Albemarle residents need to unite

By Pat Fitzgerald

Published: May 8, 2008

It is important to understand that those of us in the rural areas are not at war with our urban brothers and sisters. We understand, and readily accept, the fact that all Albemarle County citizens exist in a delicate symbiotic relationship. Urbanites, tenants, small-lot owners and small- and large-tract farmers all share in the beauty and bounty that is Albemarle County, together.

Forever Albemarle is for all of us — for “we the people.” Residents of Albemarle, be they rural or urban, need not be engaged in the wasteful enterprise of battling one another. It is the fervent desire and hope of my heart that the group Forever Albemarle can be an instrument that unites residents, not divides them.

Benjamin Franklin stated, “We either all hang together, or we shall certainly hang separately.” We must come together and find an equitable vision for our county, one that is respectful of everyone’s rights. We must eliminate flip-flop decisions.

We the people do not deserve a county board that controls our fate but does not listen to its people. We the people must not allow a governing body that seemingly lacks a moral compass or rudder to take us any further into the dark waters of the abyss. We must all labor together to remove ourselves from the quagmire in which we now find ourselves.

History is littered with petty tyrants who achieved power through the chaos of pitting one group against another. We must not allow ourselves to fall into that trap. We must stand together in this time of crisis, a crisis that impacts every man, woman and child in this county.

Hank Martin

Albemarle County

Hank Martin is founder and chairman of Forever Albemarle.