To the Editor:

The recent Liberty ads and its website support Republican candidates for local positions by telling untruths about Renee McDermott and Polk County government.

All three Republican candidates have stood silently by and accepted that support even trying to disavow any control over the ugly cartoons and website.

All three are friends with William Day, owner of the domain name for the Liberty website.

Two sat with Mr. Day at the recent public hearing on the UDO where people who tried to speak in favor of good land use planning were shouted down.

If the Republican candidates for commissioner really disavow William Day’s support in this election, they should publicly denounce the ads and apologize for them since they amount to politics of personal destruction. Further, they should admit that the ads are false and that the spreading of untruths and hatred should have no part in Polk County government.

One of the Republican candidates has even labeled Renee McDermott as an “environmental extremist;” she is not. Renee was an environmental lawyer who counseled large businesses like GM, Ford and Caterpillar on how to comply with environmental laws.

She organized Superfund cleanups, again representing large businesses. Large corporate clients do not hire environmental extremists.

However, Republican candidate Michael Gage, while on the Columbus Town Council, voted in favor of Columbus’ Mountain and Hillside Development Ordinance. Michael now calls Polk County’s ordinances extreme and “garbage” when in fact Columbus’ ordinance was much stricter than UDO’s draft.

Who is the real environmental extremist? Now our other two Republican candidates, Pack and Owens, have started working toward repealing the Mountain and Ridgeline Protection Ordinance before there is anything to replace it. That would leave Polk County’s beautiful mountains with no protection at all. Are these the government leaders you want for Polk County?

Please think about the kind of future you want for Polk County when you vote for your county commissioners in the November election.

Please vote for good, open, honest government and consider Renee McDermott, Emily Bartlett, and Russell Mierop for Polk County Commissioners.

– Steve King, Tryon