JULY 2, 2009 ISSUE
Letters to the Editor
About the Farmers’ Market Parking Situation
Boone: we have a great Farmers Market. It’s time to save it.
During the six years I have served as a Board member of the Watauga County Farmers’ Market (WCFM), many from nearby communities have asked me how they could start a farmers’ market of their own. When asking this question, they almost always added that they would love it to be “just like the market in Boone.” But the WCFM is unique. It is centrally located in a wonderful town within an hour’s drive of productive, diversified family farms and skilled artisans. Boone has an educated and discerning community who value fresh, local, quality foods and crafts. Saturdays and Wednesdays at the WCFM are more than just a market; they are an ongoing festival celebrating all that viable local farms and creative entrepreneurs bring to our mountain home.
In short, location matters. Part of the magic of the success of the WCFM is that it operates at a historic downtown location—nestled among Hickory Ridge Homestead, the Daniel Boone Native Gardens and the Horn amphitheatre. This success is now threatened by short-sighted greed on the part of the Southern Appalachian Historical Association (SAHA). SAHA leases this site from the Town of Boone, and the WCFM subleases from SAHA. Despite the terms of this sublease granting the WCFM the use of the parking lot during market hours, SAHA has been “double-dipping” by concurrently leasing the parking lot to ASU. In the coming year, SAHA proposes to lease 250 spaces to ASU; this would leave only 29 spaces for farmers market customers! How can more than ninety small businesses (i.e.-market vendors) possibly survive with space for only 29 customers at a time?!? Boone, if you want to have a viable farmers’ market in the future, the time to act is now. I ask you to join me in calling upon the following elected officials and community members to stand up for local farms and the WCFM’s continued success:
• Mayor Loretta Clawson and all of the Boone Town Council, as trustees of the public space that comprises the Market/Horn/Hickory Ridge, ought to state unequivocally that the WCFM is an integral member of the downtown Boone community and that adequate space for vendors and customers will be a part of all future leases of the property.
• Nancy Spann (chair of the SAHA Board of Directors) should keep the promises made in a 11/18/08 letter (typed on SAHA letterhead) in which she stated that SAHA is “pleased to count the Farmer’s Market as a partner” and that they would work with the WCFM “in whatever ways are needed to make it a success,” including “removal of all student cars from midnight Fridays to 2:30 PM on Saturdays from May 1 to October 31.”
• All of the SAHA Board must recognize that their mission of celebrating “through entertainment, education, and preservation, the way of life of the North Carolina High Country,” is about as explicit a call to help and preserve the Farmers’ Market on site as can be stated. The history of local farmers selling their produce directly to the community lives on twice weekly all summer at the Horn parking lot thanks to the WCFM. While leasing parking spaces to ASU students is surely a convenient revenue stream for the perennially debt-ridden SAHA, to do so in a manner that contravenes their own mission statement is not appropriate conduct for SAHA board members.
The Watauga County Farmers’ Market is willing to do its part. We pay rent for the space, and this rent has more than quintupled since I first became a market vendor. I, and all the Board members of the WCFM continue to work toward collaborative solutions that keep the Farmers’ Market viable and lively within the larger context of the historic site. A call from the whole community to save the Market is needed now. Please add your voice to those supporting local agriculture and a Watauga County market for independent family farmers.
Richard Boylan
WCFM vendor since 2002
About Equality
Equality is Job One.
Michael R. Smith
About Corporate Control in Government
Dear Editor:
This morning NPR reported that Congress passed the 106 BILLION dollar war funding. Also, that both parties in Congress feel that health care is too expensive. And that we bailed out banks and businesses that are too large to fail.
A business that is "too large to fail" is too large and should have been broken into smaller components, much like AT&T was years ago. We used to have regulations that prevented this type of huge dominant business.
Health care is too expensive for individuals because of the health insurance companies. They control our access to health care, particularly if you have insurance. If you don't have insurance you get what you can pay for. If you do have health insurance you get what they are willing to pay for. If you think government would limit access, you are probably right, but access is limited already by people who make huge profits from limiting their insured's options. Remove insurance from the equation and just talk about health care. But this won't happen because it would eliminate a very profitable industry. $106 Billion in war funding would go a long way to improving the health of all Americans.
We live in a Corporatocracy. Our government and our daily lives are controlled by corporations. Our politicians are bought and paid for by corporate funding.
I thought we were voting for a change when we voted for Obama. A change to the people first, like it is supposed to be. But no, it is business as usual, Of the Corporation, By the Corporation and For the Corporation.
We traded an inarticulate President who solidly supported the ruling money class for a very articulate President who is not planning on changing anything that would harm the ruling money class and the corporations. This I can tell because he put the foxes in charge of the hen house in every position possible.
Judi Scharns
About Council Member Aycock’s Resignation
Dear Mayor Clawson, Boone Town Council and Citizens of Boone,
I am disappointed that I will have to resign my position on the Boone Town
Council effective 06/30/09. My husband and I have purchased property that
is located outside of the city limits. We were able to sell our house in
town quickly and we were unable to find a temporary rental in the city
limits. I regret not being able to serve the remainder of my term. It has
been an honor and a privilege to serve you. Thank you for the support that
you have given me.
Warm Regards,
Liz Aycock
About Foxx’s Vote on Cap and Trade
She voted no on HF 2454. This is a very important bill that again shows Foxx is out of touch.
So Virginia Foxx is against clean energy and security? This bill will create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy.
Shame on our district for putting Foxx back in office. I am appalled, but not surprised at Foxx's lack of vision for a better world. I am ashamed to be a part of this district.
Christopher Winsor
About the School Violence Prevention Act
Dear Editor,
Safe Schools NC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a safe and supportive school environment for NC's LGBTIQA students, is pleased that the General Assembly voted 58-to-57 in favor of the School Violence Prevention Act. This is a clear message that all students should be safe in schools. We applaud every member who voted for this legislation, especially given the movement to kill the entire bill because of the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Our previous studies of Triangle-based LGBTIQA students indicate that they experience high levels of hostility and pervasive harassment in schools. Approximately 70 percent of respondents reported homophobic harassment in their schools. It is unfortunate that any student would experience harassment, and it appears that LGBTIQ students are particularly at risk. We also found that schools with policies that specifically prohibit harassment based on sexual orientation had lower rates of homophobic harassment, so the passing of this legislation brings hope for future improvement of the school climate for our youth.
Safe Schools NC urges Governor Bev Perdue to sign the bill and encourages local school systems to support the additional training of their administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and staff about bullying and the special needs of their LGBTIQA students. Safe Schools NC is developing a training program to help support educators and school systems with their new mandate.
Thank you,
Hope Evey, for SafeSchoolsNC (safeschoolsnc.com)
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