A Better South Walton might get more support if they actually came out in opposition to some of the issues that appear to be of substance in SoWal.
Customary Use is a hot topic and it doesn't help that there is controversy with one of their members in favor of it and in the past, actively spoke out about his favoring it. Rosemary Beach just filed a law suit against the county and the commissioners over this very thing.
My tax dollars going to C. Jones and her desk are one of those issues. It is disgusting and very telling of who she looks out for, herself.
I also feel they'd get some additional traction if they looked at having their own Public Safety and not being so quick to contract with the Sheriff's Office.
But back to the desk, it really is sickening...
As Teresa mentioned in the original thread regarding the First Responders (Sounding the Alarm) this has nothing to do with SoWal. They have pretty up to date Stations with the proper equipment and are run very efficiently.
This is however about what people could have in North Walton if we all had a government who cared less about their next election and themselves and more about the people they were elected to serve. It is about fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars and how that money ($5 million dollars) and those grants could have better served their constituents. I know people will infer I'm wrong for saying we should all want what's best for the County rather than dividing us by a bridge but I think we all agree we want better government.
How can we have a better government if we don't expose the weaknesses that are ever present in our current one? What right do we have to complain about how bad it is without exposing the fraud, waste and abuse that if stopped would make it better for all of us?
Whether we like the stories about our current elected officials or not they need to be told. They are true and are all a matter of PUBLIC record. The people with the fattest wallets in the County need to stop buying elections and stacking our boards with people who will do their bidding. Life isn't just about what's best for the rich in the south and to hell with those poor folks in the north. It doesn't have to be this way! We are one county and when we start to act like it and stop repeatedly making the same mistakes by voting for these folks over and over again maybe meaningful change will have a chance.
People need jobs in North Walton but again because elected officials and those who lead them around by the nose and are remiss to change, they don't want opportunities for their constituents, they want to keep us that backward, quaint, little rural community, that is what we still are.
Do we have people in our community with food insecurities? Yes Mike Jones we do....either because they are sick, disabled, elderly, drunks or drug addicts who would rather get high than eat but maybe just maybe if there were jobs and opportunities for them we wouldn't have homeless shelters to open here when the temps drop below freezing only to turn them back out into the weather after the storm.
Just maybe, if we had spent that $6000.00 or that $5 million in our Community where it would have been better spent making sure that the people who we depend on for our safety and our lives were safe first, the $6000.00 desk would not even be an issue!