Dear Editor,

Often, the Holly Springs Sun is a little lean on hard news. I’m left feeling like I’m gnawing on a rib bone that has only a speck or two of meat left on it. The July 16th issue, however, was full of lots of juicy rib meat into which I could sink my teeth.

First, there was the front-page article about the amendment to the council’s ethics policy. I applaud Mr. Dickson for proposing this. At the same time, I am appalled at Tim Sack not wanting political affiliations to be disclosed. We definitely need to know, in a time of extreme partisanship, where our Town Council members stand, especially if they are giving away our money to organizations with political leanings or activity. Of course, membership in organizations was kept in the amendment, but I’m not sure if groups such as ACORN would count as political or organizational. They definitely were engaged in political activity in this state during the November elections. Considering all of the allegations of voter fraud brought against them in this state as well as others, I would want anyone currently on or running for Town Council to disclose if they are a member of this or similar organizations. That brings me to the second item.

On page 5A is the announcement that Dickson will not run for another term on the Council. Sad to hear, considering that he seems to have some regard not only for ethics but also for business owners here. On the same page is the announcement that a community activist, Linda Hunt Williams, is running for a government office. (We already have one in the White House, so why not?) After all, business owners are too busy trying to stave off more government taxes and regulations designed to drive them out of business. Also on that page is the letter to the Editor from Lindy Brown, Wake County Commissioner, pleading that certain items not be cut from the budget. Is there any wonder our state is facing a budget shortfall in the billions? Every time cuts are proposed the protests ring out loud and clear.

Speaking of not having people on the Town Council who understand business, an item on page 3A (“Commercial growth prompts retail preferences survey”) shows how blatant that lack of understanding is. Businesses locate in an area because they have done the market research, not looking only at the residents of a particular town, but of anyone within reasonable driving distance, such as Fuquay-Varina. Is our Town Council doing this leg work for them? Also, even if every Holly Springs resident said that they wanted an Olive Garden Restaurant, would there be enough people here to frequent it often enough to keep the doors open, especially considering rising unemployment? I have to ask what the real reason for this survey is. Are they trying to reassure people that all of these new store fronts won’t sit empty like a number of the ones already built are?

One final item. Was it really a good idea to start televising our Town Council meetings? The Mayor and Town Council members might think that this gives us all access, but it seems just to play to human nature and lead to grand-standing. That we definitely DON’T need.

A. C. Cargill

Holly Springs, NC