District 2 Supervisor
Although just south of District 2 borders, Jim congratulates the Holman's Creek volunteers and citizens for their tremendous work in reducing pollution in that area. He credits much of their success to their "practical, common sense approach" in recognizing that continuous progress toward cleanup, even a little bit at a time, is better than allowing it to continue. Jim cites the Holman's Creek cleanup as a positive example of public-private partnership. He credits their success to a combination of citizen participation, education, voluntary agreements, and the group's ability to cut through red tape and inflexible regulations to effect positive results. Jim realizes that there may be other areas in the county, including his own District 2, that may need remediation and cleanup. Jim assures us that he would use Holman's Creek as a model for other areas if the need develops.	Straight Talk on Our Environment   The issues of clean water and land cannot be separated from the county's budget. Rampant government growth creates ever-increasing demands for tax revenue, which even rising property tax can't satisfy. Financial responsibility and environmental responsibility go hand-in-hand.   As a child Jim Patrick helped make a radio advertisement urging clean-up of a polluted river near his home. The river was a disgusting mess: raw sewage discharged directly into the river, garbage dumps lined its banks, and there were days when the entire surface of the watercourse was solidly covered with filth from shore to shore. The river is cleaned now, but not before several people crossed the half-mile from shore to shore by walking across on the garbage and debris. Jim uses this illustration because many people forget -or are to young to remember- the tremendous progress made in cleaning our environment. Jim is committed to responsible spending, reduced regulation, and economic progress; excellent goals that fit with preserving and protecting our natural resources. "I am a conservationist. Always have been, always will." Nobody wants to see reduced regulation allowing harm to the environment, but the Erosion and Sediment ordinance is just one example of useless, senseless bureaucracy at its worst. Running to eleven pages, the ordinance prohibits any 'land-disturbing activity' but immediately makes enough exceptions to drive several bulldozers through. Its main function is to collect license fees for issuing permits, and provide employment for license inspectors, reviewers, and administrators. That's the senseless bureaucracy part. Soil erosion and sedimentation are serious concerns. But the four thousand-word regulation is a (very fat) toothless tiger. It simply doesn't prohibit causing or allowing erosion. It doesn't provide for cleanup or remediation. It even protects polluters as long as they follow permit rules! It's useless.   Slowing down industry, at extra expense to taxpayers, while providing no actual protection to our natural environment is the worst of all worlds; but it's what we have. Shenandoah County can do better, and it deserves better.   With his manufacturing background, Jim Patrick knows countless industries that produce no pollution, whose only water use is for employee restrooms or lunchroom sinks. Existing Shenandoah County policies offer little or no reason for these manufacturers to locate here, but Jim believes it would not take much effort to turn that around.