03 March 2014, Vol.12, No. > ANALYSIS OF DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES – SOUTHERN
DISTRICT
The POCAHONTAS CRIER
(Part
of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of
The
Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal
Fires of WV & Echoes from the Holl’r)
SUMMARY ANALYSIS OF
DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY COMMISSION
– SOUTHERN DISTRICT
In the Southern District of
Pocahontas County there are three (3) candidates running for the County Commission
on the Democrat Ballot. Those three
candidates are as follows:
(1)
WILLIAM BEARD > is currently the sitting commissioner for the Southern District
who was appointed upon the death of Dolan Irvine. So far Beard has had no ‘claim-to-fame’ other than his recent suggestion to have the Department
of Highways (DOH), currently located on Route 219 across from the Rustic Inn in
Marlinton, move to Edray and occupy the building owned by the so-called
Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation (GVEDC), a
private-corporation & ‘expensive social
club’, so that all rental income would go to the GVEDC instead of to this
county.
The real
irony is that simply relocating the DOH from Marlinton to Edray
WOULD NOT PROVIDE A SINGLE NEW JOB – it would only be a change of address! Yet where the DOH is now
located in Marlinton is a relatively ‘perfect-location’
for them since they are not in any immediate danger of flooding, and they have
plenty of room for their massive piles of stone & salt, etc.
By
comparison, NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN (REP-SD) & PATTI HEINEMANN (DEM-ND) have
proposed putting the new Pocahontas Pure Water CO-OP into the empty building in
Edray and establishing a new Natural Spring Water
bottling-plant at that location by having all landowners with a natural spring
on their land join in a ‘CO-OP’ and SHARE IN THE PROSPERITY of selling bottled pure water! Since the Edray building has never been used,
it would become a perfect location to filter & bottle Natural Spring Water
for sale all around the world – and maybe even to Marlinton in the near future
should Marlinton’s current municipal water facility fail or need
replacement. The
Pocahontas Pure Water CO-OP would establish lots of new local jobs, including
truck drivers & tank-trucks to continually gather the natural spring water
from the local farms to bring to the new filter & bottling facility – on a scale similar to dairy-farming!
But apparently Beard
has not thought that far ahead, since he is a sitting member on the board of
the private ‘country-club’ of the
GVEDC, along with David Fleming, and the two continue to act like ‘lap-dogs’ to be petted by the GVEDC for
the sole benefit of the GVEDC! Can anyone name one single
thing that the GVEDC has ever done in a ‘positive’ manner for Pocahontas County
– instead of benefiting just the GVEDC?
(2)
SHAY HUFFMAN > is also a candidate for the county commission in the Southern
District as well, and many know her to be a fine nurse, midwife, neighbor &
friend to those in need – having cared for the health & welfare of many
folks through the years. And although
Shay says, “ I
want to hear about your dreams and ideas for preserving and improving our quality
of life in Pocahontas County”, Shay so far has offered no specific
details or any type of plan for either preserving
or improving, or for that matter
explaining exactly what ‘quality of life’
she is referring to!
Let’s face
it…this county has serious infrastructure problems in immediate need of
solutions – and placing higher taxes on
folks is only going to drive more people out to go elsewhere – as seen to date
in Marlinton & Durbin via their ‘municipal
business taxes’! Some of the serious
problems this county is facing are as follows:
► The Marlinton
Municipal Water facility is in
need of immanent replacement;
► Marlinton
itself is in need of rebuilding or
relocating
above the floodplain after its fire –
as ‘rundown’ and depressing as it looks, NOW
WOULD
BE THE TIME TO REBUILD &
RELOCATE OUT OF THE FLOODPLAIN –
especially now with no flood-protection
plan;
► A new sewage-treatment facility is
needed for
Marlinton,
Snowshoe & Silver Creek, and the
growing
financial-strain upon Durbin as a
direct
result of being included in a Public
Service
District with Snowshoe & Silver Creek;
► The threat of ‘Fracking’ that can destroy the
entirety
of this county’s fresh water resources
as ‘fracking’ has already done to 25 other
States
when toxic-chemicals are pumped deep
into
underground wells;
► The threat of underground leaking storage
tanks & its unknown toxic health &
safety
factors upon everyone in this county;
► The handing over of
public-funds to private
groups in
amounts larger than the funds
provided
to all five county libraries combined
– while the new Durbin Library & other
projects
remain unfinished; and,
► The immediate threat to the jobs at Snowshoe
&
Silver Creek due to their massive-debt-
burden in excess of $1.5 BILLION – unless the
State steps in and relegates the day to day
operations to the people of this County – who
already carry out those functions!
All these Issues have
been addressed by commission candidates NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN (REP-SD) &
PATTI HEINEMANN (DEM-ND)…yet remain unspoken about by other candidates to date!
(3)
SARAH RILEY > is the third candidate
for county commission in the Southern District.
Sarah’s main ‘claim-to-fame’
is that she is the daughter of Susan Burt-Kinderman (now just Burt) & Gibbs
Kinderman – and that also includes her being the daughter-in-law of Ed Riley,
the ‘treasurer’ of the Pocahontas
County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) for
the past quarter-of-a-century who may soon be under investigation for the whereabouts
of close to $1 Million of PCSWA funds!
Since the
county commission is responsible for the oversight and/or taking direct control
of the PCSWA for such infractions, if Sarah were
elected, then she would have to ‘recuse-herself’
from any discussion or participation regarding the correction of the PCSWA! And that includes
the demand for ENDING THE LAWSUITS & EXPUNGING ALL JUDGMENTS & LIENS
against the Citizens of this county from the Elkins
collection-agency-lawfirm that Ed Riley personally hired a while back!
Another detrimental
factor regarding Sarah is her close association with High Rocks, operated by
her mother, Susan Burk. High Rocks is supposed to be a nonprofit
organization capable of raising money like all other such groups from the
general public as needed – but instead, High Rocks has continually been
coming before the county commission and begging for ‘hand-out’ after ‘hand-out’
to the point that High Rocks has received over $80,000.00 so far this year
alone – more funds than given to the
five (5) Libraries of this county combined!
It is simply NOT the duty of the county
commission to provide ‘welfare’ to
private organizations!
A review
of the purpose & usage of the ‘hotel
/ motel tax’ will show that IT’S
SUPPOSED TO BE USED TO PROMOTE ‘TOURISM’
that is supposed to benefit ALL THE CITIZENS of this county – not become the ‘cookie-jar’
for private groups to get their ‘sugar-daddy-fixes’! In the case of
High Rocks, it serves the self-interests of itself, first &
foremost, for a very limited number of persons and becomes the perfect
example of a ‘Self-Serving Special
Interest’!
Although Riley
pretends to be ‘running
for the County Commission so that generations of our children can live and
thrive in Pocahontas County for the next 100 years’, it is obvious that
such statements are long on rhetoric – but naïve & short on reality since Pocahontas County has been in steady decline for the
past 25 years and at its lowest population & financial point to date – the
continuing political corruption & thievery has reduced this county to the
point of being ‘BEGGARS’ chasing
after leftover ‘grant-money’ which is
nothing more than the crumbs that fall from the rich-folks tables!
Last but not least, there are rumors swirling to & fro that Sarah
Riley became a candidate at the last minute in order to take votes ‘away’ from Shay Huffman since Shay has
a good chance of defeating William Beard, the current county commissioner
on the Democrat Ballot! If so, then
Sarah would be the ‘ringer’ for this
election in the Southern District for the Democrat Primary! Perhaps
that’s why she has no issues of her own and only rhetoric about ‘Camelot’!
Meanwhile, for those
knowledgeable enough to know – real economic growth & strength comes
from grassroots groups and private enterprise that can really accomplish a ‘positive’ common good that benefits the
greatest number of Citizens – and not just for a
self-serving few! Real ISSUES for Progress
& Prosperity have been set forth by NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN (REP-SD) &
PATTI HEINEMANN (DEM-ND) that can actually bring forth New Jobs! And why shouldn’t
the BEST IDEAS come from these two candidates?
Norman is a former county commissioner & Patti is trained in
Public Administration – so they both have the EXPERIENCE that all the other
candidates lack!
Here are some positive examples of
THEIR IDEA for Progress & Prosperity
for Pocahontas County:
►
Another communications company other than
Frontier,
and ‘Cell Phone’ service for the
whole
county – that would bring forth NEW JOBS;
►
Bringing in ‘Wind Turbines’
for low-cost electricity
& an increased tax-base – that would bring forth
NEW JOBS;
►
Having the State take over Snowshoe & Silver Creek
and relegating the day to day
operations & splitting
the profits with this county locally as a
‘Workers
CO-OP’ – that would really bring forth NEW JOBS;
and,
►
Working with a Natural Spring Water company
such as Pocahontas Pure Water
CO-OP would
make bottling Fresh, Clean, Pure water
the #1
Business in this county
in which everyone would
benefit – that would bring about
lots of NEW JOBS
&
additional family income!
All these Issues have
been addressed by commission candidates NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN (REP-SD) &
PATTI HEINEMANN (DEM-ND)…yet remain unspoken about by other candidates to date!
This Time…
Just say ‘NO’ to those who
want to keep this county in Poverty &
Pauperism for their self-serving special interest – and
Just SAY ‘YES’ to real Progress & Prosperity for the future
and the mutual benefit of all concerned!
Therefore on Primary
Day – YOU have a chance to elect two
persons that will always put YOU
first! They know that:
THE
GREATER COMMON GOOD ALWAYS COMES BEFORE SELF OR ANY SELF-SERVING SPECIAL
INTEREST!
Find out more – Stay tuned to these Websites:
The Pocahontas Crier
is an independent Internet News Service that has so far endorsed two candidates
for County Commission,
one a Republican & the other a Democrat – in addition to providing in depth
news reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens of Pocahontas County!
► IF YOU are registered to vote as a Republican,
you can
Vote for Norman
Lee Alderman in the Primary Election
on 13 May 2014;
► IF YOU are registered to vote as a Democrat,
you can
Vote for Patti Heinemann in the primary election on
13 May 2014;
► If you are not registered to vote, then you must
register
to vote on or before 22 April 2014;
► If you are registered to vote, but with no party
affiliation, then you must request
Loud & Clear either
a Republican or Democrat ballot
on Primary Day when
you go to the polls; &
► Since Norman
is unopposed, he recommends that you
request a Democrat ballot to vote for Patti so that
this
county can again have an Honest & Just county
commission beginning in January 2015!
► Early Voting is from 30
April 2014 to 10 May 2014 – so
Vote Early & avoid
the rush!
Email
comments & suggestions to: The Pocahontas
Crier at
pocahontascrier@gmail.com
& if
you wish to financially assist, kindly send all campaign contributions to: The United Campaign for County Commission (UCCC), c/o
Citizens for Common Sense Alternatives (CCSA), a registered Political Action
Committee, 7837 Wesley Chapel Road, Green Bank, West Virginia 24944-9063
Phone:
1.304.456.4565 or 3282 (also fax)
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