By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The Carter County fiscal court convened a hearing to discuss the removal of Buck Road (CR 1617H, length 0.11 miles) from county maintenance last Wednesday (October 30, 2024). During the hearing landowners of property along the road in question were allowed three to five minutes to express their opinions on whether or not the road should be removed. The first resident to address the court was Jamie Lou Rodkey, who began by reading a statement from her husband who she said was not allowed to be at the meeting.
“My name is Corey Rodkey, and my wife and I adamantly oppose the removal of Buck Road from the county road maintenance schedule,” Rodkey read from her husband’s statement.
The statement addressed the fact that the Rodkeys paid taxes and that they deserved to have good road conditions when they called emergency services.
“Our neighbor, however, is of the opinion that Buck Road should be dissolved because she does not like the shape or path of the road, including its turnaround, which she herself has blocked with green fence stakes, tree limbs, and yard waste,” Rodkey noted.
“Those reasons are not enough to risk our health, safety, and welfare for ourselves, extended family, and loved ones,” the statement continued. “We have health issues and deserve to have snow cleared and potholes fixed so that we can get to a hospital if necessary.”
The statement went on to say that Corey Rodkey had been present at the August fiscal court meeting and voiced the opinion of himself and his wife.
“But in the October meeting our neighbor gave a ten-minute rant which was full of lies, full of slander, and was not on topic at all about the removing of Buck Road from the county maintenance schedule,” Rodkey’s statement read.
In the statement, Rodkey also quoted comments on ordinances from the September fiscal court meeting listing the requirements per ordinance that any county road that dead ends must have a turnaround. Rodkey’s statement proposed ‘in the spirit of cooperation’ an alternative solution of having the turnaround be set at the end of the Rodkey’s lower driveway. The Rodkeys stated that it was already being used as such, with half on their property and half on the neighbor’s property. The statement asked the court to clearly mark and maintain that turnaround for the good of all neighbors.
“I don’t like bullies either,” the statement continued. “We’re not the bullies. We are the ones being bullied. We have reviewed both the September and October videos of these meetings and can’t go ten words at a time without our neighbor identifying another lie. Whoever lies best should not be allowed to win any argument. We however have come armed with truth on every one of the lies stated, if we be given the same platform and red carpet or audience that she enjoyed.”
In that vein, the statement accused Cynthia Anderson, after her return from Florida in late July of 2024, of habitually calling law enforcement at least ten times, blaming the Rodkey’s for, “all her problems.”
According to the statement, all law enforcement reports were deemed unsubstantiated. The same statement included the Rodkey’s belief that they were being bullied by law enforcement on the neighbor’s behalf.
“She has spread her lies to so many law enforcement entities that when we call for legitimate complaints, with which we try to show evidence, we get denied service,” the statement said. “We don’t get to file reports on harassment, stalking, and voyeurism, as evidenced by the October 14 meeting video.”
In his read statement, Rodkey accused the fiscal court of giving Anderson a platform to dispense lies and slander that had nothing to do with the removal of the road issue. The statement also accused the Carter County Times of abuse and slander on behalf of the Andersons.
“Yes, she has taken me to court on trumped up charges,” the statement read, accusing Anderson of attempting to win her case in the court of public opinion. The statement then reiterated the position that the Rodkeys were not the bullies, but rather those being bullied.
“Ms. Anderson saw that she had an audience October 14 that included community leaders, the county sheriff, county prosecutor, and local newspaper reporter and took opportunity to spew her venom. But that does not make anything she said during the October meeting true,” Rodkey’s statement explained.
The statement directly accused both Anderson and the reporter from the Carter County Times of slander, libel, and defamation of character. The statement continued, denying accusations of assault or harassment on the part of either Rodkey. It also demanded an apology from both the Andersons and the Carter County Times.
Following this reading, Jamie Lou Rodkey read from her own prepared statement. In that statement Rodkey offered pictures and videos she said disproved the accusations from her neighbor. Her statement also included accusations of slander by the fiscal court and the Carter County Times, and calling the court hypocritical for opening the meeting with prayer and allowing “slander.”
The reading of statements from both of the Rodkeys exceeded the three to five minutes allowed by the court, coming in at more than 20 minutes in total length, and Rodkey was reminded multiple times that she was exceeding her allotted time. After continuing to speak over multiple admonitions that she had exceeded her limit of speaking time, Rodkey became insulting to the court and the newspaper reporter, began using profanities, and was ejected from the meeting.
(Editor’s note: Our original story on the Buck Road dispute did not identify either Corey Rodkey or Jamie Rodkey by name, and only reported on the statements made by Cynthia Anderson during an open public meeting. Our reporter has further stated that his efforts to offer the Rodkeys a chance to respond were also rejected.)
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
