Votes are for openness and jobs, not anti-business
Your recent editorials concerning my stance on full disclosure by Rowan Jobs Initiative and the Duke Energy incentive imply that I am anti-business. Rather, I am pro-openness and pro-incentives that produce jobs in good numbers.
I’ve said it before: Rowan citizens have every right to know HOW their hard earned tax monies are spent AND the decision making process by groups spending the monies. Everything should be out in the open. If these private groups are not subject to the open meeting laws now, they should be when our tax monies are spent.
Moreover, citizens struggling to pay their electric bills on top of property taxes should be able to expect more in the form of lasting jobs by Duke Energy in return for Duke’s freedom from paying $7.2 million of their property taxes for the next ten years.
I do agree that a clear, full disclosure policy by county government can’t come soon enough. And at the very least, Duke Energy should give back to our community a significant contribution to education in exchange for their bounty.
ó Tina Hall
Tina Hall serves on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.
Dole has the right idea
I am writing today to thank Sen. Elizabeth Dole for her decision to support offshore drilling and helping to lower fuel costs. Seeking alternative fuels is good idea and will help support a fair, open market, but as of now, gasoline is still the more affordable, dependable source. Despite many reservations about the effect on the current prices, it’s amazing to see prices lowered at the pumps as drillers seek permission to drill for more. By forcing their hand and limiting their options, you make it more expensive. Drilling off our shores can be done responsibly and help increase jobs while helping to keep gas prices from rapidly increasing.
I encourage those who are exploring alternatives to continue working with them and making them a viable option, but I also think we as Americans should be entitled to support anything that makes fuel prices remain lower so we can drive our vehicles and heat our homes. Don’t believe me? Check out fuel prices in the area, especially Mocksville, where I spotted fuel as low as $3.46 a gallon. That’s due to the price of a barrel of oil decreasing as companies seek permission and see support out there to drill more and take away more of our reliiance on foreign oil.
Thank you, Senator Dole, for your Gas Price Reduction Act. We need plausible solutions, and this is the best one I have heard so far while others actually force us to rely more on foreign sources.
ó Chuck Fiello Jr.
China Grove