More than a year ago, Korean War veteran Oscar Valdes asked Cherokee County and the Town of Murphy to erect a new sign at Konehete Park to honor local U.S. military veterans. That sign still has not come to fruition, as it is has been tied up in government red tape and political wrangling.
Valdes had a sign designed that would read “Konehete Veterans Park” to replace the current crumbling sign, which was placed more than 40 years ago off Valley River Avenue.
First, the county sent Valdes to the town – and vice versa, of course. Then it was brought up that Konehete was a Native American word, therefore it could be insulting to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to add something to the name of the park. However, once consulted on the matter, the tribe not only was not offended, but expressed their support to honor veterans with the new sign.
Valdes, not one to give up easily, returned to county commissioners on Oct. 7 and asked why the sign still has not happened.
“Why all this fuss about a sign? It’s a lot of baloney. Veterans need recognition in this county,” he told the board.
Former Cherokee County veterans officer Jan Griggs also spoke, saying, “Oscar has been fighting this battle for more than a year,” and other counties have “beautiful monuments to honor veterans.”
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum – himself a veteran who just last month helped organize a ride in remembrance of Benghazi and 9/11, along with a patriotic mini-festival – said many things in the county have been done to honor those who have served.
In his response, Eichenbaum quoted The Rolling Stones, saying, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”
Instead of finally approving the sign, the board instead proposed changing the name of the eastern half of Connahetta Street – the part that runs through the park, albeit with a different spelling – as Veterans Memorial Lane.
This process involved a public hearing and for two-thirds of the property owners to sign off on the change. For the few residents who live there, this would mean address changes on everything they own.
All of this begs the obvious question – why did they not just make the sign in the first place?
This sign has been a political football that has been fumbled from here to Cherokee and back, but there is no logical reason why. What is to be gained be blocking the sign? It will not cost a significant amount of money, and there is no real downside. It seems unlikely that anyone on either the county or town boards would be against honoring veterans, which is why it’s perplexing that all of the elected officials in this case have seemingly tried to pass the buck someplace else.
This would have been a lot simpler if they had just made the sign and called it a win. Instead, we are into half-explanations and cryptic quotes from classic rock songs.
No matter how this turns out, an easy opportunity to honor those who protect our country has become an unnecessary controversy that no one wanted.
OUR VIEW: Failure to follow the signs
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