To the Editor

Is there a connection between possible financial improprieties by the county and its refusal to remove the Confederate Statue in front of the county courthouse?

It has been since November 1, 2022, that the county board agreed to remove the Confederate Statue. And to this day the stature has not been removed. Why? The word from the county manager has been that they should wait for the city to develop some memorial park, so as to save money. When I asked city officials to see the plans for the park, I was told no concrete plans had yet been made.

What’s going on? When nothing seems to be happening, one might wonder that maybe the county is hiding something. If they were not, then why aren’t they more transparent? Something’s not adding up.

I previously requested and received a copy of the county’s 2023 budget, which was a general budget. On March 19, 2024, I requested a more itemized list of specific line items in the budget to observe where millions of dollars were being spent. To this day, I have not received anything. I was told by a person from the manager’s office that she had to receive approval from the board. That’s been about two months now. One might wonder why the county is not being transparent. What might the county be hiding?

Millions of dollars have come into the county from grants for the restoration of the county, and the county should be transparent concerning how these monies are being spent. When decisions by the board are not being carried out by the administrators, one might wonder, whose really in charge? While the county board and administrators should serve the citizens of the community, one may wonder if they are only serving their own self-interest.

Why is the country board following the instructions of the county manager in this matter? The board should be the governing body. But the manager is telling them to wait. Something’s not adding up.

From my observations, others have also requested how grant monies have been spent, and they also expressed their frustrations in trying to get this information from the county. The Freedom of Information Act requires that this information

should be made available to the public when requested. However, this county does not release it to its citizens. What happened to transparency? When there is no clear reason why the confederate statue has not yet been removed, and there is no transparency of how monies are being spent, one must wonder WHY?

There’s an old saying that says; ”Follow The Money” when something seems to be missing. One cannot but wonder what else is going on that our county officials want to keep the citizens in the dark. If there is a refusal to be transparent with the budget, what else is going on?

Several county agencies have appealed to the board — the NAACP, Ministers for Justice, the Robeson County Bar Association, and other concerned citizens. I’ve also gone several times. On one occasion I provided the position of the N.C. CRED — a commission that works across professional, political and ideological lines to identify and develop strategies to reduce ethnic and racial disparities. It says; “If the county now owns this property, it should be declared surplus and disposed of appropriately by law.’

Therefore, the county should consider the Confederate Statue as surplus property and dispose of it accordingly. There is no need to wait. Money is not the issue. Each county commissioner receives a nice discretionary fund. And the statue can easily be placed in one of the many warehouses throughout the county. So why hasn’t the statue been removed? Why is the county not being transparent? What is the county hiding?

Dr. Leo Barnwell

Pastor, Faith Community Church