With apologies to the late, great, Rod Serling
“You
unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another
dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of
mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things
and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Elbert County Citizens’
Zone.”
If
you have a feather handy, you may want to hold on to it for just such
an occasion. You will actually be able to use your feather to topple
over many of us long standing pundits of the Elbert County political
scene who would never have believed any of this as a possibility. What
am I talking about? Well, in case you have not heard the amazing news,
Marlene Groves, the founder of the Facebook group Citizens by and for Elbert County
has convinced all six candidates running for county commissioners
positions into participating in a bipartisan, “meet the candidates”
event.
This is something that has not happened in many years in Elbert County politics, mainly due to the policies of the former Executive Board of the Elbert County Republicans. Republican leaders have held for some time now a logical position that because the Republicans have held a significant majority and there has little press coverage or opportunity by minority candidates to get their message out to the voting public, it made no sense to engage with the other parties. Logical from the standpoint that it was the Republicans who stood to lose votes if they were not required to engage the opposition whatsoever. Unfortunately, logic founded in a slow changing demographic does not always produce the best candidates even when the winning party is a foregone conclusion.
I
say this does not always produce the best candidates, not as a
complaint but more as an observation of the county’s downward financial
spiral and its lack of modernization of infrastructure that has become
the trend in Elbert County government over the past decade. The Elbert
County Republicans have not put forward candidates who have had much
training or experience in the past few election cycles even when bright,
qualified candidates were available to them. It appears for all
intents and purposes that loyalty to the local GOP was more desirable
than experience or trained qualities. But it is a tribute to the rank
and file of the local Republicans that change is in the wind.
The Facebook page Citizens by and for Elbert County
was started not by the local Democrats or Independents of Elbert
County, but by a staunch Republican woman who recognizes that everybody
deserves a voice in local governance. Not only that but the
administration of this group page embraced people of all political
stripes to participate. This was a move of confidence on the part of
their leadership. They are fully aware of the dominance of the
Republicans, but they also realize that ideas, good and bad, are not
wholly owned by any party. Nobody should be afraid of a good idea.
Is
this a a complete turnaround for the Republican leadership in Elbert
County? Far from it. The only venue that the Republican candidates
would agree was suitable is the Buffalo Groves Ranch out by the town of
Agate. This is hardly the best location for such an auspicious event,
and will likely insure a low turnout from the voting public because of
its remoteness. Nobody is kidding anybody about why this location was
deemed suitable, but the important thing is that it is going to happen!
That is the most salient point to this whole conversation. Republican
candidates are on board with this. They have committed to attend the
event along with their opponents and it is open to the public. That is a
huge first step toward Elbert County getting better candidates into
public office here in the county.
It
all depends on us, the voters in the county, as to whether we will
make any substantive changes in the status quo on just how local
politicians do their business. If we could get a hundred or more people
to show up for this type of event in such a challenging location, then
the message will have been sent. The people would be saying that they
are no longer satisfied to conduct business as usual which in the past
decade has meant that there is no way to see how the candidates stack up
when they are under the spotlight with their opponents. Dare I say it
again? Oh, what the hell…this is huge!
I
leave you with the following link that provides the reader with all of
the pertinent information in regards to the upcoming event. I hope to
see you there. Thanks to all of the good folks over at the Facebook
group Citizens by and for Elbert County. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
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