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My wife and
I have lived in Watauga County for 36 years, and we truly call North
Carolina -- and these beautiful mountains -- "home." As
a point of personal privilege, I would like to first thank the citizens
of Watauga County who have provided such amazing support to me and
to my family during my recent illness and subsequent recovery. In
return, I consider it an honor to share my values, priorities, and
concerns with you.
As a County
Commissioner, I want to help build a new high school -- now. The
people of Watauga County have spoken through a lengthy feasibility
study, involving open meetings throughout the county, and the message
was loud and clear: We are finished renovating renovations, and
we want a new structure worthy of the consistently distinguished
achievements of Watauga High School!
In September,
the architect showed clearly that necessary renovations of the current
building would exceed costs of a new structure by several million
dollars. The wisdom of Scripture speaks to us in the 21st Century:
"No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise,
the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse
tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise,
the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are
the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins" (Mark
2).
At the last
County Commissioner meeting, a large contingent of citizens was
present to encourage the building of a new Youth Recreation Center
as championed by Dr. Bill Horn and hundreds of other Watauga citizens
over the past 20 years. I insist that county government be a strong
partner in this endeavor and in those projects which promote greenways
and other avenues for child and family recreation.
I appreciate
and encourage good law enforcement. Our county sheriff and his deputies
are performing laudable service for the citizens of Watauga County,
as are the policemen of Boone, Blowing Rock, and ASU. The county
fire departments and first responders are doing yeomen work on shoestring
budgets.
I value and
support our Department of Social Services and District Health Department.
We all benefit from their work for us, our friends and families.
I regret the recent federal/state budget cuts in Social Services.
This is but another example of the failure of the federal government
under the current administration, with the consequences and expenses
being passed on to the states and counties. But -- we are told --
our federal taxes are LOWER!
I value good
roads and hope to help improve the roads in western North Carolina
(especially in Watauga County). I am frankly angered by the consistent
refusal of Raleigh to build new roads in our area or to make much-needed
improvements to the ones we have. At the same time, windfall amounts
seem to be available for roads in the eastern part of our state.
Are we, once again, being cast in the role of "forgotten step-child"?
On the national
level, I protest the deliberate policies by this federal government
to allow and encourage CEOs and corporations to "outsource"
jobs to other countries in order to get the equivalent of slave
labor. These corporations can and should be penalized in a variety
of ways. I value "fair trade," not "free trade."
Without good jobs, the future is bleak for the U.S. economy. The
"service economy", which is now flaunted for the U.S.
by the current administration, is a cruel joke. You sell me a hamburger
(which the Bush administration now labels a "manufacturing"
job), and I’ll sell you an insurance policy. A kindergardener
can quickly identify the problem with this philosophy: Someone has
to be making something to sell before a large number of people have
the money to buy a hamburger or an insurance policy!
Recently, at
a Future Forward conference, I saw a presentation on auto assembly
plants that may relocate in our southeastern states. It was interesting
to see that labor costs appeared to be the lowest cost factor in
production (way behind the cost of the infrastructure). Former Republican
Senator Cass Ballenger agreed that there are no great savings for
corporations to move or "outsource" to other countries
where they must pay the same costs for infrastructure, materials,
and energy to run the plants, as well as the added costs of round-trip
shipping of materials and products. If there are any savings in
the exportation of jobs, it is going into the hands of the corporations
and CEOs -- NOT TO U.S. CONSUMERS.
Also on the
national level, I fervently believe that we need a national health-care
insurance program. I believe that all people should have the same
insurance safety-net that my wife and I enjoy as state employees
and retirees. One way or another, because we citizens and the medical
community will not stand by and watch people die because of lack
of insurance, we all help pay for their healing - indirectly or
directly. Why not allow all citizens to have the dignity of being
able to pay through a large insurance pool -- a national one?
In conclusion,
I do not fear GOOD government. Government exists to help us do those
things which we cannot do for ourselves. However, in 2006, I confess
that I do fear this federal government with its current control
of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In the 2004
election, the Republican Party touted the slogan "I vote values."
The reality is that the subsequent victory of the party has brought
about moral bankruptcy and "the best government money can buy!"
Winston Kinsey
is a farmer, a father, a grandfather, a retired ASU professor, and
a Watauga County Commissioner
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