Editor:

Rush to the microphone? That’s wishful thinking. I think the sign-up discourages public comment (“Board will rotate chairmanship,” Jan. 13.)

Frankly, the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors doesn’t get much public turnout, let alone input. In a democracy, it is not only our right but our duty to participate and I would hope our elected officials would encourage this.

The U.S. has some of the lowest voter turnout in the world, indicating how powerless we truly feel. Sad, but an indication that this form of democracy has a lot of room for improvement.

And on top of that, the politicians are always gerrymandering the voting districts to forge a better win for one party instead of fostering fair representation. This action discourages already discouraged and poor participation.

District Three Supervisor Don Matthews at least had the bright idea of making an amendment that an announcement be made at each meeting five minutes before the closing of the sign-up period. Thank you for that.

Heidi Dhivya Berthoud

Buckingham