To the Editor:

The mere length and involved reasoning of your editorial reveals a level of nuance that makes issues such as the captioned insoluble.

In stuff like this, I’m a fan of Occam’s razor: The simplest solution with the fewest assumptions is probably the best. So, let’s do this:

On redistricting: Have computers draw the lines with the sole purpose of making them contiguous and compact.

On IDs: If such there must be, issue IDs to every occupant of the U.S., with clear indications of citizenship and voter eligibility status. For free.

From time immemorial, we have concerned ourselves with race, creed and tribe, creating a slow-moving, quasi-stasis, always to the detriment of the just operation of a republic.

If a reaction to the above begins with “But what about (some group) ...,” it would be reasonable to inquire as to whether we really want an objective solution, preferring instead to continue the present system but with different controlling forces.

Jim Graber

Franklin

To the Editor:

Republicans are again touting the critical need for tax cuts for the upper economic classes.  This is going on at both the state and federal level. The cuts are even embedded in Trumpcare. The promised benefits of large tax cuts? More jobs and a growing economy — if only it were true.

There are two related arguments for tax cuts that primarily benefit the investor class. The first is that the increased wealth at the top will create jobs through investment. Were that the case, the economy during the Reagan and second Bush administrations would have roared, driving unemployment to record low levels and vastly increasing income and wealth for the middle and lower classes. 

That didn’t happen. Investors are free to invest their money overseas and in various schemes that make more money for the investors, while generating little or no benefit for the U.S. economy.

Second, the promised job and income increases from the tax cuts were promised to increase government revenues and reduce deficits. That didn’t happen either. Instead, we got the largest deficits in history until we had to increase expenditures that were necessary to prevent the George Bush recession from becoming a global depression.

Then there are corporate taxes. On paper the U.S. has one of the higher tax rates in the developed world (35 percent). However, after the various deductions and exclusions, the average corporate tax payment is only around 20-25 percent. Eighteen large corporations (e.g. International Paper, General Electric, Priceline, Duke Energy) paid no federal taxes from 2008-2015. How does this happen? They write the tax laws.

Clearly we need tax reform. That reform should ensure that any profitable company pays taxes.  Small- and medium-size businesses, rather than large corporations, should be the primary beneficiaries of tax reform because that’s where most jobs are created.

For individuals, any tax cuts should focus on the lower and middle income groups at the expense of the already wealthy. Both income and sales taxes should be considered. The current tax code has transferred massive income and wealth to the upper economic classes over the last 30 years, and the results for the U.S. economy are obvious. It hasn’t worked.

To grow the economy, tax policy must emphasize the individuals who actually drive the economy rather than investing overseas or in transactions that only serve to increase personal wealth rather than growing the economy. One simple, though radical, solution would be to treat capital gains on investment income as ordinary income rather than with a flat 15 or 20 percent rate.

To be clear, this is not an indictment of democracy or capitalism — only the way it is currently practiced in the U.S.  Hard-working people must be rewarded for their efforts.  People with great ideas and the willingness to take the risks of bringing them to market should be rewarded if they are successful. That is the American story.  

What has increasingly happened is that rewards are conferred upon those with the best teams of lawyers, accountants and lobbyists. Meanwhile, tens of millions of citizens are left wondering what happened to their future and grasping at the false promises of a better future while wondering how to pay their bills..

The issue is fairly simple. Do your representatives support the wellbeing of 95 percent of their constituents or the 1 to 5 percent of their big donors? It’s your choice in 2018!

John Gladden

Franklin

To the Editor:

As an inveterate library user, a long-time volunteer at the Haywood Public Library, a former Board member of the Haywood Friends of the Library, and a former board member of the Friends of North Carolina Public Library (the statewide library support organization), I feel compelled to weigh in on the issue raised in last week’s article on the library in The Smoky Mountain News.

While I realize the reluctance of the county commissioners to undertake a $6 million project to expand the Waynesville library, I fear that the goal of County Manager Ira Dove and the commissioners is to so dilute the project by a desire to be penurious that nothing substantive will get done to improve our aged and inadequate flagship library.

Libraries are important in Haywood County, just like they are in every community across our country. The well-respected Pew Research Center concluded in their study on the importance of libraries titled “How Americans Value Public Libraries” that: “Americans strongly value library services such as access to books and media; having a quiet, safe place to spend time, read, or study; and having librarians to help people find information. Other services, such as assistance finding and applying for jobs, are more important to particular groups, including those with lower levels of education or household income.”

It seems to me that the last portion of this quotation may address the focus of the problem that the library faces with our county commissioners and Mr. Dove as they address the role of the public library in our community. I fear that they don’t understand the importance of having a great library to making Haywood County the kind of place that we all want to call home. Can you imagine the message sent to the world by a community by an inadequate library? It suggests a community that doesn’t care about literacy and a community that doesn’t value an inclusive and welcoming community center, which is what a good library is.

In the sidebar to last week’s article was the usage pattern for the library and a statement that 25 percent of the survey respondents never use the library, for very real reasons that could be addressed in improvements to the library facility and collections. 

More importantly, county commissioners need to think about the other 75 percent of the population who do use the library and accept their responsibility to provide the best possible library for Haywood County.

Forbes Magazine concluded in an article titled “Why Public Libraries Matter: And How They Can Do More” that: “… public libraries in America are dynamic, versatile community centers. They welcomed 1.59 billion visitors and lent books 2.4 billion times — more than 8 times for each citizen.”

Doesn’t Haywood County deserve libraries that are dynamic, versatile community centers?

Kent Stewart

Waynesville

A new nationwide outreach program will bring NASA resources to Western North Carolina, with the Fontana Regional Library selected as one of 75 libraries in the U.S. to participate.

Bear-safe food storage is now mandatory within 1,000 feet of Avery Creek Road following an Emergency Food Storage Order issued June 12.

A recent study quantifying the economic impact of trout fishing showed that 149,000 trout anglers in North Carolina fished 1.6 million days in 2014, contributing an estimated $383 million to the state’s economy. 

Coldwater fisheries will get a boost thanks to a $95,000 grant that Duke Energy’s Water Resources Fund awarded to Trout Unlimited this year.

Volunteers are needed to help rehabilitate the 6-mile Rainbow Falls Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with workdays held every Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Results are back from this year’s winter bat surveys in Western North Carolina, and numbers have remained low following the arrival of white-nose syndrome to the area.

The emerald ash borer has made it to Asheville, with its arrival to Craftsman Circle providing the first evidence of ash trees under attack in city limits. 

Planning is underway for the management of 5,329 acres that the Blue Ridge Parkway acquired around Waterrock Knob last year.

Elk will stay out of the crops at the Mountain Farm Museum following construction of a historically accurate fence funded by a $5,000 Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership grant awarded to Friends of the Smokies.

Angel Medical Center in Franklin is the recipient of three prestigious awards given by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association in the critical effort to combat stroke.

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer

Following a somewhat contentious debate leading up to final budget approval, Macon County Commissioners last week approved a $49.6 million spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017, with no hike in property taxes. That rate will remain 34.9 cents per $100 of property valuation.

Since announcing its closure after 51 years in business, Joey’s Pancake House owner Brenda O’Keefe and her staff have been bombarded with well wishes and awards, including the highest honor in North Carolina — Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

The Haywood County Chamber of Commerce recently presented its annual awards to business leaders who have gone above and beyond to make the community a better place to live, work and play.

Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) continues to invest in the development of local programming and content with the hiring of Matt Peiken as the NPR station’s first Arts Producer.

Wonderful blue skies, great entertainment and over 60 multi-talented artisans brought out more than 3,000 people to Front Street Arts & Crafts Show on Saturday, June 17, in Dillsboro.

Thursday, June 29th 3-6pm Ingles Market on Sand Hill Road, Candler NC.

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist

It’s easy to make a mistake, particularly when relying on another person’s promises or character. It’s harder to admit one. That’s just human nature.

A lot of good people who put their faith in Donald Trump still can’t accept that it was misplaced. But if they care to be good citizens, there are some hard questions to ask themselves in the light of James Comey’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee:

To the Editor:

How many people do you know who are old enough to be eligible for Medicare insurance but decline to enroll? Likely none. If there are any, they would have to be extremely rich to be able to afford to forego this great program. People simply do not decline to enroll when they become eligible at age 65, because Medicare is, and has been, the best deal available for health insurance coverage in the U.S. since its inception in 1965.  

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at birth, every U.S. citizen could get a health insurance card, like a Medicare card, giving them access to any doctor or hospital in the country? It turns out this scenario is quite achievable. “The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act,” HR 676, was introduced in Congress in January and currently has 111 co-sponsors. It would guarantee high quality coverage for all medically necessary services for every single American. It would cover doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, mental health services, nursing home care, rehab, homecare, eye care and dental care. Instead of paying premiums, copays, and deductibles, we would pay a similar or smaller amount in taxes. (Just as we pay taxes so that every American can receive the basic public education that we as Americans believe to be a right and a necessity for a modern civic society.) 

The Medicare for All Americans plan is the only health care reform that will cover everyone and control costs. Under such a system, private health insurance companies could still offer supplemental plans, as they do currently for Medicare beneficiaries, but only for services not covered by the public plan, such as cosmetic surgery. Unlike Medicare, private health insurance companies operate to make a profit and they have huge overhead. Expanding a government plan like Medicare would save billions in administrative costs and profits, and thus drive overall costs down. A single payer system would also drive down prescription drug costs.  

To become more informed, go to the website for Physicians for a National Health Program, www.pnhp.org, an organization of physicians who have been advocating for this type of health care insurance for decades.  

Don’t let anyone tell you that single payer is “government run health care.” That would be like the Health Department or the Veterans Hospitals or the British Health Care system, all of which provide good care but in each of these systems the government directly pays the salaries of doctors and the costs of hospitals. Under single payer, doctors would not be employees of the government and we would all get a health care card that would allow us to go to any doctor or hospital in the U.S. 

Don’t let anyone tell you that you a single payer plan will take away your right to choose your own doctor. Currently private health insurances tell you which doctor you must go to, which are “in network” or “out of network.” Medicare for All Americans would not do this.  

Don’t let anyone tell you that a single payer plan would lead to “rationing like in Canada.” We already have “rationing.” Currently, it is private health care insurance that rations your care, telling you and your doctor what services they will and will not cover. And currently our health care services are rationed even more by income. If you can’t afford insurance, you don’t get care. No one dies or goes bankrupt from lack of access to health care insurance in Canada.  

Unfortunately, the House narrowly passed a very different kind of health care reform bill in May. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, this bill would increase the number of Americans without health insurance by 23 million within nine years. That would make 51 million Americans under age 65 who would not have health insurance if this law goes into effect, almost double the number who would not have insurance if the current Affordable Care Act would stay in place.  Fourteen million of those additional uninsured people would already be without insurance by next year.   

Republicans in the House are claiming that their bill, HR 1628, protects people with pre-existing health conditions, but the CBO’s report reveals that this is not true. Their bill allows states to waiver two current federal requirements: they could modify the “essential health benefits” that must be covered under approved health insurance policies, and they could set premiums based on a person’s health status if that person has not had continuous coverage. Therefore, the report concludes, “Premiums would vary significantly according to health status and the type of benefits provided, and less healthy people would face extremely high premiums … people who are less healthy, (including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive non-group health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all — despite the additional funding that would be available under HR 1628 to help reduce premiums.” 

HR 1628 was opposed by conservative, moderate and liberal health care experts, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, The American Cancer Society, The American Diabetes Association, The American Lung Association, The American Heart Association, The March of Dimes, and the AARP.  

A majority of Americans now favor a single-payer system. Join us. If you would like to see Medicare for All put into place as our health care plan, please be in touch with your legislators. Call Rep. Mark Meadows, (202.225.6401 or 828.693.5660) to tell him the time has come for a single payer health insurance system. Tell him if you do not like HR 1628, and ask him to support instead HR 676, the “Medicare for All Americans” bill.   The Senate is currently working on its own plan behind closed doors. If you are a Republican and have voted for Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis in the past, but do not like the direction the Republicans are now taking health care insurance, please call Sen. Burr (202.224.3154) and Senator Tillis. (202.224.6342) and tell them so.  

Tell them you will not be able to continue to vote for them if they cut American’s access to health care insurance. Tell them that the time has come for a Medicare for All single payer health insurance system. At the very least, ask your senators to conduct open public hearings about their developing plan, and to get an analysis by the Congregational Budget before they vote on it.  

Thank you.

(Joyce Hooley, MD MPH FAAP, is a former Haywood County pediatrician now practicing in Mars Hill.)

The National Forest Foundation has named the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest as a Treasured Landscape, a designation that unlocks funding to better maintain and restore the forests.

Proceeds from North Carolina Appalachian Trail license plates resulted in $30,000 worth of awards to 12 projects intended to preserve and protect the A.T. in North Carolina. 

Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent Mark Woods has announced his retirement from the National Park Service following four years in the position and a 37-year career with the agency.

Several candidates announced their intent to run for office as Haywood County Democrats held their Spring Rally at the Maggie Valley Inn.

Expectant mother Caitlin Austin of Balsam never imagined giving birth to her second child in a car. 

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer

Broadband internet service is vital for future economic growth in Macon County, but it will take time.

By Kurt J. Volker • Contributing Writer

A program designed to offer free I.D. cards to Macon County veterans for discounted goods and services by participating businesses should be underway shortly, according to Register of Deeds Todd Raby.

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR) has announced that Innovation Brewing will be the new tenant of the GSMR Dillsboro Depot Complex. 

Connect with me and Ingles Market to find out about events, new items at Ingles, health, food and nutrition information.

To the Editor:

Immigration has been a reality for hundreds of years as people leave the safety of their homes to escape the horrors of war or to try to provide food and a better future for their families. Just now, the topic is a contentious one in our country as the current administration, egged on by some, wish to deport immigrants by any means possible. The following are some comments overheard recently in North Carolina; plus, a voice from centuries ago. 

From a vegetable grower in Western North Carolina upon hearing that ICE (the deportation people) were capturing and deporting parents with little regard to children left behind. At first, he was incredulous, but when assured by folks present that it was true, he shook his head sadly, “I thought we were better people than that.” 

From a person who works with migrant families in North Carolina, “Perhaps when all the migrants are deported and tomatoes cost $5 each, Americans will realize.” We were talking about the benefit migrant workers provide. They often take jobs that no one else wants, such as picking tomatoes in the searing August sun. Few people seem to be aware of the contributions of migrant workers. 

From a Muslim immigrant from Jordan, “In my country when people fall down, we try to help them up; we don’t step on their fingers.” His response was to the administration’s recent travel ban for citizens from selected Muslim countries. These people are living in countries beset by cruel thugs who rape and pillage without mercy. Their only hope is to get away. Many countries of Europe are making attempts to welcome these people who only ask for something better. The travel ban, however, would bar them from entry into the United States.

When I heard his remark, I felt shame wash over my face as an American citizen. Shame that people from other countries would think that of us Americans. However, after reflecting a bit, I realized that the majority of Americans (at least in my experience) do not think like this, only a small minority do; hence the current outrage against such policies.   

Finally, from the sacred Scriptures, words learned by many long ago. “Assuredly, I say to you, insomuch as you did it to one of these the least of My brethren, you did it unto Me”  (Matthew 25:40). The writer of the Scripture is explaining what will happen at the end of time. He says the Son of Man will arrive and will sit on His throne. Then He will separate the good from the bad. He will invite those He has smiled on to come with Him for they have inherited a kingdom prepared for them. And how does He choose them? The King explains to them, “When I was hungry, you gave Me food; When I was a stranger, you took Me in.” 

They are curious and respond, “But we never saw you before. How could we have given you food or taken you in?” The King answers, “Assuredly, I say to you, insomuch as you did it to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me.” The verse immediately following contains a stark reminder.

Immigration is an emotional and divisive issue in our country.  It may be because we are a nation of immigrants. Some of us were brought here in squalid slave ships to be workers, and nothing else. Others were here for centuries and owned large, prosperous ranches before the boundaries were moved after the Mexican-American war. With these exceptions, we are all immigrants. We may not be recent immigrants like the Mexicans and Guatemaltecos, but most of us are second or third or fourth generation immigrants. 

The early immigrant communities in the U.S. told those in the “old country” that here was a country that provided a place to live, to work, perhaps to prosper. It was a nation that had penned the solemn words, “we hold these truths to be self-evident ….” For these reasons people of other countries have always regarded America with highest respect. Unfortunately, that is being changed now.  Traveling in other countries was always enjoyable partly because we represented a country of high ideals and opportunities, but not any longer. All my life I have been proud to be an American — up until now.

But I am not happy with this situation. My experience living in this country for three-quarters of a century is that we Americans are better people than that. I know of only a few who would turn away a mother and child asking for a bite to eat. Why are we allowing our government, egged on by a few, to turn away people who leave the safety of their homes to escape the horrors of war or to try and provide food and a better future for their families?

Most of you reading this have stories to tell of parents or grandparents who came to this country to start a new life.  Perhaps we could fix the situation by recalling and sharing our immigrant stories. In these divisive times, it is something we have in common.

Paul Strop

Waynesville

To the Editor:

It has dawned on me that Trump’s vision for America is to make it into an exclusive country club.

The wall he wants on our southern border with Mexico shows that he’d like to make America a gated community — literally. A beefed-up ICE force is needed, in his view, to guard the gate.

In his America-as-Mar-a-Lago, Trump envisions only what he considers the right sort of people. He adores the exclusivity of a country club, a place as he sees it where one doesn’t have to hobnob with the riffraff.  Charging a $200,000 admission fee pretty handily achieves this goal.

But what to do if some “riffraff” are already members?  That explains the Muslim ban and the mass deportations. And what do you do about those for which deportation is not an option? Attorney General Jeff Sessions has answered this question by signaling a huge jump in the planned number and duration of incarcerations. If you can’t deport the “undesirables,” then make it easier to lock them away in private prisons for such “offenses” as marijuana use.

Apparently, the main criterion for membership desirability in Country Club America is possession of obscene wealth and a willingness to share that wealth with Mr. Trump or his family. That’s why Russian oligarchs are so welcome. That’s why Saudi Arabia wasn’t included in the Muslim ban. And it explains why Jared Kushner’s sister was promising EB-5 visas for Chinese citizens willing to purchase them for a minimum $500,000 investment in U.S. projects, presumably projects with a Trump/Kushner family business connection. As racist as Trump is, he’s even more classist.

With Trump’s cabinet, we see the people he surrounds himself with by choice: mostly filthy rich white men. In Betsy DeVos’ case, her billions in personal wealth and her huge political donations outweighed the obvious drawback of her being the wrong sort of gender. I’m sure Trump takes pride in making a few magnanimous exceptions to his membership rules.

I do realize the appeal that country clubs and gated communities hold for some people. (Who doesn’t want to ride around every weekend in a golf cart with rich Republicans?) Nevertheless, the idea of remodeling our inclusive, democratic, egalitarian nation after them horrifies me. If we end up with Trump’s Country Club America, about 98 percent of us are going to be relegated to the outside of the gate.

The time has come to ask ourselves, “Which side (Whose side) are we on?’

Bill Spencer

Cullowhee

To the Editor:

Editor Scott McLeod’s thoughtful analysis (May 24 edition, www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/20019) described the formidable marketplace corporate control that permeates our country — including our elections. 

McLeod cited a national amendment movement, among which should be noted, HJB48, the We the People Amendment. Forty U.S. representatives, including two from North Carolina, are sponsors. Nineteen states have passed identical legislation through either state chambers or citizen ballot Initiatives. 

N.C. House legislation H453 and its companion bill in the NC Senate — S354 — were introduced by 19 sponsors. If the N.C. House and Senate legislators (elected by the people) will pass this legislation, our state will be the 20th to support the federal HJB48!

Both state bills are requests to put a ballot referendum on the November 2018 election to let N.C. voters decide this issue. Here is the wording: “(For or Against) Urging the United States Congress to amend the Constitution of the United States declaring that constitutional rights belong only to individuals and not to corporations or other artificial entities and that constitutionally protected free speech excludes the unlimited spending of money on political campaign contributions.”

Voters who agree with the ballot referendum question should join a groundswell of voters now insisting that H453 and S354 be moved out of committee and onto the floor of both chambers for a vote. One click —  http://ncwethepeople.org/ncwtp-help-online.html  — will contact every member of the Rules Committees. Also tell them that NC voters deserve the chance to decide this issue themselves.

Lucy Christopher 

Cashiers

To the Editor:

It’s no secret that gerrymandering has severely distorted representation in North Carolina and undermined the principle of one-person-one-vote in our state. In the 2016 congressional elections, for instance, while statewide Democratic vote totals equaled 47 percent, it resulted in only 23 percent of the representation, or 3 out of 13 House seats. Statewide Republican congressional votes totaled 53 percent but received 77 percent of the representation, or 10 of the 13 seats.

This system of allowing politicians to choose their voters through blatantly biased gerrymandering is not only unfair, it’s un-American and unconstitutional as decided by the federal courts. 

On Wednesday, June 14, from 7 to 9 p.m., there will be a Fair Vote Town Hall to determine what we can do to correct this injustice. The forum will include a highly qualified multi-partisan panel discussion as well as questions and comments from those in attendance. It will be held at Haywood College Auditorium, 185 Freedlander Drive, in Clyde.   

Panel members include former Superior Court Judge Tom Ross, Chair of WCU’s Political Science Department Chris Cooper, Jane Pinsky of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform, former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr, former state representative Joe Sam Queen, Rep. Chuck McGrady and Chair of the N.C. Libertarian Party Brian Irving.  

I urge all who are reading this to attend. 

Avram Friedman

Sylva 

Students from the Haywood Community Learning Center did their part to reduce stormwater runoff through a service project to mark storm drains along Brown Avenue in Hazelwood with the brightly colored message “Don’t Dump Drains to Pigeon River.”

In 2016, Blue Ridge Parkway visitors spent $979.3 million in communities near the park, supporting 15,649 jobs for a cumulative economic impact of $1.3 billion, according to a recent National Park Service report.

A 13.9-acre land purchase in Franklin could help expand the Little Tennessee River Greenway. 

A tree planting in celebration of Arbor Day was held at Hazelwood Elementary School in Waynesville, using rooted cuttings of corkscrew willows the students had propagated in their classrooms.

The Folk Art Center in Asheville is currently celebrating Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program graduate class of 2017. With a 36-piece exhibit, featuring 19 students, the show continues the historical relationship between the Southern Highland Craft Guild and Haywood, an educational center member of the Guild.

Pam Meister has been named director of Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, well known as a showcase for Southern Appalachian culture, programs and exhibits and as a regional facility for research and education.

Clay County residents joined with Western Carolina University representatives in celebrating the county’s African-American heritage with the opening of a new exhibit in the Old Jail Museum and a tour of a previously abandoned slave cemetery, both in Hayesville, on Saturday, May 27.

Deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office administered Naloxone twice over the weekend on individuals who were overdosing on opiates or opioids.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials released the names of two men who recently died in the park.

Following a 43 percent voter turnout during the June 1 Primary Election, the field of 45 Tribal Council candidates has been whittled down to 24 contenders for 12 seats. The top four vote-getters in each community will advance to the Sept. 7 General Election, when two representatives will be chosen from each to sit on Tribal Council.

What is used to mist the produce in the Produce Section and why do they need to be misted?

To the Editor:

As most know by now, the House budget includes cuts to mental health programs including a cut to Wright School in Durham. As an informed constituent who retired in 2015 from a career in teaching young people from ages 6 through university over nearly 30 years, I understand the concerns some House members have with this funding. 

For one semester in Birmingham, Alabama, while getting a master’s in special education, I taught at a residential school for middle and high school kids. It was the most stressful work I ever did, and part of that stress had to do with the way the school was run. It had inadequate funding, so it could not attract or keep enough qualified teachers, resulting in too-large classes; and the buildings were sub-standard, to say the least. We had to make our own teaching materials.

However, thanks to North Carolina’s historic support of education, Wright School is a different, far better school altogether. It has a success rate that is admirable, with little staff turnover. It is returning children who had severe problems back to their families and regular schools to function successfully, with continued counseling as needed. Also, Wright School does serve children from as far away as here in the mountains. For these reasons, I hope lawmakers will change the current budget funding allotted for Wright to provide what it needs to expand and continue to help our most desperate children and their families. Three million dollars is a small price to pay for the vast service Wright is doing to children, their families and their neighborhoods. It is pennies compared to the costs of arresting, trying, and incarcerating or putting to death an adult who didn’t get help in childhood.

Here is one example of a family’s story, this told in an interview of the mother:

[Mrs.] Wall said it’s likely she would have spent two or three times that cost out-of-pocket for a private residential center because her insurance would not cover it.

“It was going to cost me anywhere from $530 to $680 a day to put my son in private therapeutic treatment,” she said. R has diagnoses of ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder, major depression and anxiety.

“This was a 10-year-old that had two previous hospitalizations … and was threatening and had a plan for suicide … He was a ticking time bomb.”

When R came home after seven months at the school, Wall described him as “being in a better place.” He attends local schools now.

“They were able to get his medications correct, and on point, which is a difficult task, unless someone is watching him 24 hours a day, which a regular psychiatrist can’t do,” she said. “He learned coping skills through the Wright School that he still uses today.”

Many of the staff have been at the school for decades and several people noted the low turnover. Principal Pete Rich, who has been there two decades, makes $81,796, according to data from the Office of the State Controller. Clinical staff, who have master’s degrees and years of experience, make around $60,000. Lower level counselors make about $40,000.

Dr. Mary Curry

Haywood County

To the Editor:

Scott McLeod’s opinion piece “If it’s all about money, we’re in big trouble” was right on target. And unfortunately it exists not only in North Carolina but all over the country. It continues to be especially pervasive in the U.S. Congress.

From 1975-1984 I served as executive director and chief lobbyist for the Broward County (Florida) League of Cities. My primary responsibility was to represent the interests of municipal government before the Broward County Commission, the Florida Legislature, and the U.S. Congress.

I had to compete with other lobbyists who represented various special interest groups such as Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Power and Light, Bell South, the cable television industry, and the list goes on.

Each of these interest groups had a bottomless budget to wine and dine commissioners, legislators, and members of Congress. The number and variety special “legislative” functions like BBQs and other events crammed the typical legislative calendar. And the no limits on campaign contributions only served to guarantee “‘access” to these elected officials whenever the need arose.

I, on the other hand, worked on a limited salary (paid for by taxpayer funded dues of the member cities), never bought a drink or paid for an elected official’s meal, was prohibited from making campaign contributions, and had to rely solely on my powers of persuasion to counter proposed legislation favoring these special interests. It was a struggle, but we won our share of arguments by testifying in committee meetings and pursuing our case with individual elected officials.

My most gratifying win came during the administration of then Florida Gov. Bob Graham. The cable television industry, represented by a well-known lobbyist, proposed rescinding existing cable TV contracts with all Florida city and county governments in order to renegotiate new contracts more favorable to the industry. The legislation was drafted, flew through committees in both the House and Senate despite strong arguments, and passed both houses.

Not to be outdone, I did some research and found a small clause in the Florida Constitution which prevented such actions. I then prepared a veto argument for the Governor which cited the clause. Gov. Graham used my argument in vetoing the legislation and there were not enough votes for an override. Chalk up one for the little guy!

The struggle to compete with the big money interests at the state and federal levels of government continues to this day. And I wholeheartedly urge NC voters to contact their legislators in support of House Bill 453 which seeks to counter the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited contributions to political campaigns. 

Kurt J. Volker

Otto