In addressing challenges, our voice matters!

Published 10:01 pm Friday, November 6, 2015

BY Michael Baughman

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

 – Margaret Mead

This place is filled with creative, eclectic and opinionated folks. If you don’t believe me, just ask someone around here a question about anything. A few topic ideas could be: Duke Power’s Western Carolinas Modernization Project, The Polk County Board of Commissioners, TIEC, Water, Nina Simone and where to get the best barbecue or craft beer. That should get you started. Let me know how that goes.

One thing that’s pretty unique about this place is that people choose to live here. Often times where we live is determined by circumstances out of our control. Perhaps a job took us to a new town or, maybe we fell in love with someone and needed to relocate to be closer to him or her. Love and money can make us do some strange things, or at least that’s what I hear!

As I’ve written before, some folks are natives to this area and they will be the first to tell you that. But many of us are foreigners – we came here from somewhere else. What brought most of us here was not necessarily a job, since we don’t have many of those here. People come here and live here because they want better quality of life. And we can get pretty fired up about things that may negatively impact our community. We want to protect our piece of paradise from outside invaders. We might be friendly but we’re also feisty!

Take the Duke Power transmission lines as an example. Duke Power is a big, utility company, which is about the equivalent of a federal judge when it comes to getting what they want. In many respects, they make their own rules. Unless you’ve been living under a rock on the top of Hogback Mountain, you’re aware of Duke’s “Western Carolina’s Modernization Project.” What seemed like a foregone conclusion has become anything but that. In fact, Duke Power recently announced their plans no longer require ripping apart a huge swath of our beautiful, rural countryside. Why the change of heart? Because a group of committed, thoughtful citizens made a stand. We wrote letters, shared Facebook posts, attended meetings, wrote more letters, attended more meetings, shared more Facebook posts until finally, reason, logic and common sense prevailed. Way to go, us!

Now, what’s the next great challenge we need to address so that we continue to protect our beautiful and wonderful way of life for generations to come? Remember your voice matters but try to balance the friendliness with feistiness. We’ve got a reputation to uphold!