I understand the frustration of Mr. Ernst.
He has served his community on a number of public boards, run for office, although not successfully, and puts a finger on the imbalance of our tax base as well as the attenuation of our manufacturing sector.
Some of these problems are related to local policy making and decisions over the past 50 years while others can be attributed to outside forces and a general lack of a national manufacturing strategy while our country becomes more and more dependent on the financial sector.
As for my remarks about Commissioner Wilkie being a flawed candidate I was only using my powers of observation of BOC meetings as well as my knowledge of the public record.
During my lifetime the GOP and aligned conservatives of either party have consistently trumpeted moral values as important pieces of evidence to consider when supporting a candidate—even at the expense of platform and experience.
Chatham County has had some bare knuckle brawls in its past including some particularly nasty mudslinging during the last campaign for Sheriff and the commissioner race between Bunky Morgan and Gary Phillips.
Now I believe in redemption and frankly care more about policy ideas than whether a candidate had a series of DWIs or other past criminal charges, but there is some rank hypocrisy when one party seeks the high ground with such fervor while its leaders have had a series of issues and the party itself continues to benefit financially from two large donors who are now convicted felons for attempting to bribe a GOP elected official.
Finally I have have received some private emails which make me believe I should provide some more clarity on the tax issue in our county:
The fact is District One pays approximately $27.1 million dollars a year to the County
District 2 pays approximately $19.9 million.
District 3 pays approximately $17.1 million.
District 4 pays approximately $9.2 million and District 5 pays approximately $6.5 million.
These figures do not include other taxes or fees.
So the reality is that District 1 (Howard) pays 73% more than the TOTAL for districts 4 and 5 combined.
This should not be too hard to understand.
Why?
The median assessed value for a parcel in district 4 is approximately $106,600 and district 5 is approximately $85,600.
The median assessed value for a parcel in District 1 is approximately $356,200.
I believe in economic resiliency and spreading the wealth and narrowing the income gap.
The question is how do we raise incomes and create more wealth in Districts 4 and 5?
One way, and certainly not the only way, is to invest more in our public schools and to promote the Chatham Promise, which is a program really pushed by Commissioner Crawford and supported by the BOC.
I guess the difference is that I and many others believe that an effective and progressive local government is a partner in achieving these goals while others seem to think local governance is a hindrance or necessary evil.
Virginia
P.S. Mr. Crawford seems to have a hard time understanding my reference to dog whistle politics. I see the attempts to turn the GOP into the Party of the Confederacy as a pretty shrill whistle with one goal in mind. But maybe this love for Confederate Flags all over the County by some members of the CCGOP is just a feverish fetish that will pass as my generation ages out.
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2020 21:54:21 -0400
From: virginia penley
Subject: RE: Various answers to my post