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I want to thank someone who does not live in my community and whose decision has no impact on me whatsoever. But at the same time, I feel that we need to praise the politicians in this region who put their residents first, since that’s sadly so rare. For this, I’m talking about Farmville council member Sallie Amos. 

I’ve followed this fence mess since the beginning, just shaking my head. It seemed to be an open and shut case. There’s a problem, so ok, go fix the thing and make sure nobody can put up a fence blocking the view of drivers or people walking down the street. That seems simple enough. But nope. The town spends about a full year, going back and forth between the council and the planning commission, arguing about everything from design to style to what kind of fence should be allowed. Oh, and considering a $500 fee for anyone interested in building a fence beyond what they considered standard. 

From that first argument, Mrs. Amos kept pushing to just solve the problem that existed and move on, without all of this other mess. We need more people like that in politics, be it in Farmville or Cumberland or Richmond, where a problem doesn’t become an excuse to pile on restriction after restriction or use it as a way to add to the town or county or state’s finances. So thank you, Sallie Amos, for standing up for your residents. I’m sure they appreciate it. Hopefully we can say that about more folks as the year goes on. 

Dennis Deems
Cumberland