Parachute Pat’s perpetual paving project
Here in Moore County, we are absolutely *blessed* with an abundant supply of relocated Yankees who KNOW BETTER than the rest of us. What do they know better, you ask?
“Road engineering” appears to top the list. We have so many self-proclaimed *road engineering experts* here that I don’t know how their former home states of NY, NJ, OH, PA, IL and MI are coping.
The Yanks bonded together to elevate a recently-arrived DC lobbyist and former Department of Labor deputy secretary to a seat on the Pinehurst council and eventually the mayor’s seat. And why not? He’s a Yankee, therefore he KNOWS MORE.
The lobbying skills were demonstrated quickly during the discussions with the state over *fixing* the notorious Pinehurst traffic circle. We began hearing about “historic pine trees”. We’ve also heard the word “ambience” a lot.
It would be smooth sailing from now on, we were told. *Help has arrived from Long Island via DC.*
But then some basic stormwater drainage maintenance got started in Pinehurst’s historic-– *like the pine trees* — downtown. That was February 2025. We were going to see all of this imported-from-the-north managerial and road engineering expertise in action, up close, and personal. (Things were supposed to be done in March – one month later.)
Surprisingly — even with all of this northern-bred engineering expertise among our citizenry at our disposal — we were STILL talking about this project in October. (You know, even with the initial March finish date.) :
Hmmm. TWO MORE WEEKS. (In a note written in October.) Spend MORE MONEY to try and make up for wasting so much other money? (*Seriously?*)
The fact that this never ending mess is screwing over downtown entrepreneurs gearing up for Christmas shopping the hardest is chock full of irony. Many of those same folks currently doing the complaining eagerly embraced our DC lobbyist mayor and his clique as they battled to take over local government.
Surely, government money was appropriated for a one-month job. Now that we’re in the tenth month of this project, how much tax money have we been wasting?
You also have to ask: WHO is in charge?
Former DC lobbyist and now Mayor of Pinehurst and his DEI/learn-on-the-job Town Council….assised by disgraced former Mayor John Strickland and his notorious Friday Group of meddlers have done it again. Another rather simple task of conducting a routine improvement to the Village storm water management contracted to unqualified and incapable Ascot Homes….who were “the Low Bidders”. What should have been 2-3 months of construction has become a YEAR of one fiasco after another…and has virtually wiped out and closed down the retail downtown of the Village of Pinehurst. It is almost impossible to believe so many blunders, repeated excavations to address one mistake after another, and the use of non-approved materials….we find in discussions with community leaders…that NO ONE is to blame and according to Mayor PP, Pat Pizella, as of yesterday …”nothing is wrong here” and “every thing is fine”. And the Border is Secure !! E:LECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES !!! Just how dumb and uninformed are Pinehurst Voters ???