Jim Black just won’t go away. And now a Wake School Board member and a judge are pimp slapping one another because of him.
A Wake County judge is expected to rule today that Black can serve his state sentence on corruption charges at the same time he’s behind bars on federal charges.
That anticipated ruling comes after Black was allowed to close out the remaining half of a $1 million criminal fine by transferring undeveloped land in Mecklenburg County to the Wake County school system.
“It was a reasonable way of resolving the fine,” said Ann Majestic, the school board’s attorney. “It looks to be a very fair value.”
But Wake school board member Ron Margiotta feels the school district was shortchanged by the land deal. He says Black should have been required to provide cash instead of turning over land. He’s also complaining that school board members weren’t notified ahead of time about the land transfer.
“We’re dealing with a convicted felon who made deals in bathrooms,” Margiotta said. “That’s the worst thing a person can do by betraying the public trust.”
The N&O
I think Margiotta, the only school board member in Wake County who traditionally gives a damn about kids and parents, has a point. But that judge must have pretty thin skin.
Wake Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens chastised school board member Ron Margiotta today for his complaints about the handling of the fine in the Jim Black case and warned that the criticism could cost the school district money in the future. [emphasis mine]
According to today’s online article by Rob Christensen, Stephens interrupted Black’s sentencing to call in a school board attorney to his courtroom to be chewed out. The judge called the remarks “idiotic” and noted that he had not been obligated to levy any fine against Black.
Wow, sure sounds like a mature, deep-thinking jurist sitting up on that thar bench, don’t it?
“Criticism from those receiving the gift really kind of puts a chilling effect on judges and the courts system that are working really hard for their benefit,” Stephens said. “It is not appreciated. I don’t even understand it, quite frankly. In my 25 years on the bench, I have never seen anything quite like that. It makes no sense. It’s a little bit idiotic.”
Gift? What the hell are you, Santa Claus? Do you have a black robe or a red coat? Black was obligated to pay back this money, and Margiotta is right that a cash handout is better than some land deal.
According to T. Keung Hui, who covers Wake Schools for the N&O, Stephens added that “he would have to give serious thought to whether he would levy fines in the future that would benefit the Wake school system”, and added that “he had the power to rescind the fine and make the school board return $500,000 in cash”.
This judge must have a big black robe to cover the adult diaper he must be wearing, because he is acting like petulant little baby who doesn’t want to take a nap. What pompous know-it-all. Like that judge (also in Wake County)who a while back ordered a woman to send her kids to public schools, Stephens thinks his gavel is a crown and that his courtroom is his own little fiefdom. Margiotta not only has a right to criticize this ruling (we still live in America right?), he’s an elected official obligated to look out for the interest of the Wake schools. It’s his job to ask these questions.
Anyways, the Wake GOP has stepped up to give the judge a much needed kick in the ass:
“The Wake GOP is truly concerned about the lack of accountability and transparency by all parties in this deal,” Pope said. “[W]e have the party in power cutting deals for its own fallen leader, avoiding government accountability, allowing a man convicted of betraying the public trust to avoid personal responsibility of his crimes, and cheating the Wake County taxpayers out of some much-needed tax relief.
We support Mr. Margiotta’s statements that Black should have been required to pay cash and that the land appraisal should have been done independently. Furthermore, Judge Stephens’ sharp-tongued remarks today toward Mr. Margiotta were extremely inappropriate.”
Just another day in North Carolina…