Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Over the years I have wrote editorials, posted things on Nextdoor for public debate, and spoke before Town of Farragut meetings to express my opinions on the issues. I do not feel that those actions have gotten me very far, but now understand why: I have been debating the issues rather than understanding it was the attitudes of the Town administration that needed to be addressed.
For example, for years I have been complaining that the Town does not do enough to get information out to residents, especially when it directly affects them. Beginning in January Louise Povlin has posted the meeting agendas on Nextdoor. Is that because it is now an election year that she wants to give the perception that this is important? Why did she not do this in the many years that she has served in the Town administration? Is it because she is now running for mayor and needs the public to perceive her in a different way?
In Joe LaCroix's public meeting recently he made several statements that also appear to contradict what the Town has been saying. First, I have been saying for the longest time now that road improvements and sidewalks can be effectively placed in the current Town right-of-ways (ROW), but that position was essentially dismissed by the Town. Now, in an election year, all I hear from the Town is that they have have “changed”, that every effort will be made to put their projects within the ROW. That certainly would be welcomed news to the people living along Union Road or Evans Road or Turkey Creek Road. But I have yet to see it in writing or that any of these projects have “changed”.
Finally, both myself and many in the town oppose taking people's private property for the Town's projects. In that same meeting Mr. LaCroix stated that “we don't want to go to eminent domain. It's not our plan.” Yet the Town has allocated millions of dollars in their budget for land acquistion. And Mr. LaCroix recently voted to authorize the Town to take legal action against one of our fellow citizens using eminent domain.
So, in an election year, do we look at what they say or what they do? Respectfully,
~ Greg Wiberley, Farragut
Candidate for Alderman, Ward 2
