Flush!
That's the sound of
$250,000 spiraling down
the drain.
Who pulled the handle? Putnam County's Clueless Commission: President James H. "Jim" Caruthers, Jr., and members Stephen Andes and Raymond "Joe" Haynes.
That's right. The The Putnam
County Anti-Progress
Commission is at it again.
Not satisfied with firing
award-winning Parks
Director Cordie Hudkins…
Not satisfied with allowing a
Cabell County resident to continue to vote as a Putnam County Parks and Recreation Commissioner for months
after Dennis Prisk moved out of Putnam County…
Not satisfied with rudely removing Parks and Recreation President Sally Holliday from the Planning Commission-after 37 years as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner…
Not satisfied with removing several other loyal volunteers from the commission…
Not satisfied with under-funding the Parks and Recreation budget…
Not satisfied with playing scrooge and causing the cancellation of the Christmas lights show at Valley Park due to their senseless budget cuts…
Not satisfied with hijacking $500,000 from the parks budget to pay interest on land for a Wal-Mart in a neighborhood where it is not wanted…
Not satisfied with diverting a cable TV tax that was increased to pay for Parks and Recreation…
Not satisfied with sending two members to the ribbon-cutting for the new picnic complex at Valley Park-a beautiful complex that Holliday, Hudkins, and the outcast Parks and Recreation Commissioners spear-headed.
Now the Clueless Commission is playing Anti-Progress politics at the expense of Putnam County’s littlest children.
Intelligent leaders don't give back $250,000 grants.
But during its October meeting, Parks and Recreation Commissioners voted to return a $250,000 grant and reverse not one, but two previous votes that approved a Kiddie Pool at Valley Park. And while the vote was "technically" taken by the Parks and Recreation Commission, we know they don't crack a smile without the permission of the three blind mice that appointed them: Putnam County Commission President James H. “Jim” Caruthers, Jr., and members Stephen Andes and Raymond “Joe” Haynes who are taking their petty politics to the potty-training level.
Why not? The Anti-Progress, Clueless Commission knows that toddlers can’t vote. And by the time today’s toddlers are old enough to vote, Caruthers, Andes, and Haynes, will be termed out of office.
So Commissioner Caruthers and company are screwing the little kids in the name of politics.
Here at PutnamLIVE.com, we believe in families and children. We believe in their potential, intelligence, honesty, enthusiasm, vision for the future, and black and white judgment of the difference between right and wrong.
The Putnam County Commissioners could learn a lot from children.
Instead, they stacked the Parks and Recreation Commission with minions that are proving to be motivated to remove anyone and any project that was supported by Holliday, previous commissioners, and award-winning director Cordie Hudkins.
Some say the Putnam County Commissioners are acting like children. But that is insulting to the children who have far more integrity.
The Parks and Recreation Commission says it can’t afford the Kiddie Pool. It’s wrong. And it never even made an effort to finding the matching funds. These guys punted on first down.
What the Parks and Recreation Commission can’t afford is to continue to blindly follow Jim Caruthers, Steve Andes, and Raymond "Joe" Haynes as their lack of leadership continues to cause Putnam County to flounder economically.
The Kiddie Pool will increase attendance at Waves of Fun and continue to attract visitors from other counties as well as eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio. The Kiddie Pool is good clean fun, great exercise, and great for business. It’s great for children, families, and Putnam County.
The Kiddie Pool's construction and operation will create much-needed jobs in Putnam County.
It's time for the Putnam County Parks and Recreation Commission to discover some backbone and stand up to Caruthers, Andes, and Haynes by moving forward with the Kiddie Pool project by working with the private sector to raise the matching funds needed for the Kiddie Pool.
It's time for the Putnam County Parks and Recreation Commission members to put it its money where its mouth is by personally donating to the project and start spending time each day contacting local businesses, and citizens to raise the money needed for the Kiddie Pool. Get it built by next summer or resign and get out of the way!
There are 11 Parks and Recreation Commissioners, enough to put one at a table in front of a Putnam County Supermarket every day seeking donations for the Kiddie Pool.
By getting out in the community and soliciting donations, Parks and Recreation Commissioners will prove their loyalty to Putnam County children and families.
PutnamLIVE.com IS committed to Putnam County children and families. We will make the first donation and open up a "Save the Kiddie Pool" account at a Putnam County Bank. The Hurricane Breeze will team with us to spearhead publicity for the fund-raiser. We are calling on community businesses, leaders, and citizens to make donations. As soon as that account is open, we will announces the details.
Putnam County’s children and families are more important than politics. They deserve the Kiddie Pool-instead of being caught in petty politics. Thankfully, our children and families will be around longer than Caruthers, Andes, and Haynes’ terms as politicians.
Let’s look past the petty politics and build the Kiddie Pool. It’s the right thing for Putnam County’s children and families.
