Feb 28, 2007 2 min read

I would like to ask Ms. Rebecca Reed exactly what Fayette County Commissioner Joseph Hardy must do to be “deserving” of any honor. Mr. Hardy has invested money and time and energy into Fayette County that up until the present time no one else has seemed to find necessary. I was born in this county. In the 1980s I had to move away to find work to support my children. Fayette County was devoid of any real work for my husband. Main Street was mostly abandoned. There was very little to sustain a family in all of Fayette County.

I moved back here several years ago to find that Hardy had contributed a huge sum, not only monetarily, but also his time and energy, to turning this county around. Nemacolin Woodlands brought in jobs, and sports events that brought with it tourists, and their money, which benefited local county restaurants and shops.

The downtown restoration was a Godsend heavily invested in by Joseph Hardy. It has been taken from a run-down ghost town to a quaint “Main Street USA” complete with shops, culture, and history that businesses would be attracted to. I am proud to tell people that my family is from Fayette County again.

I suppose that because Mr. Hardy is wealthy or because he may have benefited professionally from his works could be construed by some unhappy people as a “plot” to achieve some hidden personal agenda. However, if viewed with a clear eye one must see that as a businessman Mr. Hardy must always work toward keeping his dealings viable to enable him to continue to projects that he is working on and also benefit Fayette County.

I just have a difficult time understanding why, if a person is successful and wealthy, that it precludes them from having honorable dealings with and simply improving the situation in Fayette County.

Mr. Hardy did not and does not owe Fayette County. Fayette County owes Mr. Hardy much for improvements he has contributed to, both monetarily and with ideas and his time.

Teena Miller

Allison