When you've lost the Charlotte Observer... | Hour 3

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to the Pete calendar show.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. So we have a development in the CMS program. Corruption scandal. That's what I'm calling it. Where was it here? Oh, okay. We have a statement, a press release, from Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education Vice Chair Elizabeth Monterey Duvall issuing a statement on the status of her leadership role. So as. We announced, I think, last hour, or maybe in the first hour, based off of a report by Brett Jensen from WBT, that Deval was going to be stepping aside as vice chair after being elected to that position on Tuesday, after the vice chair was elevated to the chairmanship because the chair stepped aside from that post, amid all of the swirling poop show that is the corruption scandal going on there. So Stephanie Sneed, the former chair, steps down, stays on the board, but won't be chair anymore. She's at the heart of this contract that was done outside of the board's vote, outside of the superintendent's approval or knowledge, right, to bring in some law firm and then to funnel $ 30, 000 a month through that law firm back down to one of her allies, a guy by the name of Racky McGregor, and his consulting firm. So she steps aside in a closed session before the open session meeting. The vice chair, Dee Rankin, he then becomes chair. They then have to elect a new vice chair. They elect Elizabeth Monterey Duvall. All three of those members of the board are part of a five-member majority bloc. And they were the five that voted then to fire superintendent crystal Hill. Okay. You got the four minority member block or sorry, four member minority block. Um, they oppose the firing and they have been pulling all the alarms and sounding all the bells. And it like, it is obvious just from the open session behavior that the What must be going on in closed session is probably knock down, drag out nastiness. That's my read on it, but I don't know. But I've covered school board meetings for 20 years and 25 years. And so like there are things that occur in the open session that give you a peek into the behaviors that they are obviously engaging in, in the closed sessions. Okay. They're not hiding it. If you can't even hide your animosity towards each other in the open session, the closed sessions are way worse. That's always the case. Okay. So Brett Jensen reported that she was now going, that Monterey Duvall was going to be stepping down. And so now she has put out a statement and the, the school district has, has pushed this out to all of the media partners. And here's what it says. It recently came to my attention that an email I sent to the Board of Education was provided to the media. In that email, I expressed to the board that I could no longer serve as vice chair due to security concerns I have for myself and my family since the September 22nd board meeting, so three days ago. After speaking to colleagues and my family, I have decided to remain as vice chair until December of this year, when the board votes for chair and vice chair as part of our normal process. Okay. So there, they were already going to be doing this. So every year they have to, they, or they, they reelect the chair and the vice chair. And so she's like, okay, I'm going to stay on until that. So like two months, right. I'm going to stay on through October and November. And then in December do a new election. She says, I made this difficult decision in the interest of helping the board rebuild public trust and, Really? You think this rebuilds the public trust? You think. You think being elected vice chair by the five to four vote, the same majority block, right, that voted to fire the superintendent, the same majority block that's warring with the four-member minority block, like, you think that the five members putting you into the vice chairmanship, you think. You think that rebuilds the trust? See, this is all just, it's all just lip service. One of the things you always got to keep in mind is that these are like the minor league of political bodies. So oftentimes, and you know, the bigger the city, then usually the more polished politicians you get, But the more polished politicians are running for other seats of higher status than school board. OK, which is why these school boards tend to be so dysfunctional. And you layer in the fact that it's for the children. Everything's for the children. Everything you do, everything you say, even if there's some corruption swirling all around us, it's for the children, and we need to put this behind us. We need to move forward and progress for the children. Everything's for the children. Why are you attacking me as corrupt? This is for the children. It's like there's a, it's just a built-in shield that these people use. So she says, she made this difficult decision. In the interest of helping the board rebuild public trust and to contribute to the stabilization of our service to our students, families, and educators, my family and I will be taking additional safety measures in light of this decision. So are we going to be, are taxpayers going to be paying for security now for you? Is that the idea? You're going to be showing up in a ballistic vest or something to the board meetings like I assume, I assume that you have reported this stuff to law enforcement and they will be investigating it. And maybe somebody could confirm that they, they have credible threats that they are investigating. Or is this just, I don't want to say, well, is this a version? Let me say it that way. Is this just a version of what we saw at the meeting on Tuesday that When you interrupted the presentation by staff about bus schedules to call out somebody in the audience that obviously has your personal cell phone number or something because they're texting you messages during the meeting and you're like, this person over there is sending me threatening messages. I don't feel safe. I don't feel safe. Please remove them. Get them out of here or I'm leaving. That's what she did on Tuesday night. So are there people that are allies of some of the four-member block of board members, the minority block? Are there allies of those people, of those board members, and they're threatening you? Remember, all of these people are in the Democrat Party. They all know each other, right? They all move in the same political circles and such. They're all in the educratic space together. So, like, who's issuing the threats? Because you're vice chair. Because she's not stepping off the board. She's stepping down as vice chair. So if you just abdicate the vice chairmanship, the threats stop? That's very specific. You know, like, that's a, you need to resign as vice chair, but you can stay on the board, or else the threats will continue. It's just an odd thing. Again, I don't know what the nature of the threats were. Nobody, nobody should be threatening any public official or anybody for that matter. You shouldn't be engaged in this antisocial behavior. That being said, I do feel like I need some more evidence because the message that she read that she thought was threatening, I don't see it as the threat that she did. Maybe she has no experience and maybe I have a bit too much in this regard, but I've gotten way worse. I've gotten way worse. And there's a, there was a Republican who literally moved out of the County when he was running for school or running for County commission this year. There's nobody on the ballot now because that guy had to flee the County because someone shot his house up. So yeah, I don't know. I think I'd like to see like, what exactly are the threats? All right, for over a year now, you've heard me talking about Create-A-Video, great local company in Mint Hill that has helped more than 2 million families preserve their memories by turning old photos. VHS tapes, film reels, and slides into lasting keepsakes. Now, Creative Video is helping families and groups create brand new memories while they're traveling. Introducing Group Travel Videos, perfect for family reunions, church mission trips, group vacations, destination weddings, student trips, senior adult groups, sports teams. I mean, really any gathering of people that you care about that's traveling together. Group Travel Videos gives your traveling pack a private app where everyone can share photos during the trip, Send messages, share schedules and important documents, even a traveler safety locator feature that works only during the trip. And family members and friends back home can follow along and enjoy the experience in real time. No social media, no ads. It's totally private. No emails, phone numbers, account setups or hassles. With group travel videos, you'll capture today's moments on your special trip while they're happening. Then after the trip or gathering, They'll professionally turn your shared moments into a beautiful storytelling video that your whole group can stream and download and treasure for years. Check out GroupTravelVideos.com. That's GroupTravelVideos.com. Or call 704-846-7870, extension 206. And when you do that, ask for Katie. But Pete, can I just email? Well, yes, you can. You can email Katie. Katie at GroupTravelVideos.com. Group travel videos from old memories to new adventures, preserving life's moments for a lifetime. There was a couple more sentences here from the press release from CMS about the newly elected vice chair stepping aside. She was wanting originally to step down, but then apparently she was convinced to just ride it out until December when they would vote on a new chair and vice chair at that time as they normally do. So she said she's going to stick it out, even though she's gotten all these threats. They're taking they will be taking additional safety measures in light of her decision to remain as vice chair. For two months, she said, my hope is that the menacing messages stop and that we can all get back to supporting our continued student growth without distraction. Well, see, here's the problem. You're the distraction. You guys. You're the distraction. When even Paige Mastin at the Charlotte Observer can identify you as the problem, you are the problem, okay? You're calling this all a distraction because you just want us to shut up about it for noticing. She says, I ask that everyone from the board to our community refocus on our mission, and that is to ensure that every student experiences endless possibilities. Capitalized for some reason. I don't know why. Is that a program or something? I don't know. That every student experiences endless possibilities through a high-quality education. Yeah. Here's the thing. We don't trust you to be the ones to deliver that. And the reason why the community doesn't trust you is because you have given us no reason to do so. Paige Mastin over at the Charlotte Observer, and I have had my issues with things that she has. Written in the past. We've gone over some of her editorials. But even she recognizes this problem. Headline, Correct. Credit where it is due, to Paige Mastin. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education already looked like a mess, then inheld a meeting Tuesday and managed to make it worse. The board made the galling decision to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill, an item that was not even on the agenda prior to the meeting. It happened quickly and unexpectedly and without a clear explanation, and the board was not united in the decision. It was a 5-4 vote. This is why I keep saying the majority block versus the minority block, a 5-4 split. Which is also why it's kind of suspicious, or sus, as the kids might say, sus, that the chair steps down amid all of this controversy, but not off the board. Because that would mean you have a 4-4 split. Can't have that. And now the same thing with Monterey Duvall. Stepping down as vice chair, but not off the board. Mastin says there have been a lot of distractions, quoting board member Charlita Hatch, a member of the majority block, the five votes. Charlita Hatch kept talking about all of this distraction. And what Paige Mastin points out is the distractions that Hatch is referring to are of the board's own making. Indeed. Indeed. Yet board members seem eager to blame anyone or anything but themselves. She goes on to say the five board members, or as I call them, the majority bloc, who voted to fire Hill could not or would not even articulate a legitimate reason why, which suggests they don't actually have one. Running out of dings here for Page's prowess on this one. The public report that the board finally released about its investigation of the superintendent did not provide any reassurances either. It was vague, and the little information it did provide only reiterated that Crystal Hill, the superintendent, did nothing improper or wrong. Yeah, when you release this report, which, by the way, the minority block, they say they didn't even see the report. And then we're asked to provide feedback about it during the meeting. And they were like, we just saw it. We just got it. What are you talking about? This thing's like 18 pages. But there's nothing in there that outlines any reason why you would fire the superintendent. Why? This is a great question that Mastin asks here. Why even bother spending money on an investigation if the board was just going to fire the superintendent anyway? Is there even any evidence to suggest that Hill is the problem? No, not that I've seen or heard. So this actually supports Crystal Hill's allegation that she laid out in the memo that this was essentially an attempt to extort her to quit or to accept a nondisclosure agreement. To just make her go away. Like, we're going to investigate you if you don't step aside. And she was like, I'm not stepping aside. So then they put her under investigation to try to pressure her out. And then the investigation is done. They don't find anything wrong. And then they come back and fire her anyway. What a colossal waste of money. This is why people don't have confidence in the five members of the school board. The majority block. Because I can't even lump in the other four. I don't know what their role is in any of this. They claim that they're on the outside. So it's the majority. the five members that they're running the show. Paige Mastin goes on to say, one can't help but wonder if board members moved to Fire Hill because she dared to speak up. She also suggested the investigation was an attempt to find a way to terminate her employment or make her sign a confidentiality agreement. So far, nothing the board has said or done has proven her wrong. Exactly right. Then there's the leadership exodus. You got the deputy superintendent, the chief financial officer, the chief human resources officer, the chief operations officer. They've all announced their resignations. She says, it's hard to believe that this board is capable of finding a solution when it can't even agree there's a problem. The school board is asking everybody to blindly trust that it's making the right decision, even though it feels reckless and unjustified. It's trust the board has not earned, not even a little bit. And she concludes, this board was supposed to be different than the ones that came before it. Oh, well, no, not. No, it's still a school board, so. New leadership and fresh faces were supposed to lead things in a more positive direction. Somehow, they've led us to a place that's perhaps even worse. The board seems to be trying to make Hill the scapegoat. But once again, Tuesday night, it was the board that showed shockingly poor leadership and embarrassed our city. I completely concur. Hell hath frozen over. Let us, ham and tomato, go back over to the text line. Kevin says, Pete, I really wish you would stop advertising for Union County. I've lived here my whole life, own land here. I want to buy more land. But land has gone from 30,000 an acre to 100,000 an acre in the county. All these refugees moving in are costing me money. Stop it. I'm just the messenger. Beth's favorite Russ says, the resignation, not a resignation, and a lot of the swirl feels like unchallenged ideas are easy to hold. Hmm. They have invoked all the right buzzwords and incantations that always make people and the press shut up and move on. Now they seem genuinely shocked that it's not working. They've even lost staunch allies like the Charlotte Observer. Their words and ideas have never met consequential resistance other than those pesky parents, and. They have no idea. how to deal with this. I'd say that's a pretty accurate assessment there, Russ. Ali says, just let AI run the school board. Yes, can we get AI to be the school board? AI is bipartisan, doesn't have lavish birthday parties and doesn't have friends to reward with high salaries and lucrative contracts. AI also doesn't make decisions based on race. If we know the inevitable is AI taking all the jerbs, why not beat it to the punch and give it the government jobs? No more closed sessions, no high severance packages, full transparency on all allocation of funds. I love the idea. Um, And John says, after Tijuana Brown and Stephanie Sneed get out of prison, maybe they can open a new consulting firm or maybe a podcast. Actually, did you know that the formerly incarcerated person, soon to be incarcerated again, Tijuana Brown, former Charlotte City Council member, she has a new business. I mean, yes, she's going to prison. Unless her appeal of the sentence works out, which she announced she's appealing the sentence. Um, she got 10 months for, um, federal wire fraud for bilking taxpayers out of the COVID relief funds. And then she used that money to pay for her lavish 50th birthday party with a throne and the horse drawn carriage. And she bought a bunch of Louis Vuitton bags and all of that. Um, She and her two adult daughters, they got probation. She got prison time. And just days before all three of them were sentenced, she announced a brand new business on Facebook. This would have been a week ago, Wednesday. In the Facebook post. I'm sorry. Oh, my goodness. What do you think she and her daughters are qualified to do? Okay. She said in the Facebook post that she and one of her daughters are launching BBSJ Logistics. A transportation.... A transportation and logistics company. This is. State records show the business was registered as an LLC on September 2nd. Brown's daughter was listed as the registered agent. And Tijuana Brown is the managing member. I'm not sure. Will she have internet access yet? To manage the logistics and transportation business from prison. I feel like that might be a bit of an impediment to running the business. Being incarcerated and all, you know? Also, there is the small issue of the fact that, you know, you've now been twice convicted of fraud. I'm not sure. who would want to enter into a contractor business with you given your apparent propensity to commit fraud? Although now that I'm thinking about it, I think she wants to be a pilot fish, right? I mean, that's what her beauty beyond the bars was all about too, right? You set up this little consultancy or nonprofit or whatever, and then you just gobble up all of the government grants and contracts and such. You partner up with your allies who are in control of the taxpayer purse strings. Is that what's going on here? Laying the groundwork for your triumphant return from prison? Or you're going to run a transportation and logistics company? Look, maybe the daughter has some experience in this. Field, I'm not sure. I mean, I know Tijuana Brown, like she said, she used to deliver during COVID. She was delivering people meals and stuff during COVID, so maybe that's the logistics and transportation. Sorry. Oh, my goodness. I just. I mean, it really is, honestly, it's like arrogance and ignorance and narcissism. It is an utterly... Self-destructive combination. And she is Exhibit A. So, did you happen to hear about the new business launched by one Tijuana Brown? What? Yeah, Charlotte City Council member, formerly incarcerated, futurely incarcerated. That's Austin that you're saying. Yeah, yeah. Futurally incarcerated Tijuana Brown for the federal wire fraud. Wow. Stealing all the money from the COVID funds and all that with her two adult daughters. No kidding. They got probation. She's going away for 10 months. But. Yeah. They registered an LLC. What kind of an LLC? On a limited one on September 2nd. And one of her daughters is listed as the registered agent. And Tijuana is the managing member of the LLC. It's called BBSJ Logistics. Whoa, that sounds like a very big concern. It is a transportation and logistics company. Where are we taking this two from and when is it coming back? What's happening? I'm not aware. Maybe you are. What kind of expertise these two might have. In transportation and logistics. Yeah. Wow. That's clearly they're not driving around. They're not, they're not out spending money. You know what I'm thinking? What are you thinking? AI. I think, I think they, I think they went into chat GPT and they were like, man, what's a good company for us to set up transportation and logistics. How do I set up a transportation and logistics company? Tell me chat GPT and then chat GPT gives them the business plan. Where do you get, do they get their phones? Like, I mean, how does that work? Where do you, I don't know. How do you look that up? Are there, well, she's not in jail yet. Oh, she hasn't reported to prison. Okay. So they're okay. So they are. So they're starting a business. That's look, that's, that's wonderful. Don't we support, you know. Small business entrepreneurs. Yes, absolutely. I think, I said this before the break, I think she's looking to be a pilot fish. You know, a pilot fish. Oh, right behind, yeah, right behind. They coast along in the wake of the fat whales, and they feed off. Of all the debris, you know, that the whales leave behind. They eat all that stuff. Yeah. And in this analogy, the government is the whale. And so... they're going to act as like a, an NGO to get some grant money and stuff. Wow. So you can, okay. That might work. And this is their, like, this is something they would know, right? Like that's true. How to apply to get the government money. That is true. No, that, that look, that's great. It's the getting caught part. Well, for the fraud, everybody has, you know, a misfire now. And then every 10 years, apparently is the cycle for Tijuana Brown. By the way, In your experience, do you find it to be a good strategy or a bad strategy to attack a judge that is hearing your case? Oh, no. You do not want to mess with the judge. That's a bad idea? No way. Okay, what about a federal judge, though? Even worse. Okay, that is worse. They can throw you in the clink and they'll just put you around everywhere it goes. Wow. It's that kind of. It's that kind of mentality and that kind of strategy that I think would really lend itself well to a logistics and transportation company because that's what apparently Tijuana Brown did. She said, quote, that judge did some BS in court. The judge had it out for me and called the U.S. government and the FBI so dirty. Okay. She did this in a Facebook live stream. You have to stop saying that. I mean, you can't. You're going to have a problem. You're going to be in court for a long time. No, she already got sentenced. See, she was mad because she thought that when the prosecution gave her the plea deal and she agreed to the plea deal, she thought that was done, apparently. But then you don't throw shade on the judge. Well, the judge looked at the plea agreement and was like, what are you guys doing? Because apparently, according to the Charlotte Observer, the judge in the case scolded the assistant U.S. attorney, Matthew Warren, for manipulating the sentencing guidelines to put the women within the range where probation would be allowed. Bell said, the judge said, Under wire fraud conspiracy statutes, the government should have held each woman accountable for the entirety, the total price tag. That was more than $ 130, 000. That's big. Instead, the prosecutors parsed out each of the cases so each woman— was only responsible for the amount of money that they individually took. And so that allowed them to come in lower. And so they got the probation. And so the judge looked at that and he was like, no. Yeah. And he passed. And that's how she got the 10 months. So that's why she's mad because they had a plea deal and she thought the judge had to accept the plea deal. But that's not how that works. The judge can look at a plea agreement and be like, hey, it's nice that you guys came to an agreement, but I get to sentence you and I'm going to do it this way and gave her 10 months. Attorneys for Tajima Brown, who for the first time acknowledged that she was the driving force behind the scheme. So the daughter was the, she was the ringleader. Wow. We are to believe. That's awful. I feel very badly for this entire circumstance. Well, rest assured, Tijuana Brown said God is sending her into federal prison so she can come out and expose what's really going on. We'll find out. Silver linings, my friend. Silver linings. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to the Pete Kaliner show dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening and don't break anything while I'm gone.