Shenanigans and Nonsense: The Anderson Investigation

An update on the Gary Anderson situation.

As suspected, this thing continues to reek of political gamesmanship. Sure it's easy to have a knee jerk reaction that another Republican is mixed up in a scandal involving underage children. But, this is the boy who cried wolf all over again. Since Burns and his klan consistently lie to us and claim "groomer" at every person they don't like, how can we possibly take them seriously?

When every news organization is relying on Robert Burns as the primary source of information, that's a red flag. We still don't know all the facts, and that's exactly why we've been consistent from the beginning: keep an open mind and let the investigation play out.

If the CMPD files charges, we hope justice is done. If wrongdoing occurred, we will not hesitate to support appropriate consequences. If no charges are filed, however, we look forward to apologies from Burns and Dotson, not just to Gary Anderson, but to the citizens of Monroe as well.

This is exactly why Change for Monroe exists. Our only loyalty is to the City of Monroe and its citizens.

We have to get away from politicians who treat governing like a game. Real people are affected by these performances. Reputations are damaged. Trust in government is damaged. Taxpayer money is wasted. Citizens deserve leaders who understand they have a responsibility to the community, not to their own egos. We must stop revering politicians to the point of sticking by them during moral corruption.

I like putting names to the psychological issues that our opponents suffer from. The popularity they feel they have is called the false consensus effect. It's a cognitive bias where people overestimate how much others share their beliefs, attitudes, and opinions.

In simple terms, it's what happens when you spend so much time in your own bubble that you assume everyone agrees with you.

Sound familiar?

It's one reason Burns so quickly started referring to himself as "North Carolina's Mayor" despite the fact that most Monroe residents don't even share his worldview. He won an election with low voter turnout after convincing 900 people that they should be angry at "others" over issues that often had little to do with the actual business of city government.

The false consensus effect leads to poor decision making, increased political polarization, and overconfidence in personal judgment.

Again, sound familiar?

And now Gary Anderson has become the latest chew toy.

Now, some of you may want to disappear down a rabbit hole wearing a tin foil hat. I won't stop you. This entire situation is undeniably strange. But let's focus on the one issue that should concern everyone regardless of what the investigation by CMPD uncovers.

There is no need for a separate ethics investigation right now.

The mayor himself stated that he was aware of an ongoing investigation by the CMPD. There you go. There's the investigation. Monroe doesn't need their separate, "independent" investigation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.

Let law enforcement complete its work first. Once those facts are known, then determine whether an ethics review is necessary. Instead, the council voted to launch a separate investigation while the CMPD investigation is already underway.

Shame on every council member who voted in favor of this duplicative process.

What exactly are taxpayers paying for? An outside group that repeatedly checks in with CMPD to ask whether they have found anything yet?

At best, it's redundant. At worst, it's political theater funded by taxpayers.

And that's the part that should concern every citizen, regardless of where they stand on Gary Anderson.

The facts will come out eventually. They always do.

The question is whether Monroe taxpayers should have to pay twice to get them just so Willy Dot and Burns look good for their upcoming elections.