At the end of the March 11th meeting of the BOC, Mayor Murray clarified the facts regarding the plan to install the former mayor as Town Manager. Showing true leadership, he stepped out of his comfort zone to confront this recent source of division on the board. With grace and sincerity, but without avoiding the hard truths, he appealed to all concerned and pledged to work with everyone on our town’s pressing issues.
An important revelation was that the following statement was a leaked draft that did not reflect his true sentiments:
The draft had been enthusiastically propagated in an attempt to discredit Commissioners Daunt and Wedra. Sadly, it is still portrayed that way on Commissioner Hall’s website.
Most importantly, Mayor Murray also revealed that he had received an email from Commissioner Wesolek in which she had taken responsibility for suggesting the plan to appoint the former mayor.
If you want a short version, watch the video at the top of this page. If you would prefer the full speech, click play on the embedded video below. Scroll down for text only.
There has been a lot of buzz, online and now in real life about a blog post made by Commissioner Daunt and videos posted by Commissioner Wedra.
Mayor Robert Murray III
I’ll start with the facts, presented in order.
On Tuesday February 25th, during a closed session, a motion was made that shocked staff and commissioners alike. This motion caused a very heated debate but was eventually retracted and removed from consideration.
On Friday February 28th I received a phone call from a trusted member of our staff saying Commissioner Wesolek asked if they could appoint Ron Pappas as an interim town manager. This caused even more concern. This idea could have been easily dismissed, had it not been for the events that occurred during closed session.
We all know that we live with a divided board. A board that, when not voting unanimously, will vote in a predictable 3-2 fashion. So, when one commissioner suggests something, it’s natural to think that their side of the dais will vote to support that suggestion. Therefore, it was assumed that the comment of one was supported by the others.
On Tuesday March 4th Commissioner Daunt exposed what appeared to be a plan to install the former Mayor as the interim town manager. Commissioner Wedra followed closely with a video of her own.
These posts were created to address the question and possibly prevent this from happening. As the minority members of the board, Commissioner Daunt and Wedra do not have the votes needed to control the direction of the town when the majority members vote together. Therefore, it is necessary for them to gather the support of others, the public.
On Wednesday March 5th I put together a press release to try and address the firestorm created by this post. With the help of our Communications team and Mayor Pro Tem we crafted a press release that would calm the citizens and put things to rest. A draft of this press release was shared with the board and executive staff members. After re-considering some of the language within the press release, I pulled it back before it was made public. Despite my efforts to adjust the language before being published, a hastily shared draft started circulating the internet by commissioner Wesolek in an attempt to mislead the public. The draft being shared online does not accurately reflect the statements made by me as we were working through the verbiage. The press release contained a quote, I felt the quote was inaccurate so I changed it to better reflect my voice.
Why are people sharing this draft? Because it used the word “misinformation”. This was taken by some to mean Commissioner Daunt and Commissioner Wedra were spreading misinformation, or simply, they were lying. That is not the case. These commissioners were sharing information gained from trusted sources. Since these posts have been published, I have received an email from Commissioner Wesolek where she admits to placing the call to a staff member and takes responsibility for being the source of this idea.
It has been suggested by many in the staff that one of us should have simply called one of them, to clarify what was meant by this phone call. Well, let me provide a little background that helps to explain why that didn’t happen.
From day one we have been attacked. We came onto this dais with an open hand, ready to work together, ready to find common ground. But not everyone shared a desire to work together. From my first days on this job we’ve been called puppets, fools and racists, a particularly vial accusation that resurfaced only a few weeks ago.
We came into office wide eyed and inexperienced. That seemed to make us look like easy targets. Well, we haven’t been so easy. Right after we were sworn in there was a plan to strip me of the right given by CRTPOs Memorandum of Understanding. According to the MOU the mayor, as chief elected official, serves as the primary delegate to the CRTPO board and has the authority to appoint an alternate. On our first meeting agenda there was an attempt to strip that authority by making these appointments seem like elected positions, decided by a vote of the board when in fact, they are not. This is clearly spelled out in the CRTPO MOU, one would think the more experienced members would know this fact as it was plainly stated in prior board meetings.
A month and a half later the mayor pro tem implied that we violated open meetings law with an email exchange. An accusation that had to be silenced by the town attorney saying, “We should stay away from things that can get the town in trouble”. Not long after that I was accused of not representing the town appropriately as a CRTPO delegate, so a resolution was pushed upon me, demanding my cooperation while I was actively attempting to gain the support of neighboring communities. As if anyone could fix a 30 year-old problem in only 6 months.
These are not the actions of a board that is willing to work together. A series of attacks, be they individually or coordinated have made it very difficult to reach across the dais. These attacks have made me and the other board members very suspicious and very hesitant to trust.
But I would like to move past this, once and for all. So, I pledge to everyone here today, if I have a question or concern about something before the board, I will call. I will make the call to anyone at this dais and ask how we can work together to resolve critical issues. Mayor Pro Tem Brenda McMillion and I have already agreed to work together to finalize the details of our new town manager’s employment contract. I have also reached out to Commissioner Hall to better understand the needs for a Food Pantry here in Waxhaw, designed to serve ALL residence. And in a few short months the debate will begin about tax rates, revaluation results and budgets. I am willing to work to put this mess behind us. I strongly encourage, I truly hope that all of the dais can take a breath, find some calm and put this mess behind us. There are some massive issues in front of us. We will all need to work hard and come together to ensure we are providing the best possible representation for the people of Waxhaw.
May God bless all of us at this dais. May God bless our dedicated staff who serve Waxhaw every day. And may God bless all the beautiful people of Waxhaw.
Thank you