Chuck Hughes, Board of Education
♦It is sad that the first city council candidate debate was focused on the County Commissioners rather than the city’s multiple financial problems including, but not limited to, Fibrant. I suggest, Mr. Mayor, that if Fibrant even exists 2 or 3 years from now people will still be saying, “OMG, Fibrant’s still down!”
Mrs. Blackwell, school teachers will be rare visitors at the Central Office, whether downtown or elsewhere in the county. I believe that safe, quality SCHOOLS serve as more powerful magnets in drawing quality teachers to Rowan-Salisbury Schools than a administrative building. Again, the question remains, what is Downtown Salisbury Inc.’s true motivation for “not giving up” in it’s constant search for loopholes to put the Central Office on S. Main. I suggest it is more personal financial recovery, i.e. the fantasy of luring someone to invest in the dilapidated Empire Hotel that drives this Edsel.
And an even larger question remains. Why is there still any talk about 329 S. Main when this soggy piece of turf still suffers from unremediated groundwater contamination and has never received a go ahead for a loan with an all-important “no further action” letter. The Rowan Free Press has often acknowledged the need for a “no further action letter” and even Emily Ford of the SP has noted in at least two of her articles that the city has failed to obtain a “no further action” letter. 329 S. Main is off limits for at least two more years for a Central Office.
