Media pressure mounts regarding "Davidson-Concord Speedway"

We broke the story here at aShortChronicle a couple of weeks ago regarding videos showing how truly dangerous Davidson-Concord Road has become for pedestrians.

That story has now caught the attention of other local media.

Wednesday night Fox46 ran the following story.

Click HERE for video.

Thursday, Time Warner Cable news had this piece.

Click HERE for video.

Also early Thursday, a press release was sent to local media from Vallee Bubak of Davidson.  It contained some interesting research.

-From 2008 - 2015 there have been a total of 112 reported accidents on the 2.39-mile stretch from Highway 73 to Rocky River Road.

-14 of those accidents (including the one that almost took my son's life) occurred at the intersection of Robert Walker Road).

-The current speed limit on this stretch of road is 55 mph and changes to 45 mph at Beaver Dam, although most northbound drivers (like the one who hit my son) choose to ignore or don't notice the change in speed limit.

-If the speed limit were lowered by 10mph, safety and driver reaction time would increase significantly and add less than 45 seconds to the drive time. 

The release goes on to say...

Results show that the average risk of severe injury for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle reaches 10% at an impact speed of 16 mph, 25% at 23 mph, 50% at 31 mph, 75% at 39 mph, and 90% at 46 mph. The average risk of death for a pedestrian reaches 10% at an impact speed of 23 mph, 25% at 32 mph, 50% at 42 mph, 75% at 50 mph, and 90% at 58 mph. Risks vary significantly by age. For example, the average risk of severe injury or death for a 70‐year‐old pedestrian struck by a car travelling at 25 mph is similar to the risk for a 30‐year‐old pedestrian struck at 35 mph. 

All of this information and attention comes as

Davidson Commissioners recently swept through multiple approvals for the new West

Commissioner Jenest

Branch neighborhood at the intersection of Robert Walker Drive and Davidson-Concord Road. That's the neighborhood involving Commissioner Brian Jenest.

Click key word "West Branch" on the bottom of this post for the in depth coverage of those votes.

Those approvals and that neighborhood WILL make this area even more dangerous.

Commissioners have in the past contacted NCDOT about this road and "resolved" to do something about it.  To date nothing has caused NCDOT to bend.  Residents should plan on attending the 6pm Board meeting this coming Tuesday to ensure they follow through with getting this issue fixed.

Now that Davidson Commissioners have approved growth knowing it will make this situation worse, they have ownership and responsibility for resolving it.  To some degree, they also own any future accidents that occur in that area if they don't get it done.

How Davidson Failed to Have a Special Meeting on HOT Lanes

There's been a lot of activity and swirl around the I77 HOT lanes project the past week - activity generated by the release of additional information from NCDOT - prior to Thursday's signing of the Commercial Close of the deal.

Here in Davidson much of that activity was around the request for a Special Meeting of Davidson's Town Board to discuss seeking a possible delay in signing the Commercial Close on the project until this new information could be clarified.  The need for the special meeting (if one was going to be had) stemmed at least in part from a post on this site last week.  Since we reported that this special meeting was not going to be held, aShortChronicle has obtained emails from the Town of Davidson detailing how that decision was reached.

There is much more in the documents received than the below set of emails, and it does appear there will be a sincere effort to hold a joint meeting with NCDOT and other area elected officials - possibly in early July 7th in Cornelius. Also, as part of the documents received, a list of detailed questions was compiled primarily by Commissioner Anderson and submitted for response to NCDOT.   Both of these are very good things towards getting clarification and updated information.

As for how Davidson's Board decided to not have a special meeting on the subject, that's a different matter.  There is definitely some room for improvement there.  Below are the relevant email selections on that.

Emails in time sequence starting with Comm Cashion's original request.
 

 Comm Jenest's response to Comm Cashion's original request...

Comm Fuller's response to Comm Cashion's original request...



 

Mayor Woods's response to Comm Cashion's original request...



Comm Graham's response to Comm Cashion's original request...

Comm Jenest's response to Comm Graham...

Comm Anderson's response to Mayor Woods (There was no direct response to Comm Cashion's initial request in the documents received)...

Without commenting too much on the individual responses, it appears that Mayor Woods had the strongest objection to having a special meeting to discuss this issue of a delay.  The extensive use of bold and underlining in his response being the clear indication of that.  Readers are strongly encouraged to go back and read that one a second time paying attention to the tone of it.  His frustration at even being asked for a meeting and having this conversation is palpable.

As for the Commissioner emails, readers can decide for themselves who gave this issue the most thought.

We'll leave our comments at that on the responses to the special meeting request.  We here at aShortChronicle would not want to be accused (again) of spreading misinformation or engaging in hyperbole.

Bonus Observation: Davidson's adopted Rules of Procedure require the Mayor or any three commissioners to call a special meeting.  This appears to be in conflict with the North Carolina general statute GS 161A-71 governing these meetings. That statute says the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-Tem, or any two commissioners can call a special meeting.  If Davidson was following the General Statute on this issue, both alternatives for who can call a special meeting were met.  Commissioner Beth Cashion is Mayor Pro-Tem and Commissioner Stacey Anderson provided the second needed request.

To eliminate the kind of heavy-handed response exhibited here by the Mayor against reasonable requests from Commissioners to call these meetings if needed, the Board should update their rules of procedure to be in line with State requirements.

In rare event for Davidson, Commissioner recuses from a vote. (VIDEO)

Photos from Planning Board Meeting

Wednesday night finally saw the vote on the proposed CHS sign change for the new mental health facility on highway 73 near Summers Walk.   As reported here, this approval seemed to be a foregone conclusion after the Davidson Planning Board unanimously approved the change last month.

While it does appear that CHS gamed the system to a degree in pursuing this zoning change and it likely sets an unwelcome precedent for signage on the East Side of town, the truly important thing for good government is what happened just before the vote.

For the first in recent memory at a Davidson Town Board meeting, there was a detailed discussion about allowing a Commissioner to be excused from voting because of a conflict of interest.  More importantly, a Commissioner was actually allowed to be excused from voting by his fellow Board members - removing the façade that somehow Davidson's Board is beyond reproach and that members' business dealings never collide with their responsibilities as elected officials.

As we've been very strongly encouraging in these pages (here, here, and here), Commissioner Brian Jenest requested and was allowed to not vote on the CHS sign - a sign he designed.  He did not disclose how much money his firm made on the project.  He did not disclose any information about when the need for the zoning change was determined.  He reversed the logic and said that he'd actually get more work if the zoning change was not approved - meaning if he was allowed to vote and he voted for it, he would somehow be voting against his own best interest, thus minimizing the issue to a degree.  However, in the end Commissioners agreed that voting on a project where a Commissioner's firm is directly involved is in fact a conflict of interest.

The vote to allow the recusal was unanimous (4-0) by the remaining Commissioners, but it was not completely without reservations.  Town Attorney Rick Kline described allowing this particular recusal as exercising an "abundance of caution".  (Commissioner Jenest designed the sign?!?!?  How much more clear a situation could there be???) Commissioner Graham said he was concerned about setting the bar too low for allowing recusals - meaning making it too easy to recuse.  His stated reason was that he might not be able to vote on future changes to the Town's affordable housing policy because he's a builder.  (Really?!?!?  If any proposed changes to the affordable housing policy would impact an in-flight, previously approved affordable housing plan including one of his projects, then no, Commissioner Graham should not vote on such a change.  However, if they would just impact future projects and require a separate vote to impact his project, then he could vote on the ordinance changes but NOT vote on any change directly impacting his project.)

Here's the point.

The Board did the right thing here.  This was a small victory for good government.  However, Commissioners and our Town Attorney should not continuously be looking for loopholes in how to vote on things where a Commissioner has a clear self-interest.
  
Incidentally, Commissioner Fuller was allowed to vote on the sign after admitting that his employer, the McIntosh Law Firm, does significant business with CHS.    However, that business is likely not related to building design, so he did not recuse himself as this vote did not directly impact his firm.  That was also the right thing to do.

Below is the video.  The whole meeting is only 25 minutes.  The discussion about recusals starts at the 6:45 mark.

Davidson Town Board Feb 2014 Meeting

With Filing Still a Month Off, North Meck NCGA Candidates Make Announcements

This past week saw announcements from local candidates regarding this year's NCGA elections.  With just a few weeks left before filing begins, things are sure to get interesting as the State and Federal election cycles ramp up.

On Tuesday, State Senator Jeff Tarte (Rep) sent out an email blast announcing a long list of endorsements - including endorsements from three Davidson Commissioners - Brian Jenest, Beth Cashion, and Stacey Anderson.  See here for the announcement and complete list. 

Not all that surprising is the absence from the list of Mayor Woods, Commissioners Graham, and Commissioner Fuller.  If they were to endorse anyone in the upcoming general election cycle for the NCGA, I'd put my money on Democrat and Davidson local, Natasha Marcus, in the NC House 98 race to replace Thom Tillis.  All three were pictured here at the campaign kick-off event in Davidson for Ms. Marcus with Mayor Woods doing the candidate introduction.  Interestingly, Mayor Woods was listed as a "supporter" of Republican John Bradford in this announcement regarding his recent Cornelius campaign, but he's missing from the list of elected officials endorsing Bradford for the NC-98 race.

Speaking of the NC-98 race and John Bradford, Bradford's campaign announced an important appointment this week.  Joshua Dobi will chair Bradford's election campaign committee.  That name may sound familiar to readers of this blog.  When Bradford announced his intention to run for this seat, we pointed out that local businessman Joshua Dobi had strongly urged voters to support Bradford in his recent run for Cornelius Town Board.

On Bradford's campaign site, ElectBradford.com, the campaign says of Dobi's selection to chair the campaign committee...

"Choosing a CEO in a successful Lake Norman area business is a calculated decision"

Seems like there are a lot of "calculated decisions" going on.  Then again, this is politics.

Davidson swears-in new elected officials. - VIDEO

There are a lot of great things about living in a small town like Davidson and being able to participate in your local government in an up close and personal way is one of them.  As the first of what will be a regular feature here at aShortChronicle, here is video of tonight's swearing-in ceremony for Davidson's newest batch of elected officials.  Call it our little contribution, free of charge, to openness and transparency in local government.  We won't be able to get every public meeting on tape, but we'll try to get the important ones!

Link to Video of Swearing In Ceremony




NOTE:  You may need to turn the sound all the way up.

This video contains:

1. The farewell to Commissioner Connie Wessner who was not re-elected this term.
2. The swearing-in ceremonies for Mayor and Commissioners.  With a nice small-town touch, these were all done by the family members of each official.
3. The election of Beth Cashion as Mayor Pro Tem and the assignment of commissioners to various nominating committees..