Dear Editor:
As the spouse of a retired telephone worker in another area, I cannot begin to tell you the number of times our phone would ring in the middle of the night advising us that there was a service problem, and it had to be taken care of immediately, and we had to go to a central office and work until the problem was resolved.
If there was any kind of problem, someone was working on it immediately; this was more than 30 years ago.
We have now been out of telephone and Internet service for days and have discovered that NO ONE was working on the problem because of a backlog of work orders. Also, no one works on the weekend, so if you have a problem near the weekend you can forget any help until the next week, if then.
Heaven help anyone who has any kind of 911 emergency because you are just out of luck.
It would be a little different if we had cell service as a backup, but even that is out of the question.
The service we are supposed to receive for the money we pay is beyond a joke.
It’s reprehensible in this day and age to have a problem with a public service and not have someone on the job immediately to deal with it instead of hearing, “We’re sorry, but there are hundreds of work orders on backlog, and it may be a week or more before we can get to you….”
Disgusting!
Del and Loronia Chors
Rimel
To the Editor:
I am writing in regards to the Pocahontas Board of Education’s plans to purchase and renovate property in order to relocate the Board offices to new quarters. Although I can sympathize with the desire of the Board and Central Office to upgrade their working environment, I don’t think this is the highest priority facing the school system at this time.
The Board currently has a $180,000 fund, accumulated from past flood insurance claims on the Board office, which it intends to use for this purpose. Although members of the Central Office have claimed that this money is “restricted,” and can only be used to renovate the current Board office or purchase a new one, they have not cited the particular law or rule that would make it so. If the Board does indeed have legal authority to spend the money on other priorities, I would urge them to engage the community in an open and honest discussion on what the greatest needs of the school system are and to act accordingly.
Ron Hall, Maintenance Supervisor for the school system, will be reporting on the status of repairs to the sprinkler systems at GBE/MS and MES at the next School Board meeting on September 11. It would be good to hear from him what further repairs to the sprinkler, fire alarm, or other systems at these schools are needed in order to ensure the safety and health of the students.
Sue Groves
Hillsboro