To the Editor

Recently, I was afforded the opportunity to sit down and talk to mayoral candidate Terry L. Hill. I wish that the people of Thomasville know just a bit about Mr. Hill prior to the upcoming election on Nov. 3.

It was a pleasure to sit down with Mr. Hill and listen to some of his ideas for the growth of Thomasville. I was very impressed with Mr. Hill’s knowledge of Thomasville’s history and his apparent understanding of how local government is supposed to function.

I believe that given the opportunity, Mr. Hill will do an outstanding job as mayor, and I hope that the citizens of Thomasville will give him that opportunity come Nov. 3. It says a lot that Mr. Hill would take over an hour of his own personal time to sit down with me, just an ordinary citizen of our great city, to express his views and concerns, as well as future plans that he has for putting Thomasville on a long term plan for success. Mr. Hill is a lifelong resident of Thomasville and after my conversation with him I am certain that he has Thomasville’s best interest at heart. So why don’t we do ourselves a favor and put Mr. Hill in office!

Dustin Hunt

Thomasville

To the Editor

I don’t know about the one trick pony Barney Hill was referring to the night he addressed the Thomasville City Council on July 20, but I agree with his assessment on the referendum changing the terms of Mayor and City Council.

The April 2003 referendum was initiated by a petition signed by more than 10 percent of the registered voters in Thomasville and passed in a fair and free election. The initiative to change the terms of the electoral process this November was initiated not by the voters, but by Council. This is a red flag as to who benefits from the passage of this referendum.

Staggered four-year terms increase cost to challengers, and increase the difficulty of defeating incumbents. Incumbents have name recognition, a voter base and time for the electorate to forget votes they rather not discuss. If they are good at recycling their signs (and many are) they may never have to spend money to get reelected.

Continuity of government is a fancy term used when outside interests and elected officials become comfortable in the decision making process with each other. Ordinary citizens usually don’t benefit from such arrangements. “Outside interests” count on keeping their contacts on Council and letting them bring along new members. Elections every two years will keep council more focused on governing for the people and hopefully keep the influence of “outside groups” to a minimum.

I was one of two council members at the time that supported at-large elections every two years. I believed then, as now, it would weaken political machines and special interests giving challengers a better opportunity to win and increase participation in the political process. Staggered terms with fewer available positions will decrease the opportunity for minority representation and people of moderate incomes to participate.

We face learning curves everyday in life. Preparing and serving on Council is not rocket science. Attend Council and Committee meetings for a year and research the issues. I did it and I get embarrassed watching “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?” with my son. So there you have it, VOTE NO, not once, but TWICE against Charter Amendment 1 and Charter Amendment 2. The only people to benefit from a change in the voting process are the incumbents and special interest groups. Even a rocket scientist and a one trick pony can figure that out.

Dwight D. Cornelison

Thomasville City

Council 1999-2007

To the Editor

In a letter that appeared on this page on Oct. 22, 2009, E. Thompson Smith Jr. endorsed Charter Amendment 2.

He likes staggered terms. His rationale was heavy on “continuity.” He cited the Davidson County Board of Commissioners as a model to emulate.

Except for a hiatus in 2004-2006, Billy Joe Kepley has been a commissioner since 1990. Since Larry Potts and Fred McClure joined the board in 1994, only in 2002-2004 did we have to do without them. Don Truell, Sam Watford and Max Walser have served continuously since 2002. Add to that the year almost completed by Cathy Dunn, and the total comes to 65.

It would be difficult to find a better showcase for “continuity.” But do we really want to remake the Thomasville City Council in the image of the Davidson County Board of Commissioners?

Before you answer that question in the affirmative, review our commissioners’ recent antics in the search for a site for the new jail, the creation of the fire service districts, the revision of the land development plan, and the purchase of the Davidson Country Day School property.

A board composed entirely of rookies could not have embarrassed us more.

Maybe experience teaches the wrong lessons. Maybe longtime incumbents begin to regard themselves as infallible.

Maybe they get sloppy because they start to believe the propaganda disseminated by the evangelists on “continuity.”

Thomasville Jefferson maintained that the tree of liberty must be periodically fertilized with the blood of patriots and tyrants. But I don’t hold with violence. I will settle for making the members of the Thomasville City Council sit a little less comfortably in their chairs.

That’s why, on Oct. 15, 2009, I voted NO on Charter Amendment 2.

Barney Hill

Thomasville

To the Editor

I wasn’t going to write you, but I felt this was too important of an issue to not say anything. Some of the people on our City Council here in Thomasville would have you think that running for re-election every two years is a bad thing, but I beg to differ.

What they don’t like about the two-year terms is they can and will be held accountable to the citizens of Thomasville every two years. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve seen how politics work. On some occasions when they have four-year terms, it seems that if an issue comes up that’s not popular with the citizens of Thomasville, the ones that are not up for reelection will be the very ones to push the issue, and if you pay attention, the ones up for reelection in most cases don’t want anything to do with it.

And as far back as I can remember, the mayor has been and should stay a two-year term.

So I urge all of my friends and neighbors in Thomasville to vote against this referendum. Vote NO in the City Council race and NO in the mayor’s race. Remember, you have to vote NO twice against this referendum.

Don Swink

Thomasville