Archives

Readers comment on Farmville Herald editorial

   Written by on August 8, 2013 at 12:19 pm

Editor:

lteThe June 17th edition of The Farmville Herald contained an editorial entitled “The Road To Nowhere?”  In response, I offer these observations.

This editorial suggests that the road maybe does go somewhere…  may address some kind of school traffic safety issue…  may have predated the imaginary hotel project… and otherwise may not be as illogical and wasteful of public funds as it seems.  Indeed, the Editor parrots nearly every argument that has been uttered by Prince Edward County officials over the past two years.  (Curiously, neither VDOT nor any other credible source has documented any significant school traffic safety issue that suggests the need for the new road.  Oddly, the Editor seems unaware that the hotel project currently proposed by Robert D. Fowler actually dates to at least the year 2000 or that the building of the new road was in FACT an express condition of the written Real Estate Contract between the County and Robert D. Fowler.  This FACT has never been mentioned by the Editor.)

Just below the editorial was a Letter to the Editor generally favorable to the “Road to Nowhere” and critical of those who have questioned wisdom of spending so much public money on such a non-functional road.  This letter was written by an individual who… coincidentally… was previously also a vocal supporter of County’s ill-faited, costly and now shelved water plans.

Two days after the editorial piece there was a news article in the Herald written by Rob Chapman entitled “A Familiar Discussion, PE Board Travels Road Reason” which reports Supervisor  Bobby Jones’ rationalization… and again parrots the “official” county story… and further suggests  that the road will maybe serve some other project if the long over-due Granite Falls Hotel project fails to materialize.  (Remember:  Building the new road is an express contractual condition in the Real Estate Contract between the county and Robert D. Fowler.)

For some reason, which escapes me, the Editor seems to assume that some readers might cynically suspect that his nearly full page editorial was somehow motivated and/or influenced by the fact that Chairman of the Board, William G. “Buckie” Fore is a fellow employee of The Farmville Herald, and implies something… totally strange to me…  about the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors somehow being in cahoots with “Bigfoot” and/or  “Mork and Mindy” to interfere with his editorial objectivity. (I don’t quite get it but… Okay… I guess everybody is entitled to his own demons.)

The Editor of the Herald concludes his lengthy editorial by offering as consolation that if the Granite Falls Hotel and Conference Center project does not materialize (kind of like some vesion of the same hotel project  has not materialized over the past decade… and more) the Board of Supervisors could rename the road from Granite Falls Boulevard to  maybe something more historically significant…like “Barbara Johns Boulevard.”

Considering the enormous amounts of public money the Prince Edward Board of Supervisors, led by Chairman William G. “Buckie” Fore (part-time employee of The Farmville Herald)  has frittered away on non-productive and wasteful activities in the  past four years (including the $4 million dollar “Road to Nowhere”)… all the while NOT invested in replacing leaking roofs and failing mechanical and plumbing systems at the county schools… never mind the cuts in instructional programs… perhaps Ms. Johns would sadly appreciate the irony.

Jack E. Houghton
Farmville, Virginia

 

Road to Nowhere

I tried to read this editorial by the Farmville Herald, but found myself laughing and disturbed by the arrogance of this piece of fiction. Playing  with word meanings does not change the fact that this project was a complete and utter waste of taxpayer money.

It demonstrates that economic development in our area is misguided and clueless.

Randal Phillips
Farmville

Leave a Reply