Published: September 17, 2009 08:53 am      

In Your View — 09/17/09

Fiscal court right about tax request

The Greenup County Fiscal Court is well advised to avoid turning over taxing authority to the Conservation District (The Independent, Sept. 16). The district then becomes just like the volunteer fire companies. We need volunteer firemen; what we do not need is the lack of supervision or setting of goals for the spending of our tax dollars.

Years ago, when the fire companies had to do their own fundraising via bake sales, barbecues, etc., their main priority was to keep expenses, primarily interest, low. That same mindset continues today and that’s not in the best interests of the people whom the fire companies serve. Their interest lies in smaller fire insurance premiums.

The only way you get this is to improve the availability and source of water to fight fires, i.e., fire hydrants. Adequate fire hydrants should be mandatory during the installation of any new water line. Unfortunately the fiscal court cannot mandate a fire company to install them. The fire company is interested in spending its tax dollars for new equipment, and paying down the loan early to avoid interest expense.

If hydrants are installed and change the fire code rating from a 10 to a 6, the fire insurance premiums for that area drop about 40 percent. If the average home owner’s premium is $1,000, then that results in a $400 per year savings. If there were 10,000 homes affected in Greenup County, then the citizens would have $4 million available to spend on something else.

As more houses are built, there’s less acreage for the Conservation District to govern, but more houses mean more taxes to spend on what? How you mow your front yard?

William B. Secrest, South Shore



Letter about Israel draws a response

Morton Nadler’s letter in the Sept. 13 Independent proves that some never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Using Mr. Nadler’s reasoning, we should never have supported Afghanistan in overthrowing the Taliban. Syria sends terrorists into Iraq to kill our soldiers, but he never once complained about the aid we give Syria.

Israel has several Arab settlements. Israel also uses the aid to develop them. That’s why they are called cities. There is a larger percentage of Arabs in Israel than there are African-Americans in the U.S. It’s strange how none of these Arabs are fighting for a Palestinian homeland.

The PLO was formed by Yasir Arafat in 1964 for the sole purpose of Jewish genocide. From 1948 to 1967, when Arabs occupied both the West Bank and Gaza, there was no call for Palestinian statehood. When Israeli Prime Minister Barak offered to meet 95 percent of their demands, Arafat responded by declaring war.

You can’t have peace unless both sides want it. Obviously, those who control Palestine do not. Yet the U.S. is only one nation among many that provides aid to the Palestinians. It continues to do so despite knowing it is used more to support terrorism than to help its citizens. Yet, Mr. Nadler believes we should cut off aid to Israel.

It never ceases to amaze me that even in the 21st century, bigotry is still unashamed to rear its ugly head.

Sylvia McClelland-Morrison, Ashland



Shouts were heard at Palin rally

Lois Jackson’s Sept. 9 letters stating that the “kill ‘em” yells at a Sarah Palin rally did not happen is wrong. Jonathon Adler was right.

I happened to have the TV turned to that channel and out of curiosity thought I would watch. I remember it well as I thought Palin was going to start a riot. She got some in the rally riled up when she said Obama was friends with William Ayers, a man once involved in terrorist activities. When she said that, someone yelled, “murderer,” followed by someone shouting “kill ‘em.”

The Secret Service missed it. The video is out there, and I know there are others who also saw it. I wonder where Ms. Jackson got her information? Fox News, no doubt.

Mickey Wells, Ashland