(#139) 11 September 2016, Vol.3, No.26 > ‘NO LEVY’
– IT’S ANOTHER UNAFFORDABLE RIP-OFF!
Welcome
to Pocahontas County
– the Rain Forest of America –
A
place where Rainbows end!
The
POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
You are visiting < https://crier88.blogspot.com
>
‘NO LEVY’ – IT’S JUST ANOTHER UNAFFORDABLE
RIP-OFF!
For everyone unfortunate enough to
have read the wannabe-sob-story written by Suzanne Stewart, entitled, ‘School Levy
& SBA – taking our schools into the future’, in the ‘Pokey-Times’, aka, ‘Pocahontas Times’ this week – then you probably have a ‘wet-hanky’ in your hands after an hour
or so of sobbing by now! BUT let us try to SET
THE RECORD STRAIGHT and expose the LIES & MISINFORMATION contained within
the article…for it truly cries out for THE TRUTH!
And make no mistake, since THE POCAHONTAS TIMES has had a
miserable history of only telling us folks WHAT TO THINK & WHAT TO DO after-the-fact and has yet
to ever actually do any ‘investigative-journalism’
or criticism of the actual corruption taking place around this county or ever
offering this county any type of CHOICE before some good-ole-boys get
their share before the rest of us get their crumbs – we here at Pocahontas Crier HQ thought we’d
tell it like it is and let the chips fall as they may since The Pocahontas
Commentator would rather remain SILENT during the election cycle about any
wrongdoings and simply continue its mundane assorted reunion stories. So in the hopes of
EXPOSING IMPROPRIETY AND THE APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY…we offer the following:
FACT > Pocahontas, Randolph & Pendleton counties are designated TOURIST COUNTIES and therefore are forbidden any kind of industries, factories, manufacturing plants and any other sprawling-type complexes – NO, WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE PRISTINE FARMS & WOODLANDS for the tourists to appreciate! The only problem with that scenario is that it takes 3 – 5 farms to become SUCCESSFUL FOR EACH SMALL BUSINESS TO STAY IN OPERATION WITHIN ANY GIVEN COUNTY…and as everyone knows…that ain’t the way it’s working in this county at this time! THE ONLY ONES MAKING A LIVING IN THIS COUNTY ARE THOSE EMPLOYED IN GOVERNMENT – AND THOSE FOLKS ARE LIVING OFF THE REST OF US LIKE PARASITES ON GOVERNMENT WELFARE!
FACTUAL EXAMPLE: Several years ago the Pocahontas County Organic Farmers Organization (PCOFO) organized to grow organic potatoes, tomatoes & bell peppers and many test sites were successful in the hopes that 3-Million pounds of potatoes could be grown each year for three-years in a row in order to qualify to have a processing plant built that would have employed upwards to 100 people! But the WV State Department of Agricultural NIXED THE PROJECT on the grounds that (a) Pocahontas County was designated a TOURIST COUNTY; and, (b) that the population of Pocahontas County was too small & 'politically insignificant' for such an investment although 80% of the project would come from federal funding! The ‘StateAggies’ wanted the project moved to Jackson County to correspond to their new offices built on a mountaintop near Ripley! The processing-plant owners declined to go to Jackson County since that demanded an EXTRA half-day or more in transportation time & costs to get the organic produce to the east cost markets on a timely basis!
Now we see wannabe-Ag-Commissioner Walt Helmick trying to copy the project by growing potatoes at the various state prisons, such as Huttonsville, and even claiming to have a few of his Masonic-buddies growing potatoes at the NRAO in Green Bank – but the produce is only being sold to government agencies such as other prisons, etc. – not to the general public! The same went for Helmick’s alleged ‘water company’ until it was shut down by government orders since the water was NOT filtered or free of pathogens from a location in VIRGINIA – NOT FROM WEST VIRGINIA SPRING WATER as Helmick was advertising!
‘Corporations’ don’t care about local school systems since they employ local people – and in most cases do not bring in other folks from other areas since they are interested in employment & cheap labor – not school-houses!
LIE #2 > Beam states, “If we don’t pass it [i.e., Levy], and we don’t get our buildings upgraded, and the buildings become the laughing stock of the state, then I don’t think we’re going to have that worry [about industry] because we’re not going to be dealing with that kind of situation.….”
FACT > Pocahontas County is ALREADY THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE STATE in Charleston, ever since Helmick tried to grab every position he could while in the state legislature and was FIRED by Governor Tomblin in less than a week after Tomblin took office! Nevertheless, Helmick now lives in an apartment in Charleston that cost over $1.5-MILLION – not bad for a guy who started out as a part-time welding teacher in Pocahontas County High School for $10K a year salary! WHOEVER SAID THAT CRIME DOES NOT PAY – they should just ask Helmick and/or Hillary & Bill Clinton!
And as far as education is concerned – IS IT THE BUILDING OR THE TEACHERS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE? Once upon a time – BEFORE SCHOOL BOARDS lived-off taxpayers – there was JUST A SUPERINTENDENT who traveled around the county visiting the ONE-ROOM SCHOOL HOUSES to see how each school was doing, and they acted accordingly! WERE NOT SOME SCHOOLS IN BETTER SHAPE THAN OTHERS? BUT ALL THE SCHOOLS TAUGHT FROM THE ‘McGuffy Readers’ – AN EDCUATIONAL TOOL THAT EXISTED FOR OVER 150 YEARS THAT ACTUALLY TAUGHT OUR GRANDPARENTS HOW TO READ & WRITE AND OBTAIN EMPLOYMENT, ETC.! SO IT’S THE TEACHERS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE NOT THE PAINT ON THE WALLS OR DOOR POSTS!
Now in Pocahontas County we have the most AMORAL BOARD OF EDUCATION (BOE) in the existence of the school system in this county – lead by perhaps the most immoral & least educated person available that could be found – yet the current BOE is the HIGHEST PAID on record in this county – and they have the gall to ask for the remaining property owners in this county to PAY A COUPLE OF THOUSAND DOLLARS MORE FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS! It’s time to just say NO once again!
LIE #3 > Beam says we have to move the Marlinton Elementary School (MES) OUT OF THE FLOODPLAIN!!!
FACT > WERE WE NOT TOLD THAT BY FEMA AFTER THE FLOOD OF 1986? SHOULD WE NOT JUST ‘ASK ALICE’ where all the money went OF WHICH SHE WAS IN CHARGE? HEY ALICE IRVINE – WHERE’S THE MONEY – THE MILLIONS – THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TOWARDS MOVING MES to higher ground?
It has taken three (3) accounting firms to try & figure out your MESS – so why haven’t you come forth and shown the accountants just where you put all those missing funds? Oh, that’s right, you are an alleged ‘high-ranking Eastern Star member’ so you are exempt, right – isn’t that how it works here in Pocahontas County?
Oh yeah, have we not recently been told by the BOE that ONLY MONEY FROM A LEVY IS USED FOR MAINTENANCE – and that all FEMA FUNDS, SEVERANCE FUNDS FOR OIL, GAS, TIMBER, ETC. are used for ADMINISTRATIVE BONUSES & PAY RAISES FOR THE SCHOOL-REGIME IN CHARGE – AND NOT FOR ANYTHING ELSE! And are there not NINE (9) persons in the current school-regime that EACH hold THREE (3) GOVERNMENT POSITIONS EACH for which they are being paid – ALL FROM FEMA & GOVERNMENT FUNDS? That’s twenty-seven (27) positions being hogged by nine (9) persons – and now the Common Folk of Pocahontas County are being asked to continue this Charade that we need to BUILD new school buildings! JUST SAY NO TO THIS LATEST SCAM!
NOW after two-decades of WASTING PUBLIC FUNDS & the POCKETING of PUBLIC FUNDS, and then claiming to leave the maintenance of the various school building go to ‘hell’ – all the while having the current school-regime raise their salaries at the expense of the property owners in this county – and all the while keeping the TEACHERS AT THE LOWEST RATE IN THE STATE – NOW these same miscreants want the shrinking population in this county that is trying to get by on SS or SSI and Minimum-wages instead of Living-wages – NOW THEY WANT ALL OF US TO PLACE OURSELVES IN DEBT for the next five (5) years or more, GREATER DEBT THAN WE ARE ALREADY FACING – JUST SO THE CURRENT SCHOOL-REGIME CAN WASTE EVEN MORE TAX-DOLLARS!
LIE #4 > According to the ‘Pokey-reporter’, Beam claims that the falling population of students will require a smaller high-school, “If the school is made into a seventh through 12th grade facility, there would be between 460 and 550 students”, instead of keeping the current building that was designed to hold 800 or so students!
FACT > IF THE LACK OF FUNDS has become so great that the current school-regime and BOE cannot
repair or attend to maintenance, then how come the BOE has enough funds
available to hire an ersatz-attorney like Bob Martin @ $36K per/year to
allegedly ‘advise’ them when the
Office of the County Prosecutor already exists for such ‘advice’ included in the $100K+ salary of the County
Prosecutor? And if that is not
sufficient, then how come the current school-regime & BOE want to hire a
completely separate law firm, DINSMORE & SHOHL, LLP, @ the rate of
hundreds-of-dollars per/hour and thousands-of-dollars per/case or any services
they may render? ARE NOT EXPENSES LIKE THIS SUPPOSED TO BE APPROVED BY THE VOTERS FIRST
& FOREMOST if a need for such exists in the first place? And
is not the burden-of-proof placed upon the school-regime & BOE to prove its
necessities?
IF the current school-regime &
BOE really wants funds, then…
WHY DOESN’T
THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS TAKE A 25% CUT IN PAY & HAVE A FULL INVESTIGATION
AS TO JUST WHERE THE MILLIONS WENT UNDER ALICE IRVINE & HER CRONIES…instead
of trying to fleece the public yet again?
As for new persons
wanting to move to Pocahontas
County – WHAT’S THE POINT? After the 1986 flood, was not the ENTIRE TOWN
OF MARLINTON offered a chance to move to Beard Heights
and rebuild on the golf course across from the hospital – paid for by FEMA? And then rebuild the golf course in Marlinton
as done in other areas, the placing of recreational facilities in the
floodplain instead of houses & buildings!
But NO, since the late George Dunbrack & Fred Burns jointly owned
almost 60% of the houses in Marlinton, and were receiving Federal RENT SUBSIDIES
each month for their low-income renters – instead of rebuilding & moving
Marlinton to higher ground, most of these ‘bastardos’
thought a DAM would be build – otherwise
Dunbrack & Burns & the other property owners in Marlinton would become the largest owners of SWAMPLAND
in WV! Even Dosche Webb & her
crooked-attorney Tony Totano thought they would ‘get rich’ by buying up ‘Tannery-Row’
via tax-liens in the middle of the floodplain in Marlinton – that now has
turned into worthless property!
BUT LET’S LOOK FURTHER – although the Office of the Sheriff is supposed to be the EX-OFFICIO
TREASURER of the county and have knowledge of all public moneys under the
control of each government agency – HAS THE CURRENT SHERIFF EVER EXERCISED THAT
DUTY? In the twenty-five (25) years that
the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) has
been in existence – ersatz-member Ed Riley has had complete control over all
PCSWA funds with NEVER AN AUDIT or PUBLIC RECORD being made contrary to federal
& state law! But where is our current Sheriff performing his alleged duties,
investigating such shenanigans, or sitting next to the Green Bank post office
and giving tickets out to every patron that drives in or out without wearing a
seat-belt! Oh, that’s right,
ticketing locals is keeping the court system awash in money pursuant to court
fees & fines & such, right? And
yeah, meth-lab operators get to go FREE since after all they WORK AS SNITCHES
FOR THE OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF, right! And
exactly how many hours-of-training did our current sheriff ever receive to
actually know what a sheriff is supposed to do?
We think the word is ZERO, NONE, NADA, NOTHING
– and then we wonder why we are in the
mess this county is in! The same
goes for magistrates – they have absolutely NO LEGAL TRAINING yet are supposed
to interpret the law & legal statutes, etc.! Oh, that’s right – they don’t need any legal
training – they only have to know how to sign their name to BLANK FORMS that
are then given to the deputies & sheriff to bypass the CHECKS &
BALANCES of the arrest process! Why are
we kidding ourselves?
Perhaps the only way this county
will ever be able to take one-step-forward is IF TRUMP wins the presidency and
actually does REBUILD AMERICA and make FARMING POSSIBLE again for rural
areas…along with rebuilding our cities, roads, bridges, seaports, airports, and
all the other scenarios that requires a NEW INFRASTRUCTURE ALL ACROSS AMERICA
instead of spending those TRILLIONS for more WAR – sooooo…
VOTE TRUMP
& PENCE AND…
LET’S MAKE
AMERICA
GREAT AGAIN!
*******
“All must admit that the reception of the teachings of the
Christ (i.e., the Messiah) results in the purest patriotism, in the most
scrupulous fidelity of public trust, and in the best type of citizenship.” – President Grover Cleveland
“The reason that Christianity is the best friend of
Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart
(i.e., innermost feelings).” – President Thomas Jefferson
YOU ARE NEVER WRONG…IF YOU
DO THE RIGHT THING! Mark Twain
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER…WE ALL REAP WHAT WE HAVE
SOWN…& then some!
“The Gray
Riders are now gone, yet they remain asleep in our
soil, and alive in our veins. Untouched by fire, untouched by frost, they
whisper within us: ‘OUR CAUSE IS NOT LOST!’”
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
The Pocahontas Crier is an independent, free, non-subscription, Internet News Service
providing in depth reporting on important issues directly affecting the
Citizens
of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and meant for entertainment in
the true ‘muckraking’ & ‘iconoclast’
tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, exposing
impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, and offering Common Sense
Alternatives for
THE
GREATER COMMON GOOD BEFORE SELF…
or any
Special Interests!
We fight for Social
Justice on all fronts and are an integral part of The
Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier,
Signal Fires of WV, &
Rolling Thunder in association with
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the Holl’r.
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