(Published in the Hickory Daily Record on September 5, 2008)
In response to Doug Griffin's letter from this past week, it is my opinion that the problem we have is a lack of leadership from our local officials and our representative in Raleigh.
Local officials don't want to rock the boat, because they are afraid of the repercussions. State Senator Austin Allran has been doing nothing but playing the role of lapdog to the Democrats in Raleigh for years. He seems to only be interested in getting a paycheck. It's time that he earns his money or be brought back home.
Our County Commission's Chairlady Kitty Barnes is so proud of the award she was given for being the Democrats’ favorite Commissioner. Why is a Republican so proud to receive an award from people that play pure party politics against Catawba County? I'd tell them to keep it.
Catawba County and the city of Hickory have hired a new lobbyist in Raleigh. Lobbyists are always for sale to the highest bidder. In these times, we don’t have the money to play that game. We can’t afford to continue throwing good money after bad in a fruitless effort.
Persuasion is supposed to be part of our elected officials’ job. We need leaders that will fight for what is rightfully ours, instead of sitting back and watching these roads to nowhere be built in the eastern part of the state, while we roll down the crater and patch highway.
James Thomas Shell
