Jim Sides, Chairman, Rowan County Commissioners
♦ Thank you for inviting me to be here today. I understand that I only have three minutes to speak, so I will speak fast. I really would have thought that being the subject of the newly formed and highly popular comedy team known as “The Rowan County Commissioners”, I would have garnered a little more time than just three minutes, but I will make do.
I want to thank all of you for being here today. I think we all owe a special word of thanks to Mr. Paul Fisher for his recognition of the need for and his sponsorship of this first ever Community Visioning Process for Rowan County, a term used in the email many of you received from Mark Lewis, President of DSI. A special thanks goes to the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Commission, the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Landtrust for Central North Carolina, and Downtown Salisbury Inc. for joining with Mr. Fisher in sponsoring and hosting this historic event.
Mr. Fisher, in his remarks to the Salisbury Post, indicated that Rowan County is underperforming, that we are not cooperating and collaborating, that we are not playing together as a team. He indicates that these factors contribute to the troubling picture of the Rowan County economy, such as high unemployment, high poverty, and lowered median income. I am sure the high crime rate, the gang activity, and the low performance of our school system could also be added as disturbing demographic trends within Rowan County. And certainly, these are things we all should be concerned with. If the five elected County Commissioners, the seven elected School Board members, and the fifty or so elected Town Council members from the various municipalities are not adequately working to address these problems, then maybe a visioning process such as this one will be the answer we have all been looking for.
I would issue a few words of caution to everyone involved. When you sit down to plan the lives of others, especially those who are paying the bills, you need to exercise some constraint. Many so called plans for Smart Growth, Community Development and Re-development, Land Use Planning, walking paths and bicycle trails…simply fail to consider the desires of the people who live in the affected communities. The Salisbury Vision 2020 Comprehensive Plan is another example. Had the Legislature not changed the annexation laws, the City of Salisbury would have aggressively pursued annexation of almost every piece of property in Rowan County not already claimed by another municipality, and this to the detriment and against the will of many citizens in Rowan County. So, I say to you, move forward with great caution, and consider the needs and wants of all the citizens of Rowan County in any master plans you create, and be very careful to discount any special interest group that would want to be heard above the people of the county.
I quote from members of our community: If we fail to plan, we actually plan to fail. Let’s return some joy to our citizens with a promise for a better future. Let’s pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and do what no one is going to do for us. Let’s determine to leave our children and grandchildren a county much stronger than we found.
Thank you
