The Journal editorializes on Forsyth County Commissioner Bill Whiteheart’s property issues:
But no matter who leaves the trash, the buck stops with the property owner. Whiteheart could take several actions, including putting up a fence, monitoring his property better or selling it. These are actions other city property owners routinely take.
Such actions are the right thing to do for aesthetic reasons and for reasons of public health. Overgrown, trash-strewn lots attract rats, snakes and mosquitoes. Any citizen should know that – especially a county commissioner. And dealing with the mess on Whiteheart’s property is expensive, both for the city and for him. Whiteheart, a fiscal conservative, should realize that.
Yet he continues to trot out lame excuses. He doesn’t think he should have to pay for an expensive fence, because vagrants would cut through it. He’s tried to lock some of the trailers, but people have broken the locks.
So the people who live around Whiteheart’s property are left with an eyesore. “This is a pretty good neighborhood,” one woman said. Whiteheart should just clean up his property, she said.
Indeed.
Put up the fence, Commissioner Whiteheart. Buy stronger locks. Do whatever you have to do to secure and clean up your property. It’s an embarrassment to the city and to the office you hold.
And just be thankful you’re not going to spend time in the Randolph County jail.
