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StarFifty-Three. Remember that number. It is the number of elected officials in McCulloch County.

They manage a combined budget over $50 million a year. Remember that number too. It is what the 8,000 citizens of McCulloch county pay, one way or another, for local government services. Local government is by far the largest employer in McCulloch county. It is big business.

Fifty-three civic-minded citizens in MCulloch County take the time and make the effort to serve on two city councils, three school boards, a hospital board and manage County government. Only the twelve elected County positions pay a full-time salary. Forty-one of those jobs are un-paid, voluntary community service. Take time to find out who these fifty-three are, say "thank you" and treat them respectfully.

Most, if not all, will discuss what they are doing and why they are doing it. A discussion is respectful, and it goes both ways. They won't, and shouldn't, tolerate personal abuse, chronic complaints without reasonable solutions, or hysterical rants. If you don't like them personally or agree with what they do, offer your own time by running for election against them. If you win, you will feel the same way.

Most registered voters will not or can not (same result) take the time or make the effort to hold local office. Finding qualified candidates for all the local offices is difficult at best. Making it even more difficult and sometimes impossible to find good people willing to run is the fact that local political campaigns usually revolve around personalities instead of principles.

Filing for local office seems to unleash a flood of vicious personal attacks and counter attacks. Most decent, qualified people will not run for office in McCulloch county because of it. Allowing this to happen is a community-wide moral failure. When we listen to it, repeat it or even tolerate it we abandon our principles. Here is an excerpt from a previous article entitled "Principles, Not People":

What are the principles we have abandoned? They fall into the three categories mentioned above: Moral, Political and Business.

 

In the moral category, we have forgotten to love one another. We have forgotten to be absolutely honest, compassionate, respectful, tolerant, and forgiving. We have forgotten to be good stewards of the magnificent gifts given to us by God's grace and we have forgotten to be grateful. We are more concerned with getting than giving and are poorer for it.

 

In the political category, we have forgotten the founding principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the USA. We argue about the letter of the law, forget the spirit of the law and twist it for personal gain. We forget that the people own the government and that the government does not own the people. We forget that public officials (whether elected, appointed or hired) are servants, not masters. We forget that the law applies to all citizens equally and seek special favors for ourselves.

 

In the business category, we have forgotten the very definition of money. Money represents real goods and services. It is created by making real things and providing services that people value. It cannot be “created” out of thin air. We forget that borrowed money is a claim on future labor and we only have so much of that. We have forgotten that if we fail to repay as promised, then we are liars and thieves. We have forgotten that we can only consume as much as we produce. We have forgotten that our wants are unlimited but our ability to produce is limited. We have forgotten how to set priorities on our spending. We have forgotten the terrible high price of “free” in liberty, freedom, dignity and self-respect.

 

These principles are not foreign to the people of Brady. By just remembering what we have forgotten, we can bring our community together in common cause. Our public officials will fall in line if we insist on it.

 

Liberty and peace require eternal vigilance. Maybe that is the main principle we have forgotten. Get involved.

 

 

Sense and Nonsense Is dedicated to providing the information, ideas and interaction necessary to build a community of people who can be trusted and who trust each other.