I’m going to have to send my crystal ball out for a tune-up or even maybe a major overhaul. Boy, did I miss this one, or what?
It appears that the wave of the future in Hardin County is to maintain the status quo. Let’em do whatever they want, however they want. "Beam me up, Scotty!"
Well, the results of the Hardin County elections were, to say the least, astonishingly confusing and somewhat disappointing. But life goes on and we will have to play the hand we are dealt. I guess the bottom line is, what kind of a hand do we now have and how do we play that hand.
On the bright side, we have only about four years before the next opportunity to bring meaningful change to the governance of Hardin County, unless we take a serious look at Metro.
However, it seems apparent now that the CATS (Citizens Against Ted’s S _ _ _ (Stuff)) group is much bigger than I thought it was, or apathy and the grip of the good-ol-boys is stronger than anticipated.
As was noted in my fatal "Scouting Report" ad in The Courier that, "For what it’s worth, for years I was the butt of a standing joke at the Mayor’s office and the County Commission. That was, 'If Ted Cook is fur it, we’re agin it, and if he’s agin it, we’re fur it!' That may be the way it is at the courthouse, but I don’t think that’s the way it is in the county and I know for a fact that’s not the way it is in the Sixth District. The upcoming vote of the citizens will prove or disprove that assumption."
Well, I guess we got the answer to that assumption, even from my own district. They were right and I was wrong. It’s not a joke, it is a reality. So be it, but are we so afraid of change that we are willing to live without representative democracy?
It seems to be the plan to maintain the status quo, even though maintaining status quo is accepting the overruling of a legitimate vote by the majority of the voters in a public referendum.
The subject of the referendum does not matter, in reality.
It’s like, "forget the majority county vote, in my district/precinct the majority voted for the wheel tax, so we don’t have a problem with our commissioners ignoring the majority vote of the rest of the county." Adds new definition to the word neighbor and neighborhood.
I really believed that the citizens of Hardin County would deal with the problem if we could clearly and unequivocally prove that Hardin County government was not functioning as a representative democracy.
Come to find out, the majority of the voters in every district in Hardin County said, "So what? We won’t hold that against them," and returned 15 of the 18 county commissioners that sought reelection to office.
I have heard since the election that, "All we really want is peace and harmony. We just want everyone to get along and even if we have to admit we are wrong, even if we’re not, then let us do that in the name of peace and harmony."
Kinda like living in surrender mode because we were raised to be non-
confrontational. These are the same attitudes that would have had us speaking Japanese or German, if they had had the choice.
For years I heard, "the voters just don’t understand and most don’t really care because they have enough to worry about keeping the wolf away from their door, so they don’t have the time or desire to get involved in making an inform decision."
Sounds about right for Hardin County, but does that satisfy an American citizen’s responsibility to stay informed and participate? I don’t think so.
Unfortunately, some of my neighbors and friends are willing to sacrifice their own and their neighbors’ rights, in the name of "harmony" and that dreadful "go along to get along at all costs" attitude.
I’m going to have to tone down my optimism about some of the citizens’ willingness to stand up and be counted.
Ted G. Cook
Savannah
Our Readers Write, The Courier, 8/10/06
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