Several weeks ago we noted the split messages Mecklenburg County Commission chair Jennifer Roberts seemed to send depending the audience. Now comes the Rhino Blog to document another case of Roberts’ saying one thing to one group, and another thing to another group.
The topic was the QC’s gasoline silliness. At one point Roberts was all complimentary of Pat McCrory’s handling of the situation. But that suddenly changed when Bev Perdue made a campaign stop, as County Commissioner Dan Bishop noticed, and as the Rhino details in Bishop’s email to Roberts:
I read with some surprise in today’s [Oct. 2] Observer your oblique criticism of Mayor McCrory’s reaction to our gas shortage. Your second thoughts seem to have sprung up suddenly. When we met yesterday, you expressed total satisfaction with local government’s efforts. Maybe Bev Purdue changed your mind as you later campaigned with her.
As far as I know your only thought of further action was the brief e-mail exchange last Thursday between you, me, [commissioners] Bill James and Dumont Clarke about the pros and cons of voluntary rationing. After that, you decided to join Pat’s press conference and – to all appearances – the chosen strategy of keeping citizens informed to the greatest extent possible. That made sense in light of the information then that the shortage would be alleviated by the weekend.
If you truly believe more steps are called for you might get more action communicating with those on the Board you chair than by carping to the City Manager. I look forward to hearing from you and can even attend a Board meeting on the subject if you actually want to do something.
Of course the proper responsive of Roberts, McCrory, and local leaders would have been to call on AG — that stands for Anti-Gouger, you know — Roy Cooper to rescind the “emergency” measures that had local gas retailers afraid to raise prices to stave off “gas runs.”
But I guess one good grandstand deserves another.
