Dear Editor:
This year I am making sure that I vote in the primary. Why?
Since 90 percent of the candidates running for board positions are running on the Republican slate, the Aug. 5 primary could well determine who will run our township for the next four years. I want to make my voice heard. I want to vote for leadership that is truly interested in serving all of its residents, and that is not the current board!
Last year the Atlas Township Board voted to rezone my property. They did it without contacting me personally. They posted a notice in The Citizen newspaper and called that adequate notice. I am a single mother working 40-plus hours a week and spending much of my free time as other mothers do, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, taking care of my property, and attending my son’s sporting events. Although I try very hard to read the newspaper every week, sometimes I just don’t have the time or energy.
The township claimed to have posted maps of the properties to be rezoned in three locations. Where were those three locations? They were in three different rooms in the township hall. A location that is only available during the hours I have to work.
I want a local government that will send a notice to my home if they are going to rezone my or my neighbor’s property. A government that will ask me if I want to increase my property taxes to support a police tax, not impose it on me without a chance to vote on it. A government that will stay open late one night a week to accommodate the residents who do not have the ability or can’t afford to take time off to obtain burning permits, pay taxes, or just plain ask questions.
I’m voting to make a difference. I urge everyone in Atlas to remember to vote on Tuesday, Aug 5.
Vicki Douglas
Atlas Township