The Guilford County Board of Elections has received a formal request for an investigation into irregularities in the way the $1.7 billion bond and the quarter cent sales tax increase referendums are being promoted by Guilford County.
The letter from attorney Chuck Winfree with Adams & Winfree is on behalf of former Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson, who is a Republican candidate for the at-large seat on the Board of Commissioners.
North Carolina General Statute 153A-456 states, “A county shall not use public funds to endorse or oppose a referendum, election or a particular candidate for elective office.”
The county can provide informational material and individual commissioners are of course free to say whatever they want about referendums.
Winfree states that it appears, “Guilford County is expending taxpayer funds and other government resources to promote a viewpoint favoring the passage of both referenda.” Winfree notes that there is a link on the official Guilford County website that directs people to “information” about the school bond and, “This link presents the viewer with an entirely unbalanced discussion of the bond, accentuating the needs and downplaying the costs of the bond. There is no discussion of the hundreds of millions of dollars that the County will be obligated to pay in interest and other costs associated with the issuance of the bonds.”
Winfree also states that he has been informed that a mailing promoting the bonds was “apparently” sent out by Guilford County and that he had been told that school principals held mandatory meetings with teachers to direct them to work for the passage of the bonds.
Winfree asks that the bond counsel be notified over the concerns expressed because “my client is concerned that bonds issued pursuant to any resulting bond order would be subject to collateral attack.”
The letter was also sent to the North Carolina Board of Elections, the NC state treasurer and the North Carolina state auditor.
Smells like something Skip would dream up.
NO FOR NOW – Why would we give GCS and a Superintendent $1.7 BiLLION who has not formally resigned and still holds emergency powers to sign all vendor contracts without oversight???????
I am a GCS parent and this is the email I received last night at 6pm:
Good evening. This is Guilford County Schools calling to remind you that early voting starts tomorrow, April 28.
The ballot will include a proposal for a school bond that will address critical safety and maintenance needs in our schools. Guilford County Schools currently has more than $2 billion in facility needs, including more than $800 million in deferred maintenance. The ballot will also include a question about a fraction of a penny sales and use tax, which will help keep property taxes low and spread the cost of the bond to those who visit Guilford County.
Learn more at SchoolBondFacts.com. Then please cast your vote on or before May 17, making sure to complete your entire ballot. Thank you and have a great evening.
NOW Contreras is promising pay raises and maintenance – we gave GCS $300 million – why haven’t they started on maintenance already??? And as for pay raises – when the schools were closed and they saved tons of money and received extra money for COVID – why didn’t they give pay raises then? Why did the teachers have to beg for bonuses that other school districts received?
FIX THE LEADERSHIP FIRST —— THEN talk about money – once the NEW Board reviews and AUDITS what’s been going on!
Stuff’s finally about to get real.
They use the money they have taken from us to promote the confiscation of even more of our money.
It’s disgusting.
Government is greed.
I got the bs mailing the other day and thought to myself, I wonder if this is coming directly from the county or some leftist interest group. Guess it might just be coming from the county. I would love nothing more than to see this get yanked off the ballot. The sheeple around here don’t understand that we gave them like $300 mil just a few years ago and they completely squandered it.
Every dollar extorted from us reduces our Liberty by that much.
SOME slightly more evolved human beings don’t need a dollar in their pockets or a possession to their name in order to feel “liberated” from the fear of being without. The universe gives us all equal opportunity to choose our feelings, desires and destinities. You are as rich or as poor or as free or as constrained, physically, emotionally and spiritually, as you THINK you are, and the fear radiating from these op-ed letters would gag a buzzard.
Fishbreath, it’s not about fear it’s about doing what is legally right with taxpayer money. Also having principals meet with teachers and telling them they have to show support for this bond no matter how they feel is wrong in so many ways. Up yours carpetbagger go back north and spout your liberal socialist nonsense somewhere else.