To the Editor:

As the current members of the Board of Supervisors will confirm, unless I am sick or out of town, I usually attend their monthly meetings, perhaps nine or 10 each year, and I try to keep up with what they are doing as they attempt to lead Southampton County responsibly. I am usually disappointed at the small citizen attendance at these meetings …  occasionally fewer than a dozen concerned citizens. I also attended the Forum at the high school Tuesday night, where I counted only 65± in the audience. Mr. [Tony] Clark did a credible job as moderator and his questions to the candidates represent the bulk of our citizens’ current concerns about education, taxes, and economic issues. As one member of the audience told me afterward, it seemed obvious which candidates have not been regularly attending BOS meetings. I commend the challengers for their honesty when they answered several questions by saying, “I do not know enough about that particular issue to have a strong opinion.”  I think that if you are seeking public office, you should know enough about the issues to have an opinion, or at least have queried your potential voters about their opinions.  Based on my observations at the Forum, I urge the voters of Southampton County to re-elect the incumbents, Edwards, Porter and Updike, as well those who are not being challenged, Jones, Phillips, West and Faison.  They have had to make some very difficult decisions and they have served us well these past four years.

Ash Cutchin,
Courtland  (Jerusalem District)