We attended the rally today at the Leland Town building. It was pretty well attended by the citizens, for a Saturday and short notice. Do not allow the Leland Ruling Class tell you otherwise. It was full of attentive listeners, and the speakers were well spoken.
Before I begin, I was quite happy to see the members of the Cathedral present—WHQR, WWAY, and WECT were there. The Red Star was not there because, well, because Wilmington still has that plantation mentality that they are superior, so why send a reporter? But, then again, does the Red Star have any staff left anymore? Or are they all out of Fayette-nam now?
Update and Correction: The Red Star was there! Here is their photo gallery of the event, and here is their “report.” It does not look like they stayed past the first speaker. Not surprising since there are few interviews and most of the article is a regurgitation of past council meetings. Red Star = Low energy.
Also present were two member of the more less center-left alt tech media oufit, Port City Daily. I had a grand time speaking to their reporters and the one representative from WHQR. PCD is my go to media source for the region. I think they do a rather nice job. They are a part of a media company that also includes one of my favorite music radio stations here—the alt country flavored, Penguin (98.3 for those who do not know). Hey Bo Gunn—love your format!
At any rate, I spoke with the PCD and WHQR reporters the most. Nice affable kids. Quite likeable. Look for their reporting of the event.
I also met a few people who subscribed to this substack. It was nice to meet all of you. We have many more subscribers after today. A word about this substack—I do realize it is not everyone’s cup of tea. It is a more edgy offering of what is happening. It is meant to be that way, so there is no offense taken if you do not find it worthy of your time.
My theory of the news cycle is that it belongs to us—we are the news. And I want to convey the sentiment of what everyone is saying in their homes around the kitchen table. So, I write that way. I also write in a manner that is more particularly Millenial/Gen X/Z. So, there may be a slight generational phrasing that is off putting to older folks. This is on purpose because, citizen of Leland, you are going to need young people who actually want to live in a single family home to your cause. These are the ones who think a house is out of their reach and are resentful about it. They also resent having to be cooped up in a coffin apartment.1 Fuck rent slavery—OWN!
So, I am also not a neutral observer. As Aristotle noted, NO-ONE is neutral. Certainly, the Cathedral is not neutral. Good, neither am I. Game on.
The people of Brunswick County have a lot of work to do, and this fight is not going to be easy. It is going to take many battles, and a few years to complete the cycle. Why? Because some people are going to be in office for a while. It will take time to find attractive candidates, then camapign for them, then vote for them. The task for those who want to remain in Little Wilmington Leland, have a big fight ahead. Strap In.
The main message from the rally was that the (my take) entire Leland City Council are a bunch of liars, and deceivers. They are. They are already stating they have decreased taxes, when, in fact, they have raised taxes. Lowering a massive hike in taxes, but still raising taxes, is….still raising taxes! The organizers of the rally today were hot on that fact. No matter what they say (looking at you McHugh) you all want to take from the citizens to cover for your mistakes.
I have noted many times before in this substack—they really do think we are stupid. That they talk to us like we are stupid, is a revelation of their character. That reality they have proven ad nauseam, means they should ALL be shown the door and sent packing—do not allow them to pivot from their mistake. McHugh will be the first to break, and thus, make himself an enemy of the current politburo when the others figure out he is gunning for their job—Bankrupt Bozeman probably already knows this I bet—her seat will be in jeopardy. Do not be fooled by McHugh. He is still going to entertain dumb ideas, like buying EV fire trucks, which will not run in floodwaters—Not to mention EVs also simply have alot of reliability issues (oh they WILL break down on a way to a fire), and, are worse for the environment and the roads. Oh, they cost twice as much too! Now this is a fraud scheme Veronica Carter can get behind!
Have you noticed Veronica Carter has never proposed a cut in the budget? But I digress….
There was also a lot of talk about the roads, and the fire issue. It seems that our intellectually challenged council did not think to think about that all the heavy trucks that are needed when developing land. Nor did they think that fact would cause roads to be torn up. You mean they are that stupid? Yes, yes they are.
Simple takeaway here is that the council went on a bribing development spree and they so outstripped the infrastructure, that they are making the citizens pay for their egregious malfeasance and corruption. In other words, this incompetence is on them, not us. They should make like a tree and get out of here (this boomer mentality is for the Leland council, who share similar intellectual traits).
The voters at the rally also spoke about the unscrupulous pay raises and the bloated staffing (new hires) of the town. There was some talk from the journalists about whether some of the salaries, like Hollis, are comparable to town of like size. This is too much legacy thinking though, respectfully. The pay of government employees is a VOTER issue to begin with—there is no and should be no set pay rate for unelected servants. The voter should choose this. Those that do well, sure, maybe a pay raise. Those that do not, should be fired (like Hollis).
But this issue gets to the purpose of representative government. As one person noted rightly at the event today, the State Constitution reinforces the concept that the people are in charge—our consent is paramount over the rulers we elect.
Leland town council, however, has the opposite view. They think we are their servants. They do not believe that they are OUR servants. So, if representative government is what you want, then the determination of pay should come from the people, and discussed, not forced through like a tyrant might do (like the Leland Council actually did). There was no real deliberation with Leland residents about this government packing scheme.
All in all, it was a good day for the tax protestors. I heartily approve their message.
ONWARD!
I noted this in my music post recently here:
First meeting where I felt better while leaving.