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Dear Editor:

Response to the April 17, 2020 article, “Bartlett out as administrator.”

I found it incredulous and out of line for my Lockett District Supervisor Robert “Bobby” M. Jones to first call out another board member’s past issues, when he himself along with the outgoing administrator, Wade Bartlett, have themselves faced DUI charges, and Mr. Jones, I’m sure, has over its more than 50-year existence, also faced violations related to his farm.

I found Supervisor Jones to be more concerned with Mr. Bartlett retaining his job, than the future of this county or its citizens. I found it odd how Jones touted Bartlett’s accomplishments, yet said nothing about the quarter of a million dollars taxpayers had to pay to relocate E911 towers because Bartlett did not get approval from the landowner when first installing said tower equipment on Lee Mountain. Nor did I hear Jones speak as to the long, drawn-out battle over Popular Hill that wasted taxpayers’ funding for the Granite Falls development, or the disrepair of county properties and equipment.

Mr. Jones has served almost 30 years either on the planning commission, or as supervisor, and even as chair of the board. He is well aware of the majority rule, which is how our county’s government is ran. If he doesn’t or can’t appreciate it, he can always resign. I wished I had seen Mr. Jones fight as hard to get the average employees raises, or the average taxpayer breaks, as hard as he is fighting to keep Mr. Bartlett in his almost quarter-million-dollar-a-year position.

I applaud those brave five who thought not of themselves, but of the citizens of this county, who deserve new vision, and a prosperous future. I hope that you will return to being the board that I congratulated on your decency and respect for one another; and not into a divided quagmire, with individuals who will jump on any soap box to be seen or heard.

Kenneth Jackson 

Rice