Follow the Money Trail — CMS BOE Election
I don’t like to bad-mouth any of the candidates (I will disagree with them on policies…), but this picture disturbs me too much. After all the research I’ve done for the last several months, I truly believe these connections. Money talks, and that’s what every one of these connections is about.
As a little background, The Charlotte Observer (CO) endorsed the following four candidates for the three at-large seats (which should be a red flag right there, that they feel the need to endorse FOUR candidates for THREE at-large seats). Why would the CO endorse a Republican, when the CO is a largely
left-liberal-leaning newspaper? Because Tim Morgan is the piece that
holds this entire puzzle together:
Tim Morgan (registered Republican endorsed by the Rep. Party)
Elyse Dashew (listed as Independent, but see connections to Tim below)
Ericka Ellis-Stewart (registered Democrat endorsed by the Dem. Party)
Aarom Pomis (registered Democrat endorsed by the Dem. Party)
Tim Morgan is the current District 6 representative on the CMS Board of Education (BOE). He has two more years in his elected position, but he felt the need to run for an at-large seat. Winning an at-large position would give him another 4 years on the BOE, and would allow the Board to APPOINT a new representative to his District 6 seat. He would help recommend someone that thinks and votes just like he does. Effectively, Tim Morgan would “control” two votes on the Board by doing this.
Why is any of that important? When the current Board has voted on Pay for Performance and expanding the high-stakes standardized tests this year, the vote was always 5-4. The majority votes were Tim Morgan, Rhonda Lennon (our District 1 representative), Eric Davis (District 5 & BOE Chair), Trent Merchant (at-large) and Coach Joe White (at-large).
There’s lots of money to be made in the test-development business. Where does former Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman work now? News Corp. (Rupert Murdoch’s company) created a new education branch, that theoretically has LOTS of school-related programs to sell to CMS.
http://obspapertrail.blogspot.com/2011/06/news-corp-cms-gorman-to-join-education.html
Trent Merchant and Coach Joe White are 2 of the at-large reps, and both are stepping down. Kaye McGarry, the other at-large rep, who always voted in the MINORITY, is also stepping down. That leaves the “majority” vote at 3-3. If Tim Morgan wins at-large, and he helps appoint another clone thinking like him, that would bring the vote back to 4-3.
Then, if Tim and his following can help get at least one more person elected to the Board that would vote with “them” in the “majority,” he will have preserved another 4 years to continue making deals with Dr. Gorman and others who will get rich off selling products/tests to CMS. That’s where Elyse, Ericka and Aaron come in.
Look at the campaign donors to Tim Morgan and Elyse Dashew’s campaigns:
http://charmeck.org/MECKLENBURG/COUNTY/BOE/CANDIDATE/Pages/CFReports.aspx
Tim Morgan’s donors (some of them):
$150 Patrick Riley (Allen Tate President/COO) on 8/18/11
$500 Elizabeth Barnhardt (Charlotte Realtors’ Association) on 7/27/11
$100 MC Lackey (Wells Fargo) on 9/6/11
$500 NC Realtors’ PAC on 10/12/11
$50 John A Tate III (Wells Fargo) 8/5/11
$150 Little PAC (Charlotte) on 8/9/11
$250 Anna Spangler Nelson on 7/12/11
$250 T. Nelson on 7/12/11
$500 Thomas Belk (Belk CEO/Chair) on 7/25/11
$500 John R. Belk (Belk COO/President) on 8/16/11
$35 Luther Moore (SVP Belk) on 9/15/11
$100 David Hevey (VP Time Warner Cable) on 9/22/11
$250 NC Home Builder’s Association on 10/19/11
$500 Robert Morgan, President of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce on 9/9/11
Elyse Dashew’s donors (some of them):
$100 Lauren Locke (Wells Fargo) on 10/24/11
$500 Laura Simmons Nichols (Duke Energy Attorney) on 9/26/11
$200 Patrick Riley (Allen Tate President/COO) on 10/5/11
$150 Patrick Riley (Allen Tate President/COO) on 6/20/11
$100 Francoise Merrian (Exec. Asst. Bank of America) on 9/24/11
$500 NC Realtors’ PAC on 10/19/11
$100 Garland Tam (VP, Bank of America) on 7/5/11
$250 Lisa Turbessi (Compliance Exec. Bank of America) on 8/31/11
$100 John A Tate III (Wells Fargo) on 7/20/11
$250 Joni Pesta (SVP Bank of America) on 8/17/11
$150 Little PAC (Charlotte) on 10/11/11
$250 Anna Spangler Nelson on 8/19/11
$500 Thomas Belk (Belk CEO/Chair) on 8/31/11
$100 Luther Moore (SVP Belk) on 9/21/11
$190 Kathryn Ridge (former Executive Director of MeckEd) on 10/19/11
So these donors contributed to both Tim and Elyse’s campaigns:
Patrick Riley, Allen Tate President/COO
NC Realtors’ PAC (political action committee)
John Tate, Wells Fargo
Little PAC (Charlotte) (political action committee)
Anna Spangler Nelson (The CD Spangler Foundation)
Thomas Belk (Belk CEO/Chair)
Luther Moore, Belk SVP
Another connection: Sue Gorman (Dr. Peter Gorman’s wife) contributed $150 to Tim Morgan on 10/9/11, contributed $100 to Elyse Dashew on 10/9/11, and contributed $100 to Aaron Pomis on 10/9/11. Dr. Gorman was on the 2010 Board of Directors for MeckEd (while he was the CMS Superintendent). See page 7 on MeckEd’s 2010 IRS Form 990: http://www.mecked.org/WP/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/MeckEd-2010-9901.pdf
Doesn’t it strike you as odd that so many real estate people have contributed (Allen Tate, Charlotte Realtors’ Association, NC Realtors’ PAC, NC Home Builders Association)? What does real estate have to do with CMS? Nothing, until you connect these dots: Bob Morgan, Tim Morgan’s brother, is the President of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. And who does the Chamber help support? Real estate companies and developers in Charlotte. And where’s the money in that? High-end neighborhoods with high-end prices to give real estate agents and companies lots and lots of money on commissions.
Here’s an excerpt from The Charlotte Observer’s article titled, “Gorman grant paid for PR campaign for CMS budget,” written by Ann Doss Helms and Eric Frazier on 6/15/11:
Spreading the word
Bill Anderson, a former CMS administrator who took the helm of MeckEd in December, said Gorman approached him about leading a campaign to inform the public about the bleak budget. He said Gorman cited cutbacks to his public-information staff and indicated it would be “difficult for him to get his message out.”
On Jan. 10, MeckEd and the Charlotte Chamber announced plans to help CMS explain its budget dilemma. Leaders were vague when asked about the cost. Board Chair Eric Davis, who was part of the announcement, said it wouldn’t involve public money, and said CMS staff would continue with their own efforts.
Davis said today he didn’t know about Gorman’s donation then, but was told soon after.
The next day, Gorman unveiled a preliminary budget plan that called for eliminating about 1,500 jobs, including 600 teachers, to brace for an estimated $100 million in cuts.
MeckEd hired Carolina Public Relations to run the campaign, which included public forums, a speakers bureau and polling on what residents knew about the budget.
Anderson said he never publicly mentioned Gorman was footing the bill because “I was never asked that question.”
MeckEd has a budget of “under $600,000,” Anderson said. Donors named on the web site include several local businesses and foundations, including Spangler. Gorman is not listed.
Anderson said Gorman’s gift was not a true donation because it did not go toward MeckEd’s normal business and staff.
“It’s very important that MeckEd be an independent and nonpartisan group,” he said. “But I won’t shy away from the fact that we’ll do everything in our power to help public education.”
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/06/15/2379133/gorman-grant-paid-for-budget-pr.html
Note that Dr. Gorman was still the Superintendent of CMS in 12/10, and was also on the MeckEd Board of Directors in 2010. When did he give this “gift” to MeckEd? Also, why was the Chamber of Commerce involved in plans to “help CMS explain its budget dilemma?”
Other players in this picture: Larry Shaheen Jr. is Tim Morgan’s campaign manager. Larry was caught stealing Ken Nelson and Keith Hurley’s campaign literature from the early voting station in Charlotte:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/29573165/detail.html
Larry Shaheen Sr. is Larry’s father, and Larry Sr. is listed as the owner of Southeastern Construction Management Corporation in Pineville, NC. The address listed for this business is: 601 Eagleton Downs Drive A Pineville, NC 28134-7454. This is the SAME address listed for “The Committee to Elect Tim Morgan” on the Mecklenburg County Campaign Finance Reports!!
http://www.manta.com/c/mr4hxmj/southeastern-construction-management-corporation
http://charmeck.org/MECKLENBURG/COUNTY/BOE/CANDIDATE/Pages/CFReports.aspx
Robert (Bob) Morgan is the President of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. Bob is Tim Morgan’s brother.
http://charlottechamber.com/about-the-chamber/charlotte-chamber-leadership/
Patrick Riley is the President and COO of Allen Tate Realty. Pat donated to Tim and Elyse’s campaigns. Allen Tate is a donor/sponsor for MeckEd. MeckEd accepted money from Dr. Gorman to help fund a PR campaign to promote pay for performance. See article above.
The Broad Foundation and The Gates Foundation are billion-dollar foundations that have contributed tons of money towards education-reform, not only here in Charlotte, but across the country. Dr. Peter Gorman was a Broad “graduate”:
http://www.broadfoundation.org/
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/grants/Pages/search.aspx
CMS recently won $550,000 from the Broad Foundation, for being the best “urban” district in the country. Did you all know that those of us that live in Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson are apparently part of an “urban” school district?
This money goes towards helping “needy” seniors with college scholarships. Apparently, that money also bought Broad a “title sponsor” for CMS’s entire website. See the logo at the top of every page on CMS:
http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/Pages/Default.aspx
Aaron Pomis (and his wife) work(ed) for Teach for America (TFA). TFA is kind of like the Peace Corps. for our generation. They take people out of their current profession, train them to teach, and put them in an under-performing school/classroom for two years.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/03/2743636/pomis-i-live-my-promises.html
http://www.teachforamerica.org/our-mission
If you’ve gotten to this point, thank you for reading. In all the complications, it boils down to one point — MONEY. See how all the pieces fit together in this picture:
Nowhere in any of this information, is anyone looking out for the best interests of our kids. They’re all in it to make money; not to make our education system
better.
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