I received this letter a few days ago, but was focused on the primaries so hadn't gotten around to printing it. Now that we can shift our focus to November, I think it's worth reading as a strong indictment of the Kilgore brothers, from a 1st District (Bristol) resident named Lewis Loflin.As a 1st District resident, I?m voicing my disgust with the Kilgore brothers. Terry Kilgore got a special interest liquor law passed, bypassing Washington County voters. He helped stab us in the back for a controversial development not even in his district, but that will cost all Washington County taxpayers -- $2 million in lawsuits and 50 poor families being thrown in the streets are the results so far of this stupid deal.
In addition, the claim of ?10,000 jobs? by the Tobacco Commission (Times-News March 29) Terry Kilgore chairs is nonsense. Information I got from VCEDA and the Commission annual reports for 2002-4 shows a pattern of waste and pandering to special interests.
One Bristol company got $500,000 for job creation, then fired 600 workers. Others jumped county lines, or were bad credit risks, or took advantage of the system.
Including LENOWISCO, all three often claim credit for the same jobs they can?t even verify directly. VCEDA for example claimed Nexus and Travelocity created 1050 ?new jobs? when the total was about 450 between the two before they both closed down. Many of those companies are gone, many tobacco grants are often pork barrel waste falsely called tourism development. Terry and his friends complain about Richmond not sending them prospects.
Jerry Kilgore whines that ?Kaine stole my plan? while his tax plan puts Southwest Virginia in danger. The failure of Jerry's twin brother Terry, VCEDA, etc. to create real private sector jobs has left us dependent on government jobs and programs. Disruption in revenues would have a massive impact. Remember the last Republican tax mess Mark Warner and Tim Kaine had to clean up? And that's not even mentioning the Gate City voter fraud fiasco involving their mother.
I?m voting Rex McCarty because he has a proven public record in our community. This is in contrast to Terry Kilgore, who lives in Richmond, is out of touch and ignorant about our issues -- including that special interest liquor license. We can?t afford ignorance or whining any longer.
Lewis Loflin, Bristol, VA
Note: Backing documentation for this editorial on this can be seen here