Your Viewpoint
Letters to the Editor

Good Old Boys alive and well

The Good Old Boys are still alive and well according to what I've read.

We have the Rayburn people demanding Jasper City taxes to run their fishing tournaments, a realtor demanding city taxes be paid to put a water and sewer line on his property for development and a local radio personality wanting to run the police department to make sure his buddies always have a job.

Todd Hunter and Allen Grindstaff must wonder what in the world they have stepped in to and I'm sure they have never seen any place like this. In fact this is the way it has been done for years in Jasper, one set of rules for some and another set of rules for others.

Obviously Hunter and Grindstaff are playing by one set of rules for everyone and a handful do not like it. And from what I read in the paper, falsehood after falsehood is told by these people just to get their way, things like "fishing tournaments will go down if I don't get my money, "all the policemen will quit if Hunter is not fired" and getting a free water and sewer pipe is good for "economic development."

It would be funny if it were not sad. I hope the city leadership will continue to stand against this vocal, tale bearing minority and stand behind Hunter and Grandstaf. I understand at least three councilmen are.

They deserve our support. For the future of Jasper we must do away with this Good Old Boy network.

Shelter plan is well planned

With your permission, I'd like to respond to the "Entities should proceed with caution on shelter" editorial in The Newsboy Our Viewpoint of December 12th.

That article referred to financial operational aspects involved with a shelter.

First, thank you for your stated stance that the Jasper area needs an animal shelter. It appears that about 90% of Texas cities (and areas) our size have shelters or nearby access to a shelter, that are city and/or county owned and operated.

The city of Jasper has basically been willing to match whatever the county of Jasper would do in these regards for several years. The County Commissioners have finally agreed by majority vote to assist the city with operational support of up to $17,500 a year, toward a $38,000 budget set by the city manager. The city will budget $19,000, leaving a balance of $1,500 that we would anticipate being filled by the city of Kirbyville, Buna Chamber of Commerce and Rayburn Owners Association. All three of these have indicated shelter support interest which we will pursue further. Based on these figures, the City of Jasper would actually save some money from their current $21,000 animal control budget.

Construction of a shelter would occur on City property, utilizing $46,000 from a private trust fund, and $4,000 from the Jasper Lakes Area Humane Society. The city itself would own and operate the shelter. The society would provide volunteer adoption support assistance, promote spay and neuter programs, assist in fund raising, etc. The next phase of the project will involve seeing exactly what the existing building funds available to the city can accomplish.

Should more be needed, we will endeavor to seek grants or fund raising activities to provide same.

Therefore, the project will be adequately funded before proceeding. In the remote event the funding outside of the city itself should ever be withdrawn, the city can always turn out the lights, lock the door, and go back to doing what they presently do in regard to animal control (and basically have a nice paid for building available for other uses if needed).

I understand the Newsboy's duties in bringing some public financial questions to the attention of our citizens, and trust this response will pacify any concern. I most appreciate your service to our community, and your running of pet available pictures has greatly assisted our foster adoption efforts. We would hope to have an operational animal shelter serving our entire county in the near future.

Letters to editor criteria set

The Jasper Newsboy would like to publish your thoughts and concerns about issues that are important to you.

All Letters to the Editor should be accompanied with the writer's name and daytime telephone number for verification purposes.

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Under no circumstances will the author's name be withheld.

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Letters should be limited to 300 words.

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Deadline for letters is 10 a.m. Monday to be published in the following Wednesday's publication.

Mail letters to: The Jasper Newsboy P.O. Box 1419 Jasper, Texas 75951-1419 or e-mail to: jgalvan@jaspernewsboy.com