To the Editor:
Michael Whatley was appointed by the President to lead WNC’s Helene recovery efforts, but as of Aug. 29 — as reported in an article in The Smoky Mountain News on Aug. 27 — he hasn’t been seen in WNC since January. He’s found time to attend just two meetings for his appointed role with FEMA.
Nearly a year after Helene, our federal government is withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in relief funding that they’ve already approved for us.
Here we are still trying to recover, repair and rebuild, and where’s Mr. Whatley, who was tasked by the president himself with coming to our rescue?
Oh yeah! Now he’s running for U.S. Senate! He’s found time to mudsling against his opponent Roy Cooper. But he can’t find the time to do his job here in WNC.
Maybe two meetings is all we’re going to get from Mr. Missing Mike Whatley?
Perhaps Mr. Whatley is not aware that real people continue to suffer the hardships brought about from Helene.
All Missing Mike has to do is drive around WNC, get out of his car, and start talking to any random person, and he can learn how far we have to go in the rebuilding process and how desperate we are for the federal relief being withheld.
Tom Downing
Cullowhee