Jim Sides (I am deleting the facetious title “King,” as it seems to have gone to his head) and Craig Pierce seem to be overlooking the fact that every person who lives in Salisbury is in fact a Rowan County citizen. They continue to denigrate the city and everyone in it as if it were, in fact, a different county.
It’s spiteful for them to buy the mall just so they can move county operations out of the city and refuse to agree for the central office to be built at 329 South Main St. As it stands now, the central office can be built without any county funds, plus added monies donated for extras. Salisbury is the county seat, and even county commissioners should be willing to do everything possible to build up the county seat, not destroy it.
A purchase such as the mall and commissioners’ plans for its use really should be made out in the open and with approval of citizens of the county, not behind closed doors. Jon Barber was right in his assertion that this should brought before the people. A “hard” decision of this magnitude should not be made by four or five commissioners, with no input from the people who will actually be paying for it.
It is time for Sides ad Pierce to put aside their personal vendetta and start working for what is best for the whole county, not just what is outside the city limits.
— Linda Taylor
Rockwell

Commissioner Pierce, I am glad to know you are from Rowan. Me, too. I am from the Samuel Young clan, 1740s. You may be a cousin. I voted for you. I did not know you were such a radical. It sounds like you are out to “get” the city.
I found out there was no love lost between county and city when I was teaching school, 31 years at Knox. There was a definite competition between the two and there still is. Moving almost all county offices to the mall will absolutely decimate downtown Salisbury. You say you are for all the citizens of Rowan. Are you? Or are you for the power you have to dictate what is best for you?
I absolutely hate what is happening. We are the laughingstock of the state and all those who have kept up with the antics of the board. You say you are for the best education possible for of all the children in this county. Set an example. Be fair and let the people of the county decide with a referendum dealing with the purchase of the mall.
We did not have that opportunity with Fibrant. Don’t you think the people should have a say in this decision?
I’m a citizen of Salisbury AND Rowan County.
— Jane Smith-Steinberg
Salisbury

Wake up, citizens or Salisbury and Rowan County, and protest!
Are we going to be held hostage by a group of stubborn and determined county commissioners who apparently insist, beyond reason, on locating the school central office at the mall? Haven’t we had enough from this group who pledged to serve the interests of its citizenry and, in their latest bid for power, are failing us miserably? It’s obvious that they are hellbent on fulfilling their own agenda at a much, much greater cost to all of us. Consider that!
Do you citizens out there find any reasonable evidence in the commissioners’ plan to locate government offices at the sprawling mall at the edge of town? In addition to the extra expense of locating there, have they not considered the tremendous impact of doing so and the loss of revenue to our thriving downtown area? Hey, folks, would you like to see that disappear? Maybe the commissioners would like to make our downtown into a real “ghost town” instead of just having a ghost-walk for the curious ghost-story lovers during Friday Nights Out!
Should we not consider the higher taxes that will be inevitable over a 10-year period to fund their proposed move to the mall?
There are multiple benefits to locating downtown. Come on, Board of Education. Err on the side of reason and fiscal responsibility and don’t let the commissioners strong-arm you into accepting their choice of locations. Stick to you guns, and all the reasonable people in this area will thank and congratulate you.
As I understand it, the 329 South Main property was offered at no cost for this much-needed project. (Go, city of Salisbury!) What is thriftier than free? I also read that a generous family in town (of which we have quite a few) has offered to finance the $7.3 million downtown project. Surely the county missed that tidbit of information, or they would be jumping for joy.
— Barbara Waller
Salisbury

Regarding Paul Fisher’s Nov. 10 editorial page comments:
I would disagree with Mr. Fisher most vehemently about the central office. If Salisbury/Rowan county is all about brick and mortar buildings being the “beacon of light,” we might as well send all the teachers home. The central office building should be the last piece of the puzzle, not the first.
First, we put the money into our teachers. Get them trained to teach in our diverse society, and get our students prepared for the 21st century. Once we get our test scores up, industry will come, not because we have a shiny new building. The teachers in the front line are fighting this battle, not the building.
One last point for Mr. Fisher to digest: Take a tour of Knox Middle, just to name one local school, and then tell me we need a “beacon of light “ downtown. Put the money where you will get the biggest bang, in our schools, our teachers and students. Then you will see industry come to Rowan County, not because of an expensive new building that can wait, because when new industry comes, the tax revenue will be there to build this “beacon of light” you so desire.
— Neil Nurisso
Salisbury

I have emailed County Commissioners Jim Sides and Chad Mitchell regarding the gassing of animals at the shelter. I have requested they watch a video of the gassing process at one of their meetings and see if they can still condone the gassing of animals. It is a inhumane, horrific way to kill the unwanted animals of the county.
We stopped gassing convicted criminals due to its inhumanity. I have asked them to stop gassing at the shelter and work with the people of the county to come up with a better solution. We need a spay-and-neuter law that would make pet owners more responsible and then maybe we would not see 4- and 6-week-old puppies dumped at the shelter with the risk of being gassed.
I have not received a response from either commissioner, not even stating they received my email. I thought the commissioners were elected to serve us and listen to our concerns. Maybe they will read the newspaper and understand that I want answers to my questions.
I just emailed Craig Pierce and will see if at least one commissioner uses their public email to correspond with the people in the county that they were elected to serve. For any commissioner that reads this , please stop gassing in Rowan County.
— Cathy Perry
Gold Hill

I offer the following example for a perspective on space and money.
Every person in Rowan County — around 135,000 people — could file into Bank of America Stadium and stand shoulder-to-shoulder comfortably in the stands and on the playing field.
As they filed out one by one, Warren Buffett — worth an estimated $46 billion — could hand each one a check for $325,000! This whole process would take several hours but would be more than worth the wait even for the last person in line! The next week, Bill Gates could do the same thing.
Their massive fortunes, both estimated at $46 billion each, if put into a passbook savings account at 2 percent annually would earn $2,520,547 every day, or $105,022.83 every hour. That is what you call letting your money work for you!
— W.L. Poole
Salisbury