Letters to the Editor

Mark Miller; Whitney Caulkins
Published: April 28, 2008

Chris Graham is a man for the peopleAfter seeing the Waynesboro City Council struggle and eventually cease to operate effectively as a decision-making body, we as citizens need a change. City Council candidate Chris Graham, with his ability to work with people of differing philosophies, will make the council serve the needs of Waynesboro’s citizens.
Waynesboro has undergone tremendous growth in the past five years, having seen an explosion in retail growth and sales tax revenue. During last year’s election, we told the council we needed a second fire station and an expansion of the library. Some members of the City Council, such as Frank Lucente and Tim Williams, have decided that Waynesboro’s citizens are wrong, and refused to spend our money as we dictated.
They say that we should cut the budget 2 percent across the board, a proposal that should not be considered by anyone with intelligence. If an emergency happens, I need my police and fire departments to respond. A 2 percent cut across the board would require drastic personnel cuts in our emergency departments that are already feeling the effects of greatly increased fuel bills.
We as citizens depend on Waynesboro for recreation, clean water, waste treatment, garbage removal and our children’s education. This costs money and every year these costs increase. Waynesboro’s public employees provide necessary services and should not fear losing their jobs to the greed of a select few of Waynesboro’s elite. Chris Graham will do the bidding of the people and serve the common man.
Born and educated locally, Chris graduated from the University of Virginia. Chris started as a reporter in Waynesboro and advanced, eventually starting a successful publishing company with his wife, Crystal. A vote for Chris Graham on May 6 is a vote for the citizen’s voice.
Mark Miller
Waynesboro

Editor’s note: Lucente and Williams voted in December to back the three projects – including the west end fire station and library expansion — approved by voters in the November bond election.

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Waynesboro Orchestra deserves an applause
Thank you, Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra and Schola Cantorum, for our “Weekend of the Classics,” and for contributing in such an excellent and wonderful way to our continuing musical education. Both programs, as well as the soloists, were superior, and both directors were equally powerful, dynamic and dedicated.
There is no need to go to the Lincoln Center or the Kennedy Center to hear music of this caliber when it already exists at home!
Whitney Caulkins
Waynesboro