OPINION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Concerns about de-annexation
Nov. 3—On the issue of annexation of Southern Laurel County, Sentinel Echo articles 10/04 and 10/18/2023: Throughout this whole ordeal, the citizens of Southern Laurel County were never asked or took into consideration over annexation. Obviously, London is in Laurel County and is our county seat and most citizens of Southern Laurel had minimum concerns with London annexing to exit 29 and the area businesses that requested to be annexed. We felt like London would handle things responsibly and do what was in Southern Laurel's best interest.
The fact is the citizens of Southern Laurel have never wanted any part of Corbin in Laurel County. It is just mind boggling that three members of London City Council and [the] mayor would just abruptly quit in the fourth quarter of the game after having the lead and the ball and just walk off the field in disgrace after going through all this effort of annexing, lawsuits, legislators, Supreme Court, etc.
The former mayor had some excellent goals for London and Laurel County and he and the city attorney showed some real leadership which is truly lacking now. The city attorney along with three other council members apparently were shocked at this being brought up for a vote and it sounds like they wanted to continue on with the annexation and lawsuit that they strongly felt they had a good chance of winning...
With this current London mayor, there were red flags from the beginning well before he ran for office. He was a newcomer to London — Laurel County and didn't know anything about London or Laurel County history. He spent thousands and thousands of dollars to get elected; no other candidate could come close to him financially. Along with the mayor and his family's affiliation to the Democratic Party, and what appears to be favorable political contributions, should have raised red flags for a lot of people. I'll bet the mayor would get a backbone if Corbin tried to annex the property his business sits on.
The mayor and three council members let southern Laurel County down, and demonstrated no leadership or courage on this matter in their failure to continue what they started by dropping annexation and lawsuit that without a doubt throws the citizens of southern Laurel County under the bus and feeds them to Corbin... Yes, London can go back to the way it was before all this started but the sovereignty of Southern Laurel County will never be the same again. Maybe the citizens of London will be able to see through all the money the next time and vote this mayor out of office in the next election, and this includes the three council members who let us down as well.
Laurel County/London deserves a mayor that is a true Laurel Countian who is knowledgeable of Laurel County history, has leadership skills and the ability to do the job... Corbin has little to offer Laurel County that we don't already have, but Corbin is good at offering alcohol sales which will raise taxes and create other problems. Now that Corbin has a grip on Laurel County, they will not stop at just annexing businesses. Watch out North Corbin, Lily and Keavy. Like a roaring lion, Corbin is coming your way to take whatever benefits Corbin.
Longtime Sentinel Echo Reader, and longtime citizen of Laurel County and soon to be a citizen of Corbin.
Thanks,
Edwin Harrison
North Corbin, KY 40701
