To The Editor:
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Prov. 29:2).  Have things deteriorated to the point where ordinary citizens feel there is no penetrating the ruling republican commissioners and are increasingly provoked to mournful communications like those in third world countries where the people’s voice is nothing? Is the local government for their party and not the people?   Even the Obama administration has been open to amendments to the healthcare bill and it likely will be amended continuously through the years.  With the local commissioners, we do not see any evidence of their ability to compromise yet we have seen their ability to contradict their own stances.  
They claim to stand for freedom of speech regarding the July 4thincident and have proudly displayed the pictures of this event that attack the person of our country’s president on their republican website yet simultaneously have decided to change the rules about freedom of public comments at meetings so that they can better handle the public’s mournful comments. 
Republican commissioners claim fiscal conservancy but have spent their time in office with sole regard to their party’s agenda in replacing every appointment available with someone from their party regardless of the cost to taxpayers.  When they manipulated to use excessive dollars to replace the solid county manager, Ryan Whitson, it is no wonder that mourning began because Whitson was the first of a long line of managers to remain with our county and was excellent.  The UDO was paid for already but they rescinded it leaving our county vulnerable to liability with public safety regarding slopes. Who will be liable if funds are not used to make the recommended updates to our county’s dam?  Obviously these commissioners have already spent the savings achieved by the previous democrat commissioners.  
I personally continue to stand strong as an independent voter and will vote for who has the ability to truly treat all taxpayers fairly.  Until then I see no point in trying to penetrate Polk County’s Iron Curtain. 

-Julie Perkins,
Tryon