letters It would be very nice to have a greenway through Swannanoa, but the questions regarding eminent domain need to be addressed. There is a map floating around Swannanoa of a proposed greenway. There are properties along the route, and many are working farms. Imagine if you owned one of them, saw this map with a line drawn through your property and had not been contacted about it. So how does one find out about eminent domain issues regarding this? The same organization that started the failed incorporation drive created a greenway committee. This committee is specifically headed by the attorney who represented their incorporation task force. They had a “Visioning Meeting,” and then the map appeared. Considering their past history of not communicating with people who oppose their ideas, it seems frivolous to try to contact them about the eminent domain issue. The Parks and Recreation Department was contacted. They said they are doing a feasibility study right now, and eminent domain is a legal issue. They advised writing a letter to the county Board of Commissioners. When asked if the affected property owners were being called during the feasibility study, they said that comes at the “next
stage.” If eminent domain is not on the table, not calling land owners for permission would make this study a waste of time and taxpayers money. But it sounds like it is on the table, and they do not want to be on record as saying so. A letter could be sent to the county Board. I don’t think it would get past the secretary’s desk because they did not return a phone call regarding the matter. Unfortunately, eminent domain has been used for such things as widening highways and [running] sewer lines. But it is mesmerizing to think the government can forcibly take land so that people can skip, ride unicycles, and click their heels from side to side through someone’s property. A lot of united Swannanoa residents want to know two things: 1) Can one of the groups involved explain the laws regarding eminent domain and greenways? 2) Can the groups involved put in writing that eminent domain is out of the question? If these questions are answered, property owners who are affected will not be helplessly walking on eggshells for months, and everyone can get excited about finding a way to put a greenway through. This is an issue that needs to be nipped in the bud before it is too late. — John Kelleher Swannanoa
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The information you take in — like diet — can be wholesome or junk food “Even the President of the United States chooses what he wants to hear,” [said] Ray Tuers. We live in the Information Age. We are constantly bombarded with information, but we really understand little about our world. Aside from the tiny portion of space and time that we occupy throughout the day, our knowledge of the world comes from other persons, organizations and corporations. We make choices about our information based on established thought patterns, preconceived ideas and political ideology. In ways that are eerily similar to how we feed our bodies, how we choose to feed our minds determines so much about what we think we know and who we are. Like the food we eat, the information we consume may be momentarily pleasurable, but ultimately quite harmful. Prepackaged, processed information looks appetizing on the surface, but further inspection reveals the presence of artificial ingredients and self-serving analysis, not to mention the omission of essential facts and historical context. Sometimes we aren’t even hungry, just bored or tired; so we find ourselves munching on the media equivalent of fast food —it doesn’t nourish or satisfy and may leave us more ignorant than we started. The information that is best for us often requires more effort: We must take the time to read, contemplate, challenge assumptions and compare different sources and opinions. Those of us burdened with the knowledge of where our information comes from have grown very wary of whose interests are being served by the way information is presented and what information is selected for presentation. It should be clear to everyone by now that you can find someone willing to sell you any idea you want to buy. But before you go filling your brain with junk food, you ought to ask yourself, “Who benefits?” Probably not you. — Matt Rawlings Weaverville
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A Swannanoa greenway would be nice, but not by eminent domain
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mountainx.com • APRIL 7 - APRIL 13, 2010