Editor:

Of course, this is just my opinion but Cumberland County is the prime example of how county government can go so wrong. I believe there are still residents of the county that are just now understanding the whirlwind of events that have occurred since the first week of June. In less than two months the Cumberland Board of Supervisors (BOS) have announced a proposed mega-landfill, have pushed it through the planning and rezoning process, and as of Thursday’s special called BOS meeting, have approved the landfill. This again is just my opinion, but Cumberland was targeted by this large corporation because of several factors, including it is well-known that Cumberland is struggling financially and we have a local government that has made one bad decision after another to get us where we are now. Other contributing factors that I believe made us a good target are the numbers of low-income households, an aging population, minority households, long-term residents and selecting an area near a bordering county to try to lessen the impact on the more affluent areas of the county. Well this is just not acceptable. Last night the citizens were not allowed to make any comments to the board; however, Chairman Ingle gave the board members the opportunity to speak to the public and not one of them did. Not one statement from the four remaining board members about their hasty decision to move forward.

Trying to reframe what occurred at the special called board meeting, maybe this was a turning point for local residents of the county. Maybe this will be the end of poor decision making and poor planning by our local government. It is time for the residents to take control and continue to fight the realization of this 21 plus state mega-landfill or at least do everything possible to mitigate the negative impact on our citizens, our environment, our wetlands, our wildlife and the peaceful, scenic beauty of our county. This decision does not just impact Cumberland, these tractor trailers and dump trucks coming from out-of-state have to use the roads in all of central Virginia.

Barbara Speas Bishop

Cumberland