“Low voter turnout” argument is a sham
I KNEW that the three Walker County reps in the state legislature (Deffenbaugh, Tarvin, and Mullis) would pull that string that even though it passed by a 3-to-1 margin, it would not be enough to convince them to press for a vote that would count in creating a board of commissioners for Walker County because only a small percentage of voters participated. Mullis’ taking this position is as certain as water is wet. One of the three even suggested that 70,000 people should have a say-so in changing the form of local government.
1) Walker County does NOT have 70,000 VOTERS.
2) All of the registered voters in the county HAD the opportunity to voice their opinion on the issue of a sole commissioner or a board. That they did not choose to participate means they relegated that decision to those who bothered to go vote. The next opportunity should be in a binding referendum once the state legislature votes to allow the voters of Walker County to decide the issue. Are they afraid to have such a vote? This would give those who did not participate in the first vote another opportunity to
Rose rosette virus is spreading
Almost everyone loves roses, the flower that symbolizes love with its divine scent. However, there is something threatening these beautiful bushes. This is a deadly virus on the loose, one most people don’t even know exists, how to recognize it, or even what to do if it is discovered.
Known as the rose rosette virus, this deadly virus is spread by the eriophyid mite, tiny as a speck of dust and blown in the wind like a balloon. When the mites land on roses, they devour them and transmit the lethal disease.
No rose is immune, not even the vastly popular and massively planted Knockouts. As these roses are treated as no-prune no-care, they make large nets perfect for sucking in mites.
There is no cure. Despite how brutal it may sound, once your rose is infected it is gone.
Stopping the spread of rose rosette is extremely important. Many choose to ignore and neglect, causing the virus to spread to others. This is terrible, and if you do this you are becoming part of the problem, and part of the reason rose rosette continues like the plague in roses. Nothing works well to prevent it, not even miticides.
All you can do is keep strict watch over your bushes, and destroy any infected as soon as they appear. Do not wait for the virus to go away on its own, as it will not. Doing so will only improve the spreading of this terrible disease.
There is a test to confirm rose rosette for the people who need scientific proof. You can get more info on it at your county extensions office. If this has the power to wipe out Oklahoma City’s public rose garden, it surely has the power to wipe out yours.
Isabella Berry, Rock Spring make a choice.
3) Are these three representatives illegitimate because we have not heard from the folks who stayed at home and did not vote one way or the other when they were elected? 15% of the population should not give them the authority to be our representatives if you use their logic on the commission vote. Do the SPLOST votes not count because of the lower voter turnout? Seems no matter how low the turnout, everyone ends up subject to the tax.
It is a complete sham to say the folks who did not participate in the voting have not been heard. They had their chance. They even should have another chance. For the elected representatives to not follow through with appropriate legislation in the state legislature means that they are NOT representing the voters. And if they cannot do that, then it is time that they be voted out of office and replaced with representatives who listen to THE VOTERS. NOT the population, but the VOTERS of that population.
Sherman Gibbs, LaFayette