Editorial: It’s time to end the cycle in Charles City County

I’m not about to ruffle feathers with my editorial; I’m about to pluck them. And the thing is that it’s because I am tired of seeing my hometown go through the same, endless cycle.

I love Charles City County. I love living here and enjoying it. At the same time, the same issues and discussions come up every single year and have gotten to the point where I am honestly tired of writing about them. The reason why I’m tired of writing about them is because the communication level to get it resolved has yet to come to fruition.

I will give you one of the latest examples. A question was posed at the joint meeting between Charles City’s Board of Supervisors and Charles City’s School Board about why population was dropping. If we are honest with each other, everybody in the county knows why it’s dropping and that’s part of the cycle. Let’s take a look at this cycle.

People are leaving Charles City because there are no amenities or conveniences. Those people are being replaced by retirees coming into the county. Charles City’s Board of Supervisors and county departments are working to bring in those items, but it hasn’t happened. When they do find somebody to come in (let’s use the proposed gas plants for example) to bring in revenue, you will have those people opposed to it. (I’m not saying it’s right or wrong to oppose it, this is an example). When the county needs more money, that means they may have to tax people more. The retirees moving into the county will then speak about them being taxed more and complain about it. County leaders will rebut that money is needed to run the county. People will then ask, “Where are the businesses,” thus starting the cycle once again.

And it’s not just the county with the citizens. The situation with the supervisors and schools carry the same demeanor. The school system will say they need additional funds to operate. Supervisors will say they don’t have the money due to revenue and ask why the school system needs more money. This cycle carries over to the conversation why enrollment is dropping in the schools and school leaders will comment about how they are losing programs and teachers each year due to finances. The board of supervisors ask what they can do to keep those teachers and students and school representatives will say they need more funds for resources. The county revenue has to be split between several departments, thus not resolving any issues and repeating the cycle.

I’m tired of seeing these ongoing struggles and it breaks my heart. More importantly, I’m tired of people criticizing the school system and board of supervisors. People say that Charles City County Public Schools are failing. No they’re not. The students are doing the best in their situation with what they have. If the schools were failing, would we have former students working at major movie studios, running departments in Washington D.C., or having many entrepreneurs with their own licensed businesses? The students and graduates aren’t failing; it’s the lack of resources and support that is failing.

The same thing can be said for Charles City’s Board of Supervisors. They are trying to maximize locations for businesses with what they have. When you have companies that don’t want to move to the area because of amenities, county leaders and staff are doing what they can to attract them from incentives to providing additional services. It’s not the county leaders that are failing, it’s the lack of profitable and available areas to develop that hurts the county.

But in the end, Charles City is going to have to take a chance and step out of their comfort zone. Sometimes you have to be uncomfortable to find what works. That’s called negotiating and understanding. There will be risks, but if the county and school system doesn’t address them now, future generations truly won’t see how great a place Charles City is.