If not a taxpayer, how about a refund?

Jim Sides recently stated that “the taxpayers of this county didn’t get out and vote,” according to an article in the May 7 Salisbury Post. Last time I checked though, to register to vote, you must live in the county you wish to vote in.

Many people who voted are taxpayers. Albeit some voters don’t own property, thus not having to pay property taxes. Then again, the same can be said for several candidates for the same race Sides was in.

My only concern is the fact that I voted, and I do pay Rowan County property tax. So if Chairman Sides believes in what he said, can I get a refund for my property taxes? It would be a nice chunk of change that I would love to have back. Many people in the county would love to have their property taxes back, especially knowing that we could possibly see a hike in our taxes to pay for the purchase of a dilapidated Salisbury Mall.

Regardless, the May 6 primary for Rowan County commission couldn’t have gone much better than it did, especially knowing that Mr. Sides won’t be on my ballot, or anyone’s ballot, come November. The citizens of Rowan County will all be able to sleep a little better when that day comes later this year.

— Jeremy Gardner

Salisbury

Best kept secret

The best things in life are free — and that is how it went Thursday night at Catawba’s Hedrick Little Theater as the top students from Catawba College’s nationally recognized popular music degree program performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors.” This album has reached platinum status 19-plus times since its release in 1977 and includes a wide variety of diverse and complicated tunes. To replicate these tunes would be an almost “impossible” feat, as Ken Caillat, Grammy-winning producer of “Rumors” and other Fleetwood Mac albums, stated.

Caillat was a special guest honoring his recent publication of “Making Rumors: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album.”

These young musicians accomplished the “impossible” to an awesome degree with Fleetwood Mac tunes and songs that they had personally composed! Kudos to those on stage and to their “coach” Dr. David Fish. And to those seniors graduating soon: “Don’t stop, thinking about tomorrow…it’ll be, better than before.”

— Judy McDaniel

Landis

Tillis out of touch

Not long ago, GOP U.S. Senate nominee and current Speaker of the N.C. House Thom Tillis said we should (and I’m paraphrasing here) get someone with cerebral palsy, who relies on disability assistance, to “look down on” someone who doesn’t need assistance and is “freeloading.” On MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews summed it up as saying “get the sick people to attack the poor people.”

What’s not surprising is that someone with his fringe record would say something like this. What is surprising is that, in this day and age, people would actually vote to not only make him Speaker of the N.C. House, but also to possibly send him to Washington to fill a seat in the sacred chamber of the U.S. Senate.

I mean, this comment makes Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remarks look great in comparison.

In a country that is already so polarized along party lines, as well as lines dividing rich from poor, Christian from other beliefs, men from women, whites from minorities and straight from gay, the absolute last thing we need is someone who is seeking to “divide and conquer” the citizens of our great state.

We need someone in the Senate who will work with her colleagues — Democrat and Republican — to fight for all people. That someone is Kay Hagan. That’s what the people of North Carolina want and deserve.

Send Thom Tillis packing, and send Kay Hagan back to the Senate this November.

— Dave Wils

Greensboro

Thanks, teachers

As a parent of two elementary school students and the husband of a Rowan-Salisbury school teacher, I would like to thank each and every teacher, support staff and administrator in our school system. You are the backbone of our education system and too often go without praise from the community. It has been my pleasure to meet many teachers in the school system and each of them has my utmost respect.

I know that many school employees feel undervalued, underpaid and overworked. With budget constraints, hiring freezes, stagnant salaries and ever-increasing regulations, undue stress is ever-present in your lives.

From your livelihoods hanging in the balance to test scores and student performance looming over you daily, I know too well what you endure. I see it on my wife’s face daily. Each of you is on the front lines, preparing our students to not just face the world in the coming years, but to be prepared when doing so.

If I were a county commissioner, one of the things I would do for each of you is support Dr. Lynn Moody in working with our Board of Education. Our children, your students, should have the best opportunities. They deserve no less.

Also, if we expect the teachers of Rowan-Salisbury Schools to be the best, we should treat them like the best. Teachers should not be treated as pawns in political games. I can assure you that would never be the case if I were county commissioner.

I am thankful for the job you do and your dedication to our children.

— Brandon Cupp

Salisbury

Cupp was a candidate in the Republican primary for county commissioner.