The Low down On Melvin "Skip" Alston
Posted in Guilford County Board of Commissioners
Oct. 2, 2005 at 16:03
by BrendaBee
Oct. 2, 2005 - The Low down On Melvin "Skip" Alston
Did anyone happen to catch Lorraine Aherns column in the News & Record today entitled, What if your landlord heads the NAACP? Yep, she was indeed speaking of Mr. Melvin ‘Skip’ Alston and speak she certainly did. Of course Ms. Ahern is a polite well bred lady so she wasn’t at all caustic or snide or even sarcastic and that is probably how she got her column approved by the pansy editors at the N&R. They did after all refuse to print my letter so I sent it to the Rhino. The Rhino should have actually been my first choice anyhow but I had some hope that perhaps the N&R would for once show some spirit.
Anyhow, Ms. Ahern had some interesting facts to relate concerning Mr. Alston’s affairs that was news to me. (I have only lived in Greensboro since October 2004). I think they need to be enumerated here for future reference and to keep reminded me and anyone reading this column what a scoundrel this man is:
1. Guilford County Commissioner since 1992 and its first black Chairman of the Board of which he has also been the chief wheeler dealer, or more precisely, as Skip goes so go the Democrats. I can readily believe now that I am more aware that any Democrat who wants to be commissioner has to get his permission. It was rumored that one of the current commissioners got reelected after being voted off the commission only after apologizing on bended knee to Alson. This was John Parks 2004 election.
2. President of the North Carolina NAACP since 1996. I understand that finally this year for the first time he might have some competition for the post. (He lost this election).
3. He procured low interest city loan of $400,000 to convert a building from a previous Burger King to his own Bar-Be-Que Palace and to renovate a shopping mall next door in which he plans locate his business offices as president of S&J Management. We can bet that there was some federal funds invested in that enterprise also considering Alson is a minority. A double whammy for taxpayers!
4. Co-owner of the old Woolworth Building where a civil rights sit in was staged during the 1960’s and which he wants to convert into as Civil Rights Museum. This project has been in the works for 10 years with little to show for the millions of dollars put into it so far. Money which Mr. Alston managed and hasn’t accounted for except that the ‘overhead’ seems to account for the lions share of the funds. I am assuming that part of that ‘overhead” is a payment for the management of the project and who else would do the managing but S&J Management. As County Commissioner he received funds from Guilford County initially for the museum project and this year was able to “compromise” another $250,000. for each of the next years out of the Dems on the commission. I use the word “compromise” because at the time he explained the vote as “you tell me what you want and I tell you what I want. That’s called compromise.” Before that vote was taken a challenge was made that he couldn’t vote because it would be a conflict of interest. So the commissioners including Alston had a vote on whether or not his vote could be counted. He won 6 to 5 along party lines as is what seems to be the usual outcome when a vote is taken by the Guilford Country Board of Commissioners.
5. Manager of the 32 unit blighted, roach infested St. James Apartments that are subsidized by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the recipient of millions of city and county funds. Naturally no one dares to hold Mr. Alston accountable for any of the funds or anything else that goes on at the complex. Crime is rampant and has increased since the HUD grant for private security ran out recently. Alston says that if the police can’t do anything about crime in the apartments and surrounding area then what can he do. Of course he and commission chairman Bruce (taxpayer provided Hawaiian vacationer) Davis won’t approve funds for a new jail that Guilford is in desperate need of because they claim the sheriffs department disproportionately arrests too many Blacks and that ‘alternate forms’ of correction should be used. There was a structural collapse recently at the apartments that injured several people; I am waiting for the outcome of that.
6. Melvin ‘Skip’ Alston is famous for his attributing every action taken against him or questioning of his activities as being RASCIST if the person involved is White or as RACIST INSPIRED UNCLE TOMS if accusations are made by a Black. Ms. Ahern is sure to be accused of RACISM. He further claims that the ‘White power structure’ is picking on him and giving him “unfair scrutiny” because he is a successful Black man. Since the so-called White power structure has allowed him to get away with shady, if not criminal, activities for all these years I would question that he is getting any scrutiny at all. I would be more apt to agree that he has a lot of people both Black and White intimidated!
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