CACHE’s enthusiasm for the decision should be guarded. For the commissioners this was a shrewd, and politically wise, decision, giving its members a bit of breathing room and a “I was for it before I was against it” ambiguous position.
The next move is up to Fibrowatt.
What has struck me as odd during the two and a half months I’ve been in this position is that I have yet to see or hear from one Fibrowatt official about its position. Not that I am at all that important, but I don’t know anymore about Fibrowatt than what I’ve read in the papers.
I don’t know the name of a Fibrowatt official, seen a logo, gotten a press release...nothing.
And for me, that is a little odd and I have past experience to base that on.
About 10 years ago in Greene County, a large national company that hauls, dumps and disposes of household trash approached county officials about building a regional landfill at a relatively remote location in the county.
From the time the landfill was proposed and even after the commissioners gave their the project their blessing, the company threw money around like a man who had hit the Powerball.
The company handed all the county school money, and lots of it and promised more. A company representative attended every social event in the county, joined the chamber, sponsored a charity golf tournament and was willing to answer any question about the proposed landfill to anyone at anytime.
It was a full court public relations press that yielded positive results initially. Those results, however, were fleeting.
An opposition group, like CACHE, organized. But it went a bit further in the pursuit of its agenda; during every subsequent election cycle for open seats on the county commission it supported and financed landfill opposition candidates. The group’s candidates won seats on the commission and it eventually overturned its decision to host the landfill.
It was grassroots democracy in action; it was impressive and strengthened my love of our political process.
The Fibrowatt issue has not gone away. There will one day be a final decision; it is either built or not.
•Enough with calling the armed group caught in Michigan a militia. They are a bunch of domestic terrorists driven by the same hatred that caused Sept. 11.
•It’s great there will be a real effort to fix Elkin’s ailing tennis courts. As a player, and a pretty bad one at that, I look forward to a new surface.
•I found an interesting Web site the other day - Opensecrets.org. It is a “follow the money” Web site. It gives a breakdown of the financial disclosure forms all members of Congress must file to document who gives them money. You can see exactly who is giving and how much. You can decide if Congress is bought and paid for by corporate interests.
•Still nothing on Elkin’s downtown clock. It is still not working.
•Have a great Easter holiday and spring break for the local schools’ students.
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