I have been back here for eight years, so I have been through at least two cycles of elected officials. It does not seem to matter who is in office; they all behave the same general way...I am preplexed by the attitude.
Since its your party that runs things, perhaps you can enlighten me and anyone else on this board who is puzzled.
No longer
my party. I am just a member like most of south Walton. Do not get me wrong, I believe in the Republican principles, but I do have some serious concerns with the direction they seem to be taking. I had to give up the leadership position I was in to work on my own election. As for the lack of leadership in government. I have my thoughts. I think it is an addiction to power. A fear of offending and not be reelected that causes a bit of the problem. Maybe term limits in local elections could be the solution.
Like him or not, I feel that Representative Brown is a great example of what a true leader is. I have come to know him pretty well over the last 10 or so years, and it amazes me how the guy really stands for something when he believes in it. He does not worry about the repercussions, of which their have been many, but the fact that he will stand up, I believe it what leads him to being reelected at margins close to 80% repeatedly. I have never see the guy make a decision with reelection in mind.
Locally, the ones that I see take this same tact are Martha Ingle, Patrick Pilcher, Mark Davis and Mike Adkinson. The others, I think there is some thought about reelection in their minds when they make a decision. And since most of the others also read this board, at least someone is reading it and passing things along because of comments they have made to me about previous posts I have made, I do not fault them for it. But I really believe that if you are going to arise to be a true leader, you are going to have to look at the issues and the consequences and how they affect the citizens and not if this will be an issue to answer to in the future. I see and hear the citizens say they they will stand up for someone, anyone, that will lead them. People want leadership, they crave it. And there is a void in this community.
Also the memory of electors is so short and participation so slight, that you would have to really mess up for something to come back on you. For example, what Tim Pauls did with the blockade of his property at the school right there at election time.
And to my many elected friends, I want to apologize if I have offended. But I was asked a question, and those that really know me realize if they did not want to know how I feel, they should not ask.
One last thing. This can be changed. Deep down they really do want your involvement. But it is frustrating, even from someone like myself who is on the sidelines, to see so many get involved in some things, yet some other things, like building a new school, hardly get a second notice. We really need to work on instilling a sense of civic responsibility back into our community.