In Focus

I think this weather is driving people insane.

Like many, I too am looking forward to warmer days and no snow. I would really like to get my Christmas decorations out of my yard at some point.

I think the weather is causing already tense situations to become even more explosive.

I covered three city council meetings and a commissioner meeting in the span of two days. That should give you an idea of how many meetings I cover per month. That can be a headache in itself. What’s worse is all of them had some sort of conflict going on which can make things more difficult. The last thing I want to do is listen to elected officials constantly bicker with each other.

A few things I noticed that these people have seemed to forget:

They were elected by the people to represent them, not their own petty self-interests.

Ordinances need to be enforced, not ignored or kicked down the road.

Personal conflicts with other officials need to be put aside and dealt with properly instead of making a show out of how much one person dislikes another.

The people voted you in, you can just as easily be voted out, or even petitioned for your removal.

Time and again I have witnessed officials make bad decisions because they don’t want to make anyone mad. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. You were elected to do a job and your decision cannot be swayed by someone who is upset.

These meetings are held to discuss business...it’s not a coffee hour.

I can go on but I won’t...

One of the biggest things I need to remind people is I DO NOT work for the cities, counties, or school boards. They have zero say in how my articles are written and what is included in them. They are public meetings. Anything that is discussed at these meetings can be printed in my articles. Feel free to attend any of these meetings at any time.

I can only hope it’s the weather causing this surge of unsettled bickering. Otherwise, some people need to rethink why they ran for office in the first place.