The next opportunity that the residents of Rowan County will have to make a much needed change to the current slate of county commissioners will be during the election process in 2014. This process will begin with primary elections, and it is my sincere hope that a significant number of qualified candidates file to run to help the citizens of Rowan County get out of this morass of dysfunctional county government in which we find ourselves. When looking for the appropriate word to use to describe this situation, I settled on “morass” and was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the Encarta definition: something that overwhelms, confuses or impedes — a frustrating, confusing or unmanageable situation that impedes or prevents progress.
The bad news is that it appears that we have to suffer for another 12-plus months before we can affect meaningful change. The good news is that some of the current Rowan County commissioners have begun alienating their constituents, which should help with sweeping them out of office and electing replacements to right the ship and get us back to a positive, collaborative working environment.
My plea to the voters of Rowan County is to exercise your right to vote in both primary and general elections. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the past and let voter apathy elect county commissioners who want to pursue their own agendas without regard for what is best for the county as a whole. I appeal to all Rowan County residents that are being negatively impacted by the current state of affairs, especially educational system employees and their families, parents with school age children, military service personnel and veteransm to register to vote if they have not and be ready to affect a significant change for the greater good at election time.
— Alvin Park
China Grove

You don’t have to go to Washington, D.C., to find politicians who do as they please and not as the people desire. Look how local politicians have handled the veteran services officer in Rowan County.
First, they put the VSO in a rat hole they called an office. There is no privacy for the veterans or their widows. They had a veteran VSO who has worked for the veterans very hard over many years and is a retired Army veteran. Now, they’re cutting her hours and will add two part time employees to an office that can’t really hold one VSO and their work.
Go to Lexington and see how that county treats its veterans. Rowan County politicians, you should be ashamed with what you are giving the veterans who live and vote in this county. Elaine Howle has been an asset to the veterans and to Rowan County. I’m sure the veterans will stand together at the next county elections and cast their 18,000-plus votes for those who do care about the veterans.
— George Bass`
Salisbury

Since the shutdown has revealed the ineptitude of Congress, someone in the House should advance this bill:
“Effective on January 1, 2014, all national parks will become the property of the state in which they are located. Parks located in more than one state will be maintained by each state in which the park is situated. Costs for maintaining the parks will be covered by the United States Department of the Interior, based upon the expenditures for each park in 2013, with one percent increases in funds provided each year.
“No park will revert back to the federal government except by act of Congress.
“States must preserve each park as a park, and not take away from the lands of the park.”
That ought to cover it. Imagine the relief the feds will feel at getting out of the land-buying business.
— Steve Owen
Kannapolis