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Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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Ralph Roy Waggener: We need each other! By Ralph "Out of Order" Waggener Personal Commentary I decided back a few months ago to write an article on intelligence. After a few weeks of thinking about this I decided that that would be impossible. Two people with the same intelligence still don't see things the same way. Alton Feese, whom I met at our 50th ACHS class reunion told me recently after I talked to him about wanting to write this, that a preacher once explained in a good way. He told him that God made all of us different; he made some who could do some things that others could not do and gave others the ability to do different things. God made no one who's can do all things and that's why we need each other. At the Westlake board meeting that I attended for the first time ever, after Larry Smith and a couple of others had asked questions, I decided to ask a question and was quickly called Out of Order and was not allowed to speak. I know that any meeting needs some kind of order to it, but normally there is a time when people not on the Board have a time set aside for questions from the general public, but Westlake apparently has no such policy. After my try, Adair County Executive Judge Ann Melton attempted to ask a question and was called Out of Order as well. If I understand right, the county court members as well as the judge were invited to attend this meeting. I also understand that Westlake has always had this policy. This needs to change as well as the audits. We need to know what all our Taxing Districts are obligating Adair Co. tax payers to. Audits should be made by the Adair Co. Court and not by Westlake so this kind of mess can not happen again. Westlake's next administrator should be hired with a salary under $100,000.00 a year and have a performance and profit clause that would pay more - more for increased profits and also base on quality of care. To pay a salary of 200 or 175 thousand dollars whether Westlake makes a profit just makes no sense to me. We spent some $750 thousand dollars for Spectrum and with hindsight visible to us now, we got little results for what we paid them, losing some $3 million dollars under their watch. Again I have the advantage of hindsight that the board and chairman Jim Evans did not have so I don't lay blame on them, I do however, Spectrum. Mistakes were let be made for years and we as citizens and taxpayers as well as the board members of Westlake did nothing to stop the large salaries being paid to some employees, yet not to others who worked hard to make Westlake special. Some say we need not lay blame and start over, but I think we need to know how this happened so we can keep it from happening again. Anything we knew about West Lake was from gossip because that was the only way we had of getting any information. You know as well as I that we tend to take gossip with a grain of salt, we sort of believe but we are not sure what we have heard was the truth or just gossip. We need to put pressure on the Adair County Court and Judge Melton as well as The City of Columbia Mayor Harris and City Council to make it mandatory for all salaries and benefits from all tax financed salaries to be made public knowledge. Hiring high cost experts to take care of your money does not work; hiring someone that has the knowledge (degree or not) and the experience that will put their heart and soul into the job has to be a better choice. The Fiscal Court meeting following the WRH meeting had a question and answer session that people could vent their thoughts and to me seemed like an old time country revival and you could see the coming together of all who attended. -Ralph Roy Waggener This story was posted on 2012-08-26 06:34:24
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Commentary:
An FFA mom defends the program, supporters actions Foreign language is for FFA kids, too Why studying a foreign language is necessary Cheryl Wall: Westlake is much more than just the hospital Comment - Support Tax; put community first We are putting embattled hospital back on solid fiscal ground Joe Hare: We saw the people of Adair Co. pull together Ken Hill: Open debate foundation of this Country We need to know the Paul Harvey about Westlake Westlake Regional Hospital: Two angels watched over him View even more articles in topic Commentary |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
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