Commentary on the FALSE ad Bichler is running against Senator Michael Lee:
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As election day draws close, emotions run high.
Things get said.
Hyperbole takes on new dimensions and though we've gotten used to chalking it up to political speech, it's odd that in every other facet of our lives, we prefer truth and accuracy as our default setting when we consume information.
But sometimes, candidates cross the line to such an absurd point that something has to be said about it and a case in point, is the Bichler ad about Senator Lee's work on the PFAS issue and water quality.
Here are the facts.
I was chair of the New Hanover County Commission when news of the PFAS compound broke one early June morning in 2017. I knew immediately the magnitude of the earthquake that had just hit our community.
Doing something fell to us at the County level, and to
@MichaelLee4NC Sen Michael Lee and Rep Ted Davis.
I recall a particularly pointed phone call I had with Governor Cooper, when he hung up on me after I told him he was letting our region down by not suspending the Chemours discharge permit issued by the State. He said something like “I know you’re a good lawyer, and I am a pretty good one too, but don’t tell me how to do my damn job.” (His lack of leadership on this issue was disappointing then, and it is infuriating now, that he is using it as a campaign issue in his own race).
Some of you may recall the 90 minute meeting we demanded and convened a week after news broke with Chemours lawyers and leadership in attendance. We extracted significant information from the company, but doing so caused them to clam up and dig in. and that is when we needed Cooper's help the most.
Then, crickets from Chemours in the ensuing weeks, all the while I was working with Senator Lee and Rep Davis behind the scenes to get something done. See link.
wilmingtonbiz.com/more_news/…
The whole ordeal was a long and sordid affair, very complicated to be sure, and politicized to extremes by extremists who cared more about using it as a campaign wedge than actually doing something about the problem.
But it wasn't exploited by Senator Lee or Rep Davis. They were the force behind a special legislative committee task force that held hearings and meetings in our county, which then led to full funding for the testing and on-going accountability. (See Senator Lee in the link below 👇, presiding over the meeting.)
wilmingtonbiz.com/textplain/…
And after all that, plus nine years of effort and productive work to hold Chemours accountable by so many people, how depraved for Michael’s opponent to falsely claim he “sided with Chemours” when those of us who were in the room know exactly who sided with Chemours.
Do not fall for it.
Michael Lee works too hard for our community to allow a newcomer to get away with distorting history in the way she is.
P.S. The photo was taken on the day we FINALLY convinced the Governor to come here and meet with us. You see how thrilled he was to be here.
P.S.S. I wrote the letter to him 2 1/2 months later asking him to not “urge" chemours, to stop discharging but to "Demand".