Local residents call Blackwater 'good neighbor'

Residents of Moyock, North Carolina, overwhelmingly consider Blackwater to be a benefit to their community and responsive to their concerns, according to the Copley News Service.

Visiting Blackwater headquarters to see what the locals think, Copley reporter Paul M. Krawzak finds that the company is a major employer, pays a significant portion of local tax revenue, offers its services and facilities for free to county police and civic groups, and tries to accommodate citizen worries and concerns.

Krawzak's article appears in the San Diego Union Tribune, a Copley paper that serves San Diego County, site of a planned Blackwater training facility. Fringe groups have been protesting Blackwater and trying to pressure the community to reverse its decision to welcome the company to the area. Activists seek to punish planning board members who unanimously approved Blackwater's proposal to develop the area by holding a recall vote. Only one planning board member, who took office after the vote, opposes the company.