A Closer Look: NC Public Health Commission
You may recall the authority possessed by the NC Public Health Commission, but what else do we know about this group?
In my last substack, I shared a few tidbits about the NC Public Health Commission, it’s statutory authority and a former agenda from 2/2/2022. A few people asked how I received the agenda when no one else in the public square had apparently had access. I will share. A few days prior to the regularly scheduled meeting, I asked for the agenda. It was promptly given to me and for that I am grateful. I want to point out the upcoming meeting schedule here, in case you were one of the hundreds of North Carolinians who read, shared and took action after my last substack.
Last time, I shared items sourced directly from the NC Public Health Commission website such as where their authority comes from. I shared the following image:
If you take the roughly 42 minutes to listen to the audio clip I prepared from their last meeting, you’ll learn the Public Health Commission and the Petitioner (Stellaaaaaa Anderson at Appalachian State University) were not fully informed as to the type of authority each party (k-12 and college systems) possessed. Interesting. Lucky for the Commission, they have lawyers at the ready.
If you read my last substack, I pointed to several concerns. You can read about those here . I am reminded of those and how they seem to continue piling up. Earlier, I said I was grateful for having received the agenda promptly, however, one should not have to ask the government, “Do you have an agenda to share?” I felt like I was asking my enemy his /her next move. I think it is safe to say, many North Carolinians were horrified to see the agenda for themselves. To be specific, item number four was the shocker.
You might have tuned into the meeting as it occurred and if you missed it, you would only have access by way of a link from the staff which support this Commission. This continues to be bothersome.
Why am I writing about this when the vote happened on February 2 and 17 year year olds across NC are supposedly safe from the actions taken by these board members? Well, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings and if you were like me, woke up late and barely made it to this virtual meeting on February 2, you would just now have video access to review everything you missed. Again… transparency failure. Other reasons you may have missed this meeting is you may have been at work, or attending another previously scheduled engagement; the government executes competing meetings on a regular basis.
When you hear the words of Stella Anderson (forceful lady I mentioned earlier), you might be concerned, especially if you have children who were thinking of attending UNC college systems. Anderson elegantly stressed her preference to force the experimental injection for Covid-19 -you’ve guessed it- under the banner of keeping everyone safe. She made it crystal clear she needed to know exactly who had what authority. If Chairman May could force injections on k-12 populations, then eventually Anderson/colleges could then follow suit. Apparently, if they didn’t run this course, they could end up in a courtroom entangled in Judicial Review.
What I find absolutely fascinating when reviewing the last two NC Public Health Commission board meetings is there were around 32 public comments submitted in writing on November 3, 2021. In contrast, the February 2 meeting had a whopping 706 comments posted ( I subtracted the first few entries as they were not names/comments). It turns out, when you ask support staff for the “Q and A” section of the meetings, there are only questions and no answers for all these public participants. Not only does the public deserve to be heard as Chairman May states during this meeting, but they also deserve to be acknowledged and ideas brought up debated.
November 3, 2021 Meeting Q and A Section:
February 2, 2022 Meeting Q and A Section:
In sum, I do not find the Commission to be malicious towards NC families and I understand they have a duty to review Petitions sent in by Anderson and fellow group thinkers. Going forward, who’s going to babysit Anderson, as well as monitor the Commission for when the issue arises again? Anderson’s plea for forceful practices and her desire to do it because everyone else is doing it is not a good reason to execute bad policies on college campuses. When people expect a college to remain open, all she had to do is remain this way … not add fiery circus hoops and obstacle courses for paying customers to jump through. O, Mrs. Anderson!
To improve in the area of transparency, the NC Public Health Commission and it’s supporting staff should implement:
published agendas ahead of meetings,
meeting video recordings open to the public,
published meeting minutes and
published Q&A (public comments)
Is it too much to ask? Sigh.
Ask them: cphcomment@lists.ncmail.net