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Good luck Farmville

   Written by on October 2, 2014 at 12:58 pm
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Email your letters to the Editor to editor@southsidemessenger.com. Please include your name, city, and phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Letters are printed as-is; all editing and fact-checking are the responsibility of the author. The editor reserves the right to reject letters.

I moved to Farmville to be near family 12 years ago. Wow, time flies.  I felt it was my duty to point out the truth about financially destructive decisions made by town and county leaders. The golf business was already dead when town and county leaders wasted huge amounts of taxpayer dollars on The Manor and the Municipal Golf Course.  Unfortunately the glory days of the furniture business may be gone forever. Just as that business started to fade the town installed parking meters.  A joint water system for the county and town could have been completed by now. This infrastructure could have sustained significant growth, but now other municipalities will take this valuable resource. All the assets that the town claims to have to offset its unsustainable debt is just smoke and mirrors. They may pay the golf municipal course debt off, but it still takes $75,000.00 per month to maintain it. Total loser.

So, what’s left? Longwood University and tourism folks.

Downtown has to be built around these 2 economic engines. Farmville must keep student spending in town on weekends. And yes, businesses built around LU and tourism must be open on Sunday. After church is fine. Downtown needs a real revitalization, not bricks in the sidewalks.

Longwood University needs a Football program. This would be a huge shot in the arm to their enrollment and all aspects of Farmville’s economy.

The county’s waste of money has been obscene in light of the fact that the schools are in shambles. Buildings are in disrepair and student discipline almost nonexistent.  I was a substitute teacher for 7 years. After being assaulted once, threatened and cursed too many times, I stopped answering the phone. I watched in disbelief when the honor code, code of conduct and dress code were never consistently enforced by the administration. Students walked into the classroom with sodas, snacks, phones and an attitude of entitlement and arrogance.

Your taxes need to build new schools on the “Road to Nowhere” and acquire only the best administrative talent. Your apathy let them get in this shape, your tax increases will have to fix the problem. Your apathy has also consistently kept impotent and incompetent leadership on the Board of Supervisors. In addition taxpayers are paying a town manager and county administrator over $100,000.00 each in annual salary. Why settle for anything but the best talent this money can buy?

New and bright leadership needs to be recruited to Farmville . The term “comes here” designated for those people that relocate to Farmville is not just 19th Century thinking, it’s a sign of ignorance.

Town council has a few new faces, I hope they make a difference.

In closing Farmville has great potential. Start a “Road to Somewhere”.

Join the 21st Century.

Randal Phillips

Farmville

PS. Will someone please buy the house on First Avenue where 4 innocent people were murdered and bulldoze it. 

 

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