coalash

Jim Womack, former Lee County commissioner and current member/former chairman of the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission, was asked to leave a local business last week after he demanded the business take down an anti coal ash sign from its front window.

Kathy Addison, owner of Kathy’s Java Express in downtown Sanford, says Womack had coffee there on Thursday and after a quick trip to the restroom, entered the kitchen to ask to speak to the owner. Addison, who wasn’t in the cafe at the time, says Womack told her daughter she needed to take the coal ash sign (pictured above) down.

“He said it’d be in our best interest to take it from the window,” she said. “And if we didn’t, we’d lose his business, and he’d make sure we lost other people’s business as well.”

10959163_10153064091483259_1912310986_nWomack, a friend of the Rant, has a history of run-ins with those who don’t share his views, whether it’s from a now-defunct anonymous blog, in the comment section of the local newspaper or via a letter sent to political friends. Addison’s daughter filed a “communicating threats”ย complaint to the Sanford Police Department following Thursday’s ordeal.

Aside from relaying the details of what happened at her business, Addison didn’t want to talk any more about the situation on Tuesday, saying what’s done is done. She did thank those who have stood behind and supported her in the past week and said she has no intention of removing the sign from her business window.