Dear Editor:
I am writing this in regards to the article in The Pocahontas Times, dated June 25, 2015, “Durbin Council Talks Trash.”
It was amusing to say the least where one of the Town employees said he wasn’t going to pick up trash because of unpleasant odors.
My question is, isn’t that part of his job requirements on trash pick-up days?
I’m well aware of his concern about trash bags having hypodermic needles in them. And, yes, people who use those needles (diabetics and others) should dispose of them properly.
If the statement is true in which Doug Currence wasn’t going to pick up trash because it had a foul odor, why didn’t the town officials reprimand or terminate him for not doing work that he was hired to do.
This is the type of things which make Durbin the laughing stock of Pocahontas County and West Virginia. As I read further into the article, I noticed the Town of Durbin had not paid past due federal taxes in the amount of $21,694.16 for the years 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Wasn’t Donald Peck the Mayor of Durbin during those years?
He has since stepped down and took the Town’s Treasurer position. What qualifications does he have?
The article stated Donald Peck and Rick Barkley had found no federal taxes had been paid for those years in question.
Were the taxes paid in 2012?
When taxes are withheld from employees wages, be they federal or state, they should be sent in quarterly or as required by the Internal Revenue Service or the West Virginia State Tax Department.
Were these taxes not shown on Financial Reports as being unpaid?
Did the mayor and members of the town council during those years not ask why these taxes were not paid?
Can the former mayor and council members, substantiate the fact they did not know federal taxes had been withdrawn from employees’ paychecks and subsequently not paid in a timely manner to the federal government for the years mentioned above?
This is why municipalities have Budget Plans and Financial Reports. Most of the town’s people pay their utility bills as required by the town ordinance, and some don’t.
Then to read something like this is like a slap in the face, and we are not supposed to notice or say anything.
I think it’s time for a federal investigation concerning how all financial business transactions were conducted for the Town of Durbin during 2010 and to the present date.
It is my understanding, once a candidate is voted into office, regardless of the position or party you are to represent all the people to the best of your abilities and not just a few individuals.
On a further note, as quoted by Samuel L. Clemens, “Politicians and diapers should be changed often, and for the same reason.”
As a resident of Durbin, West Virginia, I have the right to voice my opinion, and, yes, I voted.
Don Jennings
Durbin
