| June 6, 2008 Virginia Heights Road Supervisor Baker lives down Virginia Heights Road about 1 mile from Friends and Family Restaurant. He travels this road several times a day and has ample opportunity to notice the high grass on both sides of the road. The road is in the county and I suppose that makes it the responsibility of the county for mowing the grass. The grass is as much as 3-4 feet high in places and actually leans toward the road making an already narrow road more narrow. You would think Supervisor Baker would use his influence to get the county to mow this grass, but apparently he either hasn't taken note of the high grass or he just doesn't care about his constituents who live in the Virginia Heights area. He has been requested to get the grass mowed but as of this date he hasn't produced any results. NOTE: VDOT mowed the grass July 29, 2008 (This is probably our 2008 annual mowing). Supervisor Baker has also been requested to have a speed limit of 35 MPH posted along the portions of Virginia Heights Road that aren't already posted with a speed limit. That request goes back at least two years with no positive results from Supervisor Baker. Is it possible that he doesn't want this road to have a posted speed limit because he is one of the fastest drivers on the road? VDOT waits for accidents and deaths before they recommend a posted speed limit to the county. However, Supervisor Hobbs was successful in getting a posted speed limit of 35 MPH on Crickett Lane and I'm not aware of any deaths on that road. She made that request to VDOT at the same time Supervisor Baker was requested to do the same for Virginia Heights Road. Residents of the Virginia Heights area walk along the road most every day and in doing so they are at risk of being hit by speeding vehicles. The road is only 18 feet wide and when two vehicles meet with a pedestrian walking on the road the situation becomes serious. Supervisor Baker can't help but take notice of this situation because Virginia Heights Road is the only ingress and egress to and from his property. Possibly he has become just like the other supervisors; opposed to anything recommended or requested by this citizen. They like to get even with citizens who make recommendations, citizens who run for a political office held by them, and especially any citizen who identifies their failures to serve the citizens. If the good folks who reside in the Virginia Heights area want a safe and well groomed road, I suppose I will have to move to Bland County or West Virginia. Giles County: Cadillac of the New River Valley February 24, 2008 Giles County collected more money per capita ($2,437) than any other locality in the New River Valley for the tax year that ended June 30, 2007. The median for Virginia cities and counties was $2,701 and this includes northern and eastern Virginia, areas known for much higher taxes than we folks in southwest Virginia will ever see (I hope!). This should concern every county taxpayer because it is a yardstick to measure what we get for what we spend. Do we have better than average roads? No. Do we have an abundance of sidewalks throughout the county? No. Do we pay our school teachers as much as teachers receive in northern and eastern Virginia? No. Do we fully fund a county fire department? No. As a matter of fact, exactly what county services do we receive other than garbage collection, water in some parts of the county, and sewer in some parts of the county? The county provides funding for libraries, public schools, some recreation, social services, and one heck of a lot of money to various New River Valley regional authorities, planning commissions, and of course that all important airport near Dublin (what would Giles County do without it?). Constitutional offices receive some county funding, probably, in some cases, more than what we get for our money. Our county Treasurer is an example of taxpayer money well spent. Mr. Duncan performs numerous functions that go beyond that of his predecessors and he does it very efficiently and effectively. He should probably be the business manager for our county public schools and then we would see positive results in getting the most for the money spent on education within the county. As a matter of fact, Mr. Duncan would make an excellent county administrator because he has demonstrated his ability to operate frugally, efficiently, and effectively. Giles County is in desperate need of positive change. If we can’t change our elected officials, can we somehow change other leaders in the county who continue to influence more county spending than we average taxpayers can afford? The new hospital is receiving county subsidy for site development for the new hospital, the hospital ambulance service receives county subsidy to the tune of in excess of $160,000 per year, the Giles County Partnership For Excellence has received county financial assistance and we all know the dark side of this organization, county supervisors recently voted to approve bonus payments to Social Service workers, the county has approved untold millions of dollars for public education without requiring any accountability as to whether the schools are operating efficiently, and we probably don’t know where many other non-essential expenditures are going. Accountability! Where is it and why hasn’t it been insisted upon by our county supervisors? To the credit of Mr. Baker, he was the only supervisor who had enough courage to speakup and voice what so many of the citizens of Giles County had requested, and that was for the Board of Supervisors to inform AEP that they didn't want the Cumberland Park project to go forward. Not one of the other supervisors would even second the motion of Mr. Baker. This inaction is proof that this Board of Supervisors will continue to look for reasons to not take positive action for the citizens, in lieu of seeking reasons to take positive action. Hopefully, Mr. Baker will continue to exhibit the courage needed to stand alone if he must in order to represent county citizens regardless of the hurdles placed before him by other elected and appointed county officials. School Efficiency Review Mr. Baker, are you going to require an efficiency review of county school operations in 2008 prior to approving additional funding for the school budget? |
