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Vote for Him Or Else?

   Written by on March 6, 2014 at 10:53 am

Editor,

During the public participation portion of the Feb. 11, 2014 Prince Edward County Board of Supervisor’s meeting, I made the following statement and question to Prince Edward County Board Chairman, Mr. Howard Simpson.

logo letters“At the January 2014 meeting, after a controversial method of selecting Mr. Simpson as chairman, Mr. Simpson made a derogatory comment about the members of the board that did not vote for him. As I heard the comment and two local newspapers confirmed, Mr. Simpson apologized to everybody for the way that this took place. Mr. Simpson also said “And the people are always after me, why is it we cannot get industrial (jobs) and stuff to come to the county and all. Stuff like this is a whole lot of the reason that business people don’t do stuff.” My interpretation of Mr. Simpson’s comment is that Mr. Simpson felt that anyone on the board that did not vote for him for chairman was the reason that industry and jobs do not come to the area.

Mr. Simpson, would you explain to us exactly what you meant by these comments and what your definition of “stuff” is?”

I received the following response from Mr. Simpson:

“I don’t have to explain to you, I said what I said and that is it.”

I then reminded Mr. Simpson that I was a taxpaying citizen and there were other taxpaying citizens that deserved an answer also.

Mr. Simpson responded: “ I am not sitting here arguing with you, I didn’t call you up here to argue with you. You state what you got to state and that is it.”

The reason for my question was that I didn’t feel that the four supervisors that voted against him for chairman were responsible directly for economic development. Later in the meeting Sharon Carney, Director of Economic Development for the county stated multiple times that we had an excellent year in 2013 for creating new businesses and jobs. As usual there are a lot of mixed signals coming from county officials. Either economic development is good or it is terrible, but it can’t be both at the same time.

One of Mr. Simpson’s first acts as chairman was to appoint himself chairman of the personnel committee. In addition Mr. Simpson led an effort to block Mr. Wilck from serving on that same committee. Mr. Wilck had served on that committee previously. Mr. Wilck also has many years experience in the personnel field as a recruitment professional.

Why would supervisors Jones, McKay, Townsend and Simpson vote to block any other supervisor from serving on any committee? Could it be that since Mr. Simpson has immediate family working for the county, they want to bestow lavish benefits on Mr. Simpson’s family at taxpayer’s expense? It is my opinion that Prince Edward County has practiced nepotism in selection and hiring of county employees.

I have been a taxpayer in Prince Edward County for over 50 years and have paid tens of thousands of dollars to the Prince Edward County coffers but apparently Mr. Simpson does not think he owes me or any other taxpaying citizen an answer or explanation for anything that he says or does.

Perhaps the time has come for Prince Edward County taxpayers to demand accountability from our elected supervisors and county staff. In the February 14, 2014 edition of the Farmville Herald Newspaper, there are over 150 properties located in Prince Edward County that the Prince Edward Treasurer’s office is starting proceedings on to sell for delinquent taxes. I am sure that some of the folks just cannot afford to pay the real estate taxes to pay for wasteful spending that Mr. Simpson has voted for and their property will be seized and sold by the county.

It seems that Mr. Simpson’s message to me and anyone who questions him is:

“SHUT UP, SEND ME YOUR MONEY TO WASTE OR I WILL SELL YOUR PROPERTY ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS”

Sam Campbell, Prospect District

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Editor:

Virginia’s legislature made a mistake by not supporting Delegate Richard Bell’s House Bill 207, which would have allowed teachers to examine creationism as well as evolution in Virginia’s public schools.

Some say that creationism is not a viable option when studying the question of the origin of life because it isn’t science. Is the theory of macroevolution science? How is science defined? The late G.S. Simpson of Harvard stated in Science Magazine that “it is inherent in any definition of science that statements that cannot be checked by observation are not really about anything…or at the very least, they are not science.”

A generally accepted process of scientific method is: 1. Defining the question. 2. Developing the hypothesis. 3. Carrying out the experiment. 4. Writing an objective report.

Now, let’s focus on step #3, carrying out the experiment, and see if macroevolution meets this requirement. Macroevolution has never been observed. One of the fathers of neo-Darwinism agrees: “It is manifestly impossible to reproduce in the laboratory the evolution of man from australopithecine…or a land vertebrate from a fishlike ancestor. These evolutionary happenings are…unrepeatable.” (Theodosius Dobzhansky, American Scientist, December, 1957.)

Some charge those who wish to explore the possibility of initial life starting with a Creator, as being like “flat-earthers;” if that is the case, these charges must also be made against against supporters of macroevolution. One Darwin scholar has calculated that Darwin used the word “creator” nine times, and the word “God” twice in the sixth edition of Origin of Species, 1876. The final paragraph of the sixth edition (the final edition on which Darwin worked) reads: “…having been originally breathed by the creator (italics mine) into a few forms or into one….” (Olivia Judson, N.Y. Times.) Late in life, apparently, Darwin understood that his theory needed a point at which life began (no living thing can evolve unless it first exists); therefore, Darwin chose to begin that point of life with a “creator.” Needless to say, objective evidence for a round earth is overwhelming; experimental evidence for macroevolution is “impossible” to produce, according to Dobzhansky. Name-calling and shibboleths won’t take the place of a lack of experimental facts.

Sir Francis Bacon, the 16th century British philosopher and early supporter of scientific method, wrote: “Let no man…think that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or in the book of God’s works….” (Bacon, Advancement of Learning.)

What do some proponents of macroevolution have to fear by not wanting any other views investigated in our public schools? If macroevolution is sound, it will stand the test of time and of scholarly, objective scrutiny. If it is unsound, let it be exposed for what many believe it to be, pseudo-science. Why stifle inquiry in Virginia’s schools?

I am pleased to be a graduate of Jefferson’s University, which taught me to search for truth wherever it leads! Jefferson wrote: “To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom.” (Emphasis mine.) The schools, operating in the home State of Thomas Jefferson, should proudly teach its students to investigate, investigate, investigate!

Fillmer Hevener, Pastor, Guthrie Memorial Chapel, Farmville

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Editor:

Upon reading and hearing about our Board of Supervisors’ decision to loan the YMCA, which has no government affiliation with our county, $50,000.00 per year for three years, in addition to the $40,000.00 a year we allocate them I was distressed not only as a citizen but as a taxpayer.

Each year we as a county would be doling out $90,000.00. It concerns me that an organization which does little for the citizens of this county, and as our school system could use learning materials, our roads repair, and an organization (New Horizons formerly HOPE) that serves and helps more than 200 families in Prince Edward alone and only asked for $10,000.00 or .42 per citizen cannot receive one dime.

We the citizens and taxpayers have not elected nor have we asked our Board of Supervisors to become a Loan Company, with our tax dollars. You need to get the priorities of the county and its Citizens in order and not fritter away our money on organizations that can’t maintain themselves.

Being a county with an 8% higher poverty rate than the State average, and a three percent higher unemployment average, as well as a $20,000.00 lower income average, with a school system that’s ranked 68 out of 117 schools systems in Virginia, and with the new rising assessments on property owners, I can say these funds could have been better used elsewhere.

I feel that I speak for a majority of Prince Edward Citizens when I say, if you can’t spend our tax dollars to improve this county and the way of life of its citizens, we’ll find people who can, 2015 is only 9 months away..

Kenneth W. Jackson, Rice, Va.

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