I am reluctant to give this topic regarding the Shepard-Pruden Library Board and somehow rehashing 9/11 any more ink, but here we are.
In recent days, we published a letter to the editor from Derence Fivehouse, who condemned Chowan County Commissioner Tony Shaffer in no uncertain terms.
Shaffer responded in kind to Fivehouse, defending himself and debunking Fivehouse’s claims in no uncertain terms with his own letter to the editor.
Both men made their case, however, I agree with William Ross who left a comment at the end of Shaffer’s letter – click the link for Ross’ full comments.
Come on gentlemen, stop this. You both are acting like bullies in front of our citizens. Thank you both for your service to our country but, somehow it seems you have lost track of your essential leadership responsibilities to our citizens …. “Protect against all enemies foreign and domestic”. We are making ourselves seem like enemies. I am not taking sides but, I can assure you I was in the world you are historically fighting over, possible even more so I would suggest….
Yes it is fascinating to read the battle between Shaffer and Fivehouse but, we all must make public communication in Edenton more objective and thoughtful. We all need to do better to help our citizens feel safe in the very frightful world.
Everything should be “even-Steven” now since both men got their say, but it doesn’t feel that way.
Mr. Fivehouse – I’m not publishing any more of your letters on these topics – so post them on your own social media page or with another news outlet. Please don’t contact me again as I suspect your zeal for these issues, right or wrong, is smoke from another fire. Find a hobby — maybe try kayaking.
Mr. Shaffer, I suspect there’s more to the decision made regarding Battle’s appointment to the library board than veterans’ programming, but that’s not for me to say. What’s done is done.
By now it should be obvious to everyone that this is a moot issue because the County Commission unanimously approved the most recent appointees, so it is clear that Battle is not going to be reappointed any more than the US Senate is going to resurrect Robert Bork from the dead to appoint him to the Supreme Court.
A few days ago, the US dropped bombs on Iran — that kind of thing tends to put the important things in life in better focus. When I’m sitting in the pews on Sunday at St. Paul’s, I actually pay attention, so since Christ can forgive all of us, certainly we can forgive all those who trespass against us.
That said, I’m publishing the minutes from the Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library’s Board of Directors from the last three years to let folks come to their own conclusions. That’s public record anyway — see download below.
Mr. Fivehouse and Mr. Shaffer, you are both of men of honor, so I’ll ask — can we, as a community, move on to what we agree on — Aces’ athletics — and those matters we can discuss in civil terms that we disagree on, such as the divide between those people who are nice enough to return their shopping carts and those who leave them where they stand in the middle of the parking lot of the town’s only grocery store.