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The Daily Tar Heel

Board of County Commissioners applauds Financial Services Dept., votes against anti-war resolution

Orange County’s Financial Services Department was applauded for its success at Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting.

A presentation from a Martin Starnes & Associates representative, who completed an audit of the county’s financial records, informed commissioners Orange County had performed far better than many other municipalities in the state.

The 2010 financial statement revealed that the county’s spending totaled $6.9 million less than the anticipated budget.

Several municipal expenditures decreased since last year, including education by almost $1.7 million and human services by nearly $2 million, according to the statement.

For its overall work, the department received a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

“I would like to thank the staff of our financial department for their great work,” said board Chairwoman Valerie Foushee.

Commissioners also voted against a resolution, which was initially presented by Chapel Hill resident Mark Marcoplos at a Sept. 21 meeting, to petition N.C. congressional representatives to stop sending funding for the war in Afghanistan.

Several members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars expressed their opposition to funding.

Veteran Tim Suka said withdrawing funding from the war would be ridiculous and irresponsible and asked commissioners to decline the resolution.

“Saying there are no identified public benefits is a slap in the face of our men and women in uniform,” Suka said.

Some commissioners expressed the concern it was not their place to pass such a resolution.

“This war is all screwed to heck, but I don’t feel comfortable as an elected official or a citizen telling our representatives in Washington how to deal with this issue,” Commissioner Mike Nelson said.

But Marcoplos, who was also in attendance, argued that passing this resolution was no different than passing any other request to the government.

“The military-industrial complex has hijacked our government, and we are seeing new levels of war profiteering,” Marcoplos said.

Board Vice-Chairwoman Bernadette Pelissier said the job of commissioners is to advocate for the health and welfare of the members of the county, and she did not see how the resolution did that.

When Commissioner Pam Hemminger asked for the proposal to be struck down, the board, without the approval of Commissioner Alice Gordon, agreed and voted against the resolution.

Contact the City Editor

at citydesk@unc.edu.

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