Representation by IOW supervisors at issue
Published 11:06 pm Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Editor,
I do not live near the proposed Juvenile Justice Prison for Isle of Wight. I have heard all aspects of this project and see no benefit to the county or its citizens, but I see a much bigger aspect of this, or
any proposed project, that all citizens of Isle of Wight should be concerned about. It has been said that although the more than 1,000 citizens that live near this project oppose it, the other 36,000
citizens of the county do not. This may be true, because they do not live or own property near it and do not care one way or the other.
What the remaining 36,000 citizens should be concerned about is having some members of the Board of Supervisors that do not care what the citizens that live near a proposed project think or feel about it. If these members of the Board — especially when the citizens they ignored do not live in their district and can not affect their re-election and who they do not represent — vote for a project the other Board members — whose constituents are effected and who they do represent — vote against, we all better be warned.
The other 36,000 citizens should be alarmed that soon it could be some project near them and they will be the ones ignored. Approving anything that 90 percent of the people that live near it oppose sets a very dangerous precedent for everyone. It seems to me that Board members whose constituents are not affected by a project should listen to the Board members whose constituents are effected and vote accordingly.
A supervisor of a district knows what is best for his district and the citizens he represents.
I ask that all citizens come to the Windsor Town Center on Thursday, March 21, at 6 p.m., and tell the Board of Supervisors that ignoring the concerns of citizens that live near any proposed project and forcing it on them is unjust and wrong. This issue is much bigger than the current proposed project. Remember, you could be the next helpless victim of this unfair policy.
Volpe Boykin
Carrsville