Democracy and Good Food

If nothing else, the meeting tonight at the Opera House proved that democracy and good food are alive and well in Pocahontas County. The speakers were thoughtful and everyone got their opportunity to address the meeting. Several good points were raised. The most important being that the Commission and County government are the employees of the people and whatever course is to be chosen will be at the direction of the majority. The second was a call to the Commission to ascertain the actual mandate to do planning and the actual consequences, vis a vis the state pro and con, if planning is or is not done. And lastly, any concept of planning must embrace the fiercely held principle that private property rights must be respected. I was glad to hear every opinion.

It's obvious that "Zoning" and "Planning" are the same in your and the commission's view. Tonight should really be that wakeup call that your bosses, the PEOPLE and VOTERS of Pocahontas county want neither.

I continue to hope, but with failing expectation, that at some point I will no longer hear from some their ready vocabulary of epitaphs and taunts but a return to well chosen words of substance and reason. Rancor with the boisterous tone of self given righteousness thrown at so many is becoming tiresome and attempts to push good debate to school yard brawling.

This is merely an observation, not a judgment, taunt or admonition.

Of the five Democratic candidates for county commission, three were in favor of planning, one was kind of ambivalent about it and one said it wasn't necessary.
One of the candidates in favor of planning won the election, so what does that tell us about what our residents want?

The volume of the band has nothing to do with its size, only its ability to make noise. (Sorry, that is kind of a taunt.)

Pam Pritt

I think the prudent thing to do would be to listen to voices at the meeting who did not taunt and who represented quiet but strong broad constituents. It is plain to see that a significant part of the community feels that a comprehensive plan as presently contemplated by the legislature is not workable if it would include zoning. Also, it is unclear that even if such a plan were able to be wrought from the fires of controversy that it would do any real good in addressing future disagreements over land uses. I am inclined at this point, after carefully listening, to believe that the Commission would be better served if it concentrated on what it can accomplish and needs to accomplish in individual projects to promote education, jobs, health, safety, water and environmental quality awareness, internet infrastructure, community corrections and an overall sense of community. A comprehensive plan is a political "bridge too far". The Commission can not act with focus if it is side tracked by seeking presently unreachable goals.

Pam, the quality of the band is determined by several things including whether they are in "tune" and all on the same song. Marty and David are not only not in tune; they are on the wrong page playing the wrong song.

By the way where was the "leader of the seventies band" the other night? I would have been been pleased to escort her home like they did in the seventies.

I'm away from the mountains for a bit.
But thanks, Norman.
And, Martin, you are correct to say that we should work together to find solutions.
Olive branch, Norman?
How about you put your considerable intelligence toward working on the post-secondary education opportunities for Pocahontas County residents?
You could make things a whole lot better for a whole lot of people. Don't you want to do that?
Comprehensive planning must be a dead issue now. Work on something positive, old boy. Help our kids get more education and be able to stay home while they do it.
You're always presenting challenges to people to do what you want them to. Consider this one your challenge.
And if you don't like the education venue, there are other things that capture your interest, like preserving our history.
All of it takes some planning, but has nothing to do with land use or zoning.
Go ahead, Norman, make everyone's day. Be a positive force.

Thank you, Pam! I am extremely pleased that Martin has decided to drop the zoning issue. It brought back awful memories. I know that it was sure to cause great conflict in this county. Avoiding the conflict was my goal. I was delighted to engage in the battle because I knew that it was the will of the people. But at the same time, I felt tired and weary from our others battles to retain our freedom.

Zoning was a restriction of our freedom. I was working to prevent that restriction. I am grateful that you appeared to be supportive of my effort. I consider that my efforts were extremely positive and one of the best examples of how we can do great good for our community by opposing restrictions upon it. This, then, was a positive effort and a successfully positive effort.

I was doing this in memory of the Sharp family. I am sure that they will applaud our efforts.

Wars are positive efforts. Otherwise, we would be speaking German or Japanese today instead of English. Fighting gov regulation is a positive effort. I was glad to do my small part to advance the cause of freedom.

I am currently struggling to separate the Local Foods Group effort from the threat of zoning because of the shoehorning that occurred with the meeting re: zoning. Those two should not have been at the same time. I wish the Local foods group the best of success and I hear good things. I only hope that I can forget that the CC tried to use them to advance the cause of gov reg when they knew that farming is the first target of the zoners (See Charlie Wilfong video for proof)

Thanks again!

Pam, I have some great ideas for our county future. But first, I want to retain the magic that made this beautiful county so beautiful. I am in favor of freedom and liberty. An awful lot of people like things the way they are; I am one of them. Lots of folks buy land here because they like what we have been doing for so many years. Let's not change the formula for sucess.

Thanks, Linda.
Insulting him doesn't do any good either.
Oddly, I've gotten the feeling that Norman and Martin totally agree on what they want the county to look like. Martin doesn't want things to change and neither does Norman. They just want to use different tactics to get where they want us to go.
But I respectfully disagree with the formula for success Norman mentions.
Doing nothing has cost us businesses and now a workforce. We're missing a generation in Pocahontas County. How do we make up for that? How do we make sure we have quality schools so young people with families will want to stay here? How do we find that balance we need for preserving the area's natural resources like clean air and water and attract a few jobs-producing businesses? How do we honor our history and still keep an eye on the future? And, most importantly, ow do we keep PMH healthy?
Doing nothing? Does that sound right to anybody?

Pam, your questions are difficult to answer. Balance is the watch word as you point out, but to my thinking sometimes it is impossible to achieve since everything has a cost and in some things we, as a community, will need to be on one side of the fence or another. Some industries are plainly at odds with our environmental and cultural assets and some our very compatible. Together, the community will have to make choices. Education, job force, community health and quality of life all in some way boil down to a common denominator of "spiritual values" and "attitudes"; things which need constant cultivation and nutrition in all of us. I just bought the History of Pocahontas County at the Hillsboro Festival last week; it's an impressive work detailing the bed rock of culture upon which the county presently rests. I believe we should attempt to hold fast to the basic tenant that "hard work produces the best and longest lasting result". Simply, there are no quick fixes to your questions. So in this sense, I do not want things to change. I do not believe that there are quick fixes or softer easier ways.
There are jobs here now for men and women who are willing to work very hard and to have long range goals. Almost every craftsman or contractor who has done work for me has said that they want help and are willing to teach their trades but can not find reliable young people to work. And drug addiction was a common complaint. Education is not given away or won in a lottery. It is the product gotten by hard work.
PMH is taking a brand new turn with its alliance with Minnie Hamilton Health Systems which will provide new leadership. I think this is the needed change for the hospital.