Letters to the Editor: October 17, 2013

Editor:

Why is Prince Edward County Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court not utilizing the CASA program? Below is an outline of the work that the CASA program provides.  This information below has been taken directly from the websites www.dcjs.virginia.gov and www.cvcasa.org to give you an overview:

CASA is the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program. CASA is a child advocacy organization that seeks to provide trained volunteers to speak for abused and neglected children who are the subjects of juvenile court proceedings. CASA volunteers advocate for safe, permanent homes for children. CASA began in 1977 in Seattle, Washington by Judge David Soukup who saw the need for more information on cases involving children in his court. The social services and legal systems were overburdened and CASA was created to assist in obtaining information and providing follow up monitoring of court orders.

The National CASA Association was founded in 1982, and provides technical assistance and national leadership to local programs across the country. The CASA concept is endorsed by American Bar Association, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators. Today there are over 950 CASA programs in the United States that serve over 240,000 children with an estimated 75,000 CASA volunteers.

The CASA legislation outlines five major duties of the CASA volunteer:  Investigate the circumstances of the case, Submit to the court a written report of the investigation, Monitor the case to ensure compliance with court orders, Assist the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) if one has been appointed, Report allegations of abuse or neglect to the Department of Social Services

A CASA volunteer is a citizen who wants to help children in a dramatic way. It is no ordinary volunteer job. Our volunteers receive intensive screening and in-depth training about abused children and how to speak for them. CASAs are appointed by the court and are assigned to a child until that child is in a safe, permanent home. A CASA finds out everything about the child and is supervised by a staff member who guides the work and offers that human partnership needed in this emotionally gripping work. Armed with facts and the child’s own words, the CASA is able to give an informed recommendation, and the child’s own voice, to our Judges.

I urge you to go to these websites and see for yourself the wonderful work that is being done by this program and why there are so many courts in Virginia and across the country using these services.  Prince Edward County Juvenile & Domestic Relations Courts have been asked at least twice to join this program and both times have rejected it.  My question is why are they rejecting it and not embracing it?

~Stephanie Perkins

Editor:

This letter is stating my support for Howard “Pete” Campbell in the upcoming election for Board of Supervisors for the Prospect District of Prince Edward County.

There is a current effort underway to strip property rights from citizens that own land near towns in Prince Edward County.    The planning commission has recommended restrictions placed on a 1000 foot zone on each side of route 460 and route 360 that extends a mile east from the center of Pamplin on business 460 extending each way from the center of Prospect, Rice, Meherrin   Green Bay, Tuggle, Virso, and route 15 north and south of Farmville.

The stated purpose of this madness by the planning commission is as follows:

•Protect scenic beauty and viewsheds

Comment – What gives the planning commission the right to define beauty to the citizens of Prince Edward County.  I find this to be the height of arrogance.

•Enhance levels of Transportation

Comment – How does implementing restrictions on property and requiring parking to be at the side or rear of a building enhance transportation?  I think this is just another excuse for the county planners to exercise control over landowners and strip property rights from them.

•Increase Property Values

Comment – Of course it will increase Property Values since the requirements for sidewalks are 5 feet wide, parking lot special material will be required, underground utilities will be required, and lighting shall not extend to other properties.  This type of lighting is called “Dark Sky Compliant” and a door entrance light of this type costs approximately $350.00 instead of $30.00 for a conventional type light.

Increased Property Values equates to more taxes to be collected by the county.

In my opinion the real reason for this proposed ordinance is to give county officials more control over the taxpaying citizens and retrieve more tax revenue from them.  The extra costs associated with complying with this proposed ordinance will prevent businesses from being able to start up in these areas since the cost of construction of a building will be at least tripled.  Most businesses that start up have to start up small and build up from there.  With the present state of the economy, businesses do not need more restrictions placed on them that will rob profits.

Please support “Pete” Campbell in the upcoming election for Prospect District Supervisor and he will vote against this effort by the planning commission to restrict property rights and increase taxes to the citizens of the county.

Sam Campbell

Pamplin

Dear Editor,

A few weeks ago, fellow Prince Edward County Board of Supervisor’s member Jim Wilck wrote a letter to your paper complaining about the recent School Board appointment made by our board. To date Mr. Wilck has not addressed me personally on this issue and I could tell by his emotionally written letter he was upset .

Four years ago, I was elected to the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors representing the Leigh District.  That year also marked our schools being named in the bottom 5% of all schools across our nation.  This came as a great embarrassment to the citizens of our county, and as a community we are working together to turn the schools around.  Earlier this year, each of our schools received accreditation and are progressing in a deliberately planned positive direction.

With this accomplishment came some pain as we worked through the tasks to turn our school system around.  Our board has appointed 4 new School Board members since I was elected and reappointed 3.  I supported 2 of the reappointments.   It isn’t easy to replace school board members. The job brings with it responsibilities and time commitments that take  away from time spent at a job or just as  important, time spent with  family.   One of the promises I made when I ran four years ago was to give our children the best chance at a successful life by improving our county school system. I think that Mr. Wilck and I would both agree that the school board appointments should be made every four years in conjunction with the election of the supervisors.  I had been on the board for two years before I could work to appoint a new school board member for the Leigh District.  Mr. Wilck has had to wait even longer.  For the last three years we have been in agreement as to what changes needed to be made.  He has offered some common sense solutions as to how the school board could be improved.  I was surprised that Jim after three years of working for change and complaining about the school board did not seek a replacement for his school board representative but rather left it to a citizen’s committee to interview candidates that had put their name in for the job.  After seeing what I had gone through replacing the Leigh district school board member, it didn’t surprise me that he avoided having to make the decision.

Prior to being elected, I had promised to make the changes necessary on the school board to move our school system forward.  I did not feel  the Leigh District  incumbent school board member was dealing with issues in a manner that I was comfortable with.  I did approach Dr. Timothy Corbett and asked him if he would apply for the job.  He agreed and the Board of Supervisors appointed him with a 6-2 vote.  I am appreciative of Dr. Corbett’s commitment to the county and feel he has done an outstanding job.  I kept my promise to the citizens of Leigh District and our schools are better for it.  I have never made any commitment to any board member that I would vote a certain way to get support on any issue.  I did let Jim know that if he supported Dr. Sedgewick he probably would not have a problem getting him reappointed.  I was as surprised as he was when the vote came up as a tie and had to be settled by a coin toss.

Another big issue four years ago was the study to pump water out of the Sandy River Reservoir.  Mr. Wilck is correct I was against the plan that had a price tag of over twenty million dollars and was working towards the county operating its own water plant.  The county lacked any support from the town and other localities never committed to the project.  I was the only supervisor that voted against spending two million dollars to study the issue.  The record clearly shows Mr. Wilck’s support.  He did later change his mind but the spending had already been approved.  There were a number of reasons that I was against the plan and I took the time to talk to Leigh District citizens and voted the way I had promised.  When all the spending was done, the county voted not to go forward with the project.

In closing, I want to quote Mr. Wilck’s support for Dr. Sedgewick prior to the school board vote being taken.   “The selection committee I charged to interview all these people and make a recommendation back to me and I said I would carry that recommendation to the Board , and that was for Ellery Segwick, and now everybody’s entitled to their vote.”

When it was my turn  to vote I simply took Mr. Wilck at his word and did what I am confident will bring about greater success for our schools and county. If I broke with some sort of unwritten tradition he speaks of, so be it.

In closing I have a great amount of respect for every person who takes the time to represent our citizens and make our county better.  These citizens volunteer to serve on boards and put in countless hours. We are a better people because of them.   Change isn’t easy but when you see the positive results our schools have accomplished it has been worth the pain.

-Don Gantt

To The Editor:

Consider the following analogy when contemplating where to place blame for the current Federal Government shutdown:  Think of yourself as a passenger in a car being driven by a person who is steering by knees while texting.  You bravely and wisely advise the driver that it is dangerous to text-while-driving.  It is illegal and can lead to an accident.  But then, instead of tightening your seatbelt and bracing for the crash, you reach over and grab for the steering wheel.  Now you are neither brave nor wise.  In fact, you just became responsible for any accident.  This is what the Republican Party has done.  They warned the nation of the dangers of the “Affordable” Care Act, aka Obamacare; and they warned of the dangers of excessive debt.  All these warnings were good, but now they have grabbed for the steering wheel.  Now it will be their fault if Obamacare fails to deliver and the excessive debt leads to economic ruin.  These will no longer be regarded as a failures of the Democratic Party.  Rather it will become the responsibility of the Republican Party because of its many attempts at obstruction.  It would have been wiser for the Republicans to be ready with workable solutions and leadership if and when Obamacare and the debt crash into the wall.  They made a very unwise move by shutting down the government, for all subsequent problems now become theirs.  Now everyone in Congress will waste their time and ours by passing blame rather than laws.  The nation does not need blame and stalemate; it needs honest, intelligent, courageous leaders who have workable solutions.  Such men and women seem not to be found in Washington.

Patrick Barber

Keysville, VA