THE LAST TIME STONY RUSHING WAS A COMMISSIONER I am sure hes different now, but how different? Are you willing to gamble after the current BOCC? Whats the saying, A Leopard cant change his spots? Shalati accuses two commissioners of undermining county By PETER J. HOVANEC - MONROE (Mar 5, 2004) County Manager Mike Shalati has accused Commissioners Stony Rushing and Clayton Loflin of undermining public interests, making self-serving decisions and pressing personal agendas that have eroded staff morale and could have cost taxpayers millions. Loflin and Rushing call the accusations baseless and say they may sue. In a Feb. 9 memo to Chairman Paul Standridge, Shalati sharply criticized the actions of Commissioners Clayton Loflin and Stony Rushing. Shalati detailed actions by the two that he feels were political and not in the best interest of the county residents. Mr. Chairman, it has been extremely difficult for me and our staff to work in this extremely political, self-serving situation by two of our Board members, Shalati wrote. We have and continue to work hard for our citizens; however, we find ourselves under a lot of pressure by some who must have other priorities in mind than to only serve this County and its citizens. Shalati outlines a chain of events that include everything from free health insurance and the purchase and sale of land, to the Wal-Mart problems and the school board mediation last year. Shalati also chides the Loflin for problems dealing with the solid waste disposal contract as well as the recent troubles with determining a waste water treatment option. Among Shalatis accusations are: • Claims that Loflin pressed for land purchases for the Jesse Helms Park at $7,000 an acre. The county was able to negotiate a $5,000 an acre purchase price. • Loflin urged sale of county property on Crescent Road to a developer for $3 million. The county later sold the property for $6.5 million. • Loflin and Rushing undermined budget negotiations with the School Board last year, forcing the dispute into mediation only to reverse their position at the last minute and agree to add $2.1 million to the budget. • Loflin has publicly called for a sewer extension moratorium, but privately has urged county staff to extend sewer lines for certain developments. • Says Loflin privately pushed for free health insurance for county commissioners and then publicly denied doing so, claiming to have opposed it from the start. • Loflin and Rushing have accepted gifts from developers -- including tickets to Carolina Panther games -- have lobbied county staff on behalf of developers. As I have discussed with you on several occasions over the past three months, Mr. Rushing has been lobbying for the Sheaffer system in lieu of a treatment plant since this would be helpful to the farmers, Shalati wrote. Mr. Loflin has been trying to help Sheaffer secure funding for the purchase of the facility since the company was having difficulty initially securing their own funding to construct the facility. Rushing argued that he had not been lobbying to build the Sheaffer plant and says Shalatis accusations are nothing but outright lies. While Shalati said he stands by everything he wrote 150 percent Loflin calls his accusations hogwash.. This is all a bunch of hogwash and a new low for even Mike Shalati. He has been trying to destroy my character and reputation since I exposed him for awarding an engineering contract to his former employer for $250,000, Loflin wrote. Now that I am pushing for a citizen oversight committee for the public works department, he has turned up the heat by trying to blame me for the health insurance fiasco, the over capacities at our waste treatment plants, the mishandling of Wal-Mart, the tax increases, the parking situation around the courthouse and other situations that I have questioned. Shalati also takes aim at Rushing and accuses him of repeatedly visiting the county personnel office and lobbying a lot for his wife, who worked for the county, to be moved to another job within the county. Rushings wife received the new position and instead of the posted salary of $21,000, was given her current salary of $23,000. This is really unfortunate that a Commissioner abuses his position for a personnel issue when the County could have filled the position with someone as qualified for the position for the listed salary of approximately $21,000, Shalati wrote. County personnel director Mark Watson said there were absolutely no improprieties with the hiring of Rushings wife and explained that she retained her current salary because the move was basically a lateral transfer and allowed to keep the salary because she had earned it while employed in her former position. As for the insult to my wife, who was a county employee before I was elected, our attorney will address that with Mr. Shalati, Rushing said in a written statement. I have been asking tough questions about the way sewer permits are issued and I voted for the citizen oversight of Public Works rather than having one man having the say over who is rewarded and who is punished. Mr. Shalati has warned me against crossing him and I didnt listen, Rushing said. Loflin said he is considering all his options before responding to the allegations from all involved in this obvious political charade, but also adds that he holds Standridge responsible as well for releasing the information. I too, am very disappointed in our chairman Paul Standridge for releasing this five-page memo from Mr. Shalati without one word to me or Mr. Rushing, Loflin said in a written statement. Loflin said he intends to pursue legal action against any and all individuals involved. Paul is culpable because he released the information knowing it was not true, Loflin said. Standridge said he released the information because the Freedom of Information Act requires it. This was not a vindictive move on my part. I checked with the county attorney to determine if this was a personnel issue and in his judgment, it was not, so it was made public, Standridge said. I did not create this situation. While Loflin was one of Shalatis supporters and even led the charge to bring him back to Union County, he has since changed his thinking. I have never been more wrong about any individual in my life and now I am convinced we fired the wrong man back in the early nineties, Loflin wrote. And the man supplying the facts then came from none other than Mike Shalati. I along with many others am starting to notice the similarities between then and the current attacks on Mr. Rushing and me. Rushing also added his disgust with Shalati. If the manager is telling the truth, Mr. Shalati, the staff, and I would be guilty of some pretty bad things, Rushing said. If Mr. Shalati is looking for votes to get fired, he had mine last September. While Loflin and Rushing dispute Shalatis claims, commissioner Richard Stone offered this concise statement: The E-mail clearly defines two parties who have betrayed the county.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 22:14:08 +0000
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