So people, how do you feel about the current situation with the Interim Town Manager?
He's a 3 X convicted felon and though he was not charged with handling the guns there still remain many questions as to his position running the town.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
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15 comments:
Hmmm...a Brookneal blog. This is a nice idea. Unfortunately, as you saw at WSET, those of us that don't live in the town might be told to mind our own business. LOL They'd have to roll up the sidewalks if we really did that.
As for Mr. Crews' convictions, I believe (as I stated before) that he should not be Town Manager. I know that people change and kudos to him if he has. BUT...you simply DO NOT put a convicted felon in charge of your PD, your money, and your federal grants. Heck, I don't even think a convicted felon should be given a government job at all. If it doesn't matter then let's just do away with background checks altogether. They really serve no purpose if they don't matter in the end.
I'm going to add one more thing. Why is it that Mr. Crews was not placed, immediately, on administrative leave while the ATF conducted their investigation? Yes he was cleared, but when the news first broke there was no guarantee of that. It seems there are one set of rules for Mr. Crews and one set for everyone else. I am sick to death of Mayor Campbell always defending Mr. Crews as if he poops angel dust and could do no wrong. I really wonder what the whole story is there? I'm just saying......
I am a lifelong resident of Brookneal. I worked in town for 30 years. I know most of the council members personally as well as the mayor. I was quite disappointed when I noticed that Interim Town Manager was noted in front of Mike Crews's name in The Union Star several months ago. What were they thinking????
I do not know Mike Crews. I have spoken with him once about an issue. I could tell he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he has a pleasing, affable personality.
For whatever its worth, I do not believe we should have horses housed in the town limits. That was allowed many years ago and can not be corrected at this point. We should definitely have a leash law for dogs. This should have been passed years ago. Pet owners should want protection for their pets. They should also respect the property of their neighbors. And lastly, I believe the town manager should have certain qualifications which I do not believe Mr. Crews has. Leaving him in the position is a "slap in the face" to the individuals who have served as town manager in the past. Now I do not want to relieve Mike Crews of his employment with the town. But I feel there are other jobs he could fill.
It was very poor judgment on the part of council members to allow this to happen. I know that lack of money was the motivating impetus for their action.
When Stacy Hailey was first arrested and charged with a crime, he should have resigned from council on his own. When that did not happen, someone on council should have recommended it to him. If you cannot make sound judgments in your own life, how can you do the same for the town of Brookneal?
Credibility is the issue in both of these cases. Hopefully, the Brookneal Town Council will take action to restore confidence in their ability to do their job.
Mr. Crews seems to feel he is exonerated. In reality he was not charged, THIS TIME. His keys have been taken, so he cannot get into the police department. Yet he claims that he will remain town manager.
How can this be the case?
Here is what the town charter says about the necessary qualifications of the town manager:
(a) The council may appoint a town manager who shall be the chief administrative officer of the town and shall be chosen solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications, and shall have some knowledge of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
SHALL be chosen solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications and SHALL have some knowledge of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
The Brookneal town charter is available online, it isn't aligning with what Mr. Crews and the Mayor seem to be saying about is qualifications.
Since when does Mr. Crews have any engineering degree? Does the council not see this as a problem.
( When I say council, I mean the council members who are pushing to keep Mr. Crews onboard. It is apparent that at least two of the council members think he needs to be replaced.)
Another thing to be considered: The Chair of the Personnel Committee is a former Police Officer with I believe FBI connections. How on earth could someone with those connections think putting a convicted felon over the police department a good
idea? This same person has stated in open meetings that he would like Mr. Crews's position as town manager to become permanent. WTF is he thinking? Oh wait he's not thinking. Instead he's waiting for the mayor to insert her hand in the back of his head and move his lips.
As for non-residents commenting: I created this blog for everyone with an interest in Brookneal to post. If residents don't like outside comments then they need to work to make sure that they clean up the town so there is nothing negative to comment on.
Hello,
It's great to see a blog devoted to Brookneal! This is a great little town. I have loved it dearly since moving here. I know it has problems, but I don't think they are things that can't be rectified.
I'd be happy to answer any questions about things of which I have knowledge. I do not know all of the inner workings of the town because certain information does not make it to all of the council members.
I can understand people's concerns and their frustrations, having experienced the same feelings myself.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
http://thehorsediary.blogspot.com/
Ms. Meisenbach,
I'm glad to see at least one council member have the guts to face the public and answer questions. Thank you for that!
Maybe at your next meeting you could ask the other council members why Mr. Crews has been allowed to repeatedly get away with things that others would have been fired over.
Lets see, from what I know from my many years in Brookneal...
1. Hit his supervisor, threatened his supervisor and yet was not fired.
2. He has repeatedly had problems getting along with people under his supervion. I believe Paul Francis quit because he could not stand Mr. Crews' ignorance and attitude any longer. Michael Colbert quit due to the same thing. Didn't they both get into shouting matches with Mr. Crews prior to quiting? Guess he's not a very good boss huh? And these are just two I know about. How many others are not public knowledge.
3. Accused of sexually harrassing your former clerk/treasurer.
4. Accused of sexually harrassing a former Wachovia Bank employee.
5. Illegally fired the former clerk/treasurer.
6. Drives his town issued vehicle for personal use. Frequently seen driving his family around in it.
7. Frequently takes care of personal business on town (taxpayer) time.
8. Check his house/home for town owned equipment taken for personal use. (lawnmower, computer, etc)
9. Was provided with paid training to get his water/sewer certification, which by the way was part of the requirements to be public works director and oversee the water plant. Failed it once, twice, three times... Guess he's not even qualified to do that job yet he can supervise those that are??
10. Now this whole embarrassing situation with the ATF, convicted felon running the town office, supervising the PD, handling money & grants, etc...
This is just the short list of what I can remember this late at night. I'm sure that there is much more that others know about.
Whether he should or shouldn't be fired is something for the town council to decide. But for heaven's sake, remove this man from the position of Town Manager and hire a real one.
Mike Crews wasn't even literate in his interview on WSET. Quoting Mr. Crews: "It states that the Mayor or the council may seek if possible if the manager needs to be bonded but there is nowhere saying that the town manager needs to be bonded" This is the big speech Mr. Crews prepared before his "press conference?" I guess Bill Gillespie couldn't figure out a way to do the talking for Mr. Crews without being seen on TV!! That hand sticking out of the back of Mr. Crews' neck moving his mouth would have been so obvious to the viewers!! Folks, Mr. Crews cannot do this job alone!
Is this the image you want representing Brookneal?
Anonymous,
Some of the issues you mention happened prior to my time on the council and I have never heard them mentioned at a council meeting.
Other issue you mention I am aware of and have spoken up about. The handling of the issue with the former clerk/treasurer was a debacle from the beginning. I did not vote to fire her, and I brought up the illegality of the interim town manager doing so.
I think the council needs to abide by our charter regarding our town manager. I think that any people handling money for the town need to be bonded, for their protection as well as ours.
I think we need to treat our employees equitably in regards to pay and insurance.
I think we need to make efforts to get rid of blight and clean up areas of the town. I have brought up adding a maintenance code several times and the council will not even look at it. We had state grant people come and tell us that it was recommended, and in some cases required, to have a maintenance code in place in areas we wanted to receive grant money for. Yet, once again, it is ignored and we have to do twice the work of other communities to get grants.
The biggest problem I see is the apathy towards attending council meetings and making your views known. If someone doesn’t come and speak up then issues get ignored. If I tell the Mayor I got a call about a concern she says “Well you sure get a lot of calls, no one ever calls me about this stuff”. (This is on tape at a council meeting)
Unfortunately the opposite is true in regards to supporting the poor behavior, or violating town codes etc. When the council members that are supporting issues, that are not in the best interests of the town, want to make a point they can round up followers and fill the council chambers. This is what happened at the last council meeting. Make a few calls and get your buddies to come sit in and try to intimidate the council into not taking action.
I can tell you that as a council member that has made a public stand against keeping our “consultant” on the payroll, not paying the other employees enough, and not giving a massive 10% raise to the current interim Town Manager, that once again the slander and flat out lies will come out in the community, started and fostered by the very same people that see nothing wrong with putting a felon in charge of the police department. The “rumor network” here is amazing, both in its stupidity and its transparency. It’s not like you don’t know who is spreading the lies.
As for myself: I continue to fight toward making sure all the employees are treated fairly, that the town image is cleaned up and toward getting new businesses to come to the Brookneal area. I love it here, despite the efforts of the hard-core grumblers to dislodge me, and I intend to continue working to keep Brookneal alive and thriving.
Tracy Meisenbach
www.trinityapp.com
http://thehorsediary.blogspot.com/ (updated 4-10-2008)
When you take into account the stupidity of some of the past council members it shows why the town has become so bad. The last council meeting had a classic example.
Former council member Tibbs says that previous councils can't be blamed because no action was taken on a leash law. Then admits when the motion was made no one seconded. If no one seconded it, Mrs. Tibbs, that means the council was too stupid or spineless to take action, so the lack of a leash law is directly the responsibility of the council. Are you sure you're qualified to be a librarian if you can't figure that out? And part of the financial woes the town is in are directly related to your, and the Mayor's, vendettas against the former clerk treasurer.
It's a shame the town can't get reimbursed for the legal fees that your actions caused.
Thanks, Ms. Meisenbach, for writing on this blog. Keep us informed of the truth. You seem to have a lot of common sense.
Hey Brookneal Blogger,
Thanks for the heads up and the link. Local politics don't differ much from national ones, except that when local politicians screw up it doesn't destroy the national economy. From the looks of things you have your own battles to fight and some corruption to root out.
Find out who the people are that are supporting the illegal activity and vote them out of office.
Voting them out would be nice. This year Richard Adams, Champ Nowlin and Stacey Hailey are up or election. The Mayor is also up again. I wonder if anyone will run against them. We need some new blood, and some brains on the council.
"If you cannot make sound judgments in your own life, how can you do the same for the town of Brookneal?" Great wisdom in just a few words. Folks, if you put a career criminal in charge of your town and you get robbed don't whine about it. It would be much the same as complaining that you picked up a snake and it bit you. Mr. Crews may have made some inroads on changing his past life and I would wish him well at it but your town is most likely gonna get bit. I am interested in knowing what his felonies were? Anyone have a list? I note several charges of sexual harassment, very nice.
Hmmm, no responses to my questions about his legal history? I did some asking around and came up with "He was convicted of distribution and possession of cocaine." Way to go town council, you just got yourself another lawsuit. I expect Brookneal to buy me a replacement lcd monitor. I have coffee stains all over the screen and my nose feels all funny after spewing said coffee thru it.
Really guys, you put a crack dealer/addict in charge of the PD and other town business? WTH were you all thinking of? Methinks your town council and mayor are using some pretty good drugs themselves when they say "Hey, let's put this crack dealer in charge of our PD? I think y'all owe your COP a pay raise or at a minimum buy the man a beer when you see him out on the street. If I were him I would have quit and let the town go to hell in a hand basket. That was a plain disrespectful act.
Tell y'all what. I am a retired USAF veteran. Served during 2 wars. I am within 20 hours of having an Industrial Engineering degree and my worst criminal offense is 63mph in a 45mph zone and a seatbelt offense. I was young and crazy back then. 65k a year and y'all pay for the move, I'll take the job. My daughter and her family are moving to the DC area so it could work out. I promise not to sell crack to your kids.
Anyone have any good news about Brookneal? It can't all be this bad.
no good news in town, stop by the local burgar place an you can catch up on it all, oh that;s right there is NEVER any good news from BROOKNEAL. all you hear is water bill going up,let's give the town manger a raise. soon everyone will need to leave brookneal to even survive!! no jobs no new business its a wonder the sucide rate isn't at the all time high for this town, but the rich contine to live well,take trips, shop, have brand new everything!!
"there is NEVER any good news from BROOKNEAL." Now there is a sad statement if true.
Tracy Meisenbach seems well thought, literate and not afraid to stick her 2 cents in on a public blog. None of the other council members or Mr Crews or the mayor have said Boo! in here. Must be safer to stay in the shadows for them? I was struck by her statement "The biggest problem I see is the apathy towards attending council meetings and making your views known." I've noticed that this old boy from EBGTX shows more interest in your town than any of it's citizens do, based solely on this blog. It's looking like Tracy is right. Your town is beset by apathy. Ya know, you can sit at home in front of your 'puter in your underwear with a cup of coffee and fire off letters to the editor, state and local officials and flood the local blogs with your views and demands. It's your town. It's up to you to take it back. Your elected officials are obviously not looking after the town's best interests, they have their own agenda. Just a guess but I think someone is drinking heavily at the public money trough. Complaining to your neighbors down at the local grocery store is a great way to pass the time but won't change anything. If you don't start doing something different, well, you're gonna keep getting more of the same old bad government. It's time to poke around in the storage shed and find your backbones people...or just sit back and let Brookneal's broken body bleed dry. Your kid's can always move to somewhere better when they turn 18.
If any of what I just said stirs some anger, great! You can direct it at me. I don't care, won't lose a bit of sleep over it. You'd be much better served to go to a town council meeting and direct it at the people who are letting your town slide into obscurity. I just had a great idea. The black folks gained much in Civil Rights by getting out on the streets and marching. It was not just given to them. Y'all need to march in front of City Hall. I could mail some West Texas tumbleweeds up your way. Put them on every other protest sign. It would be symbolic of what is happening to Brookneal. Good luck and will the last person who leaves please remember to turn out the lights?
Good words.
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