To the Calhoun County Commissioners:
Work for the citizens of the county that elected you. Don’t work for yourself, don’t work for each other, nor a select few. Work for the people who elected you. That’s what a great county commissioner should do. You each know the aged population in Calhoun county. The ones who are at poverty level or below. The ones on who are on social security. Perhaps the last living member of their family and no longer able to do near the work they did in their younger days to maintain their property to HOA standards and the standards you are proposing. You each know those are the ones who this ordinance will impact the most. That old house or barn you might see on Nicut, Milo Road, Walnut, Pond Run or any of the other back roads might be the last connection someone’s grandmother has to her childhood. Maybe the place she set on a porch swing with her first boyfriend that eventually became her husband that passed away and her memories are one of the few things that keeps her smiling. The old 8N farm tractor you see might be the first tractor the aging grandfather had to plow and mow with to raise food for his family and that’s his fond memories when he sees it.
These are private family properties not properties open to the public but full of family legacies and memories.
Remember there are those who have no internet, and some who do not even drive due to their health or no vehicle and rely on family, neighbors, or friends for transportation. They have no access to local news except “maybe” a local newspaper. This ordinance will be imposed on them for the first time by a knock on their door, maybe a certified letter, or a civil/criminal process served by law enforcement. How many investigations has law enforcement done regarding a falling down barn or cellar house in Calhoun County, or the grass being too tall in a yard at the head of Upper Big Run? I bet not one! If there is financial assistance available to do the demolition work why is a lien put on your property for two years after it is cleaned up and in compliance? Like each of you though I do think there are places that should be flagged to monitor for drug activity and meth production. These typically are the most confined and remote places and law enforcement are probably aware of. It’s time to shine as great commissioners and make revisions to or repeal this ordinance that hurts the “majority” of Calhoun County citizens.
I’ll leave you with this:
County Commissioners should not acquire, retain or pursue private interests, economic or otherwise, when these actions conflicts with their responsibility to the public or creates the appearance of a conflict.
Allison Reynolds
Thank you Allison for standing up and speaking out for the unrepresented people of the county.
I have not seen one article supporting the underprivileged and the elderly who will be harmed by this ordinance.
In twenty seven years I have not seen a more discriminatory, harmful and divisive law put forth adopted and put into place.
I did not see any of these policies in anyone’s campaign ads… what’s up with that?
I see plenty of cheerleading for the powers at be, who are sinking their tentacles into areas that effect all our lives but don’t improve the majority of the people’s lives in Calhoun. Were is the press reporting on the negative effect on the poor and seniors of the county. There seems to be a greater responsibility given to the press to give equal coverage on both sides of these issues.
Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure that gives the population the simple basic amenities that most Americans appreciate.
As I wrote before people are just finding out about what is happening.
Thank you Allison and Kevin who wrote a few weeks ago.