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I have lived in Watauga County for the best part of 22 years. M y wife and I built our home in the Seven Oaks subdivision in 1978, and we basically raised our two girls here.
During the early years of our home ownership, the valley below us was a pristine dairy farm. Our neighborhood was a peaceful and beautiful place to live. I was very conservative, politically. Our life began to change in the early 1980s when the dairy farm went out of business, and the owners decided to lease the land for other purposes. After enduring a series of intrusive and disruptive businesses on the former dairy farm, in February of 1997 a real ton of bricks fell on us.
Rumors started that an asphalt plant was to open just below our neighborhood on the New River just off Roby Green Road. The company was Maymead Materials. The health and property-value ramifications of this type of polluting industry disturbed our neighborhood greatly and turned into the fight of our lives.
At the time I never realized the depth of political involvement that would be required of my neighbors and me. We began to approach the County Commissioners (this was before some of them lost their jobs in the election of '98). What an exercise in futility! They would not listen to us. An asphalt plant had more clout than the citizens. It was shortly thereafter that Citizens Against Pollution (CAP) was organized. I was looking for support from people who really cared about what was happening in this county, which continues to grow at a very fast pace. When things are moving that fast, someone is bound to get run over.
CAP spent over $25,000 and almost three years fighting the good fight, and we did accomplish several firsts in the state and nationwide. We stopped that asphalt plant. All of our accomplishments would not have been possible without the dedicated support of the local Democratic Party. At the time CAP started, I was a registered and voting Republican, and I often voted a straight ticket. This will never happen again. I realize now that I inadvertently voted for the very people on the County Board of Commissioners that turned out to be our enemies.
I have concluded that the only way to achieve our goal of saving Watauga County from greedy development is to get involved in the political system. My experience in dealing with state agencies has shown me that it's the local government that has the power to get things done. And it doesn't take much insight to see that the Republican Party hasn't done anything to advance our cause locally. However, the Democratic Party has come to our aid every time when asked (and sometimes without even being asked). Consequently I have, and will continue to be, active and supportive of the Democratic agenda.
As a result of my efforts with CAP, I have met and become good friends with several key people in the local Democratic Party. These local folks were the deciding factor for me to say to myself, "Self, it's time to become one of them ... a Democrat."
--Ron
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