should the healing begin?

June 19th, 2008
Should the Healing Begin?
There was an article in the Leader Courier last week calling for the healing to begin. My question is how is this going to happen? Why should this happen now? Are the folks that won feeling a bit guilty? Do they feel sorry for us?
A company comes into this area buying up options on land and won’t say why. They swear the people who optioned their land to secrecy. When the word finally leaks out after they have obtained options on thousands of acres of land that it is going to be a refinery, the battle begins. Lives are disrupted; people who used to be friends are no longer speaking to each other. Very strong opinions on both sides believe their cause is just. A vote is taken and the county supporters of this monstrosity prevail, and the proponents of this endeavor are calling for a time to heal.
You’ve got to be kidding me! There may come a day when this will happen. I may forgive, but I will never forget the hell people were put through because there were people who said this is for the better good. It is a sad day when people’s greed, self indulgence and lack of feelings for their neighbors become the better good of Union County.
These folks that are saying it is time to heal are the same folks that accused us of holding the county back from economic progress. We were denying people jobs that were going to pay $20 - $30 per hour. These are the same folks that said we were stopping growth in the cities and towns in the Siouxland area. These are the same folks that claim unless we bring Hyperion into Union County this county will stagnate and our children won’t have decent paying jobs to look forward to. These are the same folks who reach out with their grubby little hands for the almighty dollar and could care less about those whose land and lives are in total chaos because of their actions.
Now they are calling for healing? What part of you have almost destroyed my life and my land don’t they understand? Maybe I am bitter about this whole thing, but I think after what we’ve been through we have a right to.
There is an old saying that majority rules, but at the same time one has to respect the rights of the minorities. Did they or do they respect our rights? I don’t think so.
This is not a done deal folks. We will fight them in the courts and we will prevail. Justice has its way of being heard. The lawsuit that was filed by Save Union County is still under advisement. Who knows, the judge might just come out and say that the claim is valid and we can proceed with our court case.
One of the things this election has brought to light is wondering if our elected officials are looking out for us. Is it possible they were influenced to vote the way they did by outside interests? How does ones district commissioner face their constituents and explain how they voted when during the election 70-80% of the people in their district voted in opposition? Has anyone asked their commissioner how he justified his voting on this issue? You might be surprised at the answer you get. I asked my commissioner. The answer I got is that he was really surprised at the vote.
Speaking of the vote, has anyone stopped to look at the overall picture of the voting pattern in this last election? I wasn’t surprised that the rural areas of the county voted against the application. I wasn’t surprised by the vote in Dakota Dunes. I was surprised at the vote in Beresford and Alcester. Do you wonder why they voted the way they did? When I was canvassing Beresford, the common denominator on why people voted yes was jobs and money.
Preston Phillips is on record as saying of the 1825 permanent jobs that will be available, 80% will be filled by people imported for those positions because we don’t have qualified people here to do their jobs and they don’t have the luxury of taking the time to train them. Do the math. So now we have everyone in a 100 mile radius competing for 365 jobs, not 1825. And for that you voted for this? I’m not making this up; I am quoting from the newspapers and the special research that was done just for Hyperion.
Economic growth is another factor. Hyperion will bring industry to the area. Yes it will, but not to the small towns. Why do you think Hyperion has options on over 12,000 acres? It isn’t just because the land is cheap it is because that is where the ancillary industries will be built. Do you think for a minute that Beresford or Alcester will be sites for these companies? It ain’t gonna happen folks.
I’ve done some research, and have come up with two possible companies that could be used as a general contractor for a project of this size. Coincidentally they are both located in Dallas, Texas. One is a company everyone has heard about because of situations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries in the mid east. The company is called Halliburton. They have been in the oil business a long time. The other company I’ve never heard of, but after doing research on them, they are the prime candidate. The company is called Fluor. You can read more about these companies by visiting their websites. www.fluor.com and www.halliburton.com
We’ve said many times that Hyperion does not have the money, manpower, or the resources to do this job. How does it sound now? This is scary!