Wake Up Call

As parents, we spend much time teaching our children to stand up and take responsibility for their choices. We know that functioning adult own their decisions-both the good ones and the bad ones. Why do we expect less from our elected officials than we do our children? No sooner had the last brick hit the ground before the blame game began.  It is not my fault is the mantra of day and it should be wearing thin on the public right about now. We have a school that is in serious disarray and a multitude of elected officials with a not me mentality. Let me assure you, if you have served on the School Board or the County Commission during the last decade-it is partially your fault. The School Board spent years arguing over building plans-so much so that we spent a decade and multi millions of dollars on plans A-Y2, which was ridiculous and costly in both time and money. Then the County Commission began their here today, gone tomorrow funding fiasco. Yes, School Boards and County Commissions have come and gone while the roof dripped onto the desks of students at Jefferson County High School. And now, the finger pointing has started. Of course, most that follow local politics are not surprised that this is the response. Frankly, it is all of their faults and it is also our fault. As a community, we knew better. We knew that their egos were getting in the way of doing what was right for our children, but we simply shook our heads at their childish interaction and walked away. Shame on us. Shame on all of us. As for the pointing of the finger-can we, just one time, lay off of the grandstanding and political posturing? I have heard several officials say that we were lucky that no students were in the building at the time of the collapse. That is the understatement of the year. We came a breath away from collapsing a building on our children. It terrifies me to even think of what could have happened. This is a wake up call for our community.

We need elected officials that stand up and accept responsibility for their decisions and who can put aside personalities and previous prejudice against departments or individuals or other elected officials to protect the interests of our community. We need leaders that know how to compromise and have a vision for the future that is not clouded by resentment-leaders that can work together rather than acting like children squabbling in the back seat of the station wagon, fighting but never really knowing why. Now, more than ever, we know what we need and we should not settle for one childish gesture less than true leadership. It should not take the roof falling on our, or our children’s, heads to drive the point home. Leave the finger pointing on the playground and fix this mess. It is really very simple.