Silence, willful blindness not acceptable
By: Steve Trubilla
It is said that all politics are local. One can take from this everything a politician does, or does not do, no matter their office, be it national, state, or other, has impact on people that live locally.
Often, it is not initially seen, and may even be hidden. In time it is tangible, and felt.
What a president does will impact you. The example is executive orders that subvert immigration laws resulting with illegal immigrants moving into your community.
This becomes an unfunded mandate your taxes are forced to support.
What a state representative does to impose Common Core education standards will result in your children being required to report on what happens in your home to school officials — data mining.
Predictably, this will result in dividing families against themselves.
People object to voter ID, yet they see no problem with an estimated 50 million school children being given a national ID number.
When county commissioners refuse to hold county executives accountable due to party politics, millions of dollars are lost while mediocrity endures.
The cost and consequence of all politics locally becomes realized.
Yes, it is true — all things political are local.
Legislation has become a tool used to benefit those involved with it. One bill is being attached to another to serve the special interest.
If you follow the money and career progression of many involved, this becomes more than a theory. On the local level, a select few have become very wealthy buying land, benefiting from grants, and pursuing their own personal business while they held office.
A closer look at the business relationships of many sitting and former officials, as well as the jobs a few now hold, reveals the why of it that things like the 401 expansion is always just out of Franklin County’s grasp.
If you find yourself with a little time on your hands, take a look at the history of who once owned the land where the industrial park and airport are now.
Then dig a little deeper into the endless grants given and who benefited. Focus on a farm along Sandy Creek and land conservancies.
In researching this, I have talked with people that have family ties reaching back many generations in Franklin County.
What they have to say with detailed facts tells a story the likes of which flows like a made-for-TV movie. It is colorful with winners, losers, scapegoats and scoundrels.
This story is most likely not unlike the story of many places. It is, however, I believe, the true story of why there is little to no interest in developing a real strategic plan for economic development.
A structured plan leaves little room for opportunists to exploit.
In large part, I feel it is the reason officials refuse to answer questions when they are asked about such things.
It provides plausible deniability when suspicion arises. Say nothing, and nothing can be questioned. Wait long enough and the questions will just go away.
I believe the response, or lack of one, is calculated and used by design.
The web that has been woven, the nepotism, and what I see as a now institutionalized good old boy network is generational deep.
There is great political danger in going against the grain of it.
This helps one understand why sitting officials spend money and time forming political action committees to influence the vote. It is in their personal interest to do so, while at the same time, concealing their true agenda.
Additionally it allows them to use political favors like giving their close personal friends jobs.
A careful politician does not want to see their name on a pre-filled out ballot that tells voters not to vote for them.
We all have seen what happened in the primary election when a candidate or sitting official does not do what they are told. They are vilified, marginalized, and even called racist.
Expect to see the same thing done with the general election in November. Any candidate or official that participates in this, and or does not renounce it, is not worthy of the office they seek.
This is a message to all elected officials and particularly to Franklin County North Carolina officials, from “We the People.”
Silence and willful blindness to questions you are asked is not acceptable. It does not release you from accountability, or absolve you from the oath you have taken. It is seen for what it is.
Again I ask the questions on the status of Edgar Owen’s gift of almost one million dollars to the people of Franklin County.
Why has this gift not been leveraged for a matching grant?
Additionally, why has no one been held accountable for allowing the detention facility and courthouse to deteriorate to a state that it now takes millions of dollars to repair them?
By: Steve Trubilla
It is said that all politics are local. One can take from this everything a politician does, or does not do, no matter their office, be it national, state, or other, has impact on people that live locally.
Often, it is not initially seen, and may even be hidden. In time it is tangible, and felt.
What a president does will impact you. The example is executive orders that subvert immigration laws resulting with illegal immigrants moving into your community.
This becomes an unfunded mandate your taxes are forced to support.
What a state representative does to impose Common Core education standards will result in your children being required to report on what happens in your home to school officials — data mining.
Predictably, this will result in dividing families against themselves.
People object to voter ID, yet they see no problem with an estimated 50 million school children being given a national ID number.
When county commissioners refuse to hold county executives accountable due to party politics, millions of dollars are lost while mediocrity endures.
The cost and consequence of all politics locally becomes realized.
Yes, it is true — all things political are local.
Legislation has become a tool used to benefit those involved with it. One bill is being attached to another to serve the special interest.
If you follow the money and career progression of many involved, this becomes more than a theory. On the local level, a select few have become very wealthy buying land, benefiting from grants, and pursuing their own personal business while they held office.
A closer look at the business relationships of many sitting and former officials, as well as the jobs a few now hold, reveals the why of it that things like the 401 expansion is always just out of Franklin County’s grasp.
If you find yourself with a little time on your hands, take a look at the history of who once owned the land where the industrial park and airport are now.
Then dig a little deeper into the endless grants given and who benefited. Focus on a farm along Sandy Creek and land conservancies.
In researching this, I have talked with people that have family ties reaching back many generations in Franklin County.
What they have to say with detailed facts tells a story the likes of which flows like a made-for-TV movie. It is colorful with winners, losers, scapegoats and scoundrels.
This story is most likely not unlike the story of many places. It is, however, I believe, the true story of why there is little to no interest in developing a real strategic plan for economic development.
A structured plan leaves little room for opportunists to exploit.
In large part, I feel it is the reason officials refuse to answer questions when they are asked about such things.
It provides plausible deniability when suspicion arises. Say nothing, and nothing can be questioned. Wait long enough and the questions will just go away.
I believe the response, or lack of one, is calculated and used by design.
The web that has been woven, the nepotism, and what I see as a now institutionalized good old boy network is generational deep.
There is great political danger in going against the grain of it.
This helps one understand why sitting officials spend money and time forming political action committees to influence the vote. It is in their personal interest to do so, while at the same time, concealing their true agenda.
Additionally it allows them to use political favors like giving their close personal friends jobs.
A careful politician does not want to see their name on a pre-filled out ballot that tells voters not to vote for them.
We all have seen what happened in the primary election when a candidate or sitting official does not do what they are told. They are vilified, marginalized, and even called racist.
Expect to see the same thing done with the general election in November. Any candidate or official that participates in this, and or does not renounce it, is not worthy of the office they seek.
This is a message to all elected officials and particularly to Franklin County North Carolina officials, from “We the People.”
Silence and willful blindness to questions you are asked is not acceptable. It does not release you from accountability, or absolve you from the oath you have taken. It is seen for what it is.
Again I ask the questions on the status of Edgar Owen’s gift of almost one million dollars to the people of Franklin County.
Why has this gift not been leveraged for a matching grant?
Additionally, why has no one been held accountable for allowing the detention facility and courthouse to deteriorate to a state that it now takes millions of dollars to repair them?
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