Amy “Not My Job” Galey: A Timeline of Failure
Amy Galey: a disastrous choice for the North Carolina Senate
When North Carolina State Senator Rick Gunn announced his retirement, it kicked off a furious search in Republican circles to find his replacement for Senate District 24 in Alamance and Guilford counties. That search landed on Amy Galey, who is currently the Chair of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners.
Galey seemed like a pretty safe pick at the time. She faced no primary opponent. Unlike other Alamance county Commissioners, she does not routinely go out of her way to say insanely offensive or ignorant things. Galey mostly keeps her head down. She has done her best to avoid controversy simply by not leading very much. She is a go-along, get-along type of typical politician.
But one thing that the COVID crisis has demonstrated in sharp relief is that leaders who will not lead are just not good enough. Unfortunately for Galey, she is running for the State Senate in a year when leadership is at a higher premium than ever.
North Carolina needs leaders — and Galey is not one.
Amy Galey has executed her high-profile position of county leadership primarily by ducking responsibility, making excuses and passing the buck at every turn. Nothing is her fault, because nothing is her job. That is just not good enough to help lead our state.
Amy Galey is a weak leader and the wrong choice for the North Carolina Senate. Read on to see why.
Amy Galey’s very bad year
It all started with COVID.
March 20th — Alamance County records its first case of COVID. The county declares a state of emergency, per guidance from state authorities.
April 20th —Galey, acting in her capacity as the Alamance County Commission Chair, writes a letter to Governor Cooper asking him to adopt a “regional approach” to slowing the spread of COVID — which most read as permission to ease restrictions.
April 23rd — Alamance County announces its first death from COVID, as well as 73 recorded cases and 6 hospitalizations.
May 18th — Commissioner Galey (in the center) laughs out loud at her fellow commissioner’s joke about police brutality.
During a county commission meeting on the use of federal COVID-19 relief funds, a discussion came up about the use of new money for law enforcement. Commissioner Bill Lashley (at right in the picture video) says, referring to people detained by the police: “You can’t do now what we used to when I was on the force. We used to beat the hell out of ‘em!”
May 21st — Commissioner Galey meets privately with the county attorney, county manager, Sheriff Terry Johnson and Robert and Jason Turner, the father and son co-owners of ACE Speedway (a nearby racetrack). The Turners wanted badly to re-open racing for live spectators (and likely needed the revenue). No records are kept of the meeting, but following it, county officials — led by Galey — announced they would not prohibit ACE from opening.
This decision was premised on a judge’s ruling that church services must be permitted under the Governor’s “Phase 2” reopening plan.
May 22 — As COVID cases continued to rise across the state, Commissioner Galey and other county officials give a “green light” to the ACE Speedway to hold its season-opener race — but with drastically limited attendance. The county health department, along with state and county officials, drafted a “Precautions Requirements” document that outlined instructions for the speedway’s owners to abide by to operate. Per Governor Cooper’s executive order, no more than 25 spectators were allowed to attend, with social distancing and masks for all.
But Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson simply rejected Governor Cooper’s order entirely: “I will not enforce an unconstitutional law,” Johnson said. “Upon hearing the opinion of the County Attorney, I do not intend to stop Ace Speedway from opening on Saturday, May 23.”
May 23rd — The ACE Speedway operators wind up completely ignoring all health guidance, as well as the Governor’s order, and open with full attendance, no distancing and no masks. An estimated 4,000 people attend.
May 28th — Galey and the county government insist that they are “puzzled” when Governor Cooper and the state health department specifically criticize Alamance County and the ACE Speedway for their flouting of repeated, direct instructions from state health authorities. Galey herself insists that she, as the county commission chairperson, simply has no power to intervene.
On the same day, Alamance County reports 325 COVID cases, as well as 24 deaths. Burlington, the largest city in Alamance County, temporarily has the highest daily growth rate of deaths in the country:
May 30th — The ACE Speedway holds its second race of the season. Sheriff Johnson refuses to enforce the Governor’s orders. Thousands attend. Reporters are barred from entrance.
Once again, Commissioner Galey and other county officials decline to intervene. They refer all questions to the sheriff’s office and give no comment. Galey does nothing.
June 5th —The Governor’s general counsel writes a 4-page letter directly to Commissioner Galey and Sheriff Johnson citing their failure to enforce the Governor’s orders. In it, the Governor puts Sheriff Johnson on notice that if he does not enforce the order, the Governor will take direct action.
June 6th — The ACE Speedway owners, for the third consecutive week, ignore the Governor’s attendance restrictions and welcome thousands of spectators to its race. In a fig-leaf gesture to justify the race on First Amendment grounds, they put up a dry erase sign:
This gesture was apparently good enough for Galey, who continued to refuse to get involved.
At the time, Alamance County had 553 reported cases of COVID and 31 deaths.
June 9th —After the Alamance commissioners fail to act, Governor Cooper steps in. He declares the ACE Speedway an “imminent hazard” and orders the facility closed. Neither Commissioner Galey nor Sheriff Johnson issue any further statement.
June 29th — Nearly 50 prominent community members from across Alamance County signed a letter requesting county officials to relocate a Confederate monument that stands before the courthouse in Graham.
Once again, Commissioner Galey hides behind the legal guidance of the county attorney, and insists there’s nothing that can be done. The county government issues a bland statement to that effect and does nothing.
June 30th —With her Senate race fundraising looking weak, Amy Galey holds a campaign fundraiser with her old ally, Sheriff Johnson.
July 11th — Hundreds of protesters arrive in Graham to protest the Confederate monument. They are met with several dozen heavily armed counter-protesters from the neo-Confederate hate group known as “ACTBAC.” The armed, white neo-Confederates surround the Confederate monument and are allowed, by Sheriff Johnson, to ring the courthouse bell to drown out protest speeches. When black protesters try to do the same, Sheriff Johnson arrests them.
As usual, Galey does nothing. She does not even issue a statement, though most presume she backs her ally, Sheriff Johnson.
July 25th — The Alamance County NAACP branch president is arrested while protesting systemic racism and the Confederate monument in Graham. In a statement, Galey suggests, bizarrely, that “federal law” prohibits county officials from taking any action whatsoever. (Someone may want to alert the multiple counties across North Carolina that have removed Confederate monuments from their own properties.)
Meanwhile, Alamance County reports 1,954 cases of COVID and 41 deaths.
At virtually every turn, Amy Galey has had the same response: not my job. Not my responsibility.
Galey refused to get involved with the ACE Speedway. She has allied herself with a rogue sheriff who has refused to enforce lawful orders for the public health by Governor Cooper. She has refused to lift a finger in response to massive protests against systemic racism and the county’s Confederate monument.
In short, Galey is hoping this will all blow over in time for her to get elected to the State Senate and let someone else clean up the mess.
Is this the kind of person we want in Raleigh? A candidate who is unwilling to make hard decisions, offer leadership or get involved in complicated — and potentially unpopular — situations? We don’t think so.
Instead, we’re backing Galey’s Democratic opponent, J.D. Wooten — a North Carolina native and Air Force veteran turned local attorney. Unlike Galey, Wooten knows how, and when, to lead. He wants to expand Medicaid for the 500,000 North Carolinians who lack affordable healthcare, now more than ever. He believes in restoring the funding to North Carolina’s public schools that the Republican leadership in the General Assembly has stripped away. He is also a strong backer of independent redistricting reform, so that gerrymandering will no longer distort our state politics.
This State Senate race is a pivotal one in deciding control of the North Carolina Senate this fall. Help us make sure J.D. Wooten has the resources he needs to prevail.
The Long Leaf Pine Slate is dedicated to breaking the Republican majority in the North Carolina General Assembly. Learn more about us at LongLeafPineslate.org and follow us on Twitter at @ForwardCarolina.
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