Disputed Facebook post, which candidate denies, is latest spat in Wake commissioner race

A controversial post on Facebook, that has since been deleted, has two Wake County Democrats trading barbs days before May 8's primary.

Lindy Brown, a former Wake County commissioner running to rejoin the board, says she didn't post an article on her campaign Facebook page on Monday that says, in part, "Say no to continuous tax hikes."

Her opponent, incumbent Matt Calabria, said that regardless of how the article appeared on her Facebook page, it’s indicative of her record on public education.

"It’s time for us all to be honest: My opponent has quietly ridden a wave of outside money and publicity generated by a few folks who wish the commission had raised taxes for education even more than it already has," Calabria said in a Facebook post asking candidates to condemn Brown’s post. "She’s allowed people to assume what she would do while avoiding any conversation about her dismal record on education when she was a commissioner."

Brown's post links to a WRAL article from last year about the commissioners' approving the current year's budget and includes the words "This is exactly why you need to be an educated voter. Known what yoi (sic) are voting for! Say no to continuous tax hikes!"

The article on Brown's Facebook was posted late Monday night and was still there late Wednesday night, after Calabria posted a screenshot of Brown's Facebook page. The typo was later fixed, then the post was deleted as of Thursday morning.

Brown said she doesn't believe anyone from her campaign posted the article, but she did ask her social media manager to take it down. It's "incorrect," she said, to assume that she was the one who posted the article on the "Elect Lindy M. Brown" Facebook page.

"And that's why my social media person has been tracking it," Brown said. "She has Facebook tracking it. I am working with a good person who knows the ins and out."

Brown wouldn't give the names of her social media manager or the people who have access to the Facebook page because "she is accountable for what she does or what her campaign does." She also said she was unable to send a copy or screenshot of the complaint to Facebook.

"I can't make anything of it until I find out where it came from," she said. "And we are waiting for Facebook to give us that information."

Calabria said he is skeptical of Brown’s response, but that it wasn’t out of line with her record.

‘That post is not an aberration or departure from what she’s shown she believes in,” Calabria said. “It’s convenient to say after the fact you didn’t post something on Facebook when you did, but the reality is she has gone against her fellow Democrats on the commission and sided with Republicans, including and especially on school issues.”

Calabria said he's helped raise Wake's teacher supplement by $2,655 in three years, while it was raised by $172 over the four years when Brown was on the county board.

Brown countered that the current group of county commissioners should have given the public school system "at least another $20 million" instead of funding "pet projects" during this budget cycle.

"They should have," she said. "They found money for that Crooked Creek. And they found money they had for other capital projects. That's the main purpose and making sure that the school board receives additional funding."

Crooked Creek refers to a controversial decision by some of the commissioners who voted last fall to move forward with the purchase of a defunct golf course for a county park outside of Fuquay-Varina. No money has been allocated for the purchase of the park yet, and a second vote is still needed to formally purchase the park.

When asked if she agreed with the commissioners who raised the property tax rate in recent years to, in part, increase funding to public schools, Brown said she had not been following the budget discussions because she had been taking care of her mother.

"I can only tell you where the gap is and that's my concern," she said. "It would be stupid of me to say when I don't know all the variables they are having to address with the school system."

Early voting continues through Saturday and the primary is set for Tuesday, May 8.

Anna Johnson; 919-829-4807; @anna_m_johnson

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Disputed Facebook post, which candidate denies, is latest spat in Wake commissioner race."