I have sat back and listened to everyone give their opinions, express their views, and give what they referred to as answers for the reason Chief Robert Roten was unfairly, unjustly and rudely Terminated from his position. Robert is and always has been one of the finest men to ever live in this county; He was born and raised here, unlike many of the City Council and the Town Manager. Mr. Roten knows the people, the True Citizens of this county. He knows their wishes, desires and most of all he knows their hearts. Chief Roten knows that the people of Ashe County do not want this County or their Town turned into Maine, or Concord, They don’t want to live in Kannapolis or PA. Charlotte or Virginia, they want to live in the quiet, loving small town community they have always known as Ashe County. They want to go to a small town not a big city, they want to know their neighbors by name and shake hands with the people they meet on the streets. So for all of you on the Council or elsewhere that don’t want that, then why did you move here in the first place. Why didn’t you stay in Florida or Michigan or PA or whatever city you came from? How about doing all of us a favor and if you don’t like things the way they are in our small community then put your property up for sale, pack your goods and clothes and Move. Go back to where you came from, stop trying to bring the city to our small town, stop trying to change us, if we as a community, a town, a fellowship of friends decide we need to change then we will do it on our own. So far none of your changes have worked any way. If everything you did, and the manner in which you did it was all correct, and you did have ample reason to relieve Chief Roten of his position, then why were all of you so discombobulated and unfocused at the meeting. Why was it that you didn’t have any answers but could only stutter and lose your composure when questioned about the subject and presented with over 1100 names of citizens who share my opinion? Personally it looked to me like more than a few of you were a little red in the face, was that a rash or a reaction. So since we’re here let me ask some questions of my own, however I have some specific questions for The Mayor the Alderman and the Town Manager. What exactly have any of you done for the people of this county or the Town of West Jefferson, oh excuse me I forgot you did bring in an ABC store, Right On Main Street. You did approve the purchase of two new computers for the West Jefferson Police Dept. whom have been working on Ten that’s 10 year old computers. But let me ask you why is it that you approved those in Feb. for acting Chief Grogan when you had previously denied the request a month earlier when it was requested by the then Chief Robert Roten. So tell me exactly what has changed since Grogan took over as Chief of Police, according to him at the meeting, he had revamped the schedules of the officers, but what has he done that wasn’t already being done or asked to be done but denied by you the city council. I would also like to know why everyone in this county who pays taxes has to pay for a RETREAT day at Jefferson Landing so that all of the city council can eat breakfast, play golf, eat lunch and oh yeah discuss any changes needed for the town for next year. Now maybe it’s just me but I do believe that any meeting should be held in an office with notebooks not golf clubs, it should be recorded and carefully considered and not scored before the back nine. If you want to play golf, do so on your own time and with your own money, not while I’m paying you to work. Oops you’ll have to forgive me, obviously I forget myself, I don’t live in town. So now according to what Mr. Reeves stated during the last meeting on the 7th of Feb. anyone that doesn’t live in the town doesn’t have any rights or say about anything that happens there. Even the store owners who make a living working in West Jefferson have no say unless they live in West Jefferson.
According to the latest Census Reports Ashe County has 25,572 residents, of which approx. 1100 of those live inside West Jefferson City Limits, did I mention that Mr. Reeves stated you have to live inside the City Limits as well. In 2000 there was 1081 that lived in town so exactly how many is approx. 1100. Now I ask you what do the other 24 thousand 572 people that come into West Jefferson to work, shop, buy gas and groceries, go out to eat or to the movies, what should they do with their opinions since you on the board obviously don’t want to hear them. I don’t believe the citizens of this county are going to be very happy to hear they have no rights or say over their own Town. If not for the people of Ashe County there would be no West Jefferson and therefore you would have no jobs. We the Citizens of the county pay your wages. I do believe you had better start making our opinions and desires count, because you can’t even pay for one of your inflated salaries with the taxes you would get from 1100 citizens. You have a budget for the West Jefferson Police Dept. of $435,000 a year, but yet they are using 10 year old computers. You’re offering someone from out of the county $40,000 to $45,000 a year to move here and be the new Chief of Police, yet you never paid the one that was here, that the people want back nowhere near that amount. So I ask you what is it you want, because it’s obviously not the same thing that anyone else wants. Why don’t you take your close family of relatives and friends and move to Florida and retire, do us all a favor and leave this county the way it was when you found it. It was stated by the Town Attorney after last month’s meeting that if anyone didn’t like the way things was done then change it by voting next year. Yet your jobs are a Four year term. How does that help anyone that doesn’t approve of your style of government, you say the town wasn’t heading in the right direction, then exactly what direction do you want it to head in. As a citizen of the United States of America I have the right to Impeach the President of the US, fire any senator or governor that’s not correctly doing there jobs, yet we were informed by a member of the council if we didn’t like the results the current administration was giving us to get a lawyer and sue the Town of West Jefferson. I have another ideal, we get rid of the entire board of Alderman, The Mayor and Town Manager and put our own people in. People who care enough about the citizens of this county and town to listen to their opinions and points of view. People who don’t play golf on our time and money. People who actually know the citizens and the wishes of this county. People who won’t make the mistake of crossing 25 thousand 572 people who live in this county. You sit back in your offices and believe that this issue will die, that the people will forget all about it and let it go, well let me be the one to tell you, We will not go away, We will not stop writing or fighting while there is still breath in us. We will see to it that the injustice you brought upon Robert Roten and his family is corrected. There Will be another City Council Meeting on March 6th, and we call upon all the people of the Town Of West Jefferson, Jefferson and the people of Ashe County who don’t like the way the current administration is handling things to show up at this meeting. You don’t have to speak, just let your faces be seen and show the council that they cannot do anything they want anytime they want without facing the people of this county. Let’s fill the Town Hall in the middle of West Jefferson to full capacity and then let’s see how the so called City Officials handle the stress of knowing they have to actually look into the eyes of the people there depriving of the very rights we as American Citizens are born with. Let’s see how they react when the entire Roten family is finally present and ready to speak and what kind of answers they can come up with for their own short comings and mistakes. I can’t wait to see their faces and hear the answers they come up with. So you the concerned citizens of all of Ashe County come out on March 6th at 6pm to Town Hall in West Jefferson. Be seen, Be Heard and Be entertained, I promise it will be interesting.
The Right the Wrong Committee
Conley Roten
Loving Father
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