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Sign up now to help with Relay For Life
To the Editor:
The American Cancer Society has been a very active group in Jackson County for many years and has a dedicated group of volunteers participating in patient service programs, cancer support groups, tobacco control and fund-raising for cancer research and patient services.
The Jackson County office of the American Cancer Society needs your help now. Plans are under way to promote its annual fund-raiser, Relay For Life in May, which provides money to do cutting-edge cancer research, provide free transportation to cancer treatment facilities, loan wigs to cancer patients, publish life-saving literature on cancer prevention, detection and tobacco issues, and develop a new generation of weapons to fight cancer.
Now is the time for individuals, corporations and small businesses to commit their team participation. The Relay For Life can be the site of a company picnic or family gathering while supporting a great cause. The Relay will begin on Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. and end on Saturday, May 17, at 6 a.m. All activities will be at the Jackson Recreation Park.
To sign up to participate, contact Pam Middleton at 586-2303 or Pam_Middleton@westcare.org; or register online at www.jacksonrelayforlife.org.
Margarett Hamilton
Danell Moses
Relay Co-Chairmen
Concerned about recent revaluation
To the Editor:
I am writing to voice concern about the recent tax evaluations.
I am concerned that the county tax appraisers did not fully investigate these properties before tripling peoples’ land value. My mother and grandmother are lifelong residents of Jackson County and are currently living on fixed incomes. How are these people supposed to pay these high tax prices and still keep food on their tables?
I also wonder why the county charges these people located out of the city limits such a high waste tax but refuse to do trash pickup, haven’t they paid for it?
I write this letter to urge county tax appraisers to come out and do their job by actually going out and evaluating every property correctly instead of sitting in their offices and trying to base them on recently-built houses and the continuous growth of Jackson County. These humble people can’t afford anything less than that.
Tina Hyatt
Bryson City
Time for DSA to fund itself
To the Editor:
While I am no longer a member of Sylva’s town board, I’m still interested in town government and in the welfare of all of Sylva’s citizens.
It is surprising to once again read about the question of public funding for the Downtown Sylva Association, because I thought that was settled in 2006.
I remember the controversy that surrounded the board’s decision to cut the group’s funding to a similar level as is given to the Chamber of Commerce, but the plan all along was for DSA to become self-supporting. They have managed for the past two years without a large allocation from the town, so why has this issue returned to the headlines?
The fact that board member Maurice Moody is leading the charge to hand over money to this one organization seems somewhat hypocritical, given that he is a member of the DSA board. He pointed out awhile back that the town shouldn’t appoint its manager, Jay Denton, to the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority board because Jay “couldn’t serve two masters” and said the town shouldn’t put Denton in that position.
Isn’t him being on the DSA board and the town board the same thing? Where is his loyalty – to Sylva taxpayers or to the downtown group? Would he think the DSA deserved so much town money if he were not on the organization’s board?
In my opinion, he should not vote on matters concerning that board. It’s a conflict of interest, even if he doesn’t personally profit from his membership on the DSA board.
I also take exception to his comments that there wouldn’t have been a Streetscape without DSA or no one would have thought of a Bridge Park without DSA. Without town funding, the Streetscape would only exist on paper, and without the bridge the town planned to build, there would be no Bridge Park. Town leaders recognized a park there as a good idea, and it was board member Ray Lewis who proposed designating more land for the park than was originally requested. The idea of a pavilion at that location was first proposed years ago by (then-town clerk) Tommy Thompson, and a similar plan was brought up several times by Mayor Brenda Oliver, who explored the possibility of having the Job Corps build one.
In these times of high gas prices and with the possibility of a tax increase, I don’t think that DSA funding should be increased. Town officials should consider their indirect contributions to the group – the cost of all the support DSA receives for the events it sponsors – like Greening Up the Mountains and the Christmas parade. Who pays for the police to manage traffic and keep everyone safe? Who pays the town staff who prepare the streets and clean up afterward? Sylva taxpayers, that’s who.
I don’t oppose the DSA. I think downtown looks great, and I understand the group has contributed to that. However, it’s time for town money to go toward helping other areas of the city.
Stacy Knotts said the board would fund other revitalization groups, if there were any, but how could town leaders afford to do so if the DSA funding goes back up?
Apparently some Sylva board members think the town already has enough money, since they voted to accept a piece of property in the Laurel Branch area. It’s now removed from the tax rolls, but the land is too steep for the town to do anything with, so it seems like a net loss to me.
If the town has so much money, its leaders should add a police officer or look at a tax decrease for its citizens and not give it all to the DSA.
In all honesty, the Chamber of Commerce does more to promote Sylva than the DSA, and that group should provide a good role model for DSA. The Chamber gets limited funding from the town and county, but it generates most of its operating budget on its own.
Danny Allen
Sylva
‘No further credit is due’
To the Editor:
This is in response to The Herald’s March 20 editorial concerning credit for the renovation of Main Street. There are plaques located at the foot of the Courthouse steps recognizing both Sylva Partners in Renewal (now Downtown Sylva Association) and the Sylva town board. No further credit is due.
However, I feel past performance is an indication of future performance, therefore, in recommending funding for SPIR/DSA, I pointed out Main Street and the Bridge Park as examples of past performance. SPIR/DSA not only had the idea for the Bridge Park but has raised approximately $100,000 to build it. Donations have been received from businesses, clubs and individuals, and several donations are from out of state. In addition, the organization spends approximately $65,000 annually promoting Sylva.
The organization exists for one purpose: to provide leadership and ideas for the future growth of Sylva.
Maurice Moody
Sylva
(Editor’s Note: Moody is an elected member of Sylva’s town board and also is a member of the Downtown Sylva Association’s board of directors.)
Reader supports Barack Obama
To the Editor:
I support Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign because of deeply felt beliefs in his good heart, and his high intelligence, coupled with knowledge and thoughtfulness, the foundations of good decision making.
I believe that his knowledge of our constitution and constitutional law will provide the tipping point desperately needed to make the constitution whole again, thus equalizing the three branches of government.
Equally important to me is his position on the Iraq War – opposing it from the beginning, speaking forcefully against it, and now designing a careful plan to remove service men and women, placing diplomatic efforts at the forefront of our efforts.
So far as I know, Sen. Obama is the only presidential candidate who opposes the use of land mines and cluster bombs. These stances emphasize his commitment to human rights.
His organizational abilities, most particularly in the area of grassroots organizing, will involve numerous people in working together to find solutions. His engagement of youth will add vitality to efforts to sort out the problems of health care, the economy, education, civil discourse, and repositioning this country in the world.
Other positions that are important to me include his belief in governmental transparency and his plans to make use of C-Span and Google so citizens can see their government at work; his stellar environmental record; and his defense of the rights of women.
Is Sen. Obama perfect? Absolutely not, but isn’t it refreshing that he is willing to admit mistakes?
Is he all knowing about all things? Of course not, but he has the talent to bring diverse and creative people together to expand knowledge.
And finally, his gifted use of language is a joy to behold and will represent this country beautifully.
Don’t forget if you are to be 18 by November, you can vote in the primaries. Register now.
Linda Watson
Sylva
Opposes planned mountaintop development
To the Editor:
Does Jackson County really need 850 new million-dollar homes and two more golf courses? Or is it just a case of developers and investors wanting to make a fast $850 million – none of which will help the county pay for the overtaxing of fresh water, sewage cleanup, mountain erosion, road maintenance, pollution and congestion as well as the unnatural pollution that will be introduced by the new residences – cleaning agents, pesticides, litter, light and noise pollution and garbage.
Property tax revenue from these homes will never cover these expenses. Impact fees won’t cover the cost of road expansion or maintenance. Blasting? The land’s natural layout isn’t good enough for big money. Gated community? Why not just put up a sign telling locals to “keep out.” Who wants to look at 1,810 acres filled with snobs playing golf? Not I – I left Florida to get away from that.
Let’s talk about emergency services. Is Jackson County ready to expand the Sheriff’s Office and spend more on training, salaries and equipment? Crime will increase. Who is going to pay for a new jail to house the additional criminals this growth will attract? (Gates won’t and don’t keep out criminals.) More taxes. The average fire engine costs more than a million dollars. (No fire house or hospital in the plans.) You have to train people to use it and pay people to man it 24/7. This increase in population goes beyond volunteer services. Ambulance and rescue services will need to increase. Can the local hospital handle the increased load? Schools may be needed; I didn’t see one in the plans. It takes tax dollars to pay for these services – lots of tax dollars. Does anyone want the overhead power transmission lines running through their property to supply this gated community? Can existing retail handle the increased population? I didn’t see any shopping centers in the plans. Services needed to feed this gated community will be put elsewhere – out of sight.
Look what developers have done in California, Colorado and Florida: more golf courses than you can count; building on every square inch of land as close to the water as possible; cutting off free access to beaches; and causing erosion to the tune of billions of dollars each year to rebuild the lakes and beaches to keep tides from washing away the towering condos. Builders told politicians and the community these were needed to ease housing crises that never existed. Golf courses sit abandoned because there’s no water to care for them. Water restrictions include stiff fines for washing your car or dog. Suck all the water out of the ground and you get sink holes. Read the papers. This nation already has more homes then are needed. Many homes already sit empty and in foreclosure – do we really need 850 more?
Do the math. If you take 1,810 acres in this development and you put 850 homes there, that’s 2.1 acres per home site. Now set aside 500 acres to add a championship golf course or two, and you reduce the acreage to 1.5 acres per home. Don’t forget another 600 acres for roads, bridges, utilities, right of ways and unusable portions. This leaves 0.8 acres per home site – homes on top of homes. Sounds like Florida. We will need to close all the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway that view this gated community so as not to violate the privacy I’m sure will be demanded. Give permission for this development and the next one will follow soon after. Big money only cares about making more money. Property values will only improve if the land is wanted for another development.
Golf courses (not to mention the manicured lawns of the new homes) require incredible amounts of fertilizer and insecticides and unbelievable amounts of water to maintain. Rains wash these poisons into lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams and ground water. Soon locals will need to add filtering systems to keep their water from poisoning their family. Say goodbye to fishing and native vegetation; these fertilizers will affect those things too. Let’s learn from massive mistakes made by other money-hungry developers who never live in the community.
I am against this action.
Paul Baker
Tuckasegee
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