Screw the future...Let's return to the past
Doug Thompson May 2, 2008 - 4:49pm.
Floyd's "let somebody else take the risk" town council is at it again, demanding unbelievably high letters of credit from each town business participating in the grants that help fund the downtown rehabilitation and trying, as usual, to avoid taking any real risk itself.
From behind closed doors, which is the way the government likes to conduct its business, comes word that the Town Council has decided to demand the letters of credit which, in effect, says they want business to bear most of the cost and the risk for the strategy.
This places such onerous requirements into the deal that only a fool would want to participate.
We've seen this crap before from the Town Council. I remember an early meeting on Floyd's downtown revitalization project. Rob Shelor, council member and probable mayor to follow the resigning Skip Bishop, whined about the town having to invest $100,000 in a program that would bring $1 million to the community in grants and loan programs.
Todd Christianson, the state official charged with getting the grant through the system, told Shelor that if he didn't want the money he lots of other communities standing in line to invest in their town's future.
Shelor finally gave in but he continues to be a thorn in the side of any business that wants to bring tourists to Floyd.
Many business owners put their homes and future at risk to borrow the money to take a chance on Floyd's iffy business environment but the town government wants to avoid risk and claim the credit.
Hopefully, those who want to see a farmer's market in Floyd will proceed without the town's involvement, leaving the town council where it belongs -- out in the cold.
To say Town Government can be duplicitous is kind. It is exactly this kind of double dealing that has long plagued both the Town of Floyd and county government.
Details, of course, are sketchy because the Town Council uses one of the many loopholes in Virginia's antiquated Open Meetings Act to conduct its business in executive session -- in other words, secret.
In this election year, voters are calling for change on the national level. Last year, voters in Floyd County registered their anger at county government by sending two incumbent supervisors and the sitting Commonwealth's Attorney to the showers.
Maybe it's time to for the voters of the Town of Floyd to consider a similar house cleaning.
A nationwide problem indeed...!
You description of the town council's "behind closed doors" government style seems to be a cancer that has enveloped this once great nation.
I'm a Clark County resident in Washington State. There's been a push to place an native American sponsored casino in the LaCenter area. In reality the so-called native American's have shadowy corporate sponsors wanting the casino placement, consequences be damned.
"We the people" of the county do not want the casino nor do most responsible agencies in the county; ie., law enforcement, social services and the various municipal services; ie., fire, emergency etc. that would have to support such a society destabilizing endeavor.
Our county has suffered incredible, out of control, ill-planned growth during the past ten years. One of our commissioners, a woman has the attitude that we either "grow or perish" as a county at least that's what she states in the "State of the County" address. Mind you, county pols even emulate our criminal, national government with such idiotic addresses. I'm very proactive and must say I get swimmy-headed at times witnessing this mind-boggling crap due to my total conscious envelopment of corruption from lowest to highest levels of our government.
Some major intersections are so poorly planned that it takes at least 10 minutes or more to proceed through them in a somewhat safe fashion. Traffic is at a standstill in many if not most major intersections during rush hour.
Clark county is quite large covering 646 square miles, but our duplicitious county leaders are turning it into an very ugly place to live all the while putting the citizens, those that so foolishly elected them on "ignore"...!
The bottom line is more $$ in their offshore accounts no doubt...?! Yes Virginia, even the lowest level pols of this nation are sophisticated enough to emulate world-class crooks such as we find in DC...!
They do not listen and are in the hip pockets of the developers and shadowy corporate interests, no different than what we witness on a national level.
All of America's political systems, at all levels are corrupt to the core to some degree and truly need to be upended via a major "house-cleaning" as you so suggest...!
Carl Nemo **==
Re: Screw the future...Let's return to the past
"Shelor finally gave in but he continues to be a thorn in the side of any business that wants to bring tourists to Floyd."
---So I take it that any sort of film venture that showcases the rich arts and music culture of Floyd County is out of the question, then?
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