Letter to the Editor: Open Letter Urges 'Yes' Vote

Vote YES for the Community Bill of Rights amendment;

Vote YES to protect the value of your home and property;

Vote YES to keep Peters Township solvent and local businesses vibrant;

Vote YES for your right to make decisions about what happens in Peters Township;

Vote YES to take responsibility for our local environment;

Vote YES to protect the right to clean water and air for ourselves and our children;

and Vote YES to stand together against a system that is letting their privileges trump your rights.

Those who oppose the vote for community rights—many tied to corporate industry—portray the idea that communities having a say in their own future is dangerous and illegitimate. Are YOU dangerous and is YOUR opinion illegitimate? That’s what they’d have you believe.

In Peters Township, residents petitioned this fall to have a popular vote on a community bill of rights and fracking ban. But our elected officials believe they know better than you what’s best for us, and they filed suit to keep the initiative off the ballot.

They tried to stop you from voting and lost in court, but that didn’t end their meddling. Now they are spending your tax dollars, on behalf of gas drillers, to scare you into saying “no” to your own rights.

Could this be an illegal travesty? Could our township council be violating the Peters Township Home Rule Charter? Consider the following language taken from the charter and then consider the question:

Peters Township’s Home Rule Charter, Section 8.02., part A which states: “Prohibitions. No employee of the township shall take any active part in political campaigns or in political management, including the solicitation of political contributions, except with respect to the candidacy of himself or of a member of his immediate family.” 

Ask the township council about the six-page letter from Chesapeake and the 12-page letter from Range challenging the drilling ordinance council passed in August 2011.  

Range and Chesapeake are threatening to sue Peters Township over the council’s drilling ordinance.  

Five local communities (Baldwin, W. Homestead, Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills) have adopted a community bill of rights to ban drilling and none have been sued.  

Our amendment also protects Peters Township in the event that the amendment is challenged, in the language of the amendment we would revert back to the township ordinance.  

Some say adopting the amendment means taking legal risks. The risks of not adopting it are palpable, real and worse. And for people to NOT vote for their own rights is for them to acknowledge they do not have those rights. Should residents take that stance based on fear? If they do, then they have much more to fear than fracking. 

On Nov. 8, stand firm for our community and local environment, stand up against ineffective government regulations, stand in with other communities doing the same thing. 

Vote YES Nov. 8.

A NO vote is a vote of cowardice and surrender.

www.ptmsa.com is solely comprised of Peters Township residents, a community group, totally financed by Peters Township residents.

-Cathy Eddy, Peters resident

Editor's Note: Would you like to submit a letter pre-election 2011? Email andrea.bosco@patch.com your thoughts.