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Lately I have taken to asking town
employees – not the department heads or
chiefs, just the Indians – where they
live. The answer, except for those few
who have been with the town 20 years and
more, is Youngsville or Granville,
Franklin and Johnston counties.
Why? Because they cannot
afford to live in the town that employs
them. The town has competitive wage and
salary schedules. The problem is not the
pay, though I am sure every employee
would be happy to make more.
The problem is we have
priced the employees we should value –
engineers, police men and women,
firefighters – out of this town. We are
in the midst of a house-building
explosion, but there are no truly
affordable, truly attractive homes for
these people who work for us.
We have not made that a
priority. In fact, it is not even
mentioned when subdivision master plans
are reviewed. Why not?
There are hundreds of ways
to build attractive, reasonably-priced
homes in well-designed settings. We have
just not demanded it be done. I believe
it is time we did. |
