I made a phone call to Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small last night and got her answering machine. After identifying myself, I left the following message… “Dianne, I have an apology to make to you and I’d rather not do it on your answering machine. Would you be so kind as to call me back on my cell?” I left my number.
After insinuating the Pulpit Forum’s and Bellamy-Small’s culpability in the leak in my first N&R column and in a subsequent post, I got to thinking; what would I have done if I had been in her shoes? What would be my response be if a majority of the Council decided to draft affidavits and schedule polygraph tests in order to “prove” they weren’t lying?
Of course this is retrospective, but I hope I’d say something like, “…Are you people are crazy?  I’m having no part in this. I didn’t do it and that is that.” Just as she did.
In other words, upon reflection, I apologize to Dianne Bellamy-Small.  I no longer believe she leaked the RMA report to anyone.
Postscript: Along with my apology, I have some pointed questions for Dianne when she returns my call. But I wanted to go into the conversation from a point of trust and not one of animosity.
13 Comments
This is a big reason the polygraph stuff wasn’t a good idea. If someone objects in good conscience they’re automatically case with suspicion. While sometimes people don’t go along with a group because they have done something wrong, how are we to know the difference. That’s a huge piece behind “innocent until proven guilty” in our legal system.
I just hope you know that your phone call was recorded and placed in the NSA database.
if u r so sure small is innocent…what makes u so sure wray is a racist?
I’m not at all sure that Wray is a racist.
Taking a polygraph test is neither proof of innocense nor proof of guilt. From what I have been able to uncover about former Chief David Wray, there is no personal history of racist decisions. What I have been able to uncover in my own private investigation is that a certain Lt. in the Greensboro police department is heavily involved in the illegal drug tradeand that there a several police officers in Greensboro and Archdale that is into swapping freedom for sex from street prostitutes
I’m sure that I will never be able to gather enough evidence to prove in court that anyone is guilty of anything, mainly because gathering such proof is tatamount to signing my own death warrent. But I have gathered enough names and enough stories to know who does what with whom.
As a point of clarification, Ben.
I have alluded to Wray as perhaps exhibiting racist tendancies before. Back on March 10th, after reading the N&R’s account of the RMA report I did insinuate racism on his part. Here’s what set me off…
(N&R)“…when Wray invited his command staff to his informal weekly dinner each Thursday night at K&W Cafeteria, he never asked his two black assistant chiefs and a black deputy chief to attend, until one of them asked why they were being excluded. Subsequently, Chief Wray invited them to a K&W meeting but it seems they never attended such a meeting.�
My reaction…
“…perhaps Wray is not a “card-carrying racistâ€? as (Locke Clifford) insists, but I’d sure say he doesn’t like black people very much.”
Here’s the link to my post: http://www.hoggsblog.com/?p=1469
hogg wash
So you insult her, insinuate publicly that she’s guilty and then take it back, and then insult her again because she
hasn’t accepted your apology, so you try to force her to accept it. Don’t you think she’s been hurt enough by your
comments? If “all” you are trying to do is offer her a personal apology, then do it here, or in the newspaper, and
be done with it.
Ginger,
Yes I did all the things you say, except this…”insult her again because she
hasn’t accepted your apology”.
Dianne is a public official. Moreover, I backed her and worked to help get her elected in ‘03 and again in ‘05. I genuinely like the woman.
I offered her an apology “here”, I also offered it on her answering machine as well as her email. And this evening I saw her in person and offered it again…. but she indicated that she hadn’t a clue what I was talking about.
You wrote, after others
“God forbid were I a constituant who had a pressing problem with city services or something.”
The tone of that’s insulting, don’t you think, after defaming her?
Well, perhaps it was, but not meant to be, insulting.
Something else to apologize for, I suppose.
But the woman really needs to do a better job of communications
I noticed you removed
“I am the one that’s been insulted” I came back here because I wanted to say that I appologize if I insulted you.
Also, last night after reading over what you’d written about Bellamy-Small and the lie detector test, it made me think
again about lie detector tests. And on the way home from the post office I thought of what you’d written again, about her,
about them. Maybe you’re right, maybe when rumors are swirling, if people are casting inneuendos your way,
instead of lining up to prove you’re right, this would be the appropriate response: “Are you people are crazy?
I’m having no part in this. I didn’t do it and that is that.â€? And if people think otherwise, don’t worry about it,
about their opinions, be at peace with yourself, put it in God’s hands?
my mother is a very public and private person and if you think that calling her to apologize is going to work , i have another thing for you . it seems that the whole city has branded her a liar and not to be trusted . that would hurt anyones feelings . my advice is to let it go for now and in the end maybe just maybe she will listen to you after all of this has blown over . words do hurt !
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Eat your heart out, Mr. Chappell…
The incredible jw decided to show off her poetry chops with a “Week in Review.” (She said I could post it if I corrected the errors, so if there are errors in it, they’re mine. She also told me to……
[...] Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small is incommunicado. All I am trying to do is offer her a personal apology, but I have been stymied so far. Her home phone just rings and rings. I left a message on her voice mail. I just sent her an email through the city’s website but she has told me before that she’s not electronically oriented… we’ll see. [...]
[...] “I wasn’t kidding about my apology, Dianne“, I said while trying to keep up with her, “I’m sorry I made that insinuation.” “Oh, hi Mr. Hoggard (we’ve always been on a first time basis), how are you?“, she asked. [...]
[...] The refocusing is proper and warranted. I had a similar re-evaluation about Bellamy-Small’s culpability back in May. -dhoggard no comments trackback this article comment on this article [...]