Did Smart Growth Forsyth County, Jerry Wickliffe and Commissioner David Richard conspire to give Richard an unfair advantage in the two political debates the organization sponsored this year?..
Did Smart Growth Forsyth County, Jerry Wickliffe and Commissioner David Richard conspire to give Richard an unfair advantage in the two political debates the organization sponsored this year?
Richard has been a frequent visitor to SGFC meetings and was supportive in their fight to prevent construction of a Wal-Mart on Hwy. 141.
When the group chose Jerry Wickliffe, a man who Richard says he's known for several years and who "has been a great help" to him, it painted a target on its chest and invited SGFC critics to take their best shot.
Not only is Wickliffe a friend to Richard, he is a man with a very shady past. In 2000, Wickliffe plead guilty to bid rigging in Fulton County, a crime that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
During the first debate, Wickliffe praised a Richard comment, saying it would be "a hard act to follow." Not the standard comment for an impartial moderator.
At the end of the debate, Wickliffe stepped in to block a very tough question from the audience that pertained to a false claim by Richard regarding water.
Richard stated that Forsyth County was "this close" to getting a water withdrawal permit from the EPD, something the county has tried unsuccessfully to obtain for at least 30 years.
When Richard was asked to provide evidence to support the claim, Wickliffe interrupted saying the answer would take too long and that SGFC was about to go into a regular meeting.
But then Wickliffe took another question from the audience from someone much friendlier to Richard.
The moderator's performance angered Bell supporters who proceeded to hit the local blog sites charging that Wickliffe and SGFC been biased toward their friend Dave Richard.
Wickliffe then proceeded to toss gasoline on the fire by sending Bell an email stating that because of the "perceived" bias he would not moderate the second debate.
That turned out to be a lie.
The ex-con did moderate the second debate. Not only that, he helped screen the questions AND changed the debate format not once, but twice after the debate started
Did SGFC know their hand-picked moderator lied to a candidate. Maybe. Maybe not. But they do now. And the silence eminating from this organization is deafening which only fuels the speculation that Wickliffe is not only an experienced at rigging bids, but debates as well.
Candidates for public office should avoid future SGFC debates like the plague!
The following is a copy of the email Wickliffe sent to Patrick Bell:
From: jerry wickliffe [mailto:] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:42 PM To: Subject: TeamBell :: Elect Patrick Bell :::
This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.teambell.org from: jerry wickliffe wickliffe@bellsouth.net">cowickliffe@bellsouth.net
I understand that you think I cannot remain unbiased in this last debate. I certainly don't want any candidate to think I am biased towards one candidate as opposed to another. I am as a private citizen not a member of Smart Growth going to vote for certain candidates. I want this debate to be fair and not seen as biased so I will not be the moderator. I think as I am a former Eagle Scout I would want this debate as fair as possible.