Letter to the Editor - Ann Schertz

Dear Editor,

At least she came.  We were grateful that Rep. Leslie Combs showed Harlan and Letcher County Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC) chapter members the honor of being willing to meet and talk with us.  On a winter morning earlier this week, she heard our concerns about disappearing waterways, contaminated wells and rivers and fishponds, and plunging property values.  She heard our frustration with a government that is supporting rogue coal companies that are not acting in the best interest of the communities that they rob of coal tax dollars and natural resources.  She listened as we talked of the poorest people paying the highest tax burden.  She nodded as we talked of the value of investing in alternative energies and diversifying our stagnant economy – an economy that has not brought prosperity to the people living in the coal fields, even as more coal is produced.  She heard our concern for the restoration of voting rights for people who have done their time and are trying to rebuild their lives.  She listened to our concern for safety on roads that are traveled by both school children and overweight coal trucks.

And when it came time for her to talk, she told us of her concern for all of her constituents, not just those of us around the table.  She spoke passionately about the drug problem in our eastern Kentucky communities. She told us that other eastern Kentucky legislators are concerned about our mountain communities.  They are so concerned that they think the only practical solution to preserving our headwaters of the Cumberland, the Kentucky, and the Big Sandy Rivers is to go ahead and dump coal waste into streams so as not to overburden the coal companies with undue costs.  And then set up a Stream Mitigation Fund that would provide the dollars that would be needed to go back and try to recreate those streams and natural waterways that are the crucial capillaries that feed the heart of all of eastern Kentucky.  These streams that were formed over the course of millions of years, and which, if preserved, will provide life to our grandchildren and our great grandchildren – these are the waterways that east Kentucky legislators think we can recreate more easily than we can preserve.

But at least she came, she listened, she spoke, and we even laughed together at times.  And unlike the current candidates vying for our votes on Feb. 5 to fill the District 30 Senate seat vacated by Daniel Mongiardo, Leslie Combs understands that we want to talk with our representatives and senators about things that matter most to us. Neither Brandon Smith nor Scott Alexander could be bothered to answer the KFTC survey questions that were to be published in our KFTC Voter Guide.  They didn’t respond to our questions about having a more accountable coal industry, a tax system that is fair to low-income folks and addresses the budget crisis, a health care system that enables access to all citizens, a vision for economic development, and a justice system that gives people their right to vote back after they’ve paid their debt to society.  So we are left to vote for the candidate that we think might have the least slung mud sticking to him.  I guess I should be used to mudslinging since the U.S. route past my home has become a major coal-haul road.  To review KFTC survey questions and candidates' responses go to www.kentuckyelection.org.

Ann Schertz