"Your Endorsement is All That Matters"

I have been really struck this election cycle by the effort and money being spent by Ellen McAlpine and her "We Unite Cary" slate. I don't know how much as been spent by this group, but this is not typical of a Village Board election. From a slick website, to fliers, mailers, and signs everywhere to a podcast that began several weeks ago. And, they have enlisted the help of ex-Cary officials for a slew of endorsements that really is nothing more than a desperate attempt to cover up the mediocrity that has been the status quo of the Cary Village Board.

I have said this before: in regard to the Meyer Material fiasco, Jim and Kim have been stellar in their attempt to hold Meyer accountable. They sought out residents, they listened to the history of the pit.  And they fought to make it right by the residents of Fox Trails.

What did McAlpine and most of those people she has enlisted to provide "endorsements" for herself and her slate do about the Meyer situation? They rolled over. They gave Meyer time. They even over-turned the rules about resubmitting an application by a petitioner after being voted down by the zoning board. As a result, Meyer got a second chance at presenting to the board their reasons for wanting an extension. And guess who voted for overturning that rule for Meyer? It wasn't Covelli or Cosler.  And then, McAlpine gushed about how "great" Meyer Material was to the Village of Cary.

Give me a break.

Kim and Jim have been instrumental in holding Meyer material to the deal. They have been instrumental in eliciting feedback from residents. They take their jobs very seriously and have agonized over decisions but ultimately made those decisions based on the promises that they made and the feedback they received.



And the "We Unite Cary" crowd has been going on and on about how Kim and Jim said no to a $60,000 anonymous donation to the Village. They even made a video, describing Kim and Jim as the "party of no." Kim and Jim acknowledged that the donation was generous but, in the end, did the right thing:  when you stand up for transparency, anonymity is wrought with potential problems. There was no other answer but no.

And anyone who believes in the integrity of government would agree.

And that's what Kim and Jim bring to the Village Board:

Integrity.

A belief that the residents have a voice.

And an unwavering belief in standing up for what is right, even when they know that others will use it to tear them down.

That is leadership.

And that is why they deserve our vote on April 2.

A little about Mark Kownick and "Integrity"

The elections in Cary are right around the corner.

And all over the village are signs for Mark Kownick that ironically proclaim him to be the candidate of integrity. On his website, he "fact checks" the whole Meyer Material issue and, as usual dismisses and undermines the actual facts in regard to Meyer Material.

On that page, he takes credit for the mining agreement and paints it with such positivity that anyone who has attended the meetings within the last year would find laughable.

Here is what Mark Kownick doesn't say on that page:

• When Meyer approached the Zoning Board with a request for an extension, the Zoning Board voted it down in February of 2016
• As a result, Mark Kownick demoted the Chairman of the Zoning Board, Joe Tournier, and didn't inform the other trustees of this action
• When the Meyer Material petition went to the Village Board in May of last year, it was voted down
• The Mayor and several other Village Trustees (Dudek and Chapman, in particular) then worked to give Meyer a waiver to re-present a plan to the Village despite the mandatory one-year waiting period. That waiver was granted in October of 2016 with the Kownick making the tie-breaking vote to allow the waiver
• The ZPA meeting for the new Meyer petition was scheduled before that waiver was granted
• The new agreement says that the $1.5 million in the land conservancy fund that Meyer was required to fund no longer needs to be used by the Village for the land after Meyer stops mining 

During this whole process, the Mayor was instrumental in subverting the democratic process. He so wanted Meyer to continue mining that he worked to get that waiver in place and get a Village Board vote as quickly as possible before this Village election.

During this whole process, every meeting involving Meyer Material was highlighted in the Cary News blast.

Except one.

That's right: this mayor who boasts of "integrity" oversaw an administration that did not, for the first time, publicly announce the meeting for the Meyer vote in its weekly news blast.  As a result,  few people came to denounce the plan. In fact, more Meyer employees were there to talk about how great Meyer Material is.

And, as usual, the Mayor voted for Meyer and now takes credit for it on his website.

So much for integrity.