Please re-tweet this at #losthistory
Just a few moments ago a reader posted a comment to one of my posts on the Franklin County subject. Instead of having his point of view – which is first person to the incident, and richly detailed – buried in comments, I felt his story needed PAGE ONE exposure.
I am not endorsing this post. I have no personal experience with this person. But in the context of transparency and freedom of expression, I’m going to go ahead and put this out there, even though I realize some of his positions are inflammatory and will upset some people (in high places, particularly.)
—————
From stevetrubilla:
“I have been intimately involved with this issue, and can tell , IN MY OPINION, 1st hand, the new Clerk of Courts, Patrician Burnette Chastian took prudent and serious action to protect these records.
In my opinion, she did what no other official in office or county executive would do. She demonstrated great moral courage by standing for this.
She pleaded that the records not be destroyed. I believe she was betrayed by others that may have told her it would not be done.
The records were removed under the cover of darkness late on a Friday. The burning of the records began that evening or over the weekend with out notice to anyone empowered to stop it.
I now believe these records may have contained evidence of dark secrets.
Chastian found the records upon taking office. It was one of many serious problems she uncovered.
An example is hundreds of thousands, if not in excess of a million dollars of repairs required to the court house due to neglect.
Franklin County is suffering major economic stagnation and is close to the bottom of North Carolina’s state economic rating system.
There is no way they can afford this.
The condition of the court house was so bad trees were literately growing into the building. It has been reported black mold is on books in the law library.
Another issue is that of countless cases of property foreclosures that may not have been properly done. There are allegations of people losing their homes.
It has been said the new clerk of courts has had to file hundreds of documents to address a daunting back log of issues.
Chastian was appointed to office when Alice Faye Hunter inexplicably announced her immediate retirement. Many questions remain as to why she did this.
I personally spoke with the records office in Raleigh. I was given assurances the records would not be summarily destroyed. In fact I was told they could not be because that office now had control over them.
Yet they were burned.
The explanations and or excuses now be offered, to me, appear to be, more damage control and “cover yourself” than anything else.
The Franklin County Heritage Society tried to move mountains to save these records. They are “unsung heroes”
I do not know how anyone can say there was nothing of historical significance destroyed.
Early on evening the records were removed for destruction I was personally in the room. With my own eyes I saw many boxes of records containing documents is “sealed” envelopes. These records were not contaminated with mold.
There is no way anyone can say what was in those envelopes, no way!
I have knowledge that organizations from out of state offered to take possession of the records at no cost to Franklin County.
The Franklin County Historical Society offered to take custody of the records at no cost to the county. They said they would sign waivers of any liability.
I believe there is now an effort by officials to bury this story.
I attended a county commissioners meeting on 6 Jan 2014 where the officials refused to answer questions on this. Only one commissioner pressed for answers; commissioner Harry Foy. When he voiced this the other commissioners remained silent.
This is but one of countless very troublesome stories in Franklin County, NC. Citizens are continually voicing a lack of confidence in elected officials and county executives. Some have called for many resignations.
I have been told more people would come forward with questions but they fear the consequences of doing so
There is an estimated over $900,000 gift from the late Mr. Edgar Owens to build a park that is shrouded in secrecy for now over three years.
For reasons unexplained a multi-million dollar expansion of the NOVANT hospital is being blocked.
It has been reported that some of these issues have been reported to the local district attorney but he has not responded.
He has announced his retirement.
The county finance director has now also announced his retirement. Initially it was reported he has resigned, giving a 30 day notice.
Add to this a past Sheriff going to prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then there are the every growing other cases of missing funds.
There is also the Shannon Nyamodi story. http://thepeopleschampion.me/north-carolina-unjustly-holds-black-man-captivity-habeas-corpus-filed-free-shannon-nyamodi-bizarre-murder-hire-case/
What is the rest of the story on the records?
If you are reading this anywhere in America please do not let this story be buried. Join in the effort to bring more national attention to it.
These kind of things need to stop in our county.
“We the People” are asking Patriots to stand.
“Together we are many”
Stumbling in the Shadows of Giants 
January 8th, 2014 at 1:02 am
The tweet is done. Way to go, Steve!
Renate