Meet former Mayor Johnnie Mosley
IN HIS OWN WORDS (Part 4)
By Lee Raynor, Editor
Posted: 10:45 AM EST Sunday December 12, 2005
Former Mayor Johnnie Mosley talks today about how Lenoir County Board of
Commissioners Chairman George Graham was snubbed at the recent Workhouse
ceremony at the Global TransPark, how leaders in the black community are
chosen, the "missing" $2 million from city coffers
Q: What about other black leaders in this town?
A: When you're talking about black leaders, who has chosen those black leaders?
Do you ever get the question, "Who are the white leaders in Kinston?" You never
do. But we always get the question, "Who are the black leaders" from the whites.
But who are they? Name them as black leaders. An elected official automatically
takes on that [role] as a black leader because of the position they currently hold.
Q: Julian Pridgeon?
A: He's a pastor. He's the church.
Q:If you step up to do things, don't you then become a leader?
A: No. I guess what I was saying about black leaders is that whites pin us as
"black leaders". We don't pin ourselves as black leaders.
Q: I didn't mean for this to be a racial conversation.
A: But everything that happens is race related, even though we don't look at it that
way.
Q: Was the announcement about Workhorse opening at the GTP delayed
until Buddy Ritch took office?
A: Do you think that the announcement couldn't have been made earlier? And not
only that, the city had no participation in it.
Q: You mean, in ironing out the details?
A: Correct. We provided nothing. Everything was already there. The hangar was
built. It had been going on for a long time. I'd been knowing about that. In
economic development meetings, we'd been talking about it. The TransPark's been
talking about it all along. The county put money into the project. Was the
chairman of the county commission on the program? No. The one that was
involved in it was not asked to speak.
Q: Why?
A: Well, I really don't know why. I just say, "Race." That's the only thing it can
be. You cannot say George Graham is not an excellent speaker. He is an excellent
speaker. I'm not a good speaker. I've always known that. I always thought I could
get my point across, but I'm not a good orator. I never let that faze me. That's been
another criticism I've gotten from the whites.
Q: What other business announcements are coming?
A: (Laughs) I won't say. But it makes sense [that announcements were held off
until Ritch was sworn in] - now all these industries start rolling in.
Q: While you were on the Council, about $2 million went missing. Whatever
happened to that money?
A: It didn't actually go missing.
Q: What was it used for?
A: It wasn't used. It was a shortcoming in one budget year that was moved to the
next budget year, so it appeared that it was missing. But it never was missing.
Q: I heard that the money was used to do some type of construction at the
GTP. Is that true?
A: The money was allotted for - I don't recall exactly what it was, because that
was seven years ago. It was allotted for something in one calendar year that wasn't
used, and basically had to be moved to the next calendar year so it appears that
that $2 million for that budget year was missing. It's kinda like when you roll a
project over to the next budget year. That's what it was.
Q: Why do people in Kinston pay so much for electricity?
A: I don't know how to answer that question other than that they're paying for the
increases the city receives from Progress Energy. During most of the '90s the city
was willing to absorb most of the rate increases. In the late '90s, or 2000, the
revenues from electric sales, a bunch of it went to the General Fund. But the state
local commission said we had to stop using revenues from electric to put into the
General Fund or other projects.
I don't know the year, but I think it was 2001, when the only thing we transferred
to the General Fund was around $900-and-some thousand from the electric fund.
That was what we considered the tax, in lieu of what we would have gotten from
our distribution center. That was the only money we could transfer out of there.
Now we were down to the very bare bones on the revenue, so when the new
increase came we had to pass it on. Last May, when the 6 percent, 6 ½ percent
came for the coal, 5 percent of it, we couldn't absorb it. Now, a 1 percent increase
means, at that time, means $360,000 that we had to absorb.
In '88, when I first became a Council member, the rates were lower than CP&L. I
think when it crossed was in '92 or '93 when our rates started moving beyond
CP&L. Some of that was because of the escalated cost of the nuclear plant. Some
of it was because of mismanagement by CP&L. ElectriCities sued CP&L some
time in the late '90s or mid-'90s because of mis-management. That stayed in court
for about a year. We finally got $400 million. Most of that $400 million went to
the lawyers. We've been fighting it ever since our forefathers decided to get into it
because of the escalated costs of the nuclear plant that was built. I don't see
anything we can do now or in the future that's going to reduce electric rates other
than have a large-use energy industry come here.
Still to come: Will Smithfield Packing have any affect on local electric rates? Can
the state bail us out? What are the prospects for bringing new jobs to Kinston and
retaining our young people?
|
Print this page
