Keeping the JWC mission on point

OK, let’s try this again.

I’ve had a lot of downtime these last five weeks. Plenty to think of where I am in life, the greater scheme of things, and ensuring that grief doesn’t send me spiraling.

Which brings me to the blog. Of course, it continues with the weight of Deb’s loss on my heart. But what does it look like?

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I’m going to ramble a bit today. Keep in mind my brain is still jumbled; I’m OK most of the time, but when I’m not it’s really ugly, and that crap lingers even after the emotional part ends. Not making excuses, but if my writing seems a little more out of whack than usual, that’s why.

To the point: I’m not happy with the overall political conversation in Citrus County these days. Deb and I spoke about it for months before she died, and it was her view that Just Wright Citrus needed to change its tone.

It wasn’t until I stepped back from all political writing the last five weeks that I could see clearly what she saw.

We are doing a lot of bickering and finger-pointing. Everything is the commissioners’ fault. Plenty of self-righteous experts.

You may be saying, “Gee, Mike, that’s not very nice.” And you’d be correct. I should never say that about you.

I’m saying it about me.

The blog has become all those things. What started out as fun and airy four years ago is now serious and edgy. How did that happen?

Let’s dial back to August 2021. I had just left the Chronicle, having retired after 34 years at the same time Publisher Gerry Mulligan retired after 43 years.

There was never a post-Chronicle plan. I figured they’d carry me out in a pine box someday. I had no clue what came next.

Three things happened in rapid succession:

— Gerry told me I needed to use the skills and knowledge from the Chronicle to help my community.

— My friend Pastor Justin said that, if my passion was telling people things they wouldn’t know if I didn’t tell them, to keep doing that. He said God would provide the way.

— Breakfast with two good friends, Meredith Linley and Chamber President Josh Wooten. They noted that between Gerry and me, nearly 80 years of Citrus County political knowledge just walked out of the building. Where, they wondered, are the community’s voices to go?

From those three corners, Just Wright Citrus was born. It was always about creating community conversation to move Citrus County in a positive direction.

Now. Keep in mind that Just Wright Citrus was the only game in town when it opened its doors four years ago. No one wrote daily about Citrus County politics; nowhere could a Citrus Countian go for a serious local political discussion that didn’t end in a Trump vs. Biden war.

Just Wright Citrus changed all that. Today, I know of at least two other regular bloggers. Plus, one former politician who’s barking at this and that. And the Chronicle editor now writes columns several times a week. 

Plenty of voices. Lots and lots of noise.

I look at all that, see what’s going on here, and wonder whether the conversation train is veering off the tracks. Something just doesn’t feel right.

As I said, it starts with me. JWC is the Citrus County hybrid that others emulate. It’s also totally mine. Even more so with Deb gone.

I want to encourage debate without us becoming so divisive. There’s gotta be a way to have conversations without it getting so personal and ugly.

Don’t expect a massive shakeup here at World Headquarters III. We’re not going to start writing Pollyanna government blogs.

But I need to veer away from the stuff that lands us in daily sandbox bickerings. Frankly, I’m tired of it.

My attitude and outlook on life has changed significantly. Six weeks ago, traffic, growth, and sales tax consumed my JWC thoughts. Today, I’m a million miles from that.

I think some of you are, too. I couldn’t help but notice that Just Wright Citrus picked up 300 Facebook followers in the last five weeks. I barely wrote a political word. There’s a lot more to life than Betz Farm.

Hopefully, some of this made sense. I’m not ditching the mission; I just need to go about it differently.

Because somehow, we’re missing the point. And that starts with me.

Have a great Monday, friends.

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