LETTERS: Writer takes issue with editorial years ago
To the Editor:
In last week's Marion County Record some questions were brought up in the editorial that apparently need to be answered. I did a little stealth reporting of my own and determined the following:
1) What happened to shelters in the city of Marion?
Well, according to the article on the front page of the same paper there was a shelter available at Marion Manor. But with one simple phone call, I learned that there were also shelters available at the Marion Police/Fire Department and the Marion City Building (reporters from the Marion County Record were seen at the shelter taking pictures). A reporter from the Marion County Record was informed of the shelters by the city administrator and mayor and volunteered to personally contact KFDI to inform them.
2) "While other cities were calling special meetings, going door-to-door to check on residents, and calling the Red Cross, what happened in Marion?" The city crew that went to work at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, didn't go home until after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening.
After Westar shut off our power and sent their crews home to start fresh the following morning, the Marion city crews continued to work fixing downed power lines, cutting trees off power lines in the freezing weather conditions that caused the problems in the first place. So, when Westar did resume power, those that would have been without power, had power thanks to the hard work of the City of Marion.
The mayor was on hand answering phones at the city building, and the commissioners were all aware of the problem and one even made a trip to Hillsboro to meet with the Westar people about our situation.
According to the front page article of this same paper, our police officers did go door-to-door checking on residents and I confirmed this information with Chief Soyez.
If you will check out the article on Page 8 of this same paper you will see that Michele Abbott-Becker contacted the American Red Cross and due to icy road conditions they were unable to assist. Becker informed the city administrator of this information.
So what did happen in Marion?
City employees went above and beyond the call of duty (working 38+ hours straight) to insure a speedy recovery of power to all residents of Marion. The city office received hundreds of phone calls from residents without power (the logical place to call if you are out of power). The residents, neighbors, and friends of Marion also came together and did their part for the community.
The final paragraph of this editorial says "We'd all rest better if we knew the city was prepared for an emergency
We have an emergency plan in place, which may or may not need to be revised after this out-of-the-ordinary incident.
I think the City of Marion did an awesome job during the ice storm, and I personally, can't think of anyplace I would rather live. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no problems resting in Marion. I love this town!
Jami Williams
Marion
