Naysaying commissioners
are stifling Rowan’s future
In response to Tina Hall’s June 6 letter:
Ms. Hall states at the beginning of her letter regarding the county budget that she is in favor of job initiatives. If that were true, she would favor items that would bring jobs to Rowan County, right? Yet she and Jim Sides were against incentives for Toyota and other businesses, and now she wants to cut Economic Development Commission funding. In stifling business development, she and Sides shift the tax burden away from businesses and to us, the citizens (which means your tax bill will only continue to increase). Doesn’t Hall realize that new business would provide (1) paychecks to citizens and (2) corporate tax money to broaden the tax base and pay county expenses, alleviating tax burdens on citizens?
Hall then cites economic hard times as a reason for her proposed budget cuts. How would taking $400,000 from county employee paychecks help those families? Cutting essential county services is not the answer. If she truly believes what she writes, won’t she and Sides end the negativity and do something positive to attract new business, so that citizens can get both the paychecks AND the services that they need?
Instead, Hall and Sides are scaring business away, and trying to cut critical services such as education and the Rescue Squad. Do we want to sacrifice our children’s future, or critical medical services, so that these two commissioners can afford to scare corporate dollars into neighboring counties? Please let Tina Hall and Jim Sides know that their negative politics are choking the flow of dollars into Rowan County, and we shouldn’t have to suffer the effects of budget cuts to critical county programs. Please support Commissioners Barber, Chamberlain and Mitchell in approving a county budget that looks toward the future.
ó Clark Walton
Salisbury
Rethink school redistricting
In regards to the article about the school board’s decision on moving at-risk students, I just want to say I strongly disagree with it. As a first year teacher at Koontz Elementary, I knew what population I would be teaching and knew it would be a challenge. The problem is there were too many at-risk children sent to Koontz. Obviously, not enough thought was put into the process of redistricting. The true reason for moving these children to another school is so we can have smaller class sizes and focus more on students’ needs. It is currently difficult for teachers to do this. It is not that we don’t want the children. I, along with many others, think the school board needs to rethink their decision.
ó Lindsay Hollifield
Granite Quarry
Change is good and necessary
I have read several letters in the Post that are complaining about the high taxes in Salisbury. My husband and I have had our own nightmare regarding the oppressive manner used to collect money from homeowners, but it is also understandable. One hour to the south we have Charlotte, the nation’s 25th largest city and fastest growing community. The entire town is under construction, and the counties that surround it have changed dramatically in the last eight years.
The town of Salisbury needs a complete overhaul politically. Instead of people who only want to line their own pockets, let’s vote in new people who might be interested in the future of Salisbury, the community. Maybe some businesses will come in and turn foreclosures into remodeled, caring communities. Let’s face it: Shining up Main Street in Salisbury still leaves other streets uncared for, with boarded-up houses. Not all the traffic coming through Salisbury travels Fulton Street. South Boundary is busy all day and all night, and just take a look at some of the side streets they travel through to get to Main Street.
Salisbury is a nice little town; it should be doing better, not going backward. But it doesn’t seem to have a plan, just a lot of talk. When you provide good customer service, higher taxes are easier to take; however, Salisbury’s government does not provide that, and we do not get our money’s worth at all, in many instances.
Writing your opinion is the first step to change City Hall. Why should the folks who choose to live in Salisbury have to drive to Charlotte for a decent-paying job? I am ready for a change ó are you?
ó Terie Brown
Salisbury