Letters to the editor

Health Services model merits discussion

In 2001, the League of Women Voters of Asheville/Buncombe County committed to focus local activities on “Citizenship in Action” and “The Future of Our Community.” Since then the League has worked to facilitate strong partnerships between government and citizens by providing opportunities for public discourse to support community-based problem solving. The LWV believes community input into government deliberation results in the best decisions: decisions that take all perspectives and options into account and present the greatest opportunity to avoid unintentional consequences. While often time-consuming, this democratic process has the potential to create better-informed consumers of government services and stronger partnerships between elected and appointed officials and their constituents.

On Sept. 19, 2006, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to develop a consolidated human-services model for the delivery of public health and social services (combining the current Health Department and Department of Social Services). This requires the N.C. Legislature to alter N.C. General Statute 153A-77. From the LWV’s perspective, the resolution creates an opportunity to enrich a process aimed at addressing critical issues facing our public-health and social-service systems as a result of growing need and dwindling resources.

Currently, such consolidation is only allowed in counties with a population of over 425,000, where boards of commissioners may either assume the statutory roles of the separate governing boards or delegate that authority to a consolidated human-services board. Since Buncombe County’s population is approximately 220,000, our Board of Health is an appointed, independent rule-making board that can pass ordinances and, in consultation with the commissioners, hire/fire and evaluate the director. DSS is similar, but is not a rule-making board. To allow the consolidation proposal, the population requirement in the state statute will have to be removed or lowered. This would affect not only Buncombe, but other counties around the state as well.

The local resolution empowers the county manager to facilitate a process to develop a “Buncombe Model” for consolidation, and it is my understanding that a committee has been meeting for the past few months to develop this model. The results are to be presented to the commissioners for their approval, then sent to our local legislative delegation with a request that they take appropriate action to support implementation.

On behalf of the LWV, I want to commend the commissioners for their past and ongoing commitment to addressing the needs of the un- and under-insured residents of our community, and acknowledge their intent to “afford consumers coordinated care and taxpayers increased cost effectiveness and service efficiency.” I further applaud their goal of designing a consolidated model using a process aimed at “proactively engaging consumers, staff, stakeholders, and partners.”

I am hopeful that there will be additional efforts to educate, inform and involve the public before legislative efforts are undertaken that will affect the entire state. I would therefore like to offer the LWV’s proven expertise in conducting public forums to assist county government in involving Buncombe County citizens in this important decision, which has the potential to impact the health and well-being of our community and communities across our state.

– Kathleen Balogh, President

League of Women Voters, Asheville/Buncombe County

Driving should never be routine

I was appalled and saddened to read Tamiko Murray’s “Braking News” [Commentary, Jan. 3]. It is disturbing to think that driving a vehicle has become frivolous and routine; the average motorist seems to be merely en route to another place rather than carefully maneuvering a very large and dangerous machine.

Every parent’s greatest fear is that her child will unwittingly stumble into harm’s way. Placing blame on a hurt child and his family adds, quite literally, insult to injury. I hope that, in the spirit of the new year, Asheville residents will make an effort to be more aware: aware of the responsibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle; aware of children and animals at all times (regardless of signs or speed bumps); aware of other motorists; and aware that something as minute as a haphazard cell-phone conversation while driving could cause irreparable damage to the life of an entire family. I wish a speedy recovery to DeVonte and his family.

– Metta Pry

Asheville

Be truly green: Reuse McCormick Heights

Urban renewal as planned for McCormick Heights is an absurdly wasteful, oppressive and unenvironmental concept based on throwaway-society values, and it is a huge disappointment to see it hypocritically planned by a City Council that claims to be for “green building.” The second R of conservation, coming before recycling for good reason, is reuse. And it is an environmental offense to destroy the value of all the energy-intensive concrete, steel, trees and labor … that went into McCormick Heights, all while people are homeless and others can’t afford to move here. This is yet another case where conservation is conservative, and Mumpower voted right — though for the wrong reasons.

If the crime and destruction at McCormick Heights is truly worse than the alternative, which I doubt, then here is what should be done about it without wasting the resources that went into the construction of that housing: Combine 40 of the 59 empty units into 20 larger units, remodel those and 10 more single units to work-force standards and auction them off as condominiums. Then build at least the 350 planned mixed-income units on the adjacent city land — the open space and parking lots within McCormick Heights and the environmentally superfluous baseball field — and build them as tall as necessary to fit.

If violence is rampant (which has not been reported, only “crime”), then the city could fund a courthouse annex or [more] police, as Mumpower suggests. But if Council is going to waste that much cement, steel and lumber, then it must stop calling itself “green.” Because trees and energy are not wasted when basic homes are built from them, they are wasted when such homes are demolished.

It is also an offense to the population to be banning nonviolent former streakers from parks under hot-button generalizations, especially for the sake of unenvironmental breeders. And help yourself by giving change, socks and fruit juice to downtown panhandlers, because they help all tenants by reducing speculative housing demand.

– Alan Ditmore

Vice President, Asheville Homeless Network

Leicester

Can you spell “developement”?

The recent ad by Russ Hunter of Hunter Developement [sic] running on WLOS television is so poorly executed that Mr. Hunter’s selfish, ulterior motives are painfully obvious to anyone who is paying even partial attention.

Luckily, the emotionally manipulative tactics Hunter exploits in his TV ad are so overused and hackneyed that everyone I have spoken with who has viewed the TV spot has seen it for exactly what it is: a poorly executed ploy by a greedy developer attempting to mislead the citizens of Asheville in order to continue sidestepping reasonable development ordinances and ravaging our local slopes to rake in more profit.

Oh, and by the way: Mr. Hunter should proofread his ads more thoroughly. The word “development” only contains three Es, not four. I also suggest that Mr. Hunter could stand to review his elementary-school grammar lessons. In the ad, Hunter asks our elected officials to vote “reasonable and responsible.” Instead, I trust that our elected officials will vote “reasonably and responsibly,” because if they do so, they will have no choice but to vote to halt Hunter’s brand of reckless, steep-slope development that has already wreaked far too much havoc on the natural and practical beauty of our mountain community.

You know, after thinking the matter over, I actually hope Hunter Development continues with their slipshod campaign! It will only serve to help the proponents of the moratorium.

– David Lynch

Asheville

Why, Xpress, why?

Just wanted to write in and say thanks for all the good press y’all are pushing these days. Loved the Eric Rudolph cover [“Why, Eric, Why?“, Dec. 20]. This country is just dying to hear more from that guy. It’s too bad you only published half a page of his wisdom. It should surely inspire other socially concerned and action-oriented conservatives. Not bad for what we used to call the “liberal” paper.

Oh, and by the way, that “Gospel According to Jerry” column is just what this country needs — more patriotism! Why bother competing with the Asheville Tribune? Y’all should just merge; save on office rent, paper, reporters, ideas etc. What with Jerry’s selfless idea of raising the property tax so us patriotic folks can send more money to the Pentagon, we all might want to think of ways to save. It’s not like the Pentagon couldn’t use a little more cash: Don’t people realize the current defense budget has only $563 billion to work with! Iraq alone needs over $2 billion a week. Do the math, Jerry! Mr. Cheney will, if he doesn’t personally clear $100 million this year. We need to keep those body bags moving and the money flowing. As President Eisenhower would say, ask not what your military can do for you, ask what you can do for your military! Duh, send more money! We don’t need no stinkin’ schools, savings or Social Security. We need the black sticky stuff. And I don’t mean hashish. God’s son died for your sins; shouldn’t your sons die for Big Oil?

As for the Army Reserve Center rent, what kind of peaceniks we got running this town, anyway? We gave them the forest at Richmond Hill, why don’t we give them whatever else they want? I saw a few able-bodied young men loitering downtown the other day. Shouldn’t they be in Iraq defending our oil? If I have to pay any more for gas, they should be kicking some ass. Like the bumper sticker says: “Freedom ain’t Free.” What with the Chinese making all the crap and the Mexicans doing all the work, we need a place for our sacred military personnel to hang out and practice shootin’ the Arabs. I got an idea. Maybe they could use the churches! [They] certainly don’t pay any taxes, only need the place on Sundays, and can’t but love a holy war.

So be a patriot and send more money! See you on Sunday or see you in Hell. God bless.

– Rev. Timothy Leonard

Asheville

Make minimum wage less minimum

It is shameful that the [federal] minimum wage has remained unchanged in 10 years (while the cost of living has increased 25 percent) and is so low that it provides less than half the poverty-level income for a family of four.

In this land of opportunity, it is time for the proposed minimum-wage bill to be passed into law.

– Hara Sitnick

Asheville