Mayor and Town Council Elections were a DUD

With one of the lowest voter turnouts in recent memory it appears the status quo is still running Farmville. It’s odd to have elections held in May versus a more appropriate November date. Most candidates ran unopposed; perhaps voters were protesting this broken process. Or, simply on vacation.

The special election process currently under way is laughable and may have just the candidates showing up to vote for themselves.

This rushed special election favors anyone that ran for election in May and puts new candidates at a huge disadvantage. This is NOT a democratic process.

Citizens would be well advised to call and email your opinions to Town Council often. If your apathy persists you will get exactly what you deserve: more taxes, less service and a bankrupt town that not even LU can save.

Randal Phillips
Farmville

Please allow me to begin by thanking you for your ongoing support of community events.  Your newspaper coverage makes the difference in the overall success of these gatherings, and you are to be commended for graciously providing generous exposure to events that enhance, strengthen, and bond the communities we live in, and that you serve.

I also would like to say “thank you” to the entities and individuals who work hard to organize and stage these functions. And in the spirit of recognizing outstanding community service, I want to publicly thank several Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative (MEC) employees who volunteered to display our large flag at two recent events, the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Clarksville War Memorial and the Clarksville Fourth of July Parade. My most sincere appreciation goes to Chadd Harding, Jason McKinney, Mark Towery, Clint Card, Ben Moss, Dustin Foley, T.W. Parks, Cecil Robbins, Brian Morris, David Lipscomb and Chris Shearin.

These men, who on a regular basis, sacrifice time away from their families to respond to outage calls when our members are in need, volunteered time from their holidays to assist with these two very patriotic events, and enabled us to fly our pride and joy, a 30’ X 50’ version of “Old Glory,” over the two ceremonies. Without these men, the flag’s display would not have been possible.  I should also note that others stepped forward as well, and we had more volunteers to choose from than we needed to get the job done. My thanks go out to all of them.

I am very proud of MEC’s employees, their desire to make a difference in the communities we serve, and our cooperative’s tradition of supporting events that promote patriotism and honor the brave men and women, past, present and future, serving our nation in the Armed Forces. And thanks also to the many people who have sent us notes and comments about our American flag and its presence at these events. It seems to be very well received, and we are so pleased that is the case.

Additionally, as this year’s coordinator of the Clarksville Fourth of July parade, I would like to thank the Clarksville Ruritan Club, which served as the event sponsor, and everyone who assisted with, and participated in, the parade and post parade community picnic. And a special thank you to all those who lined the streets, waved their flags, cheered our Veterans, and made the event a very, very special one.

With Respect and Appreciation,

John C. Lee, Jr.
President and CEO, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative