I’ve have heard from several sources that Commissioner Gene Valentino has been pushing Hugh King over Lumon May for the District 3. He has tried to discourage people from making campaign contributions to May.
Why? Because May could cause him problems, especially if Steve Barry is also elected. The power on the county commission will shift away from Valentino and Wilson Robertson. George Touart’s hands on the county purse strings and personnel, as the interim county administrator, become very tenuous (Remember he is an at-will employee, no contract). If a Grover Robinson-May-Barry alliance forms, Valentino won’t have the votes to steer the RESTORE millions to his pet projects.
I’ve also heard that Valentino and Touart have been working behind the scenes for Packy Mitchell to hedge their bets if King doesn’t win. I’m not as confident about this rumor because I have only recently heard it.
The Valentino-King link is solid –have got three solid sources. Two of which are the ones who told me two weeks ago that the fix was in for Touart to be the interim county administrator.