The best way to tell how someone will perform in the future is to look at how they have performed in the past.
For that reason, the following are a few reasons we should REJECT Sue Sweeting for Watauga County Board of Commissioners.
1. Recused by her peers on Blowing Rock Town Council for Conflict of Interest
While on the Blowing Rock Town Council, Sweeting, like other Council members, was instructed by the Town Attorney as to what they could and could not do as they considered a particular land use application.
Sweeting paid no attention to those instructions – which either means she lacks the intellect to understand the repercussions of her behavior, or she intended to have her behavior remain undetected. Neither way was acceptable.
The town council members voted unanimously to recuse her from voting on the matter before them. Even after being confronted by attorney Chelsea Garrett, Sweeting refused to admit her misconduct.
2. “Vaccinate or Terminate”
During the Covid outbreak Sweeting pushed to terminate Blowing Rock Town employees who were not vaccinated.
These were the same people who picked up trash, plowed snowy roads and fixed water line breaks in the dead of winter. The same employees the Town was trying hard to retain with a minimum wage raise to keep them from being hired away by Boone or other municipalities.
Mandating compliance and forcing a relatively unknown vaccine on people who have supported your community by threatening to take away their livelihood and family benefits is wrong. And it’s a clear indicator of the overbearing positions Sweeting takes –
it is not appropriate and it’s wrong for Watauga County. A more thoughtful and reasonable solution would have been to merely allow them to test weekly or daily for Covid.
3. Not able to work with the County or Board of Education
After the Parkland High School shooting in early 2018, Sweeting pushed Blowing Town Council to pay for a full-time School Resource Officer at Blowing Rock Elementary– a financial responsibility of the County and the Board of Education. Because she did not work or communicate with the County or Board of Education, the Town of Blowing has ended up footing the entire bill – last year that cost was over $90,000.
This issue is not about the need for the officer – it’s about getting it done the right way.
If you want to know how she plans to handle the EMS ambulance question in Blowing Rock, think about how she handled the School Resource Officer. So if you live in Blowing Rock watch your wallet.
These are just a few of Sweeting’s past performances that speaks volumes about the kind of thoughtless choices she makes.
Let’s learn from the recent experiences in Blowing Rock and REJECT Sue Sweeting for Watauga County Board of Commissioners.
Victoria Smith
Boone