Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Ms. Gaither was so eager to disparage supervisor Dave Jones in her letter (“Mathews County and Williams Wharf,” Sept. 1 Readers Write) that she ignored the facts that supported Jones’s statements. Mathews County was indeed the owner of three parcels at Williams Wharf, two for 17 years and a third for eight years. The county did give the land to the Mathews Land Conservancy (MLC) as reported in the March 29, 2012 Gazette Journal article, “Mathews supervisors turn over ownership of Williams Wharf.”

It all came about because a private individual in 1995 deeded two properties to the county (Deed Book 193, page 484) and the Mathews Land Conservancy itself in 2004 deeded the third in Instrument No. 06-2141. Whether the purpose of giving the land to the county was to gain tax advantages for the individual and secure grants for the Mathews Land Conservancy project, or some other reasons, isn’t the point.

The county received $10 and a conservation deed of ease...