Bogus Has a Long History

In the early 19th century, a “bogus” was a machine used to make counterfeit coins. No one knows for sure how this coin-copying contraption got its name, but before long bogus became a name for funny money or for a fraudulent imitation of any kind. The more common “phony” adjective followed.

The most important thing to see here is that the board intended to deceive the people.  Artificial inflation of the facts.  Willful lies.  Censures and suspensions.  Deception by adults, who had sworn to uphold an oath of office.  Blatantly lied to the people of Cleveland County. Their coinage is babble.

However, the dishonesty and masking that you have witnessed lately have been inherited from the majorities from previous boards.  Allow me to explain.

Many documented issues will prove the point.  There are also more than 40 related videos from school board meetings that you may see and hear for yourself…beginning in 2013. Our YouTube Channel is here.

Walmart, Big Red, Snacks…Nutrition
If you recall, there was a scandal back in 2009 that was investigated by the NC State Auditor, and her report was released in December 2011. This was regarding what was known as P-Cards and the abuse thereof.

The Investigative Report can be found here.

This was brought to the attention of the Cleveland County Commissioners at a meeting on August 7, 2012. Danny Blanton, a former school board candidate spoke during the public participation portion of the meeting, sharing details and documents that told of his findings. Of course, the commissioners asked that he pass this on to the clerk, which he did. Eventually, this led us to be able to receive those documents and we decided to investigate this and share the news with the public. At that time, (and times since then) we learned why the local newspaper hardly covered anything but wonderful news about the Cleveland County School system.

It was discovered by accident when I emailed the school board members to inquire about some billboards that the school had placed around Cleveland County. I heard from two of the nine board members. Neither of them had a clue as to what I was talking about. Superintendent Bruce Boyles replied to the board members and supplied me with more information than I had requested. His reply initiated another public records request, which was a bounty of a score.

The newly obtained documents, it was there in documentation form and signed by both parties. The publisher/editor of the newspaper and the superintendent of the Cleveland County School System had a marketing deal between the school and the newspaper. The paper would do marketing for the school and design the billboards and various other things. The school would pay over $90,000 annually for 2 years ($90,265.56) and the Star would serve as a consultant and marketing agent for the school. In other words, the school was more or less paying for favorable coverage.

 

[embeddoc url=”https://palmettostandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CCS-Shelby-Star-marketing-contract-1-1.pdf”]

Here is the report from The Shelby Star.

After the transition from the last administration to the present one, we have seen the same old mess, time after time, all the while pledging their transparency, open-door policy, yap, yap, yap.  The latest example is:

Cleveland County elementary school teacher arrested for possessing child porn: Sheriff

This story was found on the Shelby Star’s website yesterday, but I couldn’t find it this morning.  I also looked on the Sheriff’s website and no trace of Anthony Marque Neal found. Why?

I was able to find a similar story on the  Queen City News site.

 

Same pattern from the past. Same coverup process. Not just the board and admin, but from several sources, working in tandem. What will the people decide? There’s only one solution. Clean house, else history will continue to repeat itself.