Macon County Commissioners Meeting Agenda September 9, 2014 Updated with video

**update 8:24am on 09-10-2014** The videos of the meeting are posted below.

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Full meeting

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Public Comment

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The Macon County Commissioners will be meeting tonight at 6pm. The public agenda and the press packet are posted below. I will be there and will be providing a live text play by play of the meeting on Facebook. After I edit and upload the video of gavel to gavel coverage of the meeting, I will embed it at the top of this post, so check by within 24 hours to see the meeting for yourself.

I will be attempting to add a second camera to the coverage if I can't find someone willing to cover a meeting that has been scheduled to take place at the same time this meeting is taking place.

MACON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
AGENDA

• Call to order and welcome by Chairman Corbin
  
• Announcements: NCACC Update Video
  
• Moment of Silence
  
• Pledge of Allegiance
  
• Public Hearing(s)-None
  
• Public Comment Period
  
• Adjustments to and approval of the agenda
  
• Reports/Presentations
  • Work First Electing County Plan for FFY 2016-19 - Jane Kimsey, DSS Director
• Old Business
  
• New Business
  • Macon County Public Health fee plan & billing guide....Jim Bruckner, Public Health Director
  • Medicaid Cost Settlement Funds & Consideration of Budget Amendment #31...Jim Bruckner, Health Director
  • Macon County Planning Board...Matt Mason, County Planner
  • Governor's Highway Safety Program 2014-2015 Grant...Sheriff Robbie Holland.
  • Legislative Goals...Kevin Corbin, Chairman
• Consent Agenda - Attachment #11
  All items below are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will be held except on request of a member of the Board of Commissioners.
  • Minutes of the August 12, 2014 and August 26, 2014 meetings
  • Budget Amendments #32 - #37
  • Tax releases
  • Monthly ad valorem tax collection report
• Appointments
  
• Closed session
  • Attorney-client privilege per NCGS 143-318.11 (a) (3)
• Adjourn/Recess

The agenda packet that is distributed to commissioners and the local media. Currently, Macon Media is the only news organization that provides a way for the general public to see these documents for themselves.

Commissioner Press Packet 09-09-2014 by Thunder Pig

CROWD FUNDING EFFORT

Please consider giving a dollar a month to my Patreon Campaign so I can can continue providing this service indefinitely and to add significant improvements that will blow your mind. :) Visit www.patreon.com/MaconMedia By giving a dollar amonth, you can gain access to updates that only patreon supporters get to see.

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Congressman Mark Meadows and Tom Hill Debate at WCU

Western Carolina University’s Public Policy Institute and Department of Political Science and Public Affairs sponsored a debate on the WCU campus between Congressman Mark Meadows and challenger Tom Hill last night and Macon Media was there to record it.

I've posted the full video and then broken it up into bite-sized portions and have posted them below so those of you who were unable to attend or watch online can see first hand what happened and make your own judgement about the proceedings.

I would like to acknowledge the public service of Western Carolina University, the Public Policy Institute and the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs, in particular Dr Chris Cooper and Dr Todd Collins for thier work in putting the debate together and Frank Fraboni of WLOS-TV for moderating the debate.

This one of three in a series of debates to be held on the WCU Campus this election season. Find out more about the series on the WCU website.

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Question #1

If elected, what will be the first piece of legislation you will introduce and how will it affect the citizens of the 11th district?

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Question #2

Is income inequality a problem, and what role, if any, should the US Congress play in alleviating the problem?

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Question #3

Would you vote to raise the debt ceiling? Why or why not?

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Question #4

How will you balance the claim of being fiscally responsible with bringing federal dollars to the district?

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Question #5

Directed at Congressman Mark Meadows:

What was your role in the government shutdown?
If you had it to do all over again, is there anything you would change about that action?

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Question #6

Directed at Tom Hill:

Why should the voters elect someone with your lack of experience in elected office and your relatively advanced age?

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Question #7

What role, if any, should the US Congress have in stopping internetional terrorist organizations, such as ISIS?

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Question #8

Is the Ukrainian situation a threat to the USA, if so, how should we respond?

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Question #9

What should the role, if anything, of the US Congress in preventing tragedies and ensuing riots in situations like what recently happened in Ferguson, Missouri?

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Question #10


Please clarify your position on the Affordable Care Act.

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Question #11

What is your stance on fracking and what should the role of the US Congress be in the debate over fracking?

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Question #12

Closing statements by the candidates

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2013 Election Results Infographic: The Pie Chart Edition

Those of you who know me know how much I love the opportunity to express data in visual formats, like charts and maps and so on. So, here are a series of graphs showing the results of Tuesday's election in visual terms.

Most of the pie charts should be self-explanatory, but I added a brief description below most of them anyway.

Mayor Results




Vote split between the different Aldermen. People could vote for a maximum of three candidates in this race.


Voter Turnout expressed as a percentage.


Voter participation in the Aldermen races. There are 2618 registered voters and there was a maximum number of 7854 possible votes in those races, so if someone only voted for one or two Aldermen, there other votes still counted as not participating in the election.

Voter participation in the Mayoral race. I counted the three write ins as not participating because the votes were not cast for a declared candidate.

Votes by method of voting in the Mayoral race:

Votes by method of voting in the Aldermen races (in order of finish):

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Today is Election Day in Franklin Scroll Down for Updates

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TODAY
POLLS OPEN 6:30AM TO 7:30PM

Today is election day and I'll be in town from 6am until probably after 9pm today and will be providing updates throughout the day on social media using the hashtag #FranklinNC on Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

I will also be adding updates here from time to time today, so if you don't use social media, please check this article every couple of hours or so.

I have several friends in the local races for Mayor and Aldermen seats on the Franklin Town Board and I would like to see them all win, even if there are more of them than there are available seats. The ones that don't win tonight, I'd like for them to keep in mind that there will be three Aldermen seats open in 2015.

ELECTION DAY WEATHER FORECAST

Perfect voting weather today with mostly sunny with highs in the 60s and light winds. For those of you who are registered to vote in Franklin and Highlands...there is no excuse not to vote today. Unless you voted early.

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UPDATES


Updates will be posted in reverse chronological order so you won't have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see if I have posted anything new.

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Update #4 Blogger won't let me add the update to this post, so click here to see the fourth update.


Update #3 4:00pm

I spent about an hour at the town hall this afternoon and conducted an exit poll, but will not be releasing the results until the polls close at 7:30pm tonight.

39 people voted in the hour I was there and 252 so far had voted as of 3:20pm this afternoon. Many of the candidates continued to work the polls, and at one time or another today, all of them have been present.

Here are a few of the photos I took while I was there:

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Update #2 8:30am

According to poll workers, as of 8:30 am, only 28 people had voted. 327 had participated in early voting.

Here are a few of the photos I took while I was at the town hall:




From left to right: Alderman Bob Scott (running for Mayor), Angela Hubbs Moore (running for Alderman), Emmanuel Carrion (running for Alderman), Donnie Abel (husband of Patti Abel), Patti Halyburton Abel (running for Alderman) and Adam Kimsey (running for Alderman).


Angela Hubbs Moore baked some snacks and made some coffee to hand out to voters.


Here is a look at the campaign signs in daylight


This is not election related, but the Town Hall is next to the landing pattern for MAMA-2 and I can't help myself when it comes to taking photos of aircraft.

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Update #1 7:30am

I was at the polling location at the town hall before they opened this morning and took a few photos. Poll workers told me that less than 300 people took the opportunity to vote early in this election.

Here they are, in no particular order (click on any of them to see a larger version):

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Video and Photos of the 2013 Tour de Franklin

The 9th annual Tour de Franklin was held today and I was there for the start of the race. Here are a few of the photos and a little video I put together:

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