Smyth County making the landowners responsible for tenants water.

[Citizen of Smyth County]

Why did the Supervisors of Smyth County passed such an act that would make the property owners responsible for the tenants water bills? Ignorance and greed come to mind!!! They would much rather come down on people that do the right thing, then try and clean up their act and get workers in the water department that can get the job done. From talking to some of the landowners, tenants have had the water dept. putting the accounts in the names of infant children. I have had one go back to the water dept. and put the account in her male friend's name without my knowledge. So why wasn't this checked out to see if indeed this person even lived there. This could be part of the reasons that these bills could not be prosecuted by the county. So now the county wants us to be responsible for their own stupidity in managing this dept. Perhaps this is just the tip of the iceberg in this administrations handling of our affairs. Just look at the delinquent taxes that are due the county that still hasn't been paid and many of these are people that they wouldn't have the so called trouble in finding. So the county lost $8,000 last year on unpaid water bills, but did they care to ask the landowners just how much did they lose. We call this the cost of doing business in this county with the low economic status. If you feel that you as a landowner have been unjustly had a burden placed on you by the county, please voice your opinion!!!

[Cherrie Hayton]

Also let me state that the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act give Landlords the right to hold Tenants responsible for their utility bills. If the Water Department is losing revenue then why not charge more for their required deposit fee, to have water established into the Tenants name??? Say three months worth of normal water charges???
As a Landlord, I cannot,(By Virginia Law,) turn off water service on a Tenant for not paying me rent. I have legal procedures I have to abide by which is governed by the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act. If I go to cut a Tenant's water off I can be sued, even if they owe me rent. I have to take them to court, which is time consuming, for I have to get a court date, and depending on why I am evicting a Tenant they may or may not have up to 30 days to vacate the premises. Some Tenants still do not vacate their properties and then you have to petition the court again to have the law remove them.
Under the Water Departments New Policy, Tenants can run up water bills out of anger and in reaction to being evicted. They can flood our properties, causing extreme damage. We will not be able to hold our rents down for the majority of our Good and Decent Tenants. Yes we have those. I have many Tenants who have lived in my park for years. They are like family to me.
How do I now go and explain to my Good Tenants that because of the new and irresponsible policy of the Water Department that I have to go up on their rents to cover my losses due to Tenant who do not pay and now have damaged my rental units.
This is a business, I have to make my payments to the bank just like a lot of other business owners trying to make a living in this county. I've tried to be a responsible Landlord too. I've invested a lot of money into my homes and I have a lot of Tenants who would testify to that fact. I'm not an irresponsible Landlord who does not care for her Tenants.
I've also had Tenants who have been irresponsible, who have threatened me with violence for having them removed for valid reasons. This is a tough job. It is not easy money!
Also we are not utility companies and we as a Landlord cannot by Virginia State Law sell water to anyone. We have opposing Virginia State Laws here that are being opposed on us. If we follow the Counties New Regulations, we are then breaking a State Law that forbids us to charge for water. If we follow the State Law that governs us and we don't do what the County is now trying to require of us, then they will cut off our water to our rental units, pull our meters,(Which by the way I paid for, and paid to have installed,) shutting us down and preventing us from renting anything to anyone.
The County did not pay the cost of installing water lines onto my property, nor did they provide the Water Meters. I borrowed the monies myself to have them installed. So the County has no financial investment to recoup for the infrastructure installation on my property. I incurred that cost. Now they are saying that if I don't break a State Law forbidding me to charge by Tenants for water service, they will pull the meters I paid for and shut each of my rental units down????
When we went for the meeting on July 24th 2008, they also stated that they were going up on the water bills in the near future as well as threatened us with other unpopular rules.
They public is unaware that if they do not protest the New Water Rules the Smyth Water/Sewer Department is trying to impose on Landlords that they too will be soon be charged higher water bills, for water simply crossing the private Landowners property, whether they use county water or not, and any other charges they can impose on the public. I must ask the question.....WHY?

[Cherrie Hayton]

I feel that I was the first Landlord to have to address the irresponsible water committee, and I would love to find out for sure if any other Landlords were billed back in the fall of 2007 for any of their empty rental units. I first started receiving bills from the water department,(I will check my records,) I believe in August of 2007. I was renovating the MHP I own, and sometimes I had units empty due to the renovations for up to 3 months. Let me state for the record I have owned this park for 15 years.
One day when I went to have the water service established in my own name for one of the units I needed to clean, Mary Walters ask me if I was interested in paying $25.00 per rental unit, which was a one time fee, so that I could call and have the water turned on and off as I needed it in my name. I agreed, as she pointed out that it would save me a trip to Marion each time I needed the water turned on for cleaning purposes. I paid them a total of $475.00 for I own nineteen units. Little did I realize the dirty politics that would result from signing their agreement.
This worked well for both the water department and I for about 3 years. All of a sudden when I called for service to be connected to one of the units, I started receiving bills for units I had empty at the time, but that I had not requested service for as they did not need to be cleaned. When I called Ms. Walters to address the confusion, she very rudely told me that I owed for those bills. I told her that I did not owe for the bills and the fight began with the Water Department.
I refused to pay it. I went to the Water Department to discuss the issue Ms. Waters was very rude and insistent that I had to pay those bills. I refused, and I was so upset I was literally in tears. After demanding to talk to Mr. Carter,(the Water Dept. Forman,) I was escorted into and office by Mr. Carter and Ms. Walter who informed me that I was just one of the first Landlords that was being charged this way due to a policy change at the Department. I told them, that was not the agreement or the understanding and the way we had conducted business since signing their agreement with me. They tried to coax me into agreeing to be one of the first Landlords to be billed this way. I refused for I knew it was not fair and that I was being railroaded and pressured to agree to and unfair billing practice. No Way! Upon questioning them, if I was the only Landlord in the County to be billed this way, they admitted to me that I was one of the first and that as other Landlords came in they also would be forced into being billed the same as I was. I told them I would not agree to be one of the first and that I was being treated unfairly.

[Cherrie Hayton]

Can you imagine how I felt that day? I knew they were going to use me to try to sneak their dirty policy by onto all of the Landlords without so much as a public hearing, or any input for any of the citizens under their authority. We used to call this in my day as "Dirty Back Door Politics." I wasn't having any of it.
I called Mr. Charlie Clark on his cell phone and left him a message to call me.(He is the Supervisor for my District-Rich Valley,) He did return my call and let on like he did not know anything about the policy change and that he would check into it and find out what was going on. I again,(after some time had passed and I kept receiving bills for the department,) called him again to ask him if he had found out what was going on and again explaining to him my plight, and he responded that he did not want to and I quote "Muddle the Waters."
I was shocked, confused, angry and determined to get to the bottom of this issue. I attended their meeting in October or November 07 of that year, and again in December bringing the same issues to their attention at that time. I could not get an answer from the board as to why I was the only Landlord they were billing this way. I had started calling other Landlords I knew, and I ask them if they were getting billed accordingly and I was told they were not..... Can you imagine how I felt? I felt like they were discriminating against me. I went back to the meeting in the early winter months and still I could not get a straight answer from them. They were patronizing, indifferent, and no matter the suggestions I made, I was threatened by Mr. Marvin Perry, that I had not yet seen the policy changes that were to come. In other words, I was made to feel like I need to shut up, pay the bill and go away. I threatened them with legal action if the continued to single me out with their unfair billing.
The Water Department and I continued to argue over this issue, and I would not pay them for water I had not used. Let me make this clear, at this time it was not mentioned their intention of holding me responsible for the Tenants unpaid water bills. This came at later meetings.
I got so upset with being railroaded that I stopped going to the meetings, although over the phone I would argue with Ms. Walters each month when I received these bogus bills that I was not going to pay them for an empty unused water bill with 0 consumption.
I have never been talked to by an employee of the County the way Ms. Walters would talk to me. She was rude and disrespectful. She denied telling me that I could have the water turned on and off upon paying the $475.00 per meter for my rental units. Just using Common Sense, why after being in business for 10 to 12 years would I have paid that money to them. I was already in business, I had no need to pay them the $25.00 per rental unit.
Once they figured out I was not going to go along with their dirty politics and that I would sue them, then they sent out the letters to the other Landlords. As we have seen, there is no reasoning with the Water Committee. Their Greed, and Need for Notoriety as upstanding leaders of our communities, has outweighed their Common Sense. They do not care about the effects this has on us as Landlords, nor do they care about all of our good paying and responsible Tenants who do meet their obligations to them.

[Cherrie Hayton]

They are unloading their responsibilities on us without any consideration to the effects this will have on our Tenants who are, Elderly, Disabled, Senior Citizens, Single Parents and many others who cannot afford higher rents and who are trying to live on limited and/or fixed incomes. Yes we all have dead beat Tenants who tear up our properties after we as Landlords invest thousands of dollars to try to provide decent and safe housing.
I have owned and operated several different types of businesses over the years and every one of them has had to absorb the cost of lost revenue to do unpaid bills. The Smyth County Water/Sewer Department charges each Tenant a $25.00 fee to have water service established in their names. It is their responsibility to collect their money. They are the ones who accepted the Tenants deposit for services provided.
Also let me state that the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act give Landlords the right to hold Tenants responsible for their utility bills. If the Water Department is losing revenue then why not charge more for their required deposit fee, to have water established into the Tenants name??? Say three months worth of normal water charges???
As a Landlord, I cannot,(By Virginia Law,) turn off water service on a Tenant for not paying me rent. I have legal procedures I have to abide by which is governed by the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act. If I go to cut a Tenant's water off I can be sued, even if they owe me rent. I have to take them to court, which is time consuming, for I have to get a court date, and depending on why I am evicting a Tenant they may or may not have up to 30 days to vacate the premises. Some Tenants still do not vacate their properties and then you have to petition the court again to have the law remove them.
Under the Water Departments New Policy, Tenants can run up water bills out of anger and in reaction to being evicted. They can flood our properties, causing extreme damage. We will not be able to hold our rents down for the majority of our Good and Decent Tenants. Yes we have those. I have many Tenants who have lived in my park for years. They are like family to me.
How do I now go and explain to my Good Tenants that because of the new and irresponsible policy of the Water Department that I have to go up on their rents to cover my losses due to Tenant who do not pay and now have damaged my rental units.
This is a business, I have to make my payments to the bank just like a lot of other business owners trying to make a living in this county. I've tried to be a responsible Landlord too. I've invested a lot of money into my homes and I have a lot of Tenants who would testify to that fact. I'm not an irresponsible Landlord who does not care for her Tenants.
I've also had Tenants who have been irresponsible, who have threatened me with violence for having them removed for valid reasons. This is a tough job. It is not easy money!
Also we are not utility companies and we as a Landlord cannot by Virginia State Law sell water to anyone. We have opposing Virginia State Laws here that are being opposed on us. If we follow the Counties New Regulations, we are then breaking a State Law that forbids us to charge for water. If we follow the State Law that governs us and we don't do what the County is now trying to require of us, then they will cut off our water to our rental units, pull our meters,(Which by the way I paid for, and paid to have installed,) shutting us down and preventing us from renting anything to anyone.

[Cherrie Hayton]

The County did not pay the cost of installing water lines onto my property, nor did they provide the Water Meters. I borrowed the monies myself to have them installed. So the County has no financial investment to recoup for the infrastructure installation on my property. I incurred that cost. Now they are saying that if I don't break a State Law forbidding me to charge by Tenants for water service, they will pull the meters I paid for and shut each of my rental units down????
When we went for the meeting on July 24th 2008, they also stated that they were going up on the water bills in the near future as well as threatened us with other unpopular rules.
They public is unaware that if they do not protest the New Water Rules the Smyth Water/Sewer Department is trying to impose on Landlords that they too will be soon be charged higher water bills, for water simply crossing the private Landowners property, whether they use county water or not, and any other charges they can impose on the public. I must ask the question.....WHY?
My best guess is to pay for a New Court House that we do not need, nor can afford. Why have our elected officials, chosen to build a new Court House, while they have let industry after industry go to our surrounding counties??????
Example: The Pepsi Plant. They refuse to run water to the ole Pepsi Plant, and we lot that industry to Wythe County! How many more have we lost?
Isn't the first rule of business, to make money before you spend it??? The sad fact is our leadership as a whole has never had to own and operate a business and has no clue what it means to be a small business owner in this county? They do not respect small business owners, they are not concerned with attracting larger businesses, which our citizens need for employment and then they want to stick the businesses that are here in the county with the bills for a New Courthouse that none of us can afford.
They may say that they are holding Landlords responsible for unpaid Tenant bills, but all of this has a trickle down effect on the poorest of our communities. Just like Gas Company's selling oil for outrageous prices per barrel, have trickled down to every American, and the cost of everything has gone up, so will this policy have a trickle down effect on our citizens.
Are not people who choose to rent as opposed to owning a home, or the people who do not have the funds to own a home of their own, a citizen too? Yet with all the pleading form Landlords for the Water Committee to reconsider their policy, they sat there unaffected by our pleas. Why would they care???? They all live in fine homes. Not all of our Citizens have had that choice.
What we need is New Leadership with a vision for all of our needs. The only thing I can add to this is.....Watch our Private Landowners, of Private Homes. If they get this passed on us, YOU ARE NEXT!
Sincerely
Cherrie Hayton

[Citizen of Smyth County]

Cherrie you are so right!!You have to run this as a business to make a living at renting out to tenants. I, too, have had many good tenants, but then you do get that one that tries everything to destroy us. The county's Social Service departments has sent many of their clients out with vouchers to rent some of the very property that the Supervisors are referring to. What is going to happen when they cannot come up with the deposit on the rental property along with a deposit for the water? They will be out without a place to live in this county and will have to relocate to a more desirable place to live. Give it a few years and the county will see the affects it will have on the school system when these families leave this county.
We also have provided a safe and clean rental property for our renters, but that didn't include me picking up their water service. I won't even let me son put his cell phone in my name, but here the county wants me to be responsible for the actions of my renters. Some of my contracts have already been signed with the renters and there is no provisions in it to protect me here concerning this new policy the county has imposed upon the landowners.
I feel that the supervisors should take another look at this and follow Mr. McClure's sound advice and reconsider their actions on this policy.

[Ken H]

The Town of Marion already acts as a collection agency for the County for sewer bills where the town and county split the service - and the Town is compensated less than the cost of the postage stamp to mail the notice! So if you have county sewer and town water, pay your town bill on time, it's still expected that the town will shut off your water service because you haven't paid your sewer bill to the county. Kinda like the fact that your vet has to, by law, turn you in to the county treasurer's office whenever you get your pet's rabies shots so that you can get a letter demanding you come in person and pay your $1 to get a stupid tag! I thought the purpose of the tag law was to ensure all pets were vaccinated, not to put $1 per pet into the coffers! Heck, I'd rather pay $5 on my county tax return for having a pet than have to take the time and fight the crowd at the treasurer's office for a stupid $1! This law of having your vet "rat you out" to the treasurer will only lead to more animals not being vaccinated, I'll bet. But that's a different conversation - sorry!

Back on topic, I can't imagine being a property owner and having to be responsible for the utilities of my tenants! What happens if they choose to leave the water on for an extended time? Not only is that extremely costly, it's even more wasteful! There is no encouragement at all to conserve if you don't have to pay the bill! I've spoken with several of the supervisors, and even though I don't own property in the county, I think it's a horrible idea. The county has to find a way to collect, to be sure, but this is not the way. It's just passing the buck to the easiest target, imho.

Good luck, county landlords - stick to your guns on this one!

[Cherrie Hayton]

A Landlord is governed by the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act, so we are not allowed by State Law to cut off service to a Tenant for any reason, be it unpaid rent, distruction of property or for any other reason or we can be sued. The County cannot grant us the right to turn off service, nor can it grant us the right to be a Utility Company, for that too is against both County Law (The Water/Sewer Committe's Own Rule Book,) and State Law.

[Ken H]

Cherrie Hayton wrote:

A Landlord is governed by the Virginia Landlord and Tenant Act, so we are not allowed by State Law to cut off service to a Tenant for any reason, be it unpaid rent, distruction of property or for any other reason or we can be sued. The County cannot grant us the right to turn off service, nor can it grant us the right to be a Utility Company, for that too is against both County Law (The Water/Sewer Committe's Own Rule Book,) and State Law.

Correct. Te Commonwealth is pretty clear about what rights it does, and does not, give up. For local governments, it's called the Dillon Rule. Goes back to Bristish Rule, under the king. I can't imagine the liability for a landlord shutting off a tenant's utilities - the local law enforcement would be kept busy, along with the courts! I hope the Supervisors fix this quickly.

[Mechele Perkins]

I have set back and watched my Sister Cherrie go through all of this and it really upsets me to say the very least about it! I have watched her as she has worked so hard renovating her properties, the hard work...the money spent...the money lost on Deadbeat Tenants and now this !!!! What are the Supervisors of Smyth County thinking???

The Division of Child support has to do their job by collecting Child Support and the Smyth County Water/Sewer Dept. should have to do their job by collecting Water/Sewer Bills, Landlords should have to collect their rent, AEP should have to collect theirs, & on & on & on ...That is how it is...It's that simple!

I too hope the Supervisors fix this quickly.

[Over Looker]

As a landowner and one of the attendees in the Board room last week when the Water and sewer Committee met with a bunch of us who oppose the latest act of the Board that showed the Supervisor's unconcern for the problems they laid on our backs about the water bill collection from our renters that skip out owing a big water bill.
There was a man from Thomas Bridge Water there that told the Committee how they solved their renter problem. His process was a simple thing to do but it depended on them conducting their business like a business instead of a social club like the county does.
If the County would follow his suggestion and make renters put down a 2 months deposit for the average water bill and make the water department get off their duff and get the bills out earlier, the county would never go in a hole because the deposit would cover any bill the renters skip out on. It made good sense to me and I hope to some of the others who were there.Its time we stick together and press the county to solve the problem because we now know how it can be done and they can't say they don't know how to do it any better than the way we always have done it.

[Ken H]

I spoke with a member of the Board of Supervisors yesterday, and he told me that the county's lawyer told them that there is a statute that allows this, and that it's a done deal. I agree that a hefty deposit is the way to go. Imagine if the power company, gas company, etc all did the same thing.

I've rented before, and in one instance, the owner paid all utilities. In the other, we paid. We certainly never ran up utility bills on purpose either time, but I can see how, if I weren't responsible for paying, it would be easy to leave the water on (or lights or whatever). As I said before, in addition to being bad policy, it encourages wastefulness. Just last year, remember how many communities were facing droughts and issued water usage notices? I think this policy will encourage more water usage and a bigger burden on landlords.

I don't have a dog in this fight, as they say, except I'm a Smyth County citizen. Make your voices heard - call your supervisors and go to the meetings.

[Cherrie Hayton]

The Water Departments Lawyer is someone who is trying to make a name for himself and has. He truely in my opinion is just another ruthless lawyer who is used to taking one side of an issue without any consideration for the after effects. Typical Lawyer.... And he has never ran a business to my knowledge. Causing people grief is the only business he know and without any feeling for he too has no dog in this fight other than making a name for himself as he climbs a latter on the poor peoples back of this community. Most likely having a political agenda of his own. It was at Mr. Campbells recommendation that the County made this idiotic rule. Since when do lawyers run this county? I will say this, come voting time I will be in that booth. I've been ask by a lot of folks to run for office myself. I've never wanted to hold a public office in my life and have no desire to now, because I would have to put up with all the idiotic ideas of people who just want to make a name for themselves instead of representing the people. Somehow the idea of going behind closed doors to vote and not doing it in front of the people has little appeal to me.

The sad fact is this, they the county, according to the Smyth News Paper are talking of plans to expand Exit 45 in Marion. One of their concerns on creating a joint venture with the Town of Marion is to split the cost of the infrustructe needed to develop that area. Now, let me state for the record I'm not opposed to expansion. My question is this. Where was the county when I put in my infrustructure???? Why did they not pay for my water lines and water meters? They can do it for Wal Mart, but not for the local small business owner????

Thoughts for consideration don't you think? What is fair? Why should I sign another document when they didn't honor their word on the last one I signed? In my day a mans word and handshake was all that was needed. In this day and time, Big Brother wants more and more and more and the noterity to go with it. They will help the Big Companies like Wal Mart and claim they bring jobs. They do, low paying jobs, while they let a company like the Pepsi Bottling Plant go to Wytheville, with higher paying jobs plus benefits? It is a sad state of affairs in this county.

Also take into account the Smyth Water & Sewer Department figures on monies collected. Ask yourself this question, what percentage of lost revenue from all the monies they collected was actually lost?

[Ken H]

Cherrie

A bit of advice - if you are serious about running for office, go for it! But make sure you do your homework and get lots ofpeople on board to help you get the word out, and especially to get voters registered, and then to the polls. In the last town election, less than 350 voted, deciding on a majority of council. That's just sad.

Marion is working to actually develop all three exits, but 47 is where WalMart is planning. I can't answer how the county does business, but the town is very active in offering incentives for just about every size of business that opens of expands in town, with our Enterprise Zone. From a Grand Opening package to breaks on water and sewer rates and real estate taxes and even business license. The bigger the investment, the bigger the incentives. And they don't cost the taxpayers anything - unless you see the potential deferred revenue as a loss. I see the increase in business and commerce taxes and employment offsetting all the incentives.

The Pepsi plant left simply because they wanted a larger, more accessible location. Their site is landlocked, and the interstate there is messed up. First Fruits is gearing up, and being a smaller operation, can have room to grow there. I understand they're offering very competitive wages, heard they offer insurance, and look at growing to 50 or more employees within the first year! What great news!

The Town uses water revenue as a major part of our budget. Our rates are set as a factor of what it costs us to produce it, plus the going market rate from nearby communities, within the context of meeting our budget. With that, we still lose about 50% of the water we actually produce due to leaky lines, etc. We constantly work to find and replace lines, but it's an old system, and the topography makes finding many leaks really tough.

Smyth County is facing a bleak financial picture. The courthouse expansion, required by the state, will cost us over $25 million, I'd bet. Schools are aging, and overall revenues are down - at the local and state level. I understand their need to get everyone they can to pay their bills, but I certainly don't agree with their decision to stick it to the landlords with water bills for renters. I think it's bad policy, but nobody listens to me, I'm afraid.

Keep letting your voice be heard. Get a group to go to Supervisors meetings and let them know how it's affecting you each month. They always have public comment time.

[Cherrie Hayton]

Thank you Ken for your support and advice on this issue as well as others. More people should listen to you because I have followed your efforts in serving the citizens of Marion and I feel they are very fortunate to have you. I know and am aware of your efforts to help the Town of Marion revitalize the Down Town Area.

I want to state again I am not against expansion of Exit 47. The point I want to make is this; Of course someone like Wal Mart has more to spend and the County and Town's will give them bigger breaks, but somehow they (the County) fail to appreciate the smaller business people as a group. They overlook our needs and concerns and brush them off as if we were nothing to them.

I am just one individual in business, but there are many Landlords in the County and Towns who provide a valuable service to our communities and a lot of those Landlords are responsible Landlords and we take pride in doing our jobs well. There are some Landlords, I am sure, who are not responsible, but even in the face of losses due to irresponsible Tenants I have not tried to pass those losses incurred on to my Good Tenants to cover those who were not. I ate the losses, but at some point I cannot continue to do so and will have to incoperate those losses into my general overhead cost of operating my business.

I think the reason I am so disgusted with our leadership is because there were solutions to the problem they faced and yet they refused to consider any alternatives that were suggested by the citizens of the county. I hope I never get so proud that I cannot take resonable advice and suggestions from others.

The Smyth County Water/Sewer Committee has acted like children who when approached with other alternative idea's that would work, sat by and refused to work out solutions because the could not admit to themselves that there were better ways to handle the issue. They acted like a spoiled teenager who thinks they have all the answers and refused to take insightful, well meaning advice on solutions. I refer not only to the suggestions I had made repeatedly at the meetings, but also the suggestions Mr. McClure made in solving the same problem he faced in serving on the,(correct me if I am wrong,) the Adwolf or Thomas Bridge Water and Sewer Committee.

The Smyth County Water/Sewer Committee imposed their will, not the people's will, onto us because of pride and arrogance.

I feel that is the problem with those who presently hold and authoritive position in this county, they let it go to their heads. Leadership is not about authority alone, it should be about inivative thinking to solve the problems faced by all, whether it be for big business or small businesses.

[Cherrie Hayton]

I realize that a lot of citizens do not get involved in issues facing the county or towns either. I do understand that most people are too busy trying to make a living and make ends meet these days. When a citizen does take the time to go to the meetings to express concerns and offer valid solutions to problems I am sure they too have run into the attitudes held by those sitting in authority. It discourages people from taking time out of their schedules to get involved for most of them figure, why bother? They will not listen to us anyway.....

I was in a discussion this morning with an individual who stated to me this very comment. Why Bother? They are going to do what they want to anyway? I had no arguement to offer him. When you are made to feel like you don't count and your concerns are brushed aside in a patronizing way, it would discourage any citizen from participating in the political processes.

They do not want to bother with the citizens. They (Smyth Water/Sewer Department Committee,) closed the meeting because they did not like what they were hearing, and there were people there who had not spoke and was not given the chance to speak. Check the records for yourselves.

As far as this being a closed issue. Only for now, voting time will be coming around soon, and hopefully we can replace those individuals who are now on the committees, reguardless of what political party they are associated with, and maybe we can get individuals on the Committees and the Board of Supervisors who really care about Small Businesses and the everyday Citizen of our County.

Again, let me state I have never had a desire to hold a public office. I will say this, I may not be the most educated, or best person for the job either, but I know who I will be voting against when it come time to vote. I can work that voting lever! I have always voted in elections and the only time I have missed voting was if I was so sick I could not go.

[Ken H]

You certainly don't need to run for office to have a voice, my friend! I, too, would be disappointed if I felt my voice wasn't heard, and too often, we as elected officials, give out that impression.

My .02 worth is to keep on going to meetings. Don't be put off. Every elected official works for YOU, the taxpayer, and sometimes, we need to be reminded of that.

[Cherrie Hayton]

Ken,

Has the radio station ever thought of doing a talk radio show on issues concerning the Town and County? I would venture to guess that would up ratings and increase awareness of issue's facing the county and towns. If handled in a Tim Russert or Larry King kind of way where each interested party or indepentant voice has a chance to express their point of view, it could get interesting. Not only on this issue, but every issue. Food for thought!

[Ken H]

WZVA did one a couple of years ago with "Dr Bill", who you might remember as "Wild Bill James" from back in the day when I was still at WMEV. It was a fair success, but he kinda went off the deep end, like my buddy Don Imus, and next thing you know, the show was over. He tried bringing back a real community forum, and had special guests on the noonday show. This would have been right down his alley.

Now, all three local stations are committed to music programming (with the exception of WMEV and NASCAR). There is a talk station out of Abingdon that has local "Open Forum" shows - WABN 92.7FM.

There's also been talk of another station coming on air in the Glade/Chilhowie area, and it is rumored that they will be programming classic country. If I were still in the business, I'd look at ways to stand out, and doing local programming like you suggested would be a great way to do just that. In the meantime, tune in 92.7 and call in the Mark Burnier show around 10 am.