Our View: When the whistle stops, heed the call
Love her or … not, Gov. Beverly Perdue has been often more visible in the High Country than other state-elected CEOs. And as we move forward with the recent news that Perdue will not seek a second term, this is a trend any contender must be committed to continuing.
It is not unusual for a politician to stump in the mountain regions of North Carolina. It is more unusual that a politician visits west of Raleigh following a successful campaign, and that's especially true for politicians who have no ties to the region.
But unless a governor, lieutenant governor or other state official views firsthand the unique resources, offerings and challenges of the High Country, the experience of North Carolina's mountain communities will be incomplete and a sore basis from which to make decisions affecting our communities. Four-wheel driving the roads of a ski mountain en route to an emergency room at 3 a.m. on a January night is not an experience easily relatable — and unlike any driving experience elsewhere in the state. In such a situation, the terms “road, construction and maintenance” have a new juxtaposition.
Our suggestion to any politician, Republican or Democrat, who wishes to represent the High Country is this: Don't be a stranger. Don't visit only when the campaign trail leads you to elevations greater than 350 feet. Come breath the air at 3,500 feet and greater throughout the year. Visit our university, colleges and schools, our small towns, our state parks. Recognize that life is better in the High Country, but that that life is rapidly reclaimed by the High Country's nature if proper attention is not taken.
We invite our gubernatorial candidates to make whistlestops in Watauga County and beyond, but when the whistle does stop and one candidate emerges victorious, we expect the train to continue rolling both ways between Raleigh and the High Country. To promise and produce less does disservice to our state.
It is not unusual for a politician to stump in the mountain regions of North Carolina. It is more unusual that a politician visits west of Raleigh following a successful campaign, and that's especially true for politicians who have no ties to the region.
But unless a governor, lieutenant governor or other state official views firsthand the unique resources, offerings and challenges of the High Country, the experience of North Carolina's mountain communities will be incomplete and a sore basis from which to make decisions affecting our communities. Four-wheel driving the roads of a ski mountain en route to an emergency room at 3 a.m. on a January night is not an experience easily relatable — and unlike any driving experience elsewhere in the state. In such a situation, the terms “road, construction and maintenance” have a new juxtaposition.
Our suggestion to any politician, Republican or Democrat, who wishes to represent the High Country is this: Don't be a stranger. Don't visit only when the campaign trail leads you to elevations greater than 350 feet. Come breath the air at 3,500 feet and greater throughout the year. Visit our university, colleges and schools, our small towns, our state parks. Recognize that life is better in the High Country, but that that life is rapidly reclaimed by the High Country's nature if proper attention is not taken.
We invite our gubernatorial candidates to make whistlestops in Watauga County and beyond, but when the whistle does stop and one candidate emerges victorious, we expect the train to continue rolling both ways between Raleigh and the High Country. To promise and produce less does disservice to our state.