LETTER: Don’t Call Me a Come-Here, Mr. Supervisor!

November 24, 2014

DEAR EDITOR,

In regard to the Northampton County Board of Supervisors’ unilateral plan to change the current zoning ordinance to resemble an Ocean City or Virginia Beach model of development, it raises my ire when Supervisors such as Larry Trala dismiss those of us seeking more of a voice in this process as “come-heres.” This conjurs up the “pot and the kettle” scenario considering we have been told Larry may have roots in Detroit.

I take this dismissal personally, and must respond to several issues regarding various statements made by the Supervisors who are promoting the rezoning campaign. In response to the “come-here” remark, I have two comments. First, those who have discovered Northampton County and have decided to move here and invest much of their life’s savings in this great county do so because they have fallen in love with what we have to offer. Their tax dollars support our schools, our roads, our businesses, our support services, and our cultural resources. Rather than branding them something less than what they are as “come-heres,” we should open our arms and realize that they are here because they are “wanna-be-heres” as Art Schwarzschild recently stated at a public forum on the rezoning debate, and have fallen in love with the county for what it isn’t (Ocean City or Virginia Beach) — a scenario that is being threatened by this closed-door scheme.

As for this “come here,” I don’t think so. In fact, my father’s family, the Schoolfields, came to the Eastern Shore with the contingents that accompanied Lord Baltimore in the 1600s. My maternal great-grandfather, G. Russel Smith, was a horse-and-buggy doctor in Cheriton in the 19th century. His daughter, my grandmother, and her husband, Gansevoort Hurlbut, bought the majestic Wellington estate on the Nassawadox in the 1930s and later purchased the smaller Refuge estate, now the home of the county attorney (one of the prime movers of the “let anyone do anything they want on their property” zoning revision). My grandmother also worked at the Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital and helped raise the funds necessary to build that facility. I was born in that hospital 60 years ago (wow, where does the time go?) and spent many years and indeed every summer of my life on the Nassawadox Creek with my children. And as for my “come-here” husband, Ken, he is a “brought-here” — by me — and his involvement in the zoning debate is partly because I asked him to do so because I owe it to my heritage to protect this county from impending assault, and partly because we both want to protect our many investments in Northampton County and the Town of Exmore.

CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE

The reasons why we want the Board of Supervisors to withdraw this ill-conceived plan to over-develop Northampton County into something it never was intended to be are many, but first and foremost we think the citizenry should have a place at the zoning table to offer input and guidance on this important matter. Currently we all get an obligatory 3 minutes to address the Board on what WE think should be changed to our somewhat restrictive zoning, and that hourglass runs empty mighty quickly. Second, the rezoning plan puts a red circle on agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, the recharge of our aquafer (strip malls encouraged along Route 13), and affordable housing options. Allowing commercial and industrial uses in our prime farmland, such as prisons, waste incinerators, waste water treatment plants, biodiesel refineries, race tracks, large scale chicken houses, and heliports, many without public hearing, runs counter to our rural core and needs to be derailed.

We urge all of you “come-heres,” “from-heres,” “come-back-heres,” and others who love the lower Shore to attend the next Board of Supervisors meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 9, and join the chorus of those who want progressive change, and not that of a dictatorial nature.

MARY DUFTY
Exmore

Letters to the Editor are welcome, and a diversity of opinions is encouraged. Send submissions to [email protected].

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7 Responses to “LETTER: Don’t Call Me a Come-Here, Mr. Supervisor!”

  1. Keith Underhill on November 24th, 2014 8:15 am

    I was part of the extensive process the Citizens of the Shore went through to draft and put in place the current zoning. The process was brought on by the Board of Supervisors trying to pass bad zoning over the holidays when no one was looking. Now it is happening again. It is a shame that the very people elected are now the enemy unless your company wants to scrap the Shore we love and pave it over. I expressed after we got the present zoning that citizens must elect proper Supervisers and keep an eye on what they do. If not, the greed is always in the background waiting to change laws to allow a few to steal the Shore life and sell it away forever. Stand up! Vote! Show up at all meetings and hold YOUR Supervisor liable for YOUR COUNTY! The foxes are back to steal from you and your children. Once resources are gone and projects built it will be too late.

  2. Joseph Corcoran on November 24th, 2014 8:29 am

    Bravo, Mary Dufty! How I wish that we could all get beyond this silly “come-here,” “from-here,” “been-here,” “back-here” distraction. It is not helping to solve our problems; name-calling never did. But keep in mind that the come-heres are here by choice — except for those rare individuals who got to choose their parents. Except for the First Americans, we are all come-heres or descendants of come-heres. It is time to simply come together.

  3. Jim Welch on November 24th, 2014 9:39 am

    To Mary Dufty’s well expressed concerns I’d like to add that as a business person and potential investor in Northampton County, I feel the greatest detriment to the current and future citizens of the county is the misuse of public tax dollars that continually get squandered on frivolous impracticable ideas that never bear fruit by the Northampton County Board of Supervisors. There are many actual examples that can be sited but that’s not the purpose of this communication. From the limited exposure I’ve had to the Supervisors meetings, it’s easily apparent that at least 50% to 60% of the tax money spent by the Board is simply money that is totally wasted. Now would the citizens love to get a 50% tax reduction instead of a tax increase? That’s easily accomplished. All that has to be done is for the board to relax, look at how they can more efficiently operate the county with less waste of the people’s tax dollars. This is the wrong time in terms of a national economic outlook to think about ridiculous expansion ideas, ideas that will bring harm to the environment, and put people’s investments and peace of mind at great risk. As far as “come-heres,” the Board should look at their side of the bench next time they’re seated. There’s some interesting activity going on there.

  4. Tony Sacco on November 24th, 2014 12:13 pm

    I am a “come-here” who has known Larry Trala over 25 years and I must tell you that the service he has done for Northampton County is too long to mention here. He has helped the poor that were living without indoor plumbing to live a more comfortable life, he helped disadvantaged children to continue school instead of dropping out, and he also was responsible for managed growth for folks to shop and gain employment. Mr. Trala must be given respect as he serves not only his district but all the people. His remark (come-here) is not to belittle anyone — he is reaching out to you to say the born-heres lived through blood lines a way of life that they only know. Where I come from (New York City), if I said I wanted farms and no more condos I would be laughed at.

    Mr. Trala is a Christian man; please treat him as such. My relationship with him will always be as someone I can trust.

  5. Joseph Corcoran on November 24th, 2014 5:52 pm

    Dear Tony,
    What is a Christian man? Is that better or worse than a Jew, Muslim, or Heathen?
    Love and peace,
    Joe

  6. Melvin W. Williams, Jr. CWO USCG (Ret) on December 8th, 2014 5:09 am

    Reading all of your comments I find it very sad and selfish for it appears you all have your own agendas in this planning. It does include the people from all the “Heres,” but what about the rest of the people — you know, the lower income, limited educated, unemployed, disadvantaged, and property-threatened people? Are they encouraged to have a voice and participate in this planning, or are they overlooked and considered not to be a part of it, because they don’t have the $$$?

  7. Jim Welch on December 8th, 2014 12:41 pm

    Joseph – That’s an excellent point, “What is a Christian man?” And how does that pertain to this particular Christian man voting against greater transparency on the part of the Board of Supervisors? Why does he want to hide his closed door agendas? In the short time I’ve attended some of these Eastville meetings I’ve noticed the squandering of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax payers’ money without any result. There is currently gleeful intention to increase the public debt by millions of dollars on unproven, ill-conceived, and dare I say, half-baked ideas that are not based in prudent business logic. These are ideas that in the short term will only increase the wealth of a very few, and in the long term will lead to failure as evidenced by the marvelous Cape Charles Industrial Park disaster built without even a direct road leading into it!

    Love, peace, common sense and greater openness on the part of the BOS.