I was in several stores over the weekend and the buzz around town was about the big news story concerning the town manager. I heard people express shock about his past, as well as disgust that he was in charge of the police department.
I also heard one old man at the local chicken place say that he know'd there would be retaliation against the people that brought it up, even though they was just telling the truth.
What do you think? Was the Chief of Police right to take his concerns to Sheriff Gaddy?
My personal opinion is that he was not only right, but he should have done it sooner.
If there is any retaliation against his job, and the town council doesn't do something then there is a serious problem here.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Buzz around town
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25 comments:
Brookneal Blogger said: If there is any retaliation against his job, and the town council doesn't do something then there is a serious problem here.
NEWSFLASH-----THIS JUST IN-----
Hell is preparing to freeze over. Sources tell us that the Brookneal town council is going to take their town manager situation seriously....They plan to demote interim town manager, J. Michael Crews, to public works and reduce his pay to its appropriate level. Mr. Crews will lose all access to the town vehicle and will lose all use of town owned equipment for personal endeavors. Sources also tell us that the Mayor is planning to publicly and privately denounce any and all retaliation against the Brookneal Police Chief for blowing the whistle on the Town Manager. Mayor Campbell is expected to seriously discipline any employee caught retaliating by terminating their employment with the town.
NEWSFLASH---THIS JUST IN-----
Hell has cancelled their freeze warning. Since we first reported this story it has been discovered that the Mayor and four other council members were apparently born without a backbone making them incapable of standing for anything. We apologize for any inconvenience our previous news report may have caused.
----AGAIN, THERE IS NO CHANCE OF HELL FREEZING OVER AT THIS TIME!----
Anonymous,
You almost made me snort green tea out my nose I was laughing so hard.
Seriously, I wish the first part was true!.
I also hope no one is stupid enough to engage in retaliation against the C.O.P. because that would be a violation of the Whistleblower's Act.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
http://thehorsediary.blogspot.com/ (updated 4-13-2008)
anonymous, you made my morning! I was all excited for the town of Brookneal and then... it's just a joke. I've been so busy with work and family I have missed out on the show there in Brookneal for several days. Anyone in jail yet? The mayor run off to South America with the towns treasury? Come on folks, I need some entertainment.
anonymous you are too funny! You know the mayor is not going to do anything to one of her "pets". if he's trying to get the chief in trouble for doing the right thing then shame on the mayor and the council for letting him. how long is this town going to be ground under her heel? she needs to resign.
is anyone interested in running against her?
i don't know why all of you are surprised. the mayor has done some bad stuff since she was alected. she has tickets for her friends pulled and there taxes adjusted. if you are her friend you get specil treatment, if you are her enemy she tries to ruin you
What is up with All of you people bashing the mayor?? How about you do it for a couple of days and see what it's ike its not that easy. The mayor is a good woman and she is doing all she can for the town. The town manager may have had some slip-ups in the past but that was 20+ years ago.
anonymous (the last one that posted)~~~~
Whether you know it or not, you hit the nail right on the head. Mayor Campbell is doing the best "she can." Problem is...that's not good enough. Not even close!!
She plays favorites, which she campained against. If you are in her "inner circle," which you must be, then you will be fine. But God help you if you lose your usefulness to her or if you cross her.
Try stepping outside of her circle and see what happens to you. Then you'll be singing a different tune!!
anonymous #3
the mayor is an incompetent power mad snob. she treats the average person like crap and her friends like they are special. if anyone else was caught speeding she wouldn't say nothing, but when one of her doctor friends was speeding and got caught she threatened to fire the police officers unless they pulled the ticket.
she thinks it is okay to have a convicted felon in charge of a police department. on what planet in what galaxy is this ever a good idea?
the only thing she is qualified to do is water those stupid flower pots on main street. Other than that she has broken more ethical rules than any of our previous mayors. most of the eomployees can't stand her, and most of the residents can't either.
so the residents dont like her but she was elected to be mayor?? All of her employees seem to like her except Laurie Francis and Mrs. Meisenbach, so i don't know where you got that from. I have no idea where you got the idea that she pulls tickets for her "doctor" friends at.Do you have proof or are you just rambling on? so just because I think sh'e doing a good job i must be in her "inner circle" which must be a lot of people then. If you don't appreciate her watering the plants then why don't you do it, yea that's what i thought??
"so the residents dont like her but she was elected to be mayor?? "
She didn't have anyone running against her! Moron!
Yep, inner circle.....
ell if everyone has aproblem with her then why dont they run aganist her..or are they afraid they will lose... ok so you must be on the outside and just so you know she doesn't have an "inner circle"
Vaneeta...is that you???
NO ITS NOT...
Hmmm…maybe all of the anonymous posters are the same person. LOL
Look, in all fairness to Mayor Campbell, she does present herself well. She came into the office of Mayor as the wife of our local, well respected doctor. She had established herself as a candidate for change. She was no longer going to play favorites and the town was going to prosper under her administration. But something went terribly wrong folks. Mayor Campbell did not live up to her promises. She changed. For what reason, I don’t know, but she did. I’m not saying this to bash her; I’m saying this as someone that does/did know her quite well. Heck, I even campaigned for her in the past.
For the life of me I can not comprehend why she so vehemently defends Mike Crews, no matter what he does. He has done so many unethical things while employed for the town of Brookneal that it makes my head spin just thinking about it. Yet Mayor Campbell continues to stick her head in the sand instead of doing what is right, what is best for the town as a whole. I guess that’s where my biggest problem with her lies. Instead of making the tough choices so that Brookneal can grow and move forward she chooses to think of only a small few, those that are her friends, defenders, her “inner circle.” You can claim she doesn’t have one but that would only indicate to me that you are sadly not a part of it.
As for the speeding ticket that she “tried” to have pulled. That is absolutely, 100%, true! If you do not believe me then ask Chief Cousins. Ask Chief Cousins if you can see the report/complaint that he filed against the Mayor and hand delivered to each and every council member. Not only did Mayor Campbell ask, no DEMAND, that the ticket be pulled she attempted to intimidate the Chief by implying that his job might be in jeopardy if he didn’t comply. Thank goodness Chief Cousins has/had more integrity than that. In the end, the doctor in question did the right thing and paid the ticket. I believe he would have done it anyway and was just upset, as any of us would be, that he was ticketed. But the fact remains that Mayor Phyllis Campbell did cross the line then and has continued to do so on many, many occasions.
There is a reason that most of the major political offices have term limits. This administration is proof of why that is. Mayor Campbell, it’s time for you to step down, while you still have some dignity left.
Mayor Campbell did not have the ticket pulled, all she did was go and talk to the police officer and asked him about the incident. This being after he confronted her about his feelings on the issue. He paid the ticket in the end and instead of focusing on the bad why don't you look at some the things she has done to help the town. Look at all the grants the town has gotten since she has been in office and the day in the park has been going on ever since she was elected mayor.
Were you there?
I talked to all parties involved at the time. I heard Mayor Campbell rant and rave that the ticket had better go away. I have FIRST hand knowledge of what happened. Believe what you want, but it DID happen. Just the way I said. Ask the chief since you won't believe me! You are right, the ticket was not pulled, but she certainly attempted to do so.
Oh, I tell you what, ask the commonwealth attorney as he was consulted on this matter.
There are obviously a great many things that you do not know. You are being fed information by someone that wants you to see things one way only. There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Again, I have nothing personal against Mayor Campbell. But facts are facts and the fact is, she is ineffective as Mayor.
anonymous said: "Look at all the grants the town has gotten since she has been in office and the day in the park has been going on ever since she was elected mayor."
Okay, let's take a look at the "misinformation" you are carrying around, shall we?
1) Grants - Yes the Mayor is in office and yes the town has received a few large grants recently. (That is good news for the town!!) However, you seem to want to give the Mayor the credit, as though she had anything to do with that. What a disservice to all of those hardworking people at the regional commission who have spent years researching, filling out forms, schmoozing the right people, etc. in order for Brookneal to get these grants. The Mayor did not even find these grants, this was done by others. She did show up and sign the papers though and she will be there when any photo ops are available (as well she should, she is the Mayor). But let's give credit where credit is really due, k??
2) Day in the Park: Yes the Day in the Park (now called Day in the Town) has been going on since Mayor Campbell has been in office. However, you seem to be under the impression that she started this event. You couldn’t be more wrong! Day in the park was the brain child of former town manager Danny Inge. The first Day in the Park was held at the baseball/recreation park when Ronny Cox was still Mayor, Beth Elder was still Clerk/Treasurer, and Danny Inge was still Town Manager. It was moved to the main street area during the town's Bicentennial and received such a good response that it has been held there every year since. So the Mayor had nothing to do with Day in the Park/Town other than showing up and continuing the tradition/great idea started by others.
Oh, and let me add that Catherine is right about the ticket incident. It was all over town at the time. Were you hiding under a rock??
Now, please come up with something else the Mayor has done for Brookneal. Really, I want to know what it is. I’ll be on Main Street watering the flowers. See, it’s not that hard.
ok sure whatever you say. She was the one that got the grants for the town. So i don't know where you have been getting your facts from. Catherine Earnshaw said," I have FIRST hand knowledge of what happened." So if that is true then you were standing there watching them have this conversation? Or did someone tell you that is what happened. Because if they did then you only heard what someone told you which may not be entirely true.
anonymous said:
"Catherine Earnshaw said," I have FIRST hand knowledge of what happened." So if that is true then you were standing there watching them have this conversation? "
Yep, sure was. Anymore questions?
So you heard them have the whole conversation??
Anonymous said...
"So you heard them have the whole conversation??"
Yes, I heard the whole conversation that took place when I was there, from beginning to end. The things that I have stated were the things that I heard or saw first hand. Not silly rumors floating around town.
I don't know how much more clear to make it. It seems that you are determined to believe what you have heard second, third, or even fourth hand no matter what anyone says. So be it.
It is my understanding that there were more conversations about this but I can only relay what I actually heard. What I heard with my own ears is what I've told you here.
I was, however, told by parties involved what took place in other conversations. But you wouldn't believe that as it's hearsay. My hearsay isn't as reliable as your hearsay...right? Even if it comes from parties directly involved.
I also saw and read the complaint/report that the Chief wrote up and delivered to the council. (By the way, he was only acting chief at the time) Why would the chief risk his job by making up alegations against the mayor?
Just food for thought. Not everything is as it seems.
I said it earlier, I don't hate the Mayor. There's no room in my life for hate. But be aware, she's not all that she appears to be either.
Now, I ask you the same question, were you there? I was and I stand by the truth of what I heard and saw. Even if it falls on deaf ears and blind eyes.
Anonymous said...
"ok sure whatever you say. She was the one that got the grants for the town. So i don't know where you have been getting your facts from."
I think the more pertinent question is where are YOU getting YOUR facts from. You keep asking everyone else what their source is, so fess up. What's YOUR source? Do you have proof??
Yeah, that's what I THOUGHT! ROFLMAO!!
Hey, I've got some beach front property in Arizona I'm looking to sell. Interested??
Anonymous on April 21, 2008 3:55 PM
wrote: >>All of her employees seem to like her except Laurie Francis and Mrs. Meisenbach,
Let's get one thing straight: I am not now, nor have I ever been, the Mayor's employee. I am an elected official, whether she or anyone else likes it or not.
>>have no idea where you got the idea that she pulls tickets for her "doctor" friends at.Do you have proof or are you just rambling on?
I know first hand about the speeding ticket, from the officer that wrote it, and from the acting Chief of Police. I also know that Neil Vener did tell her that the ticket could not be pulled because he told me so himself when he and I spoke on the phone. There is no reason for him to make up anything about this incident.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
http://thehorsediary.blogspot.com/ (updated 4-20-2008)
anonymous on April 22, 2008 4:46 PM wrote
>Look at all the grants the town has gotten since she has been in office and the day in the park has been going on ever since she was elected mayor.
Day in the Town was going on when I moved here in April of 1999, which is 3 years before she became mayor.
The grants were brought on and suggest by the regional commission. I'll clue you into something else: the water works stuff we're doing now was supposed to be finished PRIOR to 2005. It simply was not started under the previous mayor and town manager and then was ignored when we had J. Williams. Had the state wanted to they could have fined us into oblivion for not getting our water system fixed when all the other towns in VA were under mandatory order to upgrade. These are problems that were known about and IGNORED well before I came on council. Now we're struggling to catch up.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
http://thehorsediary.blogspot.com/ (updated 4-20-2008)
How can Brookneal have a town manager who is a convicted felon? And no way should he be in charge of any law enforcement agency. And he wants a raise? PLEASE! How about hiring someone who is actually qualified and has the education for being a town manager and not some hoodlum.
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