Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Deborah Greene Won't Let Go of the Scenic Byway

At last night's County Commission meeting, the Commissioners heard from their semi-official agent provocateur Deborah Greene in the "public comment" section of the meeting. Ms. Greene is single-handedly carrying forward the Commissioners' program to overturn the state DOT's designation of the Doc & Merle Watson Highway as "scenic."

Ms. Greene, famous for rallying citizens against zoning, against Sue Sweeting and Pat Wilkie, and against the "scenic" designation, announced her intentions last night to file with the state of North Carolina for an administrative law review of the DOT decision, and she asked the commissioners to help her gather her evidence.

Ms. Greene, who can spot a conspiracy a mile away, plans to spin a tale-and-a-half about the Committee of 100, the DOT, and assorted outsiders who have "impeded" her rights by banning billboards from the new road.

But don't sell this particular propagandist short, despite how non-linear and unfocused her public utterances tend to be: administrative law appeals tend to bend over backward on behalf of citizens' complaints, and if the DOT did not follow proper procedure on this scenic designation, rest assured that Deborah Greene will find it out and expose it exhaustively. (And pity the poor administrative law judge who has to listen to her argument and follow the scenic byways of her logic.)

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