FRANKLIN COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
101 WEST NASH STREET
P.O. BOX 909
LOUISBURG, NORTH CAROLINA 27549
(919) 496-1469
www.FranklinNCGOP.com

 NEW
 Receipts Reveal:
 Thousand$ Blown!!!
 Your Tax Dollars at Work:
County Manager & Democrats' D.C. Jaunt Reveal:
Gift Shop Purchases
$45 Breakfasts
$94 Meals
Room Service
Robert Lee Swanson Takes Cab, Charges Us for Parking

Did Some of the Commissioners Have Guests with Them and Charged Us for Their Meals?

See it All Right Here:
 Click Here: D.C. Trip File
(Once opened, it is suggested to print it.)



Kearny, Franklin Times Demand Receipts of Democratic Commissioners' Tax Paid D.C. Trip
'The people are entitled to see what their government does.'

June 4, 2008
Excerpt from "$79.2M budget presented"
The Franklin Times

Accountability

In other business, commissioners addressed concerns brought before them by resident David Kearney.

He asked for more accountability and transparency in government; more information about a commissioners’ trip to Washington, D.C. for a National Association of County Commissioners Legislative Conference; and more communication between the county and the hospital relative to Franklin Regional Medical Center’s proposal to relocate.

Commissioners have been trying to set up a meeting with hospital staff.

The board didn’t specifically address Kearney’s concern about transparency, but Commissioners Robert Lee Swanson and Penny McGhee-Young both addressed the Washington, D.C. trip query.

According to county staff, the county spent a total of $11,270.32 to cover the costs of the trip for Commissioners Don Lancaster, Swanson, McGhee-Young, Lyn Buffaloe, Sidney Dunston and Harris.

The cost breaks down as follows to cover each commissioners’ lodging, meals, travel, parking and registration:

• Dunston, $2,594.82
• Buffaloe, $2,262.05
• Swanson, $2,186.88
• McGhee-Young, $2,179.90
• Harris, 1,826.67

The county only covered Lancaster’s registration cost of $220.

Kearney requested an itemized breakdown of spending, but did not receive it.

He also asked the board to provide specific information gleaned from the trip.

During a March 10 meeting, Swanson mentioned a $3.5-million dollar request for infrastructure funding and said elected officials gave favorable remarks concerning the county’s request.

McGhee-Young, who last year submitted a detailed breakdown of a similar trip to The Franklin Times, said she did not do so this year.

“I made a personal choice not to do that this year,” McGhee-Young said. “My experience has not been that what is sent to the paper is not what goes in, so I didn’t want to continue that. I chose not to do it.”

The Wake Weekly and local radio station Country 102 did not recall receiving information about the trip from McGhee-Young.
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June 4, 2008 Editorial, The Franklin Times:

BITTER: We hope the Board of Commissioners realizes — despite comments made during Monday night’s meeting to the contrary — that all receipts from the board’s travel expenses, down to how much a dinner mint costs the citizens of Franklin County, are public record and open for public scrutiny.

Several residents claim to have requested the receipts from a recent trip to Washington , D.C., by some commissioners and have yet to get that documentation, waiting up to three months for it.

The Times has requested the full documentation, down to the last dime spent, and according to Finance Director Chuck Murray, the newspaper will have the information in hand immediately.

The notion that board members can withhold public record because of fear of it being translated incorrectly only begs us to give out this website address: www.ncpress.com . There you will find the most updated information from the N.C. Press Association and the state Attorney General’s Office about public record disclosure and the responsibility of government to comply with state laws, accordingly.

It is not a choice. It is the law.

In the words of Attorney General Roy Cooper: “The people are entitled to see what their government does.”

And good for some residents who have not only recognized their legal entitlement but have recognized that some members of the county Board of Commissioners do not find the laws compelling enough to abide by them unless it serves their purpose and time frame.

Your Taxes at Work
 

Democrats Blow Over $11,000 on Exotic D.C. Trip!
Lifestyles of the Democrat Commissioners on Your Dime


     

Democrat commissioners Sid Dunston, Robert Lee Swanson, Lynwood Buffaloe and Penny McGhee-Young blew over $11,000 of your tax dollars for an exotic trip to Washington, D.C.  Dunston spent over $373 of your tax dollars for meals, which was almost triple that of the other commissioners.

And no, NONE of the Republican commissioners attended.
 

March 1 - 6, 2008 Franklin County Commissioners 'Conference,' Washington, D.C.