Chairman Edds’ apology came from the heart

I regularly attend the meetings of the Rowan County commissioners and have come to know the commissioners fairly well over the last three years. At no time have I seen any of the commissioners act or speak in a mean-spirited way. This especially holds true for Greg Edds who as chairman must speak for the board and is easily targeted when decisions are unpopular,  often during public discussion of controversial and sensitive matters.

I was in attendance and can assure Mr. Kovach (March 8 letter to the editor) that the apology given by Mr. Edds was sincere and not just politically expedient. He was not obligated to apologize for his choice of words; however, his beliefs and sense of what is right and true compelled him to make a public apology. I strongly object to the conclusion that he was being critical of the increased level of sensitivity among all communities to our history of racial injustice. I am convinced that Mr. Edds was raking himself over the coals for not thinking of how hurtful his words would be before they came out of his mouth. Mr. Edds’ apology was not just sincere, but truly heartfelt.

Lest Mr. Kovach think I voted or campaigned for Mr. Edds or am a personal friend or relative,  I did not, am not. As a lifelong Democrat, and now a registered independent, and based solely on his campaign literature, I would not have come close to supporting him. However, as I’ve come to know Mr. Edds,  I can assure you he is at the top of my list of people I will campaign and vote for in the future. That holds true for each and every member of our current Board of Commissioners, regardless of their party affiliation.

I invite every resident of Rowan County, especially Mr. Kovach, to begin attending the board meetings on a regular basis.

— Connie Byrne

Salisbury

No need to resign

I read where one of your readers was not satisfied with the apology that Commission Chairman Greg Edds gave for a remark he made.

First, I am neither a Republican or Democrat. Second, I would not know Greg if I passed him on the street. I did read where he made an apology before a lot of people. It takes a lot of guts for someone to apologize, especially in a public setting.

Everything that is said is not racial and is not in anyway intended to be racial. I am sure we have all said things that were not meant to hurt folks. Wouldn’t it be great if we could stop being so critical? There is no need for Chairman Edds to resign.

— John Mitchell

Salisbury

Policing the campus 

Public Safety or parking police? This is the question asked by students at Catawba College. How effective is the college’s Office of Public Safety? In the past month, two robberies and an assault have taken place. That is not to mention the four or more threats to safety which occurred on campus in the 2015/2016 academic year.

The college administration is passing off the blame to students. They hold that all the events could have been prevented by proactive students. If more doors were locked, more students reported suspicious occurrences, these events would not have transpired. While a portion of the fault belongs to negligent or unobservant students, it would be remiss to not also fault the administration. What could the innocent student who was robbed at gun-point in his room have done? Intruders broke through his neighbor’s door and entered through the shared bathroom.

Public Safety claims to be proactive, seeking to prevent hazards to students’ safety. Recent events suggest they are more reactive than proactive. Consider the assault of a student on February 27, directly outside of the Public Safety office. Public Safety exclaims that they “reacted immediately.” They even reacted to the armed robbery too; they remained outside the building until Salisbury Police could arrive to address the situation because the Public Safety does not have the means to handle such a situation.

The Catawba College Public Safety deserves credit. They continue to do an exceptional job of issuing parking infractions to students and busting up on- and off-campus parties. While the group claims to be making improvements to increase the students’ safety, how much is really being done? Students do not appear to respect the safety organization, perhaps  because the group does not possess enough of an authoritative presence. It is time something be      done to address this situation.

— Justin Potter

 Catawba campus