Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
Editorial
Where were they?
On Monday, apathy once again reared its ugly head before the county’s Board of Supervisors as public hearings on the budget proposal for next year and two appointments to the school board brought out a lone interested resident: one of the school board candidates.
Several months ago, the supervisors changed the time of their regular meeting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and set all public hearings for 7 p.m. They made the change not for their convenience — on Monday it meant an extra trip to the Courthouse and back — but so that the county’s residents who work during the day could be heard on public issues.
Monday’s turnout made those in the courtroom wonder why the board bothered.
One person with years of experience in local government observed that, in one respect, moving the hearings to evening hours works a hardship on the board. It will be, he maintained, more difficult to arrange for officials from other jurisdictions and regulatory agencies to appear at the hearings if they face the prospect of a long drive home late at night.
..Two of the three public hearings would seem to be *important to everyone in the county: the budget for next year and who’s representing them on the school board.
But, apparently, no one cared. * In the past, we have railed against the abysmal turnout ► for elections, and questioned why so few people bother to • vote. The answer, we were told, is because all the candidates are so bad that there really is no choice but “none of the •above” — and that’s not on the ballot.
On Monday, there was an opportunity for people to speak their minds, to influence government at the local level. But ► again, no one cared enough to even come and watch, let alone speak. '
Perhaps we’re reading this the wrong way. Perhaps the lack of turnout is really a gesture of support for the board and its policies. By staying home, are the county’s residents saying, “Excellent job, Mr. Supervisor, keep up the good work?”
We hope so.
It’s disturbing to think that the residents of Rappahannock just really don’t care.
93.5%