Small town politics
The first rule of small town politics is "Don't make enemies." Well that goes for not only for politics but for simply living in a small town. One of my tenants has found that out the hard way. He made an enemy of his last boss. The boss belongs to an old-time county family with connections that run wide and deep. Result: my tenant can no longer find a job as he has been black-balled and now has to leave town.
On May 5th we're having a special election in spite of the fact that our regular elections will be two weeks later on May 19th. It's going to cost $60,000 which is not peanuts in our neck of the woods. (That's what it costs to grade and spread gravel four times a year on the two miles of road that leads to our farm.) The special election is to vote on whether to recall one of our local pols or not. I'm dead against it. It's a complete waste of money, it is splitting the community into factions and the hard feelings may never be healed.
I have had to work with the pol who is the target of the recall on our Local Improvement District for paving the farm road. I originally voted for him because he is not one of the Democratic Party "good ol' boys" who have controlled the county for generations but I've got some problems with him.
He has sided with a bunch of people who want to get rid of the "good ol' boys" network but what they want to replace it with is not much better. Like the "good ol' boys", the newbies also do not have any real respect for democracy. He waffled when I asked (at a public meeting) for actual costs and he brushed aside my request for a list of addresses so that I could get real input from my neighbors about the project. A Local Improvement District is meant to be a grassroots democratic effort not something to be manipulated by politicians. But, despite my problems with this particular pol, I am still not in favor of recalling him. He's a Republican and a fiscal conservative.
The recall effort started because he laid off 22 of 31 county road-workers. Yes, they are unionized. The guy who started the recall effort used to be a member of their union until he took a management job with the roads department but his sympathies still lie with the union and he is very much a member of the Democratic Party "good ol' boys" network. He also happens to be the son of my very closest friends who are an old-time county family.
We are having dinner with them just before the election and I'm not sure how to be tactful about my opposition to the recall. Obviously they are loyal to their son. I may have to just say that I have not yet made up my mind and hope that suffices. My friends are Democrats but they're conservative and pretty much vote Republican most of the time - even more since I've known them and "educated" them on certain issues. I sure am glad for secret ballots.
On May 5th we're having a special election in spite of the fact that our regular elections will be two weeks later on May 19th. It's going to cost $60,000 which is not peanuts in our neck of the woods. (That's what it costs to grade and spread gravel four times a year on the two miles of road that leads to our farm.) The special election is to vote on whether to recall one of our local pols or not. I'm dead against it. It's a complete waste of money, it is splitting the community into factions and the hard feelings may never be healed.
I have had to work with the pol who is the target of the recall on our Local Improvement District for paving the farm road. I originally voted for him because he is not one of the Democratic Party "good ol' boys" who have controlled the county for generations but I've got some problems with him.
He has sided with a bunch of people who want to get rid of the "good ol' boys" network but what they want to replace it with is not much better. Like the "good ol' boys", the newbies also do not have any real respect for democracy. He waffled when I asked (at a public meeting) for actual costs and he brushed aside my request for a list of addresses so that I could get real input from my neighbors about the project. A Local Improvement District is meant to be a grassroots democratic effort not something to be manipulated by politicians. But, despite my problems with this particular pol, I am still not in favor of recalling him. He's a Republican and a fiscal conservative.
The recall effort started because he laid off 22 of 31 county road-workers. Yes, they are unionized. The guy who started the recall effort used to be a member of their union until he took a management job with the roads department but his sympathies still lie with the union and he is very much a member of the Democratic Party "good ol' boys" network. He also happens to be the son of my very closest friends who are an old-time county family.
We are having dinner with them just before the election and I'm not sure how to be tactful about my opposition to the recall. Obviously they are loyal to their son. I may have to just say that I have not yet made up my mind and hope that suffices. My friends are Democrats but they're conservative and pretty much vote Republican most of the time - even more since I've known them and "educated" them on certain issues. I sure am glad for secret ballots.
posted by Joubert at 8:40 AM
The Alliance
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