As people celebrated this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we are blessed here with a unique history that was both significant and fundamental to the beginning of the modern environmental movement. This truly enduring environmental ethic flourishes through the hills and through time.
Absolutely essential for public policies that ensure real, environmental protection is a viable role in the electoral process. Currently, there is a great opportunity to make a badly needed change in the county commissioners office.
Based upon a chronic history of rampant abuses, Leonard Eliason does not deserve your vote to be re-elected and should not be returned to public office in the upcoming primary election. Why? Among other things, Eliason engineered the notorious dirt deal to sell prime county property, overlooking Athens, on U.S. Route 33 to his good buddy, Brent Hayes.
The current site is an extravaganza eyesore that serves as a monument to the utter contempt Eliason and the commissioners who did this obviously have for the forest, vital scenic resources and uncompromised transparency. Often referenced as Hayes Hill
Mt. Eliason or similar designations, the site has been sold by the county, clear cut, and now is being excavated for dirt. This is an unprecedented assault on the most pristine and critically located vistas at a major county gateway, and very prominent point of interest and attention.
However, Eliason's abuses of power are not just limited to public lands. Just recently - as reported in the media - Eliason was identified and quoted for responsibility at implementing state legislation that vacates and denies people's personal property rights while suffering negative impacts and financial losses as a result of county policies on closing roads. These de facto takings of land by the county is a major public controversy.
The candidate suffers a preoccupation for property issues attempting to function as the viceroy of Athens rather than a trusted public official. What needs to be vacated is the political career of Eliason himself. Help end a legacy that embraces negative reactions to environmental activism and has an implicit anti-environmental persona.
For the first time in many years, real choices exist for commissioners race Tuesday, May 4. Opportunities, such as this one, for real change, are pretty rare here.
What we have to celebrate about on Earth Day depends now, more than ever, on what we have to say on Election Day.
Glenn Smith is a longtime environmental activist and a 1972 graduate from Ohio University.
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Opinion
Letter to the Editor
