ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240069
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
HAVING lived a long life, I can remember when there were no safety nets, and labor was exploited until it organized and, by demand, acquired improvement. The histories of the railroads and coal mines are good examples of these changes in Southwest Virginia.
Good wages and working conditions, health insurance and help after disability have been achieved by labor-union pressure.
Downsizing is an easy word to say, but it's creating hard changes. Those who lose jobs slide down when they're re-employed. Twelve-hour days and increased workloads leave little time or energy for living and rest for the ``lucky'' ones who keep the jobs. The money saved goes to the top.
The sources of power here are big companies, labor unions and the federal and state government. Which do you trust?
KATHARINE FONTAINE HEATH
RINER
Lawyers want a lock on the business
RECENTLY, I discovered something very interesting about an organization named ``Va Real.'' It's a group pushing a package of legislation that, in effect, would bar anyone other than lawyers from handling title searches and residential real-estate closings.
In Virginia through the '80s, the title companies captured more of the real-estate closing work than during previous periods of time.
When there was plenty of work to go around, lawyers were reasonably content. But when interest rates went up and refinancing, etc., slowed, lawyers became restless. Now they want the right to levy tribute on anyone wanting to buy or sell a house.
In February, the Virginia legislature voted to take a year to study the issue. When many legislators are lawyers, shouldn't there be a discussion of conflict of interest?
I quote from Susan Adams writing for Forbes: ``If lawyers really believe they serve an important role in protecting buyers and sellers, why do they need laws to force people to use them?''
JAMES P. GODSEY
ROANOKE
Vote protested Hodge's tactics
THE DEFEAT of the school-bond issue in Roanoke County wasn't about education. It was about County Administrator Elmer Hodge riding into town several years ago with intentions of replicating Chesterfield County through Roanoke County.
To achieve this, he had to have power. To get this power, he had to remove obstacles - the first being our sheriff who had entirely too much control.
Voters were tricked into thinking that a Police Department would be more efficient. If this is so, then why do we have such an embarrassingly high turnover in police personnel?
Ask an ex-county officer why he left. Ask Tommy Fuqua for the real reason he retired as fire chief. Ask former fire inspectors why they left the county. Ask volunteer rescue-squad personnel why Hodge is trying to get them to drop their charter. Ask former animal-control officers what they think. If they were free to talk, they'd all refer to the power that Hodge had to have over them.
There isn't a fire inspector in Virginia who wouldn't want to close down Fort Lewis Elementary School due to its inability to pass fire codes. Glenvar High School has been shunned for years. It's saving grace has been the class of its teachers and students. They're the kind who make the best of what they have. Cave Spring should take a lesson from Glenvar to achieve excellence in education.
We don't want to be like Chesterfield County. We don't want to grow into a giant industrial park. We want equal distribution of services. We want to go to bed at night in hope of what tomorrow will bring, not worried about what will be taken away from us. We want the advantages of living in the county that we enjoyed years ago. We're sending a message to Hodge and the Board of Supervisors. If this message isn't accepted, they should move on and we'll carry on like we always have.
D. WAYNE LOVELACE
SALEM
Rusco aid was a matter of fairness
A QUESTION in your April 23 ``What's On Your Mind?'' column asked whether the General Assembly's efforts to help Rusco Window Co. in Roanoke County were motivated by campaign donations.
Let me make clear that neither I nor any of my colleagues received contributions from Rusco or any its officers. I introduced the budget amendment for Rusco after speaking with officials of the company and Roanoke County because I felt that some of the expenses forced on them by the state deserved to be reimbursed.
Rusco's property was condemned by the Virginia Department of Transportation for a road project in 1994. Because of that, Rusco was forced against its will to relocate. Some of the company's relocation expenses have been offset by the county and by the transportation department.
But Rusco faces at least $245,000 in costs over and above that assistance, costs that are a direct result of the forced relocation. It will be left with a smaller building than at its previous location, and will have suffered a serious interruption to its business. We included in this year's state budget $50,000 to lessen the expense that the state's actions have caused Rusco.
Gov. George Allen decided that because the state wasn't required to help Rusco, it wouldn't - and he vetoed this budget item. Many delegates, Democrats and Republicans, from this area tried unsuccessfully to overturn the veto.
Helping to offset expenses the state had forced on Rusco seemed the only fair thing to do.
A. VICTOR THOMAS
Delegate, 17th District
ROANOKE
Don't forget who `made the Express'
THE ROANOKE Express is the first professional hockey team in Roanoke to achieve a paramount level of success since the Rebels some 20 years ago, and it's the most successful professional sport we've had. This is primarily due to the prodigious efforts of Pierre Paiement. His hard work and impeccable reputation have been the driving force, and he's the most visible of those involved.
Now, we have a strange need to drag him through mud because of speculation and unproved allegation (April 21 article, ``Express sidetracked by management shake-up''). What a shame!
As happens when a business becomes a success and a positive influence, there will be people who try to bring it down.
If we lose Paiement - the man who ``made The Express'' - as general manager, we'll be ousting the goose that laid the golden egg. Don't forget who filled the Roanoke Civic Center's parking lot.
STEVE HAWLEY
ROANOKE
Clinton is also adding to debt
IN RESPONSE to your April 15 editorial, ``Refuse to declare deficit victory'':
The following observations are submitted for consideration - consideration of the truth, to put it more precisely.
The editorial stated that during the 12 years of the Reagan-Bush era, the debt increased by $4 trillion. Facts from the 1995 edition of the Census Bureau's data book:
* The debt was approximately $1 trillion when Ronald Reagan took office and $2.6 trillion when he left eight years later (an increase of $1.6 trillion).
* When George Bush left the presidency, the debt had risen to approximately $4 trillion (an increase of $1.4 trillion).
* The total debt increase for the Reagan-Bush years was $3 trillion, not $4 trillion.
* The deficit numbers that The Roanoke Times quotes for the Bill Clinton years are net amounts, and do not include monies the treasury borrows from trust funds to balance the books.
The bottom line is this: When President Clinton's first term expires, he'll have added another trillion dollars to the debt.
ROBERT H. PHILLIPS
MONETA.
LENGTH: Long : 147 linesby CNB