August 20, 2025 • 32 mins
Tune in here to this Wednesday's edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks the show off by talking about the ongoing political upheaval in Cabarrus County and the controversial firing of County Manager Sean Newton. Jensen lays out the timeline of Newton’s dismissal, emphasizing that the move—voted 3-2 by the Board of Commissioners—should not have surprised anyone following local politics. He highlights Newton’s lack of government experience and ties to former county chair Chris Miesmer, suggesting those connections were the only reason for his initial hiring. Brett also addresses the backlash from Commissioner Laura Blackwell-Lindsey and the Cabarrus GOP, including GOP Chair Lanny Lancaster's alleged doxxing of a public official.
Later, Jensen has One-on-One interview with Cabarrus County Commissioner Kenny Wortman to get a firsthand account of the decision to fire County Manager Sean Newton with cause. Wortman firmly defends the move, calling out fellow Commissioner Laura Blackwell-Lindsey for what he sees as hypocrisy, pointing to her role in the abrupt dismissal of other longtime county employees just months prior. When questioned about the lack of a vote for current Chair Jeff Jones, Wortman counters with examples of past appointments.
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi Oh, Let's go Hi, Oh, Let's go. Oh, Let's go. Oh,
Let's come Just talk eleven, ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Brett Jensen here with you on this Wednesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen. As we go up until
seven o'clock tonight. Telephone numbers to get in on the
(00:43):
show as well as to text the WBT text line,
which is driven by a Liberty View at GMC. That number,
of course is seven oh four five, seven oh eleven ten.
And guys, make sure you follow me on x at
Brett Underscore Jensen for all the letters and breaking news
in and around the Shawan area, and if you followed
me on exit you would understand what's getting ready to
go down tonight. Also later on in the show tonight,
(01:07):
we're gonna have Tom Lott, who is the vice chair
and co founder of Community Matters, and it's a charity
that has been around for quite a while and has
been putting a lot of good together. So you guys
may have already heard about that, but we'll talk to
him later on about some things. And I had a
chance to spend some time with him on Monday, and
like I said, didn't get a chance to play the
interview last night, but we will play it later on tonight.
(01:29):
All right, So let's start off with Caberras County. It's like,
as I've said millions and millions of times, it's the
gift that keeps on giving, and so it's it is,
there's always something. And we talked him a little bit
about it last night about how on Monday night the
(01:49):
Coberts County Board of Commissioners voted to fire county manager
Sean Newton, and they fired him with cause, which means
we don't have to give him at we don't have
to give him severance. It's standard in contracts. I have it.
Mar Garrison has that, bo Beth. Everyone has with cause
terminology in their contracts. If you do this and we
(02:12):
fire you, if you do one of these things, then
we don't have to pay you any severance, all right,
we can just flat out fire you. Right. It's also
very common to have in like college coaches contracts like
with cause, we can fire you for whatever reason, and
like you know, dating a cheerleader, that's with cause, and
(02:33):
you don't have to pay a severance because you know,
these these college coaches are making you know, six, eight, ten,
twelve million dollars a year in football, especially football. So anyway,
they fired him Sean Newton on Monday night. Monday night.
It was one of those things is I talked about
last night. It should not have caught anyone off guard.
(02:56):
Everyone on the planet that is, has anything to do
with Cabrera's County, that follows the Cabrera's County commissioners or
local government should have seen this coming a mile away.
Maybe not that exact day, but they should have known
it was coming down Main Street. It was like it
was like a semi truck going down I eighty five.
(03:16):
Whoever didn't see this coming, sorry, Like then that's that's
a U problem. That is a U problem. So anyways,
so Commissioner Lynch Shue said, look, I think we need
to fire the county manager Kenny Wartman said yeah, all right,
(03:37):
and the chair Jeff Jones said yes. So you now
had three against two. They went into closed session, they
discussed whatever it is they wanted to discuss. They came out,
they did a vote, and then Sean Sean Newton was
fired three votes to two. Now, Sean, by all accounts,
(03:59):
never should have had the job in the first place, period.
There is no defense for his hiring zero Well Brett.
That seems awfully harsh. Well, yeah, he had no government experience.
And for a county the size of Cabarras County in terms,
that is literally only getting bigger every single day. It
(04:19):
is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. To have someone
with no government experience. I mean, maybe you can get
away with that in Anson County or Avery County or
something way down in the mountains, maybe even Pender County
down east maybe, but a town like or a county
like Cabarra's no way. Second of all, sorry, but we
(04:41):
all know the only reason, the only reason he was
given the job was because of his association with former
county chair Chris Mesmer, who went to Raleigh was appointed
a Senate seat. He was appointed, didn't get a single vote.
(05:04):
And I'm telling you that to keep this in just
remember that little statement he didn't get a single vote.
Just remember that statement that I told you we'll circle
back to this put a pit in that. Just remember that.
So they fired him with cause for whatever it is
they fired him for. Well, a couple of people are
(05:27):
kind of ticked off about it. Laura Lindsay Blackwell, excuse me,
Laura Blackwell, Lindsay, sorry about that. Laura Blackwell, Lindsay she
didn't like the fact, and Larry Piman didn't like it,
and the head of the commiss Gup. Lanny Lancaster certainly
didn't like it because he started docsing people on Facebook.
(05:51):
Now he put out the person that appointed the chair.
He put out his email and his cell phone number.
I don't know if it's his person no cell phone
number or not. If it is, if he the person
who he put out, Bill Biggs or you know bags
rather who had who appointed this person. If this is
(06:11):
his personal cell phone that he gets no money from
the county from, then that's a big problem for Lanny.
If he receives a single penny from Cabera's county, then
it's not docks in because it's public record. So the
question is the phone number that Landy Lancaster put out
(06:35):
the head of the grass GP, is that his personal
that he doesn't receive a dime from, or is that
any way, shape or form founded by or funded by
the county. I have no idea, But Lanny put out
an email and a phone number and for Landy's sake.
I really hope that it's for Landry's sake. I really
hope that it's his uh county phone number, or that
(06:58):
he does receive funds from anyways. That's that's another thing.
So now you've got people that are extremely upset that
a person that was hand picked by Chris Mesmer, and
Chris Mesmer doesn't breathe without the approval of the Comparis GP.
He is clearly one puppet, truly, because everything that he
(07:22):
tried to do as a county commissioner was more or
less probably had something to do with the Cambarra's GP.
At least that's my opinion, and that's the way it
comes across, and I would have a lot of people
that would agree with me. So the puppet of the
Combaris County GP, excuse me. The Combaris County Commissioner board
(07:48):
put forth his buddy Shawn Newton, former business partner and
Chris at the time, would say, well, but our business
went bankrupt. Well that's not an excuse for not I okay,
so your business went bankrupt. So either he's not good
with finances or you guys suck as businessmen. But okay,
(08:14):
let's say you're great and just brilliant businessmen. You still
hired your ex partner. That's like hiring your ex wife. Well,
mean we're not married anymore, doesn't matter, it's your ex wife.
Well we're not business partners anymore. Okay. Well, a, he
has no government experience in b he was your ex partner.
(08:37):
So I've caught you up to date on everything, like
this is the story that won't end. By the way,
Sean Newton got the job, I believe, back in March.
So he's been on the job since March. So we're
talking five months, right, Okay, So when we return, Mark
Garrison had a chance to speak with Laura Blackwell Lindsay,
(08:58):
who has never been shy even from her days at
school board, for speaking her mind. And you're gonna want
to stick around for that, I promise you. Welcome back
(09:32):
to breaking with Brad Jenson. Okay. So seven four, five
eleven ten. So Mark Garrison did an interview with Laura
Blackwell Lindsay. She's on the Meccamarre County excuse me, the
Cabars County Commissioners. The interview took place last night, so
I want to put that. So when she's saying last
night last night. She's meeting Monday night because this interview
(09:52):
was done last night with Mark and them, So I
want you to hear it and listen to it. So
just again put it in a couple of things that
I told you earlier. Just remember that you're.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Not happy about this.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Huh No, I'm definitely not happy about it. And what
I witnessed last night was probably one of the most
egregious things that I've ever seen, and I've seen a
lot of things. Being elected to fire a good man
like Shawn Newton, who's barely been with the county for
six months, doing a great job by all accounts. Other
(10:29):
staff that I've spoken to were so impressed with him,
Even people that may not have necessarily been happy about
us hiring h Another county manager liked him because he's
just a likable guy. So even keeled just wanted to
come here and help Caberras County be better.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So I know that there's limitations and what can say
on personnel matters? Are you able at all to discuss
what the so called cause was?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So basically the causes that I was given was that
supposedly there was an event where he yelled at an employee,
and there was some question about his attendant, whether or
not he was in the office at certain times of
(11:22):
the day, and that he basically was not experienced and
being a county manager. So they just didn't think he
could do the job, even though he's been doing the
job for the last six months. Even though those three
are the ones that voted for his manager's budget, they
(11:44):
voted for his budget. He came in in the middle
of a budget cycle, was able to get us out
of six million dollars in debt, was able to create
a budget that we didn't lower the time treatment. We
didn't raise either. I mean it was to be managed
fifty cents, and Larry and I didn't vote for it
(12:05):
for other reasons of other funding that we didn't feel
like was appropriate in the budget. But that doesn't mean
that I don't think Sean's doing a great job. But
these three approved that budget. So how why do you
say that he's not doing his job? How do you
say that he's not capable of doing his job.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, he had never had any government experience.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Prior to this, correct, no, but he had finance experience,
and he had management experience, and everyone that I've talked
to regarding Sean and his performance as a county manager.
Was very impressed with the work that he was doing
in the county.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So what do you make of all this?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I don't know. It's hard to wrap my brain around it,
to be quite honest with you, because I mean, it
literally makes me sick what they did to him. He
asked that they allow him the opportunity to find another job,
and they couldn't even have the decency to allow a
man who has two children and a wife at home
(13:05):
that depend on his salary to find another job because
supposedly he does something so agregious, And yet I have
I haven't heard a single thing that is egregious in
my mind for an immediate termination for somebody who's been
here for six months. Vengeful? Are they Are they just
(13:25):
trying to seek revenge? Spiteful? Hateful? Just political nonsense. I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Well, his hiring was controversial. There was swirl at the
time that he only got the job because he had
previously been in business with another county commissioner.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Is that what this is all about?
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know
what they're again, it's vengeful revenge, spiteful, just political posturing.
I don't know. I don't know what their plan is.
I have no idea. Obviously, I have no idea because
they didn't even talk to me or Larry about it
when they did this. This was brought up out of nowhere.
(14:07):
Had we had no discussion. I don't even know if
they had even looked at the man's contract to see
what he's entitled to in his contract. Now, we certainly
didn't have a contract where we approved five hundred thousand
dollars of payout even if you're fired with calls. But again,
(14:28):
where is what is the cost? What is the true
grounds for them having to fire somebody last night and
not even allow him the opportunity to work out any
kind of notice and to find new employment. He said,
you would resign, He said, I will resign, Just give
me an opportunity to find a new job. What did
(14:49):
you do that was so egregious that they could not
have allowed him to do that?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
And so he gets no sabrench right, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I mean, I at this point, I'm quite certain that
attorneys are looking at this contract to figure out what
he's entitled to. And you know, I'm not sure exactly
what his next steps are, but it certainly wasn't right
the way that this was done.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Wortman was saying they would hire a national search firm
to look for somebody. Would you support that?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I mean, I don't at this point, I haven't even
had a conversation with them about what their intentions are.
I mean, the hiring process is one thing, but the
fact that we haven't even gotten through barely twenty four
hours of me having to try to wrap my brain
around them firing the county manager. The question in my
(15:48):
mind is who's going to want to come and work
for Cabaris County in this craziness that we have going
on right now. Like you had, somebody who was appointed
to of his who was supposed to be a uniter,
who was supposed to be the person that was going to,
you know, be the positive change that the Commission needed
(16:10):
for us to work together. He was the vote that
fired our brand new county manager of six months, a
man who was appointed. Not a single vote was he
did he receive except from Bill Bags. I mean, at
this point, I don't know what I would even it
doesn't to be honest with you, Mark, it doesn't matter.
(16:32):
It doesn't matter because it's the three of them now
against Larry and I. They know that they have the majority.
They got their person in there, however they had to
do it, and now they are they're just going to
do whatever they want to do, and it doesn't matter
what Larry and I think, even though you know, we
just got put in there in November because the community
(16:56):
made a very clear statement about how they wanted the
the county to move and what direction they wanted to
move for taxpayers, and that's what Sean was doing. Sean
was looking out for the taxpayers. That's what he did.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Well, it seems like things are just gonna keep getting
ugly there.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah, Oh it's not pretty. It is definitely not pretty.
And if this is the way that they want to
do things, that's they can do that. But the tides
will turn, things will change, Elections will happen. Yeah, I mean,
you know, Jeff is appointed, so he's got his little
term to work out. But you know, in November of
(17:40):
twenty six, we're going to be voting on three new
commissioners and Larry and I are still there. And for
us to have the majority is only one person that
we need, so for them to do all of this
out of spite when again my point is Larry and
I were elected and I say hired by the taxpayers
(18:03):
to get some things done in this county that they
didn't know the way we're being handled. And so now
that they have this majority back, they're going to try
to undo the will of the people. So we'll have
another election and it will have consequences, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So there you go, Laura Blackwell, Lindsay talking to Mark Garrison. Mark,
that was obviously you can tell that was a phone
call conversation. So when we come back on the opposite side,
Kenny Wartman, Caberis County Commissioner will be joining us. Welcome
(18:42):
back to Breaking with Brett Jensen here on this Wednesday night.
So you heard Mark Garrison's interview with Laura Blackwell Lindsey.
You heard me describing the whole situation and the madness
that is going on over there in Cabarras County and
the board, and I tell you it's something that I've
been discussing quite a bit since around March or so.
So joining us now is Kenny Workman, who's also a
(19:05):
Cobert's County Commissioner, who actually voted to have this, to
have the former county manager Sean Newton dismissed fired with cause. So,
first of all, Kenny, I really do appreciate you joining
us tonight. I mean, like I said, I know this
has gotten a lot of attention. So again, thanks for
doing this. So you just heard Laura Blackwell Lindsay's attitude,
(19:27):
and she said that she's never seen any like this,
anything like this in all her years of politics. So
what do you think about that particular statement.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Hey, Bret Well, First, thanks for having me on. It's
been a while. Sure it won't be the last time,
but you know, one of the most egregious things she's
ever seen. I think she said, you know, how do
we fire a good man that's been here six months?
You know, I'd say probably the same way she fired
Mike Downs and Rich Cook six months ago with no
notice in blind sided us. Mike was a good man
(19:58):
who's been here for thirty eight years. Rich is a
good man who's been here twenty years. And did they
allow either one of them to stay to find employment elsewhere?
They have wives and kids, Rich had medical bills. I
think I heard her say it makes her sick. But
you know she sat up there and smiled the whole
time when she ruined those two men's careers. So you know,
(20:19):
you can say one thing, but six months ago you
literally did the exact same.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Thing speaking to Kenny Werman Kamara's county commissioners. So in
regard to Jeff Jones not receiving a single vote, don't
forget either did Chris Mesmer when he got appointed to Raleigh,
you know, the former Cabaras county chairs. So with all
that being said, how do you feel about her saying
that Jeff Jones didn't receive a single vote.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
I think what you said was, let's put a pin
in that one. You know that we got sued a
couple months ago for an illegal meeting where they tried
to put a woman from the secretary of the GOP
in there, La Marie. They said that was the best
candidate there. She didn't get a single vote, but yet
she was acceptable to be put on as a commissioner.
(21:06):
As you said, Senator Meiesmer did get a single vote.
He was appointed Tim Ferr. The last time that our
board deadlock, Tim Ferr was appointed by Bill Baggs. He
didn't get a single vote. But yet all those people
still serve well.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And we're talking again to Kenny Workman of the Cabarras
County Board of Commissioners, and I want to ask you
about whether or not there was actual proof to fire
Sean Newton. And the reason I asked that is because
Laura Blackwell Lindsay, said she hasn't seen any proof, if
I'm not mistaken, and I think that's what she said.
She hasn't seen it, She's unaware of it. You know,
(21:42):
is there actual proof, documented proof, actual proof to have
fired him with cause?
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Well, what I'll simply say is, you know, I've always
done my own research. Yes there is proof, But unlike Laura,
I'm not going to disclose closed session information on personnel
matters that tends to get people sued. I think we're
seeing that with a City of Charlotte right now, or
a Charlotte City council.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
It's a similar situation.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
All right. So let me ask you this then, in
terms of that particular position, do you guys have anyone
in mind? I mean, you know, there's I think Garrison
even talked about how you said there might be potentially
like a national search firm or you hire like you know,
at head hunting firm or anything like that. So do
you have anyone in mind or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
So I've heard all sorts of things as of now, No,
we've not discussed that there is nobody in mind. But
I'll tell you from a personal level what I would
like to see done just solely, and you know I've
not talked to anybody. Solely. I would like to see
it opened up nationally for four to five months, the
way that it should have been done the first time.
I would like to see the residency requirement added in.
(22:51):
You know, if you're going to make decisions for Cober's County,
you should live here. I would like to see ten
to fifteen years government experience added in. And then when
it gets down to the final I would like to
see a round table with the department heads who have
to work for this person. And I'd like to see
another round table with the other local elected officials from Concord, Cannapolis,
maybe some of the mayors. Those relationships they have to have,
(23:12):
I would like to see them have it say so
as well, because these are all relationships that you have
to have as a county manager.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
In terms of that, also, one of the things that
Lord Blackwell Lindsey brought up was that, well, if he's
doing this such a bad job, then why did you
vote for his budget? And why did Lynn and why
did Jeff Jones? So can you talk about that?
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Well, the funny part is you voted against it. If
he's doing such a great job, then why did you
vote against his budget? But when a lot of people
forget is several years ago, when the revaluation happened, the
recommended budget by the county manager was sixty cents per
one hundred. It was my emotion to drop it to
what it currently is, and then it stayed the same.
So technically we have not raised the tax rate. Did
(23:57):
people's taxes go up, Yeah, because the revaluation, but we
actually lowered the tax rate so that the current tax
rate is the one that I set two years ago.
So did I mean he just maintained It's that's what
he did. He maintained what we have now. And what's
going to be interesting to see is what happens next year.
I think we're at a thirteen million dollar deficit next year,
(24:17):
so it's going to be interesting to see how we
address that moving forward.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Is it true and somebody told me this, and I
don't know if it's true, so I figured I just
might as well come to you and ask you the
directly from the source. Is it true that Sean Newton
asked all the departments or whatever to like cut five
percent from their budgets, but yet went out and hired
three new people.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
So I'm not sure who asked I know that some
of that was asked before Sewan, some of it was
asked after. But they did want the five percent from
each department that that was going to help try to
lower the taxes and and so some of that was
asked before Sean got there, and some of it was
asked after him. And what was the second part of.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That, Well, I just didn't know that. I I've been
told that he actually added like an executive assistant, and
he added an assistant county manager, and he added you
know a couple other you know, someone else. So I
was just wondering if he added three positions while other
people were having to take away.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So the executive assistant position was actually it had been
there before. That position actually worked for the board clerk.
They just renamed it and gave it a salary boost.
The assistant county manager spot that they're currently working on filling.
That was also a previous position, Kelly Siffert's previous position
that was never filled but always budgeted for. And then
(25:35):
they made some they made a new position called chief
of staff, but I'm not sure if that came with
the pay raise or not.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
All right, that's why I wanted to ask. I figured
you would know. I just wanted to get things clarified. Well, Kenny,
I really do appreciate you joining me tonight. Like I said,
it's been a while, and sometimes that can be a
good thing if it's been a while since I spoke
to you. But again, thank you for joining us tonight.
I really do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
All right, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
All Right, when we come back my interview with Tom
Lott of Community Matters, I'm Bret Jensen and you're listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen, please talk eleven ten at
ninety nine and three WBT. Brett Jensen here with you
(26:18):
again on this Wednesday night edition of Breaking with Bret Jensen.
As I'm with you for just a few more minutes
till we take you up until seven o'clock. Okay, So,
Community Matters. It's a local charity that has done a
lot of good work. And some of you may know
or have heard of the Community Matters Cafe. Now this
is not directly related to Community Matters. The Community Matters
(26:41):
Cafe was actually named after the charity, but we'll get
into that later on, because what I want to do
now is bring in Tom Lott. And Tom Lott is
the co founder and vice chair of the Community Matters charity,
and trust me, this is something you guys want to
actually listen to because they do a lot of great work. So,
first of all, Tom, I really do appreciate you joining
me tonight. And second of all, how did Community Matters
(27:03):
get started? And how long have you guys been around?
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Yeah? Great question. So it was about twenty eleven and
a bunch of US insurance people I'm an insurance guy.
We were at a fundraiser for domestic violence then it
was called the United Family Services today called Safe Alliance,
and we were really hit by what they were doing
and how domestic violence impacted.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
All of us.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
And you know, we said, wouldn't it be great if
we've banded together as an industry and donated to their
cause to help them build their shelter at the time,
and so we've banded together. We thought we'd raised ten
thousand dollars for the shelter, and in the first year
we donated ten thousand volunteer hours and two hundred thousand dollars.
(27:48):
And we realized that our industry, the insurance industry, had
a lot of great people that wanted to give back
and if we could just create a platform to do that,
it would be kind of it would be beneficial for
all of us, the community and ourselves. So that's how
Community Matters Insurance Partners of Charlotte got started.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Now, what association, if any, do you guys have with
Community Matters Cafe.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Sure.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
So we take on one cause at a time in Charlotte.
We started with the methic violence because that's what inspired
us to come together. We then took on a working family, homelessness,
and then after that we decided to.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Take on addiction and we decided to partner with Charlotte Regnition.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Our charity partner here Charlotte that does amazing things to help,
you know, those affected by addiction in recovery, and we
decided to work with them and we asked them what
would they really need to move their program forward. And
Tony Marciano at the time was CEO, and he had
(28:52):
a dream, a vision of taking an old spindle factory
next and creating a cafe and graduates of the program
we really learned works here to get better acquainted and
and you know, be more successful as they you know,
came back into a sober and successful lifestyle. So we
(29:12):
were inspired by his vision and we said, what happens
if we would give you a million dollars to get
the cafe started. He said great, and they ended up
naming the cafe Community Matters Cafe after our charity. We
don't run it. You don't want to insurance people running
a cafe, but they do amazing things with their with
their folks, great food, great atmosphere, and we remained committed
(29:35):
to them, both financially, and we're over there quite a bit,
enjoying the place. We almost considered our home away from home.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So you talked about bringing up supporting different causes, So
what current causes are you actually trying to support right now?
Speaker 5 (29:49):
Yeah, So we we paid off our million dollars about
two years ago, and we really took a lot of
time to say what cause did we want to focus
on in Charlotte, And we had some leaders in the
Charlotte community help.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Us out and guian Us and the thing that really
got us telling was accordin mobility in Charlotte and helping
a lot of us are very fortunate, you know, and
very successful here in the community. And we wanted to
do our part as an industry in Charlotte. So we
took off mobility and the focus.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Of our efforts really kind of to creating a cradle
to career talent pipeline. We realize that there's a lot
of talented young individuals in our community that really have
not had the exposure to different industries in the company, uh,
(30:42):
you know, different people and and and more of a
pathway for success. So we're partnering with several charities to
kind of create that talent pipeline.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So people are interested in learning more about community Matters
or joining your organization or volunteering or anything like that,
where can they go to get more information?
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Sure, so we do have a website Community Matters Charlotte
dot org. It'll talk about our history and some of
the causes that we've chosen and you know, look, we're
it has made us a better industry by coming together,
and hopefully we're making and I know we're making an
impact in Charlotte, So go to the website. There's also
(31:23):
some contact information to reach out to myself. A woman
by the name of Kathy Lynch from Marsh has also
been involved in this project and we'd be happy to
talk more about it. Our ultimate vision, Brett, is, while
we're starting with the insurance industry, our vision is to
create a multi industry approach so that you know, kids
(31:44):
can get the choice and get exposure to different industries
and pick the one that they want to be involved with,
even though selfishly we would push how great our industry is.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Tom Lotte, co founder and vice chair of Community Matters,
I really do appreciate you joining me tonight.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
For putting me on. I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Everyone that's going to do it for us tonight again
and thanks to everyone who joined us tonight. Look forward
to doing this all over again tomorrow. So until then,
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen
Hi Oh, Let's go Hi, Oh, Let's go. Oh, Let's go. Oh,
Let's come Just talk eleven, ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Brett Jensen here with you on this Wednesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen. As we go up until
seven o'clock tonight. Telephone numbers to get in on the
(00:43):
show as well as to text the WBT text line,
which is driven by a Liberty View at GMC. That number,
of course is seven oh four five, seven oh eleven ten.
And guys, make sure you follow me on x at
Brett Underscore Jensen for all the letters and breaking news
in and around the Shawan area, and if you followed
me on exit you would understand what's getting ready to
go down tonight. Also later on in the show tonight,
(01:07):
we're gonna have Tom Lott, who is the vice chair
and co founder of Community Matters, and it's a charity
that has been around for quite a while and has
been putting a lot of good together. So you guys
may have already heard about that, but we'll talk to
him later on about some things. And I had a
chance to spend some time with him on Monday, and
like I said, didn't get a chance to play the
interview last night, but we will play it later on tonight.
(01:29):
All right, So let's start off with Caberras County. It's like,
as I've said millions and millions of times, it's the
gift that keeps on giving, and so it's it is,
there's always something. And we talked him a little bit
about it last night about how on Monday night the
(01:49):
Coberts County Board of Commissioners voted to fire county manager
Sean Newton, and they fired him with cause, which means
we don't have to give him at we don't have
to give him severance. It's standard in contracts. I have it.
Mar Garrison has that, bo Beth. Everyone has with cause
terminology in their contracts. If you do this and we
(02:12):
fire you, if you do one of these things, then
we don't have to pay you any severance, all right,
we can just flat out fire you. Right. It's also
very common to have in like college coaches contracts like
with cause, we can fire you for whatever reason, and
like you know, dating a cheerleader, that's with cause, and
(02:33):
you don't have to pay a severance because you know,
these these college coaches are making you know, six, eight, ten,
twelve million dollars a year in football, especially football. So anyway,
they fired him Sean Newton on Monday night. Monday night.
It was one of those things is I talked about
last night. It should not have caught anyone off guard.
(02:56):
Everyone on the planet that is, has anything to do
with Cabrera's County, that follows the Cabrera's County commissioners or
local government should have seen this coming a mile away.
Maybe not that exact day, but they should have known
it was coming down Main Street. It was like it
was like a semi truck going down I eighty five.
(03:16):
Whoever didn't see this coming, sorry, Like then that's that's
a U problem. That is a U problem. So anyways,
so Commissioner Lynch Shue said, look, I think we need
to fire the county manager Kenny Wartman said yeah, all right,
(03:37):
and the chair Jeff Jones said yes. So you now
had three against two. They went into closed session, they
discussed whatever it is they wanted to discuss. They came out,
they did a vote, and then Sean Sean Newton was
fired three votes to two. Now, Sean, by all accounts,
(03:59):
never should have had the job in the first place, period.
There is no defense for his hiring zero Well Brett.
That seems awfully harsh. Well, yeah, he had no government experience.
And for a county the size of Cabarras County in terms,
that is literally only getting bigger every single day. It
(04:19):
is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. To have someone
with no government experience. I mean, maybe you can get
away with that in Anson County or Avery County or
something way down in the mountains, maybe even Pender County
down east maybe, but a town like or a county
like Cabarra's no way. Second of all, sorry, but we
(04:41):
all know the only reason, the only reason he was
given the job was because of his association with former
county chair Chris Mesmer, who went to Raleigh was appointed
a Senate seat. He was appointed, didn't get a single vote.
(05:04):
And I'm telling you that to keep this in just
remember that little statement he didn't get a single vote.
Just remember that statement that I told you we'll circle
back to this put a pit in that. Just remember that.
So they fired him with cause for whatever it is
they fired him for. Well, a couple of people are
(05:27):
kind of ticked off about it. Laura Lindsay Blackwell, excuse me,
Laura Blackwell, Lindsay, sorry about that. Laura Blackwell, Lindsay she
didn't like the fact, and Larry Piman didn't like it,
and the head of the commiss Gup. Lanny Lancaster certainly
didn't like it because he started docsing people on Facebook.
(05:51):
Now he put out the person that appointed the chair.
He put out his email and his cell phone number.
I don't know if it's his person no cell phone
number or not. If it is, if he the person
who he put out, Bill Biggs or you know bags
rather who had who appointed this person. If this is
(06:11):
his personal cell phone that he gets no money from
the county from, then that's a big problem for Lanny.
If he receives a single penny from Cabera's county, then
it's not docks in because it's public record. So the
question is the phone number that Landy Lancaster put out
(06:35):
the head of the grass GP, is that his personal
that he doesn't receive a dime from, or is that
any way, shape or form founded by or funded by
the county. I have no idea, But Lanny put out
an email and a phone number and for Landy's sake.
I really hope that it's for Landry's sake. I really
hope that it's his uh county phone number, or that
(06:58):
he does receive funds from anyways. That's that's another thing.
So now you've got people that are extremely upset that
a person that was hand picked by Chris Mesmer, and
Chris Mesmer doesn't breathe without the approval of the Comparis GP.
He is clearly one puppet, truly, because everything that he
(07:22):
tried to do as a county commissioner was more or
less probably had something to do with the Cambarra's GP.
At least that's my opinion, and that's the way it
comes across, and I would have a lot of people
that would agree with me. So the puppet of the
Combaris County GP, excuse me. The Combaris County Commissioner board
(07:48):
put forth his buddy Shawn Newton, former business partner and
Chris at the time, would say, well, but our business
went bankrupt. Well that's not an excuse for not I okay,
so your business went bankrupt. So either he's not good
with finances or you guys suck as businessmen. But okay,
(08:14):
let's say you're great and just brilliant businessmen. You still
hired your ex partner. That's like hiring your ex wife. Well,
mean we're not married anymore, doesn't matter, it's your ex wife.
Well we're not business partners anymore. Okay. Well, a, he
has no government experience in b he was your ex partner.
(08:37):
So I've caught you up to date on everything, like
this is the story that won't end. By the way,
Sean Newton got the job, I believe, back in March.
So he's been on the job since March. So we're
talking five months, right, Okay, So when we return, Mark
Garrison had a chance to speak with Laura Blackwell Lindsay,
(08:58):
who has never been shy even from her days at
school board, for speaking her mind. And you're gonna want
to stick around for that, I promise you. Welcome back
(09:32):
to breaking with Brad Jenson. Okay. So seven four, five
eleven ten. So Mark Garrison did an interview with Laura
Blackwell Lindsay. She's on the Meccamarre County excuse me, the
Cabars County Commissioners. The interview took place last night, so
I want to put that. So when she's saying last
night last night. She's meeting Monday night because this interview
(09:52):
was done last night with Mark and them, So I
want you to hear it and listen to it. So
just again put it in a couple of things that
I told you earlier. Just remember that you're.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Not happy about this.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Huh No, I'm definitely not happy about it. And what
I witnessed last night was probably one of the most
egregious things that I've ever seen, and I've seen a
lot of things. Being elected to fire a good man
like Shawn Newton, who's barely been with the county for
six months, doing a great job by all accounts. Other
(10:29):
staff that I've spoken to were so impressed with him,
Even people that may not have necessarily been happy about
us hiring h Another county manager liked him because he's
just a likable guy. So even keeled just wanted to
come here and help Caberras County be better.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So I know that there's limitations and what can say
on personnel matters? Are you able at all to discuss
what the so called cause was?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
So basically the causes that I was given was that
supposedly there was an event where he yelled at an employee,
and there was some question about his attendant, whether or
not he was in the office at certain times of
(11:22):
the day, and that he basically was not experienced and
being a county manager. So they just didn't think he
could do the job, even though he's been doing the
job for the last six months. Even though those three
are the ones that voted for his manager's budget, they
(11:44):
voted for his budget. He came in in the middle
of a budget cycle, was able to get us out
of six million dollars in debt, was able to create
a budget that we didn't lower the time treatment. We
didn't raise either. I mean it was to be managed
fifty cents, and Larry and I didn't vote for it
(12:05):
for other reasons of other funding that we didn't feel
like was appropriate in the budget. But that doesn't mean
that I don't think Sean's doing a great job. But
these three approved that budget. So how why do you
say that he's not doing his job? How do you
say that he's not capable of doing his job.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, he had never had any government experience.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Prior to this, correct, no, but he had finance experience,
and he had management experience, and everyone that I've talked
to regarding Sean and his performance as a county manager.
Was very impressed with the work that he was doing
in the county.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So what do you make of all this?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
I don't know. It's hard to wrap my brain around it,
to be quite honest with you, because I mean, it
literally makes me sick what they did to him. He
asked that they allow him the opportunity to find another job,
and they couldn't even have the decency to allow a
man who has two children and a wife at home
(13:05):
that depend on his salary to find another job because
supposedly he does something so agregious, And yet I have
I haven't heard a single thing that is egregious in
my mind for an immediate termination for somebody who's been
here for six months. Vengeful? Are they Are they just
(13:25):
trying to seek revenge? Spiteful? Hateful? Just political nonsense. I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Well, his hiring was controversial. There was swirl at the
time that he only got the job because he had
previously been in business with another county commissioner.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Is that what this is all about?
Speaker 3 (13:44):
I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know
what they're again, it's vengeful revenge, spiteful, just political posturing.
I don't know. I don't know what their plan is.
I have no idea. Obviously, I have no idea because
they didn't even talk to me or Larry about it
when they did this. This was brought up out of nowhere.
(14:07):
Had we had no discussion. I don't even know if
they had even looked at the man's contract to see
what he's entitled to in his contract. Now, we certainly
didn't have a contract where we approved five hundred thousand
dollars of payout even if you're fired with calls. But again,
(14:28):
where is what is the cost? What is the true
grounds for them having to fire somebody last night and
not even allow him the opportunity to work out any
kind of notice and to find new employment. He said,
you would resign, He said, I will resign, Just give
me an opportunity to find a new job. What did
(14:49):
you do that was so egregious that they could not
have allowed him to do that?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
And so he gets no sabrench right, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I mean, I at this point, I'm quite certain that
attorneys are looking at this contract to figure out what
he's entitled to. And you know, I'm not sure exactly
what his next steps are, but it certainly wasn't right
the way that this was done.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Wortman was saying they would hire a national search firm
to look for somebody. Would you support that?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I mean, I don't at this point, I haven't even
had a conversation with them about what their intentions are.
I mean, the hiring process is one thing, but the
fact that we haven't even gotten through barely twenty four
hours of me having to try to wrap my brain
around them firing the county manager. The question in my
(15:48):
mind is who's going to want to come and work
for Cabaris County in this craziness that we have going
on right now. Like you had, somebody who was appointed
to of his who was supposed to be a uniter,
who was supposed to be the person that was going to,
you know, be the positive change that the Commission needed
(16:10):
for us to work together. He was the vote that
fired our brand new county manager of six months, a
man who was appointed. Not a single vote was he
did he receive except from Bill Bags. I mean, at
this point, I don't know what I would even it
doesn't to be honest with you, Mark, it doesn't matter.
(16:32):
It doesn't matter because it's the three of them now
against Larry and I. They know that they have the majority.
They got their person in there, however they had to
do it, and now they are they're just going to
do whatever they want to do, and it doesn't matter
what Larry and I think, even though you know, we
just got put in there in November because the community
(16:56):
made a very clear statement about how they wanted the
the county to move and what direction they wanted to
move for taxpayers, and that's what Sean was doing. Sean
was looking out for the taxpayers. That's what he did.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Well, it seems like things are just gonna keep getting
ugly there.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Yeah, Oh it's not pretty. It is definitely not pretty.
And if this is the way that they want to
do things, that's they can do that. But the tides
will turn, things will change, Elections will happen. Yeah, I mean,
you know, Jeff is appointed, so he's got his little
term to work out. But you know, in November of
(17:40):
twenty six, we're going to be voting on three new
commissioners and Larry and I are still there. And for
us to have the majority is only one person that
we need, so for them to do all of this
out of spite when again my point is Larry and
I were elected and I say hired by the taxpayers
(18:03):
to get some things done in this county that they
didn't know the way we're being handled. And so now
that they have this majority back, they're going to try
to undo the will of the people. So we'll have
another election and it will have consequences, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So there you go, Laura Blackwell, Lindsay talking to Mark Garrison. Mark,
that was obviously you can tell that was a phone
call conversation. So when we come back on the opposite side,
Kenny Wartman, Caberis County Commissioner will be joining us. Welcome
(18:42):
back to Breaking with Brett Jensen here on this Wednesday night.
So you heard Mark Garrison's interview with Laura Blackwell Lindsey.
You heard me describing the whole situation and the madness
that is going on over there in Cabarras County and
the board, and I tell you it's something that I've
been discussing quite a bit since around March or so.
So joining us now is Kenny Workman, who's also a
(19:05):
Cobert's County Commissioner, who actually voted to have this, to
have the former county manager Sean Newton dismissed fired with cause. So,
first of all, Kenny, I really do appreciate you joining
us tonight. I mean, like I said, I know this
has gotten a lot of attention. So again, thanks for
doing this. So you just heard Laura Blackwell Lindsay's attitude,
(19:27):
and she said that she's never seen any like this,
anything like this in all her years of politics. So
what do you think about that particular statement.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Hey, Bret Well, First, thanks for having me on. It's
been a while. Sure it won't be the last time,
but you know, one of the most egregious things she's
ever seen. I think she said, you know, how do
we fire a good man that's been here six months?
You know, I'd say probably the same way she fired
Mike Downs and Rich Cook six months ago with no
notice in blind sided us. Mike was a good man
(19:58):
who's been here for thirty eight years. Rich is a
good man who's been here twenty years. And did they
allow either one of them to stay to find employment elsewhere?
They have wives and kids, Rich had medical bills. I
think I heard her say it makes her sick. But
you know she sat up there and smiled the whole
time when she ruined those two men's careers. So you know,
(20:19):
you can say one thing, but six months ago you
literally did the exact same.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Thing speaking to Kenny Werman Kamara's county commissioners. So in
regard to Jeff Jones not receiving a single vote, don't
forget either did Chris Mesmer when he got appointed to Raleigh,
you know, the former Cabaras county chairs. So with all
that being said, how do you feel about her saying
that Jeff Jones didn't receive a single vote.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
I think what you said was, let's put a pin
in that one. You know that we got sued a
couple months ago for an illegal meeting where they tried
to put a woman from the secretary of the GOP
in there, La Marie. They said that was the best
candidate there. She didn't get a single vote, but yet
she was acceptable to be put on as a commissioner.
(21:06):
As you said, Senator Meiesmer did get a single vote.
He was appointed Tim Ferr. The last time that our
board deadlock, Tim Ferr was appointed by Bill Baggs. He
didn't get a single vote. But yet all those people
still serve well.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And we're talking again to Kenny Workman of the Cabarras
County Board of Commissioners, and I want to ask you
about whether or not there was actual proof to fire
Sean Newton. And the reason I asked that is because
Laura Blackwell Lindsay, said she hasn't seen any proof, if
I'm not mistaken, and I think that's what she said.
She hasn't seen it, She's unaware of it. You know,
(21:42):
is there actual proof, documented proof, actual proof to have
fired him with cause?
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Well, what I'll simply say is, you know, I've always
done my own research. Yes there is proof, But unlike Laura,
I'm not going to disclose closed session information on personnel
matters that tends to get people sued. I think we're
seeing that with a City of Charlotte right now, or
a Charlotte City council.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
It's a similar situation.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
All right. So let me ask you this then, in
terms of that particular position, do you guys have anyone
in mind? I mean, you know, there's I think Garrison
even talked about how you said there might be potentially
like a national search firm or you hire like you know,
at head hunting firm or anything like that. So do
you have anyone in mind or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
So I've heard all sorts of things as of now, No,
we've not discussed that there is nobody in mind. But
I'll tell you from a personal level what I would
like to see done just solely, and you know I've
not talked to anybody. Solely. I would like to see
it opened up nationally for four to five months, the
way that it should have been done the first time.
I would like to see the residency requirement added in.
(22:51):
You know, if you're going to make decisions for Cober's County,
you should live here. I would like to see ten
to fifteen years government experience added in. And then when
it gets down to the final I would like to
see a round table with the department heads who have
to work for this person. And I'd like to see
another round table with the other local elected officials from Concord, Cannapolis,
maybe some of the mayors. Those relationships they have to have,
(23:12):
I would like to see them have it say so
as well, because these are all relationships that you have
to have as a county manager.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
In terms of that, also, one of the things that
Lord Blackwell Lindsey brought up was that, well, if he's
doing this such a bad job, then why did you
vote for his budget? And why did Lynn and why
did Jeff Jones? So can you talk about that?
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Well, the funny part is you voted against it. If
he's doing such a great job, then why did you
vote against his budget? But when a lot of people
forget is several years ago, when the revaluation happened, the
recommended budget by the county manager was sixty cents per
one hundred. It was my emotion to drop it to
what it currently is, and then it stayed the same.
So technically we have not raised the tax rate. Did
(23:57):
people's taxes go up, Yeah, because the revaluation, but we
actually lowered the tax rate so that the current tax
rate is the one that I set two years ago.
So did I mean he just maintained It's that's what
he did. He maintained what we have now. And what's
going to be interesting to see is what happens next year.
I think we're at a thirteen million dollar deficit next year,
(24:17):
so it's going to be interesting to see how we
address that moving forward.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Is it true and somebody told me this, and I
don't know if it's true, so I figured I just
might as well come to you and ask you the
directly from the source. Is it true that Sean Newton
asked all the departments or whatever to like cut five
percent from their budgets, but yet went out and hired
three new people.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
So I'm not sure who asked I know that some
of that was asked before Sewan, some of it was
asked after. But they did want the five percent from
each department that that was going to help try to
lower the taxes and and so some of that was
asked before Sean got there, and some of it was
asked after him. And what was the second part of.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
That, Well, I just didn't know that. I I've been
told that he actually added like an executive assistant, and
he added an assistant county manager, and he added you
know a couple other you know, someone else. So I
was just wondering if he added three positions while other
people were having to take away.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So the executive assistant position was actually it had been
there before. That position actually worked for the board clerk.
They just renamed it and gave it a salary boost.
The assistant county manager spot that they're currently working on filling.
That was also a previous position, Kelly Siffert's previous position
that was never filled but always budgeted for. And then
(25:35):
they made some they made a new position called chief
of staff, but I'm not sure if that came with
the pay raise or not.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
All right, that's why I wanted to ask. I figured
you would know. I just wanted to get things clarified. Well, Kenny,
I really do appreciate you joining me tonight. Like I said,
it's been a while, and sometimes that can be a
good thing if it's been a while since I spoke
to you. But again, thank you for joining us tonight.
I really do appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
All right, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
All Right, when we come back my interview with Tom
Lott of Community Matters, I'm Bret Jensen and you're listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen, please talk eleven ten at
ninety nine and three WBT. Brett Jensen here with you
(26:18):
again on this Wednesday night edition of Breaking with Bret Jensen.
As I'm with you for just a few more minutes
till we take you up until seven o'clock. Okay, So,
Community Matters. It's a local charity that has done a
lot of good work. And some of you may know
or have heard of the Community Matters Cafe. Now this
is not directly related to Community Matters. The Community Matters
(26:41):
Cafe was actually named after the charity, but we'll get
into that later on, because what I want to do
now is bring in Tom Lott. And Tom Lott is
the co founder and vice chair of the Community Matters charity,
and trust me, this is something you guys want to
actually listen to because they do a lot of great work. So,
first of all, Tom, I really do appreciate you joining
me tonight. And second of all, how did Community Matters
(27:03):
get started? And how long have you guys been around?
Speaker 5 (27:06):
Yeah? Great question. So it was about twenty eleven and
a bunch of US insurance people I'm an insurance guy.
We were at a fundraiser for domestic violence then it
was called the United Family Services today called Safe Alliance,
and we were really hit by what they were doing
and how domestic violence impacted.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
All of us.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
And you know, we said, wouldn't it be great if
we've banded together as an industry and donated to their
cause to help them build their shelter at the time,
and so we've banded together. We thought we'd raised ten
thousand dollars for the shelter, and in the first year
we donated ten thousand volunteer hours and two hundred thousand dollars.
(27:48):
And we realized that our industry, the insurance industry, had
a lot of great people that wanted to give back
and if we could just create a platform to do that,
it would be kind of it would be beneficial for
all of us, the community and ourselves. So that's how
Community Matters Insurance Partners of Charlotte got started.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Now, what association, if any, do you guys have with
Community Matters Cafe.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Sure.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
So we take on one cause at a time in Charlotte.
We started with the methic violence because that's what inspired
us to come together. We then took on a working family, homelessness,
and then after that we decided to.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Take on addiction and we decided to partner with Charlotte Regnition.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Our charity partner here Charlotte that does amazing things to help,
you know, those affected by addiction in recovery, and we
decided to work with them and we asked them what
would they really need to move their program forward. And
Tony Marciano at the time was CEO, and he had
(28:52):
a dream, a vision of taking an old spindle factory
next and creating a cafe and graduates of the program
we really learned works here to get better acquainted and
and you know, be more successful as they you know,
came back into a sober and successful lifestyle. So we
(29:12):
were inspired by his vision and we said, what happens
if we would give you a million dollars to get
the cafe started. He said great, and they ended up
naming the cafe Community Matters Cafe after our charity. We
don't run it. You don't want to insurance people running
a cafe, but they do amazing things with their with
their folks, great food, great atmosphere, and we remained committed
(29:35):
to them, both financially, and we're over there quite a bit,
enjoying the place. We almost considered our home away from home.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
So you talked about bringing up supporting different causes, So
what current causes are you actually trying to support right now?
Speaker 5 (29:49):
Yeah, So we we paid off our million dollars about
two years ago, and we really took a lot of
time to say what cause did we want to focus
on in Charlotte, And we had some leaders in the
Charlotte community help.
Speaker 6 (30:02):
Us out and guian Us and the thing that really
got us telling was accordin mobility in Charlotte and helping
a lot of us are very fortunate, you know, and
very successful here in the community. And we wanted to
do our part as an industry in Charlotte. So we
took off mobility and the focus.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Of our efforts really kind of to creating a cradle
to career talent pipeline. We realize that there's a lot
of talented young individuals in our community that really have
not had the exposure to different industries in the company, uh,
(30:42):
you know, different people and and and more of a
pathway for success. So we're partnering with several charities to
kind of create that talent pipeline.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So people are interested in learning more about community Matters
or joining your organization or volunteering or anything like that,
where can they go to get more information?
Speaker 5 (31:02):
Sure, so we do have a website Community Matters Charlotte
dot org. It'll talk about our history and some of
the causes that we've chosen and you know, look, we're
it has made us a better industry by coming together,
and hopefully we're making and I know we're making an
impact in Charlotte, So go to the website. There's also
(31:23):
some contact information to reach out to myself. A woman
by the name of Kathy Lynch from Marsh has also
been involved in this project and we'd be happy to
talk more about it. Our ultimate vision, Brett, is, while
we're starting with the insurance industry, our vision is to
create a multi industry approach so that you know, kids
(31:44):
can get the choice and get exposure to different industries
and pick the one that they want to be involved with,
even though selfishly we would push how great our industry is.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Tom Lotte, co founder and vice chair of Community Matters,
I really do appreciate you joining me tonight.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
For putting me on. I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Everyone that's going to do it for us tonight again
and thanks to everyone who joined us tonight. Look forward
to doing this all over again tomorrow. So until then,
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jensen
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