Letters to the editor: 02/01/01

Parts donation appreciated

To the Editor:

Gwin B. Allen

GM retiree

Sylva

New Year's Day mystery dog rescued

To the Editor:

We almost didn't see her, but by some strange twist of fate one of our own black dogs had decided to hide somewhere in our yard, and as we called for him we saw her standing on the road. Slowly she walked towards the house, shivering, and as we got closer we realized the reason for her desperate fearful approach. Skinny of bone but hugely pregnant, this otherwise beautiful black and tan hound was willing to risk everything to find a place to bring her babies into the world.

It was New Year's Day, with the most bone -chilling conditions this area has had in years. So, a heated room with towels and blankets, food and water were thrown together in a flurry of activity. She immediately began nesting, a look of profound relief on her face and that bass voiced sigh of contentment that only a good old hound dog can make. Just a little over 24 hours later 11 darling black and tans came squealing into the world. A world that only now held out a chance for them.

How will this story end? We wish we knew. Homes, loving homes will be needed in a couple of months. Surely Mama's heroic efforts will not be in vain. Surely good and loving people will come forward to adopt the babies of the New Year's Day mystery dog. Maybe the New Year will be a year of love, compassion and hope, and the dog of the snow storm and her offspring will usher in that year of kindness.

If you are interested in adopting these dogs please call Smoky Mountain Animal Resource Teams at 631-HELP.

Leslie Rojohn

Sylva

Fight unfair taxes

To the Editor:

Jackson County has raised some property taxes more than 150 percent, some higher, some lower, some without apparent fairness or justification.

If you, your friends and neighbors feel your property taxes are unfair, we invite you to join together to fight. Alone little can be done, but together - maybe!

You can contact the N.C. Property Tax Commission at P.O. Box 871, Raleigh, N.C. 27602. You can speak with Janet Shires or Joe Harris by calling (919) 733-7719.

Hopefully some local leadership will emerge within Jackson County to join us as a united force for confidence, integrity, efficiency and fairness within the Jackson County property tax system.

Harford P. Jenks

Cullowhee

Ocala, Fla.

Smart Growth meetings well worth attending

To the Editor:

Having spent years attending the ultimate icon of pure democracy - the New England town meeting - I can confidently say our northern friends could learn a few things from this Southern version. It was the most efficiently run meeting we've had the pleasure of participating in. The facilitators assured and enforced respect for everyone's voice, yet the meeting did not drag on unnecessarily or wander off course.

For those of you who could not attend, I urge you to make every effort to attend one or more of the remaining scheduled meetings. Your time will not be wasted and Jackson County just might begin to reflect more of what you want to see in its future.

Lenore C. Snell

Whittier

Garden Club members help with tuition

To the Editor:

This covered the cost of my spring semester classes: nursery operations, Landscape Design II, horticulture specialty crops and real small business. These courses are required for the associate degree in horticulture from this institution.

In my career I hope to spread the interest and love of all growing things just as the work of the Sylva Garden Club leaves its mark on this community. Thank you,

Kristin McCoy

Sylva

First Habitat house is auctioned off

To the Editor:

Another highlight in those first years was the completion of the first Jackson County HFH home. Seeing the community come together to build the house and a deserving family move in to a decent home was a moving experience. Then something happened that we never would have guessed. Our Habitat family left. Their house payments stopped. They abandoned the house. They left no forwarding address.

We contacted our regional HFH representative in South Carolina for advice. They explained that even though foreclosures on Habitat homes happen at much lower rates than the national average, they do sometimes happen. Sadly, following their advice, JCHFH began foreclosing proceedings.

Never having gone through this before, I thought it would be a rather simple matter. I thought JCHFH would take possession of the house, select another deserving family and put them into "our" house. WRONG! The laws of the state of North Carolina are very specific about foreclosures. The property is auctioned off at a given date on the county courthouse steps. That's what we were facing right here in Jackson County.

But let me back up a little before we go to the Jackson County Courthouse steps. When Habitat sells a house at no profit and no interest to a partnering family, the family is buying a house that has a market value much higher than the cost to them. So Habitat takes out a "second mortgage" that belongs to HFH equal to the true value of the house. For example, if it costs us $43,000 to build a house, but the house is worth $86,000 when the Habitat family moves in, they owe us $43,000 for the house, and Habitat has a second mortgage of $43,000 that is forgiven when they pay off the house. That prevents a family from moving into a Habitat house for a few months and selling it for a big profit.

Back to the courthouse. On Jan. 3, the Habitat house went on auction at the Jackson County Courthouse. Our representative was there and submitted a bid for the amount we were owed. If our bid had been the highest, the house would have come back to us for no charge, since we essentially owed that money to ourselves. But we were outbid. The house was no longer ours.

Then we learned that we could make an "upset bid." By bidding 5 percent more than the last bid, we could still buy back "our" house. Our Habitat board discussed this and decided that since we'd built the house for a very reasonable price, adding the additional 5 percent (about $3,200 in this case) would still allow us to house a deserving family for less than we could build a new Habitat house. So we submitted an upset bid, but again, we were outbid. We abandoned the chase.

Since the building of that first house, we've built two others in Jackson County. Both families are doing fine. House payments are coming in regularly. Contributions from Habitat supporters come in steadily. We have enough money to start building another house in the near future, and a family has been selected for that house. So we move on.

But how do we count the number of Habitat houses for Jackson County? We've built three, but we have only two Habitat families living in them. What about those of us who contributed time, labor and money to building the first house? Did those contributions go toward the goals of Habitat, or to building a house that is just another piece of real estate?

Here's my view. Our first Habitat house provided a home for a deserving family for several years. It gave them a decent house in which to raise their children. It will now provide quality shelter for another family. They won't be a family selected by Habitat, and they'll pay more for the house than the first Habitat family would have paid, but the house is still doing what it was built to do.

The money that JCHFH will receive for the remainder of the first and second mortgages that we own on that house will go to build additional houses for other deserving families. We will now have enough money in the bank to build two more houses. Our efforts have not been wasted; they've been rewarded. Our goal is to provide simple, decent housing for God's children in need. We've built three houses, and now we're ready to build two more. God has blessed us greatly, and we've learned a lot in the process.

So please continue to keep Jackson County Habitat for Humanity in your prayers. We have families in this county who need a simple, decent place to live. We can help meet those needs with your support.

Sincerely,

David Claxton

Jackson County

Habitat for Humanity

board member

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