To The Editor:

Initially, I am writing to thank you (and other local media providers) for keeping the local news coming to us, the public of Johnston County, during these trying times. 

I have just been reading your article reporting the online Easter visit that your family experienced and I am reminded, again, how much change we all should be expecting as we come out of this pandemic.

You had previously written an article regarding the future look of retail and small businesses with concern as to how local retail businesses would rebound from these events. Your concerns seemed extremely timely as the retail environment has been evolving for quite a while with changes in consumer behavior and desire for product as well as Internet sourcing and the online purchase of merchandise. 

Your question as to the viability of "big box" stores is one to consider locally, as we have benefited from the presence of such stores in our area for some time now.  Will large shopping complexes be an item from the past after this coronavirus experience? If so, there is not only a consumer side to the answer, but an economic (employment) part to the answer as well.

The second article you provided dealt with the distribution of Chromebooks to the local student population. The school system has been handed the challenge of providing continued education to our students, with a minimum of preparation time to make this monumental change to our educational system and local philosophy. 

After these changes are made and the results are measured for effectiveness, will the school system continue to maintain its status quo on large schools, requiring large buildings and acreages for school activities?

If school for this year is not resumed before the conclusion of the school calendar, we Johnston County taxpayers will have supported buildings that have been vacant for nearly six months before the next scheduled use. Does the school board and other civic leaders think the taxpayers can or will stand for that situation to continue into the future?

If the current Internet education program turns out to be successful, can the school board expect taxpayers to support school bonds for the acquisition of land and construction of new "castles" of education in the future rather than making sure that all the students have a Chromebook, Internet access at home, and a well-developed supporting program for education?

Maybe we should just educate through the eighth grade in the traditional manner, with high school, early college, and trade programs managed individually at a student's home and away from a physical school.

I think that our return to "normal" life after the coronavirus experience will be shaped more by local decisions and actions than by what is determined in Washington.

I would like to see local civic boards and governments begin to discuss the "after-life" now, before we emerge from this period of disease, rather than later. Such discussions should be held in the light of public review.

Our priorities as a local society may have changed as a result of this plague.

Do we want better health care and protections for the people of Johnston County versus continuing to support a school system requiring continued significant financial support as a percentage of the county budget?

Do we want the practice to continue of converting farm land into subdivisions where houses are built with near-zero lot lines and large shopping centers are built while store vacancies exist down the street?

I do not pretend to have the answers, but I surely would like to hear from our sitting leaders and candidates for office as to how they think we should determine what items are our priorities and how to proceed to administer available funds to meet those priorities.

Perhaps all of us as members of the Johnston County population should be asking ourselves these questions that determine our quality of life.  

Of course, as history has shown, the burden and opportunity to facilitate these discussions and report the decisions rests with you and your fellow members of the local media. Keep up the good work!

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