Editor, Gazette-Journal:

As a Mathews County supervisor, Janine Burns owes it to citizens to define the specific perimeter of the Mathews Court House Village area before voting in favor of any new county ordinances. Any ‘junk car’ ordinance or a ‘nuisance’ ordinance regarding old structures should be limited to specific defined geographic locations.

Our board of supervisors’ chairwoman has made her personal feelings of hostility toward a certain residential location public knowledge by expressing her feelings at a BOS meeting a year or so ago, as well as at a MPPDC meeting when she attended those. Both times I was present at these meetings. These new ordinances appear to be a vendetta on the part of our BOS chairwoman against a particular resident.

I would ask if anyone has tried to ‘help’ the owner of this particular location rather than threaten or bully this resident. If no sincere help has been offered then I suggest a new ordinance affecting the entire county is out of order.

Furthermore, elderly, disabled, and limited income residents should be exempted from all new ordinances. I certainly did not sign an agreement such as a ‘homeowner association’ may require when I moved into Mathews County. Mathews County is not a fancy upscale suburban type neighborhood. I believe the elderly, disabled, those on fixed incomes, and poor deserve to keep their land and modest homes no matter what the comprehensive plan dictates or any governing body says. The right to own property and live in peace, free of manipulating governing bodies, is a vital part of living in the American Republic.

Sharon Slaughter

Cobbs Creek, Va.