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LETTERS / ‘Boone’s Water Theft’

Dear Editor,

Quint David, Boone Town Councilman David, is apparently easily offended that he does not receive specific “questions” or, as a councilman, personal correspondence directly from citizens.

Councilman David says that the New River Advocates’ analysis does not include questions. I’ve read the analysis, etc, and there are questions in just about every section. These questions are addressed to ALL pertinent officials and their ‘engineers’. Councilman David claims he wants more communication between the Town and the citizenry. As to the Town of Boone, they have chosen to not give out information on this matter and has imposed a virtual ban on communicating with the public on this issue, which is not surprising, and frankly, looks very suspicious. Councilman David, wouldn’t you think so?

Councilman David says he want citizens to attempt to go through the proper channels of the governmental system and just accept, just swallow, IF the august officialdom chooses to answer, whatever the bureaucrats tell the citizens without any questions or reservation. The proper procedure has been tried many times before over a number of years, not just on this intake issue, and the responses, if any, in most, if not all, cases are not satisfactory, and the attitudes of most officials are downright arrogant and supercilious towards the citizenry. Plus, this intake issue is a very serious case where the citizens of rural areas, even many miles outside the town, their property and resources, are being usurped, restricted, and virtually stolen by the Town of Boone. Moreover, the town and their engineers try to spin, newspeak, this blatant theft as a beneficial project and will even save the New River. (??)

The Town of Beech Mountain attempted a similar water theft last Fall at the western rural communities’ expense. Whether the Watauga Board of Commissioners was in accord with Beech Mountain’s attempt is not clear, but the probability of conflict of interest was very obvious, given that both Beech Mountain and the County’s legal counsel was the same individual. Councilman David and other officials are loathe or fail to recognize that the affected western rural communities won that fight, because they first took their case before the press and the public. Councilman David and other bureaucrats do not want to recognize that often citizens have to be “confrontational”, as our Founders were forced to centuries ago.

Again, Councilman David does not want to accept the fact that the citizenry is frequently forced to go to the press and the public to address issues that affect them drastically. The rural citizens have to go this route, as Councilman David condescendingly calls it, “politicized and highly confrontational manner” to get some justice, because in too many cases, the officials ignore the affected citizens, because the issue or project is a predetermined conclusion already decided by special or powerful interests pursuing an ugly, power-grabbing, unconstitutional agenda.

It is unfortunate, and even ominous, that Councilman David, the Town of Boone, and other government bureaucracies fail to understand this growing dissatisfaction of the people with public officials. Instead, government officials act even more imperious and impose more taxation, unjust laws, regulations, and restrictions that only further fans the flames of discontent.

I sincerely hope that Councilman David and his governmental colleagues heed these warnings.

Karen Carter