If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a map from Google Earth worth?
Enough to reveal that CMS board member George Dunlap has no idea what he is talking about.
Recall yesterday we got a good chuckle out of Dunlap’s claim that the Citizens Capital Advisory Committee was unduly influenced by interests from North Meck in crafting a $486 million bond package, down from the $620 million package Dunlap supports. Dunlap’s position as quoted by Ann Helms and Peter Smolowitz:
George Dunlap, a Democratic school board member who represents northeast Charlotte, said the panel was unduly influenced by north suburban members.
“They basically left out anything that has to do with Olympic, anything that has to do with Myers Park,” he said, referring to high schools in southwest and south Charlotte. He said he’s open to a smaller package but won’t let the advisory panel dictate the projects.
This left CCBAC Chairman Mike Murdock incensed. You see, Murdock lives in the Olympic feeder zone. As does another member of the panel. In fact, the overall geographic tilt of panel of skews south, not north. Murdock cooked up a map of where panel members live (below) to make that obvious.
So then, confronted with evidence that he may have spoke too soon and too harshly — something every man on this Earth, Google or otherwise, has done once or twice — Dunlap must have backtracked, correct?
Nope. In an email response to Murdock’s map and correction, Dunlap changes the subject. The real issue is that “the committee had little to no representation from the central part of our community.” The whole North vs. South thing is just dropped.
Dunlap evidently thinks this tactic saves him. Not really. The panel’s package still disproves his thesis that dollars always follow addresses. Were that true Olympic and Myers Park and points South would have their dollars.
And round and round we go, on this Earth together, watching public discourse in Charlotte circle the drain.
Update: Here’s the whole of the panel’s recommendations to the county in PDF form.
