Cynicism will take us only so far

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Heard a story the other day worth repeating.

A county commissioner attended some sort of community meeting. A constituent, whom this commissioner has known for many years, approached with a complaint about a particular government rule.

The commissioner listened and then tried to explain why the rule exists. The constituent interrupted to argue, but the commissioner kept explaining. Finally, without a word, the constituent simply walked away.

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See, the guy was angry. He didn’t want an explanation. He wanted to complain and then blame the commissioner. The facts didn't matter.

Folks, that’s what we’re facing this election season if we don't wake up to reality.

Commissioners Rebecca Bays and Diana Finegan rang in the new year by opening campaign accounts for re-election. Glad we got that out of the way right fast.

I posted on the JWC Facebook page their respective announcements. As would be expected, they each generated a decent number of comments.

The debate is generally what I’d like to see:  Some are very supportive of Finegan and/or Bays; some are not. That’s how this works.

The comments that get my attention are the ones that basically say to incumbents: GET OUT!

“All of these commissioners need to go,” one person wrote. Many others echoed similar themes.

Well, let’s talk about that.

You know how a brand-new car starts to depreciate soon as it drives off the dealer’s lot? It seems we do the same thing with our local elected officials. One day, lead us! Next day, leave us!

I know it’s not all that way. Both of these incumbents have scores of support from four years ago, and they no doubt have picked up additional support while in office.

It’s also likely they lost support. That’s the nature of the beast. While name recognition isn’t an issue for office-holders, they generally lose 15 points to an opponent simply being an incumbent.

Voters are cynical by nature. And we’re extremely cynical of the government.

The problem with that approach is obvious. That cynicism blinds us to what is really taking place. We look for bogeymen behind every door, when the stuff we actually care about occurs right out in the open.

And it’s the Library Guy types who WANT voters angry, distrustful, and cynical. That’s how they slide in as candidates, tell us our world is disintegrating, and make promises they cannot possibly deliver.

We’re going to talk plenty about elections this year, the candidates, what they’ve done and haven’t done.

And, yeah, we can echo the “let’s get rid of everybody” mantra.

But that leads to the next question. If not these two, then who?

Who is stepping up to run for office or serve? Who is willing to withstand the barrage of self-righteous negativity that pours from segments of our community? What family is eager to take on that role?

Negative nellies ought to think about their strategy. You’re driving away good people. Ironically, some of the very citizens who want Rebecca Bays or Diana Finegan out of office are helping their campaigns by discouraging others from taking that plunge themselves.

“Throw the bums out” only fits if the incumbents are bums. That clearly isn’t the case here. Disagree all you want with Finegan and Bays, but they are both decent people. 

The ultimate goal is a pair of County Commission races with strong candidates who can intelligently debate the county’s needs and wants. 

I’ve been writing about elections in Citrus County for quite some time. It’s gotten more difficult to attract decent candidates. The job is much more challenging than even 20 years ago, and public demands on a commissioner’s time are significant.

That’s why we want the five best people in those chairs as possible. 

Don’t like either of these two commissioners? Give it a try. The floor is open.

Have a tremendous Thursday, friends.

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