Letters to the Editor for Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fifth District desperately needs Hurt
I read the July 1 edition of The News & Advance and paid particular attention to the article written by Media General News Service reporter Catherine Amos.

Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Fifth District, was quoted, “I have fought — and voted — time and again to protect families who paid into unemployment insurance and have fallen on tough times.”

What caught my attention was that Perriello thinks that individual families pay this tax. This is a tax on employers and is assessed by the Commonwealth of Virginia on anyone who hires people to work. This tax is not paid by individual taxpayers but is only an employer tax. When a company furloughs people who then receive benefits, the tax assessed to that company goes up to account for those benefits paid out.

If not so sad, it would be humorous that our representative in the Fifth District does not understand how it works. I, for one, miss Virgil Goode.

Let us all work together to put a representative in Washington who is a fiscal conservative and shares the values of the people in this district. Why can’t Washington, D.C., adopt a balanced budget for our great nation like our great state of Virginia.

Don’t be deceived by slick commercials. The proof is coming out of Washington right now, and it is killing our jobs. Get someone who knows what he is talking about and can work for job creation. Sometimes it may be necessary to kill legislation that kills jobs. In my opinion, Perriello has consistently supported measures that hurt employers and therefore hurt job creation.

If we stay on this path, no one will be working to pay all of these increased taxes. I will work hard to support his opponent, Robert Hurt. It is my hope and prayer he can bring some sanity to that position.
GARET K. BOSIGER
Appomattox

Public asset
Near the end of last semester, retired principal, local developer, and community leader Gilliam “Gil” Cobbs attended a presentation that was prepared with my fellow law students concerning Cobbs’ Corner, a mixed use development in Bedford County.

The group was part of Prof. Osborn’s Real Estate Transactions class at Liberty University School of Law. We were tasked with finding a developer who would be willing for us to look into the hands-on aspect of real estate development. We approached Cobbs because he assisted another group in the previous academic year. Cobbs was responsive to our request and allowed us to study his latest development, Cobbs’ Corner.

Cobbs’ Corner consists of nine lots, two of which are zoned for professional use. All structures must adhere to “green” building requirements and techniques. The development is located at the corner of Cottontown Road and Gilliam Court, between Forest and Boonsboro.

Not only did Cobbs share personal documents relating to the Cobbs’ Corner, he also took the group to meet with officials of the Bedford County Planning Department, Bedford County Public Service Authority, VDOT and the State Health Department. The employees in these offices were quite friendly and helpful.

We thank Cobbs publicly for his assistance with our project. He was invaluable to our presentation, and his kindness and openness made the project a fun one as well.
PETER HOLSTEAD DAVIES
Monroe