Many residents of Highway 108 have expressed their constitutional right to oppose the widening of the roadway for bike paths.

My lifetime of political activity leads me to suggest that they organize some sort of ad hoc group, but not allow policy differences within the group to become personal power struggles to see who is the baddest alpha.

Personally, I favor bike paths. Before I moved down here, I rode my three-speed Raleigh bike to work in the spring and fall, but I left it behind when I relocated to Polk County and its rather narrow roads.

The question that occurs to me is will the proposed widening of 108 and a network of bike paths be good for Polk County? All other considerations pale before this.

In my lifetime, I have observed that no political party — or group of people — has any monopoly on uncaring, power hungry jerks; by the same token, no party or group has any monopoly on good-hearted people who sincerely care for the “greatest good for the greatest number.”

Bill Holcomb, Tryon