But the truth is, the candidates running for local office this year aren’t Satan. They are human beings with all the good and bad that implies.
As these elections approach, it’s important to remember this. The candidates may have flaws and warts, but they are doing something that bloggers — and editors — aren’t doing; they are putting their names forward to run for public office.
That takes no small amount of courage, especially when they know they will face criticism. No matter what voters may think about a particular candidate, you have to respect them for being willing to step forward and throw their hat in the ring.
That doesn’t make all candidates equal, of course. Some are better than others. Some have attributes that make them more suited to an office than others. All of that is fair game for discussion and debate.
That’s the great thing about our democratic system, we can argue and debate about issues and candidates. There are few places in the world where that’s allowed.
But the portraying of candidates as little more than demons in the various blog comments is disconcerting. Rather than reasonable, thoughtful discussion, many of the comments are little more than rumor and innuendo being written by people hiding behind digital anonymity.
It is entertaining. But it’s not always the truth.
And then there’s this even more unsetting fact: Most citizens simply don’t care. For all the passion being displayed by political bloggers, few people actually turn out to vote. The result is that only a handful of citizens actually elect our leaders.
The candidates aren’t Satan. They may have flaws which merit debate, but let’s at least respect their willingness to step forward.
Mike Buffington can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Under a Sikes administration, the State EPA three times denied Bartram Environmental Inc.’s requests for landfill development because of misrepresentation of facts. Joe Sikes, as mayor of Arcade, attempted to ramrod a landfill over the objections of the entire region, and was finally recalled in 1997.
Arcade residents who vocally opposed Mayor Sikes’ landfill were regularly tailed by the Arcade Police Dept. within the city limits. This is not hearsay…this is from a first-hand account of how Sikes abused his power.
Sikes’ oil recycling operation finally exploded, literally, on June 19, 2005, killing Scott Dwayne Brown. The state fire marshal found thirteen violations at Sikes Oil Service following their inspection after the fatality, leaving many to wonder how the Athens EPA office managed to overlook so much for so long. State Insurance & Fire Commissioner John Oxendine ruled that the very cause of the explosion was improper handling.
Sikes was later indicted on six counts of making terroristic threats against the Arcade mayor and city council, after they responsibly passed an emergency ordinance suspending the oil service’s business licenses.
After all that the residents of Arcade tolerated from this man over the years, Donna Sikes then came to her husband’s defense. Perhaps this would be no surprise, but one wonders if her husband is typical of the clients she represents.
So with most of the criminal charges and lawsuits, etc., etc. still pending, Mrs. Sikes wants to be the District Attorney. With such pull, she might finally be able to get that landfill pushed through in Arcade. With such pull, she might be able to affect the disposition of her husband’s cases. Who knows what such a pair might be able to get away with, given what we’ve already seen?
This isn’t crazy, or frenzied, or irresponsible, Mike. It’s relevant information that should already have appeared in the county’s legal organ. When we see law enforcement officials endorsing a person with such associations, it’s very appropriate to be asking “why.”
When you've seen all the above (and this is just the public-knowledge stuff), you understand the need for anonymity.
Some of us already know what a Sikes administration feels like: we’re trying to prevent the entire district from experiencing a second one.
One important fact that should be remembered as we go to the polls is that we are choosing a chairman, one member of a commission comprised of 5 elected officials. The chairman has no more or less power than the others on the commission. The chairman has only one vote to cast as part of the elected body. As a result concerns regarding developer control is diluted to a point that is non existant. The fast talking hot head will need to learn to accept the result of a majority vote of the commission if he ever hopes to gain the consensus necessary to move the county forward. Life as we know it will not change abruptly in January when we swear in a new chairman regardless of who it is. Drastic changes, or any change at all will not occur without a majority vote of all of the 5 sitting commisioners. Regardless of who we elect you can be sure that property values will not go down, property taxes will go up, the cost of county government will go up, growth will continue, and the sun will continue to rise in Jackson County.