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We
welcome your letter to the editor.
Letters
should be no longer than 300 words and must be signed and include
a phone number. Longer letters may be edited for clarity and space.
Submissions should be typewritten if possible.
Deadline
for submission is noon on Monday.
On the sidelines
by Tim Mandell
Democracy
works, if given a shot
For years, I’ve been saying
how important it is for local residents to get involved in the
process of the local government.
In the last month or so, Owen County residents have stepped up
to the plate and let their voices be heard.
In the first instance, they made phone calls, hundreds and hundreds
of phone calls, to Frankfort and the governor’s office to
let him know how important they felt keeping the gas line project
funding in the state budget was to Owen County.
As a result of those calls, Gov. Ernie Fletcher left a $5 million
allocation in the two-year spending plan that will mean that this
project, which was almost dead, could live once more.
At Thursday morning’s Owen County Chamber of Commerce meeting,
Rep. Royce Adams and Sen. Damon Thayer reiterated how important
those calls were in keeping the dollars in the state budget. Without
them, the community would have been back to square one in finding
money to cover the cost of this project — a project that
is expected to bring new jobs to the community and to help keep
some of those already here.
In the second instance, more than 400 people signed a petition
and about 75 of those showed up at last week’s fiscal court
meeting to voice their opposition to a proposed construction demolition
landfill in Owen County.
Residents objected to the landfill, and county officials heard
their objections. The permit was denied because the proposed landfill
didn’t meet the specifics of a stringent state law, but
it was also important that residents took the time and made the
effort to speak out.
Local residents also had the opportunity to share those voices
during the Owen 20/20 project. Their suggestions are being considered
by task forces who are looking at six different areas of interest.
All three of these are examples of how democracy can and should
work in a community. Issues come up, residents voice their opinions
and officials make decisions for the good of the community based
on laws and guidelines in place as well as the voices of the community.
We don’t always have as interesting a topic to be for or
against as we have in the last few months. Getting $5 million
from the state government is worth fighting for. Opposing a landfill
is also another hot topic that brings local residents out of the
woodwork. But staying involved and keeping voices heard is important
for the community and something that should occur all the time,
year-round.
At the public meetings held in the community each week, there
are seldom any community residents in attendance. Only when someone
is objecting to something, wants their neighbor off their property,
or is just genuinely concerned about one topic or another does
anyone show up.
Granted the topics aren’t always interesting, but the work
that gets done in these meetings is important to residents of
Owen County. While we, at the newspaper, try to cover the meetings,
it’s impossible for us to get information about every single
item included. And the things that we consider important enough
to write about may not be the things in which you and your neighbors
are most interested.
That’s why I’d like to encourage local residents to
attend government meetings on a regular basis. It would be impossible
for everyone to attend every meeting, there’s no doubt about
that. But if every resident made an attempt to attend at least
one meeting in the coming year, imagine what an impact that could
have.
The Owen County Fiscal Court, which handles the financial aspect
of county government, meets the second Tuesday of each month at
the county courthouse. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
The Owen County School Board meets at 6:30 p.m. the third Monday
of each month.
The Owenton City Council meets the first Tuesday of each month
at city hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. That same night, the Monterey
City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Monterey
Baptist Church.
The Gratz City Commission meets at 7 p.m. the second Monday of
each month.
Site-based Decision-making Councils are in charge of a lot of
the decisions that happen in the schools these days. Their meetings
are a great place to get even more information.
The primary school’s council meets the first Thursday at
4 p.m. At the elementary school, the meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on
the second Monday. Across the road at the middle school, the SBDM
meets at 4 p.m. the first Wednesday, and at the high school, the
meeting is at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.
Owen County residents have shown that they know how to come together
for a cause. Now it’s time to realize that all the work
of these elected and appointed boards is important to each and
every resident of this community. Take the time to get involved,
to attend these meetings and be a part of the future of Owen County.
Just imagine what we can accomplish when we all work together.
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