are talking to us, and listening to us, we’ll continue to move in that direction.

The open dialogue that transpired at the meeting reminded me of the original purpose of my blog – and it highlighted for me just how far some have strayed from that purpose.

I am a fervent believer in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and I staunchly defend people’s right to speak freely – even when their speech displeases me, and even when their words stand in opposition to everything in which I believe.

Commissioner Atkins and his wife, Kim, have been heavily criticized in the comments section of my blog since last week when the Mooresville Downtown Commission announced that it had hired Kim Atkins to serve as its executive director. I have no problem with people questioning public officials, doubting their motives and/or intentions, and holding them accountable for their actions.

What I do have a problem with is this: Despite sustained attacks on this blog against Atkins and his wife, when he stepped out of Town Hall and sat down willing to face his critics on Wednesday, only one person confronted him about his potential influence over his wife’s hiring. That one person: local attorney Cliff Homesley.

Homesley pointedly asked Atkins if at any time during the hiring process he had discussed his wife’s candidacy with other government officials or MDC board members.

“I have had no contact even with fellow commissioners,” Atkins said. “I’ve had some talk to me, but I have refrained.”

It appears, however, that at least two elected officials did not “refrain” from attempting to interfere in the process. In fact, those two individuals apparently threatened to withdraw the town’s funding of the MDC if it hired Kim Atkins as the new executive director.

Atkins neither confirmed nor denied the information, but he said that since his wife’s hiring he has heard that some of his fellow elected officials were “really opposed” to her hiring.

Carney, however, stated that members of the MDC board of directors approached him, concerned about their funding from the town. He said they asked him if the funds would be “at risk” if they hired Atkins as the executive director “because they had heard that from other elected officials.”

Carney acknowledged that he warned the MDC board members upon their selection of Atkins that “they better be sure their policies and procedures were in place.”

He told those in attendance at Wednesday night’s meeting that it was improper for commissioners to have spoken for the entire town board and to have threatened to pull an organization’s funding.

Carney explained that town commissioners earlier this year agreed to fund the MDC as long as the organization met certain goals that it spelled out in a three-year business plan that was shared with town commissioners in budget talks this year.

Homesley also pointed out that Carney’s brother, Robby, was recently hired as the existing industry and marketing manager of the Mooresville-South Iredell Economic Development Corporation – an organization that, not unlike the MDC, receives annual funding from the Town of Mooresville.

County Commissioner Ken Robertson chimed in, denying that government agencies “play favorites” with family members of public officials. “They actually get scrutinized more,” he said, because of precisely what is happening right now to the MDC. “The employers are afraid they’ll be accused of cronyism,” Robertson said.

Sometimes, he said, that means the employer will “work twice as hard” to find a reason not to hire the family member.

And the government official, Robertson said, “is scrutinized only because they are related to someone who is trying to maximize their value in this world.”

Said Atkins: “I hope that people will get to know Kim and myself. She is accountable to her board as I am accountable to you as your public servant.

“She has to stand on her own as a professional,” he said.

Simple, straightforward questions. Simple, straightforward answers. A free-flowing exchange of ideas and opinions. That's what Wednesday night’s meeting proved is possible.

It’s also what my blog is about.

Let me make something clear: My reporting is about principles, not personalities. And I expect out of others what I expect out of myself -- that any criticism will be relevant, well-founded and factual. If I ever fail in that, I ask that you hold me accountable for it.

I created my blog just over seven months ago to foster open, uncensored dialogue among and between the residents of Mooresville, southern Iredell County and beyond about issues that are important to us.

At times, certain readers have used my blog as a conduit for outright lies about me and other private citizens. One example: an innocent joke by a reader was turned into an accusation that I was having an extramarital affair … without regard for the fact that my husband, my two young daughters … my mother … all read my blog.

One reader has repeatedly called for investigations of private citizens, including me, accusing us of having “skeletons in our closets,” always stopping short, however, of disclosing just what those skeletons are.

I have even been accused of being “on welfare.” Though I see no shame in human beings who fall on hard times and need a little help, the fact remains that my husband and I chose to make financial sacrifices in order for me to be at home with our children while he earns our living … and pays our taxes.

Many readers who have signed their names to their comments, and others who are simply mentioned in my posts or readers’ comments, have been randomly grouped together despite the fact that some of us would not know each other if we ran into one another in the grocery store.

One reader wrote obscenities and attributed them to me and other community activists. Other readers have gone so far as to ridicule peoples’ appearances, their body shape, their national origin and their religious beliefs. They have stooped so low as to use derogatory and vulgar terms such as “sheep,” “freaks,” and “retarded” to describe readers who have posted statements that are critical of government officials.

I agree with one reader who pointed out that in our system, there is a fundamental distinction between public officials and private citizens. When it comes to criticism, public officials are fair game. Private citizens are not. Why? Because public officials are public officials by choice. If they don’t relish scrutiny and exposure, they can rescind their status, reverting back to being a private citizen. Private citizens don’t have that luxury; they can’t “rescind” their status as a private citizen.

The long and the short of it is this: Like many of you, I have been appalled by the hateful content of some comments that have been posted on my blog. Countless people have contacted me, beseeching me to censor such comments. But I have refused to do so. My loyalty to freedom of speech easily trumps any hurt feelings which may result from someone’s words.

However, I call on those of you who have committed to joining me in my “mission” to refrain from engaging with those whose sole purpose is clearly to personally attack others – that includes private citizens and public officials alike. This does not preclude legitimate, factual and pertinent criticism of public officials.

Let's get back to basics. In the coming days, I plan to post several different topics that were discussed at Wednesday night’s meeting. I will provide a brief synopsis of what was discussed, and, as always, I welcome and encourage your voice in the ensuing discussions and debate.

Among the issues that will be posted:

• Town commissioners and town staff fraternizing with developers
• What ever happened to the town-hall protestors’ demands for the assistant town manager’s firing? Does the town really need an assistant-town-manager position?
• The town’s hiring of engineering firm CH2M Hill for the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant
• The ever-controversial question: Should Iredell County’s two school districts merge?
• Town employees’ use of the municipal golf course

You're invited ...

Have a question you’d like to ask Mooresville's town board? Here’s your chance:

"Citizens for Responsible Government" has invited Mooresville commissioners to join area residents in a “Town Hall meeting” on Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 6-8:30 p.m. in the youth services room of the Mooresville Public Library.

Local pastor Larry Green -- founder of Citizens for Responsible Government -- organized the Town Hall meeting and plans to moderate the event. In addition to general topics "related to the welfare and leadership of our town," Green said, specific topics up for discussion will include Cops for Kids; the town’s hiring of engineering firm CH2M Hill for the expansion of the Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant; the town’s purchase of the bankrupt Adelphia cable system (MI-Connection) and a potential recall option.

Of Mooresville’s six commissioners, three have responded to Green’s invitation. Commissioners Chris Carney and Miles Atkins said they plan to attend, while Commissioner Mitch Abraham said he has a conflict that night with another previously scheduled meeting. Additionally, Abraham said he has “church committments (sic) on Wednesday evenings.”

However, he told Green: “If I am able to move the other meeting, I will notify you of my intentions.”

Referencing the open meetings law, Abraham said, “I will also yield to the other commissioners for the reason that if 3 or more of us are gathered at the same place for purposes other than social, it may be considered an official meeting and I believe that may involve town staff be involved for record keeping purposes.” Abraham referred Green to Town Attorney Steve Gambill for a “ruling.”

Carney, responding to Green’s invitation, wrote: “I will be happy to attend and look forward to answering questions from the citizens of Mooresville.

“Also,” Carney added, “I welcome the opportunity to explain any decisions I have made or my position on existing issues facing Mooresville.”

If you have a question you'd like to ask, you can submit it in advance by contacting Green at 704-746-8674 or by e-mailing it to him at admin@cfrgm.org.

Event organizers will consolidate the questions into “thematic units,” said Green, “ to avoid repetition and to promote as much public involvement as possible.”

Green plans to follow a meeting agenda, which includes three-minute statements from each commissioner and a moderator-controlled Q&A session using your previously submitted questions. Commissioners, said Green, will have one minute to respond to each question. If time permits, Green said he will allow questions from the floor, with first priority given to those who did not previously submit questions. Those in attendance who did previously submit questions will be limited to one “open-floor” question, he said.

Green said a video of the Town Hall meeting – as well as the text of all responses – will be made available online at http://www.cfrgm.org/.

Town eases water restrictions

Mooresville residents now have an extra day a week to water lawns, wash cars, top off swimming pools and run outdoor water fountains. Here's the press release with all the details (click on the document to see a larger version):

Town's ethics code to get a second look

The Town of Mooresville adopted a Code of Ethics in 2005, but commissioners at the time failed to give the policy teeth.

That could soon change.

Mooresville’s new town manager, Steve Husemann, plans to revisit the town’s Code of Ethics, and at least two town commissioners hope to pick up where the 2005 town board left off.

Ironically, Miles Atkins – who was not a commissioner at the time – researched and introduced the idea of an ethics code to the town board in 2005, when commissioners – specifically Mitch Abraham and Alice Lee – were facing public scrutiny for their selection of engineering firm CH2M Hill to design the town’s multi-million wastewater treatment plant expansion. Abraham and Lee spearheaded the town’s choice of CH2M Hill but did not disclose that they were close personal friends with an official of the firm and attended his same church. (See http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/03/whats-that-old-adage-about-rats.html)

The town board adopted the Code of Ethics on June 6, 2005. It also developed an "ethics advisory committee" to review the code and provide input and recommendations to the town board regarding the formation of a formal committee to oversee the code’s enforcement. Atkins and Chris Carney -- also not yet elected to the town board -- were appointed to the advisory committee; Atkins was appointed by Danny Beaver, who Atkins would eventually challenge and defeat in the 2007 at-large race, and Carney was appointed by Mitchell Mack, whose Ward 4 seat Carney won in 2005 when Mack chose not to seek re-election.

The advisory committee met four times over the course of four months. But when the group brought its recommendations to Mooresville’s town board in January 2006, commissioners took no action, essentially killing the advisory committee’s work. It also meant that the Code of Ethics had no approved procedures in place to respond to citizen complaints against elected officials.

To read the ethics advisory committee’s findings, click on the documents below:


Last week, Mayor Bill Thunberg asked Husemann to revisit the policy – along with all the other town policies, procedures and operations.

But Carney quickly zeroed in on the ethics code, saying that elected officials from other areas have found themselves in “inappropriate situations” and “that doesn’t leave a good taste in the mouth of the citizens.”

The Code of Ethics addresses several topics, including conflicts of interest; duties to recuse, disclose, and cooperate; unfair use of town property; misuse of confidential information; improper gifts and fair and equal treatment.

“So much work was done” by a “very non-partisan ethics advisory committee” in 2005, Carney said last week. “A lot of the footwork has been done, and we need to take the recommendations of that committee and put (the Code of Ethics) in action.

“There was a unanimous recommendation from the committee to form a vetting system for ethical complaints against an elected official,” Carney added. “Everybody agreed to the premise and the idea of it. There’s no reason in the world not to have it.”

Carney said currently in North Carolina, “there’s no system, short of a felony, of removing unethical elected officials.”

If an elected official is found to have conducted himself unethically, said Carney, “Citizens shouldn’t have to hold their nose, waiting for the next election cycle. There certainly needs to be something done about that.”

Atkins said that the town’s adopted Code of Ethics remains in effect. However, he said, “If someone filed a complaint today, they can reference a code, but there’s not a formalized process in place even though (the ethics advisory committee) recommended it.”

He said he expects that Husemann and commissioners will review the Code of Ethics and the advisory committee’s findings and, sometime in the near future, vote on virtually the same recommendations that were presented to the town board in January 2006.

“When there is lack of confidence or mistrust, this will be a tool for the citizens,” Atkins said.

Mooresville police involved in chase; United Way of Central Carolinas fires its president

Here are two local news items that you may find interesting:

From WSOC-TV: A shoplifting suspect at Lowes Foods led Mooresville police on a chase yesterday. Click here for the story: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/17303172/detail.html

From WBTV 3: The United Way of Central Carolinas has fired its president, Gloria Pace King (http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=8902963), following two months of public scrutiny over the amount of money the organization paid King in salary and benefits (http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/06/united-way-presidents-salary-nearly.html).

What world are we living in?: Mooresville students begin taking home laptops this week

My youngest daughter is one of the rising sixth graders at Mooresville Intermediate School who is now the proud keeper of a brand-spankin’-new Apple MacBook.

We recently returned from the hour-long training session that accompanied the long-anticipated release of the coveted laptop.

The MacBooks are being sent home this week with MIS students – grades 4 through 6. They will be handed out to Mooresville High School students next week during classes.

Citing the growing usage of iPods and cell phones, MIS Principal Julie Morrow told us tonight that the Mooresville Graded School District is preparing students for the 21st Century.

“We are living in a digital world,” she said.

But all I could hear was Madonna. My mind flashed back to being about 9 years old, donning purple fingerless gloves, non-matching outfits with two different color socks, and a sideways ponytail tied up with a neon-green lace ribbon … parading around my living room, jumping up on chairs, singing “Material Girl” at the top of my lungs. I thought I was cool; I had the album in 12-inch vinyl.

And tonight, 22 short years later, there I was … sitting beside my 10-year-old daughter whose posture and angst during the one-hour “parent training session” resembled that which she holds during family Christmas meals that precede the opening of gifts.

I used to love summer breaks from school – swimming pools, kickball in dirt fields with neighborhood friends, staying up late enough to throw chains at bats and catch lightning bugs. My daughter, on the other hand, spent the better part of this summer looking forward to this week – the week before school starts – because that’s when she would receive her coveted MacBook.

I wasn’t so excited.

Parents have pondered many questions about the laptops, such as: How will $50 of insurance cover all the laptops that might be scratched, dropped or otherwise broken over the course of a school year? Will the students receive “zeroes” or “incompletes” for homework assignments that can’t be turned in if the computers crash? Who’s responsible if a laptop is lost or stolen? And perhaps the most important, at least to me: How will students’ Internet usage be monitored?

Is this “introduction” to the digital world introducing an unwelcome can of worms?

Answers to frequently asked questions can be found here: www.mgsd.k12.nc.us/16231081512531693/site/default.asp

I walked away from tonight’s informational meeting feeling a little more comfortable about the idea that my daughter will possibly forevermore leave in her dust the good ol’ days of paper and pencils … venturing out, instead, into a digital world that is, well, far beyond my world of comprehension.

“Students are digital learners,” Morrow said tonight, explaining that instead of students having to “power down” to go to school (translation: to go from computers at home, to pencils and paper at school), the laptops will help them “power up.”

“Engaging these students and making education relevant is critical for our schools to continue to effectively and fully prepare the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.”

(Quote from tonight’s presentation)

The laptops are wireless compatible and Blue Tooth capable (did I word that right?). Students’ MacBooks – unlike those provided to teachers – will not be able to play DVD movies, Morrow said … adding, however, that the students’ laptops do have the capability to make movies.

The laptops have about a 4.5-hour battery life – or more, depending upon how often the students keep them plugged into an electrical outlet.

Each student is also being provided a bookbag that offers a safe haven for the laptops, as long as the students:

• don’t leave them in extremely hot or bitterly cold cars
• don’t slam them down on the ground like my daughters tend to do once they return home after a long day at school
• don’t pile books or other heavy objects on top of them
• don’t mingle bottles of water or lunch with the laptops in the bookbag
• don’t allow pets or young children around the laptops (a challenge in and of itself for my daughter, who shares a house with two dogs and a two-year-old brother … along with an older sister who’s a little envious that middle-schoolers aren’t being sent home with laptops this year).

But at least the MacBooks feature titanium hinges, which we learned tonight are the strongest on the market. And that makes me feel happy and safe.

What truly did make me feel safe was seeing my daughter’s reaction to a brief, but very powerful, video that Morrow showed, demonstrating just how easily a faceless predator can convince a child to give up personal, identifying information over the computer. Morrow assured us, however, that students will not be able to access chat rooms or instant messaging on the MacBooks – and the only e-mail exchanges that the students can have are those between them and their teachers. At least for the time being, Morrow said, the MGSD isn’t allowing student-to-student e-mailing.

The MacBooks have pre-loaded software, including Pages (which is Word for those of us Windows users); Numbers (Excel); Keynote; iCal (a calendar); iTunes; iPhoto (which allows students to store and play around with photos) and iMovie (allowing students to make movies).

Morrow stressed to students and parents the Internet "code of conduct," insisting that Internet usage at school will be teacher-directed and used only for “educational research and activities.”

The school district strongly encourages parents to memorize their child’s usernames and passwords. Morrow also asked us to keep the MacBooks in a “common room” in the house … to make sure we establish time limits for Internet use … and to regularly check our child’s history of visited web pages.

Though the FAQ page on the school district’s website states that students’ history of visited web pages is “undeletable,” Morrow told us tonight that if we notice our child has no history of visited websites, then that means that s/he has deleted the history … which likely means s/he has been visiting sites that s/he knows better than to visit.

… I guess that also means that the history of visited web pages isn’t so “undeletable,” after all.

Noting that the “most important filter is parental supervision,” Morrow assured us that the laptops have “server-based filtering software” that filters websites based on content/keywords and also blocks specific websites – including “social networking” sites like MySpace and Facebook.

However, the code of conduct instructs students not to try to bypass the filter, which – at least to me – means it can be done. And if we’re teaching our children to live in the digital world, I’d be willing to bet that many of them will learn to bypass the filter – if they don’t already know how – within their first week with the new MacBook.

But, heck, I’m living in the material world, not the digital one, so what do I know?

I wanna know your thoughts on the MacBooks – are they a good idea or not? Why?

United Way president's salary nearly matches total contributions from Mooresville-Lake Norman area

Before you fill out your next pledge card for the United Way of Central Carolinas, you may be interested to know this:

Contributions from Mooresville and Lake Norman to the United Way of Central Carolinas’ 2007 campaign topped $1.4 million, according to a March 2008 United Way news release. That same year, the United Way of Central Carolinas paid its president, Gloria Pace King, more than $1.2 million in salary, expenses and employee benefits.

More specifically, the United Way of Central Carolinas – the parent organization of the Mooresville-Lake Norman United Way – gave King a $365,000 salary, a $35,000 expense allowance and contributed more than $822,000 into her employee benefit plan, according to the United Way's recently-released 2007 tax returns (http://www.uwcentralcarolinas.org/images/financials/990FY2007.pdf)

Citing King’s success as president, the United Way calls the salary justified. But the director of a charity watchdog group, the National Center for Responsive Philanthropy, calls the salary "excessive," according to a developing story on www.wcnc.com. For the complete story, click here: http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-062408-mw-unitedway.367dd22b.html)

New Report feature

As the blog grows, and more articles are posted, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for interested readers to keep up with new comments posted on older blog entries. Thanks to the suggestion of a reader, I've added (down and to the left) a list of all blog entries that have received new comments within the last week. I plan to update the list once a week.

If you have suggestions that will make the blog more reader-friendly, I wanna hear 'em. Please feel free to e-mail me at jgatton@windstream.net

Should we provide the additional $12.5 million for cable?

Share your opinion by voting in the Report poll, located to the left. The poll will be "open" until Monday, June 2, at 6 p.m., when Mooresville commissioners meet and are expected to vote on the additional estimated $12.5 million funding request from MI-Connection.

***

On a different note, it's now easier than ever to find the Report on the web. Go to http://www.thegattonreport.com, and you should be forwarded right here to the blog.

From Blog to Bloc: The Report hits 10,000

I will likely never forget the moment I became “empowered.”

It was a Wednesday in 2004. That morning, the Tribune had published my first investigative article detailing the results of a financial probe that exposed what our government officials and employees were spending to “wine and dine” on the backs of Mooresville taxpayers.

I was sitting in my car in the parking lot of Town Hall, nearly in tears, knowing that I needed to look through additional files … but realizing that just beyond those doors were some of the people named in my article. Being a non-confrontational person by nature (if you can believe that), I stared at the front doors of Town Hall for what seemed like an eternity, knowing that within moments I would be face-to-face with people who, that very morning, had grown to despise me. And the thought of that, quite frankly, petrified me.

I picked up my cell phone and called a trusted friend. On the phone with that person, right there in the parking lot of Town Hall, it hit me: I own this place. I help pay the salaries of every human being who earns his or her living in this building and wears a town emblem on his or her shirt – some of whom are the very people who spent hundreds of tax dollars on New York strip and lobster while I, and others like me, ate Ramen Noodles for dinner. Why am I petrified to face them? They should be petrified to face me!

In that very moment, I became empowered. It was a life altering moment, and nothing has been the same since. My deepest hope is that others in my community will find their own source of empowerment – and that one place that they find it is right here, in this blog.

Many have been surprised to hear this, but on March 3, I sent an e-mail to only two dozen friends and family members, announcing the creation of The Gatton Report. That was it. I have not advertised or promoted the blog – short of mentioning it in conversations. I truly wanted to gauge community interest in the kind of local-government watchdog news that’s provided here.

When the blog received its 10,000th hit just over two months from the day it was launched, it became abundantly clear that the people within our community and beyond are, in fact, hungry for such information … and for the opportunity to post their questions, comments and opinions without the fear of reprisal that has regrettably permeated our town for many, many years.

Also with the 10,000th hit, I realized that the Report – created solely out of my passion and conviction to inform, educate and empower taxpayers – no longer belongs to me. It belongs to you, the community. And finally, I realized that the Report is now more than “just” a blog. It’s a bloc – a coalition, a community, a movement.

That’s when I began to think: We need something to identify our bloc – a “brand,” a slogan, a mission statement. My intent was to have all that ready for the moment the blog received its 10,000th hit. However – and I’m certainly not complaining – I didn’t expect that moment to come – and go – quite so fast. In fact, as I type, the blog has received a whopping 11,325 hits. So much for “relishing the moment.”

Though I wasn’t able to develop everything I wanted to by the actual 10,000th hit, perhaps you noticed the most recent commemorative “facelift,” featuring the Report’s new “logo within a logo,” which ties in brilliantly with one of the slogans: Your Government Watchdog News, Delivered from the Underground.



What, exactly, is the “Underground”? Well, that’s you. I am simply the person offering to bring your information, concerns and grievances to the forefront and to serve as an arm between the taxpayers and our government.

A Report commenter, DocW, asked an interesting question recently when responding to a blog entry: “If a person is alone in the woods and they talk, is there any noise?” If it weren’t for you, I’d be here, behind my computer, typing to myself. Now, don’t get me wrong; I’d still be doing it. But it wouldn’t be half the fun as it is having you with me.

I have truly been humbled by the growth of this blog – and, more importantly, by the outpouring of community encouragement and support, from phone calls and e-mails to equipment donations and grassroots advertising. It is my honor to serve as a voice for our community’s growing population of active and awake citizens who expect openness, honesty and accountability from our government.

A huge thanks to each and every one of you who has made, and will continue to make, the Report such a success.

Sincerely,

Jaime

The Power Of One

“I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;

and because I cannot do everything,

I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

~Helen Keller

My dad, Joe Gatton, was only 50 years old when he died in a trucking accident three days after Christmas in 2006.

A lot of folks knew and loved my dad. Everywhere we went – even out of state – he always seemed to run into someone he knew. When he died, people stood in line for more than two hours at the visitation. And when we buried him on a cold, rainy New Year’s Eve, people showed up in droves at his funeral to pay respects to one single man who clearly touched the lives of thousands.

My dad was an avid Boy Scout leader. He was Scoutmaster of Troop 174 in Troutman for years before moving on to train Scout leaders. At a district Boy Scout banquet shortly after he died, a man said something about my dad that resonated with me. In a nutshell, he said that as a Boy Scout leader, my dad had impacted the lives of a vast number of boys in the Scouts program. But once he started training leaders, he had a direct impact on fewer people because, obviously, the number of leaders pales in comparison to the number of Scouts.

Then, the lesson: The man asked any Boy Scout leader who had taken a leadership training course under my dad to stand. And several people stood. Then he asked every Boy Scout who had been instructed by one or more of those leaders to stand. And almost every person in the room rose to their feet.

And that’s when it began to hit me – my dad touched the lives of countless people by touching the lives of a relative few. He lit one candle that went out and lit two that went out and lit five that went out and lit ten. And the number grew and grew and grew. But it all started with one single man. It’s not that he was any better, any more powerful, or any more righteous than anyone else. He just did what was his to do. That’s all.

I’ve come to realize in the past year that of all the traits my dad passed down to me, and of every lesson I learned from him while he was alive, perhaps the best thing he gave me – the greatest lesson he taught me – came after he was already gone.

The lesson is summed up beautifully in the words of Helen Keller, blind and deaf, who said: “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

The name of this blog bears my name – my father’s name – but that’s not because I am any better, any more powerful, or any more righteous than any other single person on this planet or in our community. I am simply one person, doing what’s mine to do. Yet, the greatest lesson I ever learned from the greatest man I ever knew is the power of that number.

The Gatton Report: an introduction

Anthropologist Margaret Meade once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Perhaps in no place has that been more evident the past several years than in my hometown of Mooresville, N.C. – a small but burgeoning suburb just north of Charlotte.

Seven years ago, most people who lived in Mooresville considered the town a quaint place to live with an effective government and employees who truly cared for the community and its taxpayers.

Then one day, a citizen who had become passionately involved in our public library started asking questions – namely, why our library was not profitable. Following many attempts by our then-public officials and town employees to silence her – and our local media’s diligent reporting of the issue – the town librarian was indicted on embezzlement charges.

And the number of citizens asking questions grew.

I became one of those people in 2003, when I started covering town government for a local community newspaper, the Mooresville Tribune. In my first three years on that beat, our local government handed the Tribune enough information to earn three consecutive Community Service Awards, the highest honor that the N.C. Press Association awards to a community newspaper.

The scandals unfortunately kept rolling, from the 2004 firing – and, thanks to public pressure, eventual reinstatement – of the current library director (who had replaced the former embezzling librarian), to the town government's October 2004 railroading of the expert opinions of our town staff in their recommendation to hire an engineering firm for our multi-million-dollar wastewater treatment plant expansion. In that case, our then-engineering director Richard McMillan and then-utilities-director Wilce Martin -- along with two other town engineers -- recommended one firm, Black & Veatch, but Mooresville’s then-town board chose to hire a different firm, CH2M Hill, admittedly because one of the firm’s officials is a Mooresville resident and had worked at one time at the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Two of the town commissioners failed to mention, however, that they attend church and are personal friends with that firm official.

In 2005, Mooresville commissioners hired a new town manager, Jamie Justice. After one year at the town’s helm, Justice fired McMillan and Martin. And shortly thereafter, the FBI launched an investigation into the process by which the Town of Mooresville hired CH2M Hill. Even as recently as last week, that case is apparently not closed.

McMillan and Martin have since sued the town for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy – a case that is scheduled for trial next month.

And in the meantime, our town board – which has experienced an almost complete overturn in commissioners since 2001 – recently asked for Justice’s resignation.

Justice’s last day as Mooresville's town manager was Feb. 3, 2008 – two years, to the day, after he fired McMillan and Martin.

The town has certainly experienced its fair share of natural growing pains and progress in the past decade. But many of the more behind-the-scenes, positive changes that we have witnessed during the past seven years have occurred because of an active, awake citizenry that believes in open, honest government -- and in holding public officials accountable for their actions and decisions.

And it all started with one person asking one question.

So, why a blog? I resigned from the Tribune in November 2006 to stay home with my son. But the "tips" didn't quit when I did. People in the Mooresville community are still hungry for information, and those with the information are looking for a way to put it into the hands of the press and the people.

While I am a firm believer in the power of the press, I know – due to deadlines, pressure from advertisers, etc. – that it’s tempting to “fall asleep at the wheel.” Just as frequently, perhaps mainly due to competition, I've noticed that the press can seemingly compromise its own code of ethics -- or at least carelessly push the envelope -- in an attempt to "get the scoop."

The people in the Mooresville community who appreciated my work at the Tribune will likely also appreciate the introduction and eventual content of this blog. Likewise, the folks who tried to put a lid on me and/or the newspaper during my time there will not be so happy.

Whichever you are, your voice matters to me. And it is my intent through this blog to provide information relevant to our everyday lives in Mooresville – and to foster open dialogue among and between our community’s residents.

I not only welcome but encourage your comments and feedback -- even, and perhaps especially, if they contrast with mine. As this is a forum for open expression and dialogue, I do not intend to edit comments. It goes without saying, then, that the opinions expressed by people in the blog do not necessarily reflect my opinions. Additionally, I ask that those of you who wish to post comments here “fight fair” and be respectful of one another. In the event that we have a difference of opinion, we can all simply and respectfully agree to disagree.

Do I expect to change the world with this blog? Absolutely not. But I do believe that it can and will help us keep our little corner of it clean.