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SMHS is not only high school in county
To the Editor:
I’m writing this response to the May 4 article that was written about the school board meeting regarding the compensation for coach’s salaries.
First let me start off by asking if this is only going to be considered for Smoky Mountain High School? There was no mention of Jackson County having another high school, Blue Ridge. There’s also no mention of the middle-grade coaches.
If the school board and the county commissioners would stop and look at the statistics for both high schools on the level of athletics, they would notice that Blue Ridge has done by far better than SMHS in the men’s level of competition.
The BRS soccer team was first in the conference this year, and they made it to the third round of playoffs for first time in history. The basketball team was third in the conference this year, and the baseball team is first in the conference for the third straight year. What are the salaries for the coaches at Blue Ridge? Are they being considered? Where is the recognition and support for Blue Ridge?
In that article, the school board finally made the decision on the concession stand for Blue Ridge. Although it’s been promised for several years, we will gladly accept it now. We would not have a baseball field there if it had not been for the teachers, students, parents and businesses in the Cashiers area. There was no funding at all from county commissioners or the school board. We have a scoreboard that has not been functional since day one, and we are hosting the playoffs next week.
The coaches at Blue Ridge, some of whom are volunteers, work hard with the athletes to teach them respect and the fundamentals of the sport, whichever it may be, and to be proud to be a Bobcat.
Maybe a comparison needs to be conducted regarding retention and drop-out rate between the two high schools. One thing is for certain, the salaries that were published in this week’s paper regarding the principal and vice-principal, Carol Rector and Gary Safrit, are well deserved – and then some. They are the only two in the county that are administering a full kindergarten-through-12th-grade school.
(School Board member) Ali Laird-Large said, “We have lots of other programs at the high school that we don’t offer anything.”
The big words in that sentence were “the high school,” as if saying we only have one in the county. It’s time for people to realize that there is another high school here, and that it needs the recognition and support it deserves. At all the sporting events I have attended for Blue Ridge, I have seen the superintendent at two games and Nathan Moss at most of the games. If you attend SMHS games, most of the board members are there and some don’t have children involved. Is that fair? Who is getting the funding? Who is being recognized in this county and for what? Losing seasons (except SMHS women’s basketball).
Here’s my statement to the school board: look at the stats, do a comparison checklist, and you’ll see that if one deserves a raise, so do the others.
I’m a very proud parent – academically and athletically – of a student at Blue Ridge who transferred this year from SMHS. For it to be a small school up a long curvy mountain road, is well worth the drive and time.
Traci Settlemyre
Dillsboro
Catman2 shelter needs more volunteers
To the Editor:
Catman2 Inc. could use some help. I am sure many people are aware of the Catman2 cats-only rescue, adoption center and sanctuary located in Cullowhee. We have been working to aid cats in Jackson and surrounding counties for more than nine years and have found homes for more than 2,000 cats.
We hope to continue operations into the future, but we need help. Both my wife and I are past the age of 70 and the operation, which houses an average of 60 cats, requires a lot of work. It is, and will continue to be, a full-time job. We do have a small core of dedicated volunteers who help with the morning chores, which include feeding the cats, cleaning their boxes and cleaning the shelter. We have most days covered but could use some more people to give some of us a day off now and then. Work usually begins at 9:30 a.m., and we are normally finished in two hours.
However, the work does not end there. There must be trips made into town to purchase food and supplies, trips to the veterinarian and photos to be taken to keep the Web page up to date. We need help with publicity, record-keeping and other tasks. The cats need attention, grooming, booster vaccinations, medications and love. There is also work keeping up the grounds surrounding the shelter, upkeep and repairs. There never seems to be an end to the things that need to be done.
We also need people who are interested in being members of our board of directors. Daily operations, philosophy and mission are well established in our by-laws, but we need new blood that will render advice, come up with new ideas and help with tasks that will aid in the overall operation. We need people who can help us with legal matters, book keeping, fund-raising and grant-writing, publicity and public education, and people willing to work with our present board to garner the knowledge and dedication that would allow the board to take over operation when my wife and I are unable to do so.
Catman2 Inc. is a valuable asset for Jackson County’s people and cats. Both would suffer if we close our doors. I have a vision that Catman2 will grow and live on into the future and become known throughout the nation as an example of how a cat shelter should be run. I am asking for people to be a part of my dream.
Anyone interested may contact me at 293-0892 or by e-mail at hsims@catman2.org. More information can be found at www.catman2.org.
Harold Sims
Cullowhee
Voters have spoken: what will change?
To the Editor:
The voters at the polls, in their selection of winning candidates, seemed to have change on their minds.
Darrell Fox’s loss to (Commissioner) Joe Cowan by a close 89-vote margin was certainly not a mandate for continued policies of the present Board of Commissioners. Perhaps a nearly $60 million proposed indebtedness for the taxpayers of this county as they tried to fund everyone’s agenda for things and more things gave a lot of people time to think about who will pay for this lack of fiscal responsibility or who will protect the mountain ridges.
Unfortunately, there is no free lunch and for every power group there are many battles for turf and demands for money are a constant, competitive, in-your-face thing. You never hear about how is my project going to be paid for whether it is school construction, library, recreation centers or you name it. There seems to be no concern that not only the present citizens will be paying, but your elected county government is piling up huge debts for our children and grandchildren. The county is not allowed to borrow more than $10 million per year by law; otherwise the indebtedness would be greater. The county manager has presented now and future borrowing for projects through 2011. I marvel at some of the projects and cost estimates in relationship to our county’s median income which is a low $28,506 (The most recent figures I could acquire). The state average is $28,071. Jackson County has a cross-over income figured in this average from retirees moving in and bringing other large pensions; so the average is far less than the figures show. The labor force is small and the figures (20,593) represent often two or more people from the same household working and many who have only seasonal, part-time work. Most of the jobs in the county are low-paying service jobs with few if any benefits. Whatever businesses come in like the ones on Sylva’s Main Street are employers of only a few people full-time and a few part-time, while the large businesses and apartment complexes take millions out of the county. Every business that moves in is trying to live off a base population of 34,000 or so. Most of them bring very few beneficial, good-paying jobs with health insurance and pensions.
How does a county debt (October 2004) of $25 million or so compare with the projected $60 million now. It is a 140 percent increased debt load for the taxpayers. Having curiosity about a payment schedule for a proposed library costing $5.7 million, I had an amortization schedule done (September 2004). Using $5.7 million, 4 percent interest and an annual $400,000 payment, it took 22 years to discharge this debt amount. Of course the county wouldn’t have made a large payment like this. I think this gives an excellent idea of the situation of large debt, long term. I see no difference in what is happening in the national debt escalation and what is happening here.
Some potential county commissioner made a statement about recycling some of the county buildings, which makes sense economically. The county and town need to conserve financially not only for the taxpayers, but to be able to give suitable raises to county and town employees as prices escalate and impact all of us.
I applaud The Sylva Herald for advocating using the old Courthouse as a library. Certainly there is plenty of parking and a step in the right direction of using of what you have.
Hopefully, the new commissioners will revisit some of the monetary plans made by this board, who certainly made no effort to leave any unspent money to include them in anything. Even the county manager’s (Sylva Herald, May 11) comments indicated monetarily the next four years were planned, and that tax income was stagnant at only a 5 percent growth. No wonder we have the third lowest tax rate; not only are we in general a very poor county, the Commissioners aren’t paying for projects, but are borrowing everything into the future that is possible. We will be paying interest on the interest, since $60 million carries $2.4 million in interest. With all this spend, spend, spend policy, reads aren’t even mentioned. Again, hopefully, the new commissioners will address this problem and others in a positive mode of change.
Marie Leatherwood
Sylva
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