Clark's support for Yow, Gibson supported by ignorance of the facts

GREENSBORO, NC -- From the News & Record's Doug Clark:

The problem began when XMG's Calvin Williams Jr. asked Alston for help after the county (understandably) didn't want to pay him for work that wasn't getting done.

Alston should have said, "Sorry, I can't get involved in that." Instead, he intervened, setting up and attending a meeting between Williams, the county attorney and the county's director of information systems.

That action might have sent a signal, at least implicitly, to the county officials that they'd better make Williams happy. So he ended up with a $47,000 payoff.

The payments Williams received were not a result of Alston's involvement in the meeting. All monies received by Williams were prior to Alston's involvement, the last one coming four months prior to the meeting. Clark will have to find some other reason to say that Yow, Gibson and other commissioners are right if he still thinks so, because this isn't it.