Letters to the editor: 04/25/02

Faith in county government impaired by action of EDC chairman

To the Editor:

As chairman of the citizen's action group based in the Qualla area, I represent a large group of people who have worked very hard over the last year toward a goal of trying to protect everyone in Jackson County from a very serious threat we have come to know only too well. We do not believe that certain types of industry, which produce unusually large amounts of pollution, noise, and/or foul odors should be able to move into any of our peaceful neighborhoods without restriction, and destroy the quality of life of residents who live there.

We have tried over the last year to participate in a process with county government to create a polluting industries ordinance. However, we have all too often found ourselves ignored or been forced to stand by and watch while a process that was originally scheduled to last for the summer, and then until December, has been allowed to drag out for nearly a year.

Frankly, I was so angry, frustrated and saddened by what I'd heard and witnessed at various county meetings last week, that I cannot be certain of exactly what all I did say at the county commissioners' meeting. I had no time to prepare or consider my words. And yet, so far as I am aware, I meant every word I said. My civil rights and the rights of all the citizens I represent were repeatedly ignored last week by the EDC. I also observed a gross example of incompetence in the process of drafting the ordinance we have worked for.

It is not my intent to repeat myself here. I suspect the press will report on what happened and what was said at last Thursday's commissioner's meeting. I write this letter to make it clear that words I spoke in frustration last week do not necessarily apply to all members of the EDC or to all commissioners or any other members of county government. There are people who deserve much credit, and this letter is intended to try to balance my criticism of last week.

I believe the volunteer members of the EDC to be good people, donating their time to improve the quality of life in Jackson County. I suspect that most, if not all of the EDC members, had little or no knowledge of the fact that Tom McClure, the chairman of the EDC, has resisted or neglected to give us notification of public government meetings, and more recently he has neglected to allow us access to public documents.

I wish to make it perfectly clear that I totally accept the explanation of Joan Stillwell, who is secretary to the secretary of the EDC, about a simple mistake made by her that resulted in my not being notified of the EDC's Wednesday night work session by mail, as would be standard procedure. However, while I believe that mistake to be perfectly honest, it was not she who forced our group to go through a humiliating experience of filing under state law for notification of meetings even when our local commissioner and the county manager assured me that such was unnecessary.

And since I came to the Monday night meeting of the EDC, where I asked the chairman of the EDC numerous questions about the progress of the ordinance, he had every opportunity to inform me of the planned Wednesday night special work session on the ordinance and the Thursday night joint work session between the EDC and the commissioners, but he inexplicably neglected to do so.

At least three members of the EDC have, in my opinion, made special efforts or demonstrated particular political courage in speaking out for the rights of people in Jackson County to try to protect themselves from polluting industry. Mark Leonard, Jay Coward and Ron Stephens have all very clearly struggled with their responsibility to be fair to business interests while preserving quality of life, and they have tried especially hard to support preserving our rural neighborhoods.

And despite my concerns about several actions of the chairman of the EDC and my frustration that much of the important information gathered by the EDC was never relayed to the commissioners, nor was it represented accurately, it is clear to me that all of the EDC members do want to preserve the quality of life in Jackson County.

I also need to thank a few people who work in connection with county government who have greatly helped us understand and exercise our rights as citizens and helped us obtain information about what was going on "behind the scenes." I am reluctant to publicly name such people without having time to get their consent, but I need to express that there are many people who believe in an open and fair county government who will come to the assistance of people struggling for positive change.

I want to make it perfectly clear that although I was very critical of the Board of Commissioners as a group, at least two of our county commissioners - Stacy Buchanan and Roberta Crawford - are clearly trying to support the wishes and concerns of the overwhelming majority of people in Jackson County to protect the quality of life in residential neighborhoods. The other three commissioners, through some inexplicable logic I have yet to hear explained, appear to believe that the people of Jackson County should be happy to live potentially less than a tenth of a mile from an asphalt plant although they are to be protected from having a junkyard, mining operation or other heavy industry within a half mile of any residence under the proposed ordinance.

I am completely supportive of the concerns recently expressed about junkyards in Jackson County, and am very happy to see future junkyards restricted by this standard. But to suggest that a junkyard is somehow a worse neighbor than an asphalt plant is simply absurd. Asphalt plants put out literally tons of air pollution, foul odors, a constant drone of loud noise from a mixer tumbling gravel and a burner comparable to a jet engine roaring continuously. Asphalt plants also require a constant procession of heavy dump truck traffic bringing gravel in and asphalt out.

The Ashe County ordinance that has already withstood federal court challenges and is being used as a model in county meetings here calls for a minimum 1,000-foot separation between asphalt plants and any residence. Surely the people of Jackson County deserve at least that level of protection and should not allow it to be diluted by half.

To his credit, Commission Chairman Jay Denton generously volunteered to remain late after the commissioners' meeting to offer an explanation of his reasoning and to listen to the public. We heard his concerns about needing to fairly represent all interests in Jackson County. He was willing to listen to information we have heard over the last year that seems to have gotten lost in this long process and never made it to the commissioners.

Mr. Denton promised to give our words careful consideration and reconsider whether he could vote with Commissioners Buchanan and Crawford to provide more substantial protection regarding the siting of asphalt plants.

Throughout this past year, and especially in this last week, members of the press have greatly assisted our group by reporting or otherwise sharing information that was very important to our desire to participate in local government. A Smoky Mountain News article originally alerted us to the fact that the EDC had made very little effort to provide public notice of their meeting with Mr. Fortner last summer. Lisa Duff and Rose Hooper of The Sylva Herald have each several times shared information that kept us from being left totally in the dark on actions of the EDC. Had it not been for their assistance, we would perhaps never have found out about several important EDC meetings, including two this past week, nor discovered that public documents I was told didn't exist were actually readily available.

Hopefully this letter will serve to make it clear that neither I nor the group I represent believe that the Jackson County government as a whole is incompetent or dishonest. We have received valuable assistance from more people than we have received resistance from.

Yet I have to say that in this case I believe too much power and responsibility was given to an appointed body of volunteers, and especially to their chairman, without appropriate oversight. It has significantly hurt our cause, creating mistrust and tension between citizens and their government that was completely unnecessary. A public hearing on the proposed ordinance we have been working for is set for Thursday, May 2, from 5-7 p.m. Our group intends to attempt to present a summary overview of information collected and presented over the last year. We fear much of this information was forgotten or otherwise misplaced somewhere along the way and never made it to the people making the decisions.

I urge everyone in Jackson County to recognize that this ordinance affects us all and to lend support to our effort to get the best protection we can for our neighborhoods. Please attend the May 2 public hearing and join us in asking for protection from undesirable industries invading our quiet residential neighborhoods.

Sincerely,

Robert Franz

Chairman

Qualla Community Development Council

Decision to print Hopper's statement was irresponsible

To the Editor:

To my knowledge, the paper has never provided a forum for the guilty before, and I can't understand why this man's statement deserved such recognition.

Instead, the fact that Hopper, a respected teacher, molested his daughter for three years and almost got away with it shows me that the public would benefit more from a full-dimensional discussion on child abuse than Hopper's one-sided statement in which he seeks to justify and minimize his actions as well as elicit our sympathy.

Darcy Miller Devine

Tucker, Ga.

Back to Archive: 04/25/02.