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Letters to the editor: 06/22/00

Good of the children should be main concern

To the Editor:

As recently as June 11, I left Sylva. However, as I drove to my new home I thought a lot about a conversation I had had concerning those making the decisions that effect the lives of children in Jackson County, and the fact that a new superintendent is being selected.

My thoughts were that now is the time for change in education in Jackson County. There is a need for someone who will think of the students first and the political benefit last. There is a need for someone who will look at all students equally, rather than who they are related to. There is a need for someone that will stick their neck out for the good of students even if it's not politically beneficial.

In my opinion, Jackson County needs more people like Mary Jane Dillard and Kenny Nicholson. Both are willing to work for the students in a fair and impartial manner, and if they were choosing the superintendent I'm sure that the educational system in Jackson County would sail.

No, Jackson County schools are not completely horrid. There are many good people working with the students. As a matter of fact, I worked with many of them. But, it just seems to me that there is too much worry about political benefit and who someone is related to or has as friends, and how to keep the powers that be happy.

Jackson County is a small area and in many ways that is wonderful. But, it shouldn't matter whether someone is from Sylva, or if that person is politically, correct as long as that person is doing a good job for the benefit of the students in Jackson County.

I wish you well in the search for what is best for your students and sincerely hope and pray that this is the only consideration in the decisions to be made.

Shelly Sorrell

Schenectady, N.Y.

Put mountains first

To the Editor:

During election seasons it's natural for candidates to cast about for issues that touch on the lives of their constituents. This is the process by which democracy works - it separates us from the dictatorships.

This year, we need to make certain that one issue stands above all else for our local candidates: that our well-being is the first and only thing that should matter to them. They are elected and travel to far-off cities to represent our interests in the mountains, not anyone else's.

There are profound issues that impact us and our lives: how to generate economic prosperity without destroying our separate culture; how to raise the standard of living without increasing population density and thus destroy the reason for being here; how to increase the number of high-paying jobs without paving over the forests; how to reduce the level of automobile pollution from tourism while keeping local businesses prospering.

These and other issues impact us and our lives, and although there are no simple solutions, our candidates must wrestle with them rather than out-of-area concerns.

For centuries the people of the mountains have been regarded as living in a backwater, removed from the mainstream. In the light of history, from hindsight, this has been a blessing. Let's make certain our candidates realize that their first duty is to protect this blessing for us.

Certainly Hurricane Floyd was a calamity and my heart goes out to the victims, but the drought in the southwest was of equal magnitude. The floods in Madagascar and Hurricane Hugo were far more destructive, and I care about those victims, too. There is much suffering in the world and we, as individuals, should do what we can, but our elected officials should look after us first.

This election year, as citizens of the mountains, let's make certain that our elected officials keep us exclusively their agenda.

Patrick Holleman

Sylva

ETJ prevention would benefit everyone

To the Editor:

The Village of Forest Hills has chosen to proceed with ETJ in spite of overwhelming public sentiment against such a move. Forest Hills has designated a smaller area in which to impose its power at this time, but this does not change the fact that ETJ is nothing more than a grab for power and control over neighboring communities.

During the debate on ETJ, representatives of Forest Hills have made several false assertions. First and most importantly they have said that once ETJ is defined and established that Forest Hills cannot expand the ETJ.

This is just plain false. Forest Hills retains the right to extend its ETJ up to one full mile from its borders. There are no time limits and nothing preventing Forest Hills from starting the ETJ process again. At the council meeting at which Forest Hills enacted "ridge top to ridge top," several members of the Forest Hills council argued for inclusion of Speedwell and Long Branch. Does anyone believe at this point that this council's need to regulate its neighbors will be satisfied with a limited ETJ?

Representatives of the council and planning board have repeatedly stated that the current subdivision and zoning ordinances would not apply to an ETJ area. False again. The current ordinance specifically states that it applies to both the village and any ETJ. Rewriting the ordinance is totally at the discretion of the village council. They can apply whatever restrictions to the ETJ they choose.

Much has been made of the so-called representation residents of the ETJ would have on Forest Hills planning board. The fact is that those representatives are selected not by the community but by the county commissioners. Furthermore, the village council is not bound by any recommendations of the planning board; they can pass ordinances and regulations as they see fit.

Forest Hills has said that they need ETJ to protect themselves from more apartments and student housing. They don't tell you that many of the areas around the borders of Forest Hills that contain this type of housing were intentionally left out of the village at the time of incorporation. Forest Hills was afraid that these folks wouldn't vote for incorporation. Now they are hiding behind ETJ to take these people without the opportunity to vote.

Forest Hills has said that they are doing this to protect themselves. What they do not say is that their actions are designed to harm the residents in surroundings communities. They claim to want controlled and sensible growth, but their actions do the opposite. Currently apartments and other low-cost housing is dispersed throughout all the communities in the Cullowhee area. Forest Hills wants to segregate all of this housing of their neighbors. Forest Hills' plan is to create a buffer. This ends up affecting not only those in the ETJ, but also all of those in the areas surrounding the ETJ.

Forest Hills contends that the presence of apartments, duplexes and other low-cost housing has made their lives intolerable. They contend that any construction other than single family homes on two acre lots is a detriment to their community. Forget for a moment that a significant percentage of the homes in Forest Hills do not meet their own zoning regulations.

Ask yourself, if the alleged problems caused by the residents and property owners on the borders of Forest Hills are so bad, why has Forest Hills made no attempt to contact any of these property owners and tried to resolve these differences? Why has Forest Hills made no attempt to contact the owners of vacant land adjacent to the village seeking either to purchase that land to prevent development or to offer incentives to those property owners to develop their land in a manner agreeable to the village?

Does it seem right that Forest Hills should be able to impose its will on its neighbors this way?

We believe that ETJ is unconstitutional. The fact that Forest Hills now says that it will take less does not change that. It does not change the fact that Forest Hills can, at any point in the future, take in an area up to one mile around its borders.

There are two ways to stop ETJ. We can ask the legislature to change the law. We have begun our lobbying efforts, but that is a long, slow process. We can also ask a court to declare ETJ unconstitutional. We have placed an ad in this paper asking people to support our effort to mount a lawsuit to stop Forest Hills and ETJ. We hope that people throughout our community and the county will continue to support us.

We believe that stopping ETJ benefits everyone who is for fairness and common sense in government. Our address is P.O. Box 14, Cullowhee, NC 28723. Please help us stop ETJ.

Charles Stallings

Mark Jamison

Grover Bishop

Cullowhee

Dillard's dismissal a 'shock'

To the Editor:

I am still in shock over the sudden dismissal of Coach Tom Dillard. It saddens me greatly to see how administrators at Blue Ridge School and board members have failed to see his special talent for connecting with students.

I only wonder what will become of my former high school coach. Blue Ridge School lacks funds, teachers, support and now they have lost the best teacher/coach a school could ever hope for.

I really hope that Tom decides to give education another shot. He has an unbelievable talent for reaching out to students and really helping them. This is what should be important, not that fact that the principal can't comprehend how he can be both a good coach and teacher at the same time. Yes, this is possible, and Dillard goes way beyond the qualifications of both.

I can't imagine how it feels to pour your heart and soul into something only to have it belittled. As a student and player of Dillard's, I know how much work he has put into that school. This man has put more hours, attention and dedication towards that school than all of the teachers and administrators combined. He has touched every student who has the opportunity to be in his classroom or his locker room in a positive way.

On a personal note, Coach Dillard has given me so much it is hard to explain how wonderful an impact he has had on my life. Camps, field trips, advice, support and happiness are just a few of the memories Coach as left in my life.

If Tom Dillard does continue teaching, I'd like to see the "tenure recommendations" for someone who supports and appreciate what he can give a school. Coach gives more time and love to his students and players than most parents give to their own children. This is why it is so hard for me to imagine Blue Ridge without him. He was its heart and soul, the reason why it was even worth existing.

What are the reasons for not recommending tenure to a teacher who is admired by his peers? The reasons I read in The Sylva Herald made me laugh. Maybe it's jealously? Perhaps so. The school board has to know that their unjust decision was a huge mistake. You would think that adults representing the county would look beyond family connections and realize how lucky they are to have Tom Dillard in their system.

Thank you,

Mandy Higdon

Cashiers

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