17 April 2014, Vol.1, No.34 > DEBATE? WHAT DEBATE? THERE’S LITTLE TO DEBATE!
The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
DEBATE?
WHAT DEBATE?
THERE’S LITTLE TO DEBATE!
On 30
April 2014, at 6:30 pm, Allegheny Mountain Radio FM – 103.3 – together with The
Pocahontas Times will host what they are now calling a ‘candidates forum’ in which the
four (4) Democrat Candidates for County Commission, Northern District, will be
asked questions from both the radio-station and the weekly-newspaper. Following this program, at 7:30 pm, the three
(3) Democrat Candidates from the Southern District will follow the same format.
We here at The Pocahontas Crier are wondering
if anyone at either WVMR or Times even
remembers just what a ‘Debate’ is supposed to be like! Usually when candidates for public office
appear together – it is to have a ‘Debate’ – as in the Presidential Debate-Forum –
which simply means each candidate is given 2 – 3 minutes for an ‘Opening
Statement’, then followed by a ‘Question’ in which each gets to ‘Answer’,
then a 1 minute follow-up, then rotate to the next & so forth until all
candidates can be heard, before each makes a ‘Closing Statement’ of 2 – 3
minutes, etc.
BUT NOT SO
HERE! Here on 30 April,
there will be no ‘Opening Statement’, just going into ‘Questions’
that are not known to any candidate (at this point as far as we know) and then
each candidate has 2 minutes for a ‘Closing Statement’! The irony is that, as seen below, only
a couple of candidates have set forth any kind of viable ‘proposed agenda’ – let alone
any opinions, programs or policies – that
would really make a difference for the county!
That’s why we say, ‘There’s little to Debate!’
Since the Republicans only have
one-candidate for the Northern District, Charles Wilfong, and one-candidate for
the Southern District, NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN*,
there will be no radio-appearance for either.
So that leaves us with the task of considering the Democrat Candidates
as follows, AND
THEIR PROMISED AGENDA, if elected:
FOUR (4) in the NORTHERN DISTICT:
PATTI HEINEMANN* > has set forth a ‘joint-promised-agenda’ along with
Norman Lee Alderman, as published at this website via their ‘joint-endorsement’ by the Editorial
Staff of The
Pocahontas Crier, as follows:
1. FIRE ED RILEY! Demand a full accounting! Reorganize the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) by
appointing ALL NEW MEMBERS that will follow the law – End all Lawsuits & Expunge all Judgments & Liens – and Exempt all
persons on fixed-incomes pursuant to State Law!
2. FIRE THE GVEDC! End the ‘Poverty Preservation Society’ – replace the self-serving ‘Greenbrier
Valley Economic Development Corporation’ (GVEDC) with a new ‘Pocahontas County
Development Authority’ (PCDA) comprised of rank & file Citizens
who want good clean businesses and will put THE COMMON
GOOD BEFORE SELF OR ANY SELF-SERVING SPECIAL INTERESTS!
3. REBUILD FORT WARRICK! Turn
the Public Land in Green Bank into a Tourist
Park – NOT into ‘open-pits & tanks’ filled with
raw-human-toxic-sewage – our environment is too valuable to waste!
4. FIRE DONALD TRUMP! Reject a Snowshoe Resort Area District (SRAD) – for lack of any ‘checks & balances’ to
protect existing ‘homeowners’ & ‘employees’
from the Trump & Intrawest current massive $1.5 Billion debt – the Best Solution is to let the State of West Virginia
revoke their charter, take over ‘Receivership’
and turn all day to day operations over to this county to administer
accordingly in a ‘Workers CO-OP’
– we have more
than enough folks already trained in this county to operate Snowshoe &
Silver Creek for the mutual benefit of all!
5. Establish ‘Cell
Phone’ service for the entire county, so ‘Medical-Life Alert’ systems can
become available; and obtain other communication companies to end the monopoly
of Frontier Communications!
6. Establish renewable ‘Wind
Turbine’ electricity-service for
the entire county – produce new jobs & increase
the tax-base to the county with Clean Energy – ‘forever’!
7. Order an annual Audit & Certified Budget from all government agencies in the county – pursuant to Federal Law – it’s
a requirement ignored by the current county commission!
8. Order a listing & certified accounting for all county-owned land – so all Citizens will
know the true status thereof for proper county wealth & development – and provide
areas for those caught in the Flood Plain to relocate to higher level ground!
9. Establish a Referendum – for providing county funds to county
organizations that are not county agencies!
10. Establish ‘Public
Works’ projects where & when
feasible for the mutual benefit of
all concerned –
comprised of all available
carpenters, plumbers,
electricians, cement-masons,
roofers, and similarly
talented persons – including
persons willing to assist
Senior Citizens inside their homes
with cleaning &
personal care – using an industry ‘Living-Wage’ pay-
scale for each profession – Projects include:
♦ Completion of Durbin Library;
♦ Covered Pavilion for Farmers CO-OP;
♦ Relocating residents out-of-floodplain;
♦ Rebuilding businesses who wish to stay in
Marlinton to make an ‘Industrial/Retail Park’;
♦ Removal of leaking storage tanks & all
tanks
within a floodplain; and
♦ Repair & replacement for county
infrastructures!
–
and all can be done for just the ‘Cost-of-Materials’
& the ‘Cost-of-Labor’,
without having to pay any
interest / usury to any bank or financial
predatory-lender!
11.
Establish an Inventory
List of all underground
Storage Tanks – for
their structural integrity,
location & removal away from all streams,
ponds,
river banks & flood plains accordingly – our collective
health
& safety is too important than risking
contaminations & toxins into our common
environment!
12. Provide a legal analysis for each elected & appointed person working for the
county pursuant to their statutory duties & responsibilities – for
all that fall under the oversight of the County Commission so that no one will
ever have an excuse not to follow the law and carry out their duties from this
point forward!
13. NO ‘FRACKING’ in this
County – EVER!
Pure, Clean Water is too precious to ever risk polluting with
toxic-chemicals – especially in a county which boasts to being the ‘Headwater’
for ‘Eight-Rivers’
– bottling pure,
clean water should become the #1 business within Pocahontas County –
therefore all persons with natural spring water will be invited to join the
Pocahontas Pure Water CO-OP to bottle & sell pure water – SHARE IN THE
PROSPERITY and live happily-ever-after!
14. Full support for the Pocahontas County Humane
Society – a ‘NO KILL’ – animal shelter – that also subsidizes persons on fixed-incomes by sharing the
expense for neutering or spaying of all household pets – therefore as a county agency, they deserve
the full support of the county commission!
15. NO ‘BIRTHPLACE OF RIVERS NATIONAL
MONUMENT’ PARK NEEDED HERE! – such a ‘designation’ would
eliminate almost 40% of the federally-owned public land that we now all have
access to use – unless we are willing to
pay a ‘toll’ to use the same campsites and
drive the same Scenic
Highway – and be occupied by a new ‘federal-police-
force’ wanting to see ‘our papers & permits’, etc.!
DAVID McLAUGHLIN > Nothing is listed as of this date,
no opinions, programs, policies, or proposed agenda.
DAVID FLEMING > No issues have been posted as of
this date, no opinions, programs, policies, or proposed agenda, just notice of a ‘pancake dinner’ in Arbovale, and attending the annual diner of the
Chamber of Commerce.
KENNETH ‘BUSTER’ VARNER > Nothing is listed as of this date,
no opinions, programs, policies, or proposed agenda.
THREE (3) in the SOUTHERN DISTICT:
WILLIAM S. ‘BILL’ BEARD, JR > Nothing is listed as of this date, no opinions, programs, policies, or
proposed agenda except, ‘Please like me
and show me your support’.
SHAY HUFFMAN > she has set forth the following
issues, summarized as follows:
● A Vision for Our County > Everything
is connected. Terms like Economic Development, Education, Internet Access and
Water Quality can't be addressed separately, but together they are parts of a
holistic approach to create what we want our County to be like.
●
Children and Seniors > Our children and seniors are
the most vulnerable parts of our
population and this
has been Shay's work all her adult life. First we
need to create and maintain a County-Wide
Directory online (and in print) of all
services
available to help our families.
● Economic Development:
Local
Agriculture > We have a long
history of
strong, resilient, homesteader
type small farmers.
We still have a small farm agricultural base. How
can we build on this base to
encourage small farms
to thrive? How do we connect
quality local foods to
consumers in a profitable way?
There is movement
in this direction from our farmer
markets and Grow
Appalachia's
work.
Tourism > Snowshoe and tourism throughout the
County account for a significant
part of our local
economy. The County
Commission is responsible
for
the distribution of funds from
the Hotel/Motel Tax
and we need to distribute these
funds where they can
do the most good within the
mandate of the law. We
should continue to work with
Snowshoe to promote
our mutual interest
Broadband Internet > Quality broadband internet
access is essential to overcoming the geographical
challenge our mountains pose.
People need to be
able to work from their offices
and homes. We need
to have access to the best online
college and
vocational training.
Education > We
need to work in partnership with
the Board of Education to do
everything in our
power to make our schools the
best they can be.
●
Natural
Resources:
Water Quality and Access > Pocahontas County is
the
Birthplace of Rivers. Eight rivers have
their
origin here and we have an
obligation to ourselves,
our children, those who are
downstream and all
wildlife to be good stewards of this gift.
The Birthplace of Rivers National Monument >
The proposed National Monument has
created a lot
of division within our county.
Landfill and Recycling > We also need to be aware
of how we deal with
the waste in our County. We are
opposed to taking waste from other Counties
in our
landfill.
Affordable
Housing > Good quality housing
is an
important factor in
the health, safety and stability of
our families. We need to partner with non-profits
and governmental agencies to create more
affordable, energy efficient housing in our
County.
This is not only about building new
housing, but
repairing and weatherizing
existing housing.
SARAH (BURT-KINDERMAN)
RILEY > she has set forth the following
issues, summarized as follows:
·
TECHNOLOGY. Pocahontas County,
like West Virginia,
is a wild and wonderful place, which means we may never have good access to the
outside world by conventional highways. Therefore, having real, reliable
high-speed internet is an absolute necessity for our economic growth.
·
ADVOCACY. Our
Senators have done a lot for us over the years and we've been very fortunate to
have them. But with this being Senator Rockefeller’s last year, we have to
advocate for ourselves in Charleston and in Washington.
·
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT. Many young adults want to live and
thrive in Pocahontas
County. Still,
local employers, including me, report that it is challenging to hire and keep
high-quality employees. There’s a disconnect there, and we can all be
part of the solution.
·
PARTNERSHIP & COLLABORATION. We
all need to work together on tough issues like jobs, education, and water
quality in order to protect our traditions and way of life here in Pocahontas County.
There you have it in a ‘nutshell’ – and as you can see some of
the issues presented fall more within the category of ‘Social Services’ and issues for a ‘School Board’
election rather than POTICIAL ISSUES to be
considered at the local level to be dealt with by a County Commission. The county
commission has no control over any school board issues or funding since
the School Board is a separate governmental entity whereby Members of the
School Board are ELECTED in nonpartisan elections! All issues falling
under the county commission are those that concern OVERSIGHT of all
governmental-agencies within the county whereby persons are APPOINTED to their
public-service, and NOT ELECTED – such as the county solid waste
authority or a county economic development authority, etc.
As can be
seen by the above-comparisons,
only NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN (Rep-SD) and
PATTI
HEINEMANN (Dem-ND) have voiced their opinion, taken a stand, offer a program
& policies for a proposed agenda to actually bring about POSITIVE CHANGE to Pocahontas County!
That’s why…
THIS TIME…there’s no excuse…
IT’S YOUR
CHOICE…
TO CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!
Just say ‘NO’ to
those who want to keep this county in Poverty &
Pauperism
– and –
Just say ‘YES’ to
real Progress
& Prosperity for the future!
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
INTERESTS!
Keep up to Date – Stay tuned to these Websites:
► 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!
►
Early Voting is from 30 April 2014 to 10 May 2014 – so
Vote Early & avoid
the rush!
* The Pocahontas Crier
is an independent Internet News Service that has so far endorsed two
candidates for County
Commission
–
one a Republican (NORMAN LEE
ALDERMAN - SD) & the other a Democrat (PATTI
HEINEMANN - ND) –
in
addition to providing in depth news reporting on important issues directly
affecting the Citizens of Pocahontas
County!
Email comments & suggestions to: 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)
[The Pocahontas Crier is part
of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of The Pocahontas Commentator, The
Pocahontas Crier, Signal Fires of WV, Rolling Thunder & Echoes from the Holl’r.]
No comments:
Post a Comment