Column for June 25, 2009

K.I.S.S. No, I am not referring to a great rock band. Remember that saying? Keep It Simple, Stupid! How hard is that? Keep things as simple as possible. Often, the old ways can be the best. Perhaps old ways have become old for a reason; they work.

Simple things can go a long way. A little simple affection from a spouse or child can go a long way. A little simple maintenance on a car can also go a long way. Simple things in town can go a long way. I want to share some simple things with you that have been of great benefit and something not so simple that is a bane to all North Carolina citizens.

Here in Selma, there are some things being done for the very purpose of simplification. If you have been reading this newspaper, you have seen advertising for public hearings on proposed changes to town ordinances. Many of them are for the better. A few, not so much, and I have pointed those out in past articles.

Some of the simplification for the better include the town's Planning Department attempting to get rid of the complex charts and tables in the town code for zoning regulation. Since I have been on the Planning Board for a while, I have had the privilege of seeing some of the work being done to that end. It is good to see some common sense and simplification. Keeping things simple and comprehensible will make code compliance and enforcement much easier.

Tangential to that is the performance of some simple things that go a long way to enhance the town's image. As you may have read, the town has worked to put a little more bite into its enforcement of the ordinance prohibiting tall grass growth in town. That is a simple thing that helps neighborhoods to look better and preserve property values.

One of the worst offending properties of this ordinance is right next door to me. The house used to be nice but is abandoned and in a state of disrepair. Every summer, I have to contact the town several times to complain. A $50 dollar fine is not going to get an absentee property owner to cut their grass. The town added hourly fees for labor to mow properties that are out of compliance. Perhaps that will help get action by property owners. If not, at least the town can continue to mow the lawns when they are out of compliance and keep the town looking better, all the while billing neglectful property owners.

I had conversations with property owners in times past about this concept. I am all for private property rights. I believe my record on this is clear. However, the rights of a property owner end where my property rights begin. Tall grass up to my chest is unsightly, is a breeding ground for insects, mice, and snakes, and affects the property values of neighboring tracts. I did not by a house next to the Muster's haunted mansion. I bought a house next to a house that at one time was fairly nice. Because of total neglect by absentee owners, that property and its lot have become a barren wasteland. That affects me. I have more problems now with fleas than ever before because of the jungle next door. If I choose to relocate, I will have a harder time than normal selling my house if tumbleweeds and prairie grass are blowing in the wind next door.

To the town council of Selma, I give thanks for their action on that issue. There are plenty of other simple, inexpensive things we can do as a town to improve. I only wish the State of North Carolina had the same view.

I read that Governor Perdue is calling for higher taxes "to save" education. If money was the solution, then we would have the best educated students in the entire world. We spend a tremendous amount of money on education in North Carolina and across America. Yet we get comparatively low results for those dollars. Obviously, the answer is much simpler than throwing money at the problem.

Instead of K.I.S.S. principles, we hire more principals. Instead of returning to rudimentary, time tested methods of teaching, we return sometimes untested and unqualified educators to the classroom and demand more money for their retention. Instead of operating on minimum staffing, we acquiesce to teachers' unions and settle for minimum results with maximum staffing. We obviously need to simply K.I.S.S. the current education system goodbye and stop robbing both taxpayers of their money and students of their education. Simplicity goes a long way.