Ken Larsen's web site - March 7, 2017 DOLRT speech to BOCC by Shannon Stephenson

     

I’m Shannon Stephenson.

 

This is my first time coming to a BOCC meeting.  I’m grateful to you for everything that you do.

 

I signed up, because I was afraid that no one would be representing the concerns of me and my neighborhood, and there are so many people who have represented it so much more eloquently than I have that I was going to stand up and say “pass”, but I have a couple of neighbors who encouraged me to at least say a couple of things.

Aldersgate United Methodist church is at the end of our neighborhood.  Aldersgate will not exist if this occurs.  We are a neighborhood that believes … from everything who I’ve talked to …strongly believes in public transportation and in a light rail system … but not this one. 

If our neighborhood is going to take the hit, then this light rail system really needs to serve the people who need to be served.  This, to me and many, is a light rail system that is based on dated studies of 15-501.  15-501 is indeed a nightmare, but so is I-40, and there are many people who live in Efland, and there are many people who live in Chatham County who are trying to get here to work and to receive care, and it seems that this plan has not at all been adjusted to serve any of those people.  In fact, it seems as though that this is a plan that was created, and there was a time when it was brilliant and it was great and was going to serve the people who need to be served, but it now feels that there are some who are hell bent on having it go through whether it makes sense or not in its current plan.

 

I thank everyone who has spoken before me.

 

I also request that there be a public hearing.  It just seems like we’re trying to rush through a request from you that at this point that has not taken into consideration so many many important things that we do need to consider.

 

 

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