The Purple Heifer

Often, I mention the responsibility of elected officials to seek correct information before voting on an issue. Those in a position of power have the charge of using it wisely for the benefit of the people and even the wisest must be informed to make good decisions. There have been several issues that have presented themselves in the last several months that have been decided upon without any thought to checking the facts. I can tell you that cows are purple and if you have never seen a cow and do not investigate to confirm that cows are purple then you might be convinced to spend an enormous amount of public funds to turn a purple cow into a black and white cow. Imagine, having the only black and white cow in a veritable sea of purple cows. Think of the draw it would be… people would come from miles around to view the black and white anomaly. Of course, that scenario only works if all other cows are truly purple… otherwise you just have another heifer on your hands. An expensive heifer, for sure, but still just another heifer.

I understand that most of our elected officials are paid very little for their service and I know that time is tight for everyone. But, I would like to think that those voting on a multi million dollar issue that could make or break Jefferson County would take a little time to investigate the facts before making a decision that will impact the finances and way of life in Jefferson County. Attending opposition meetings is uncomfortable for many officials and, though folks do not like to be categorized as emotional, generally opposition meetings are more emotional than support meetings. It takes a personal stake to motivate most people to take action and, generally, that motivation is a life impacting change. However, uncomfortable or not, supporters of the hot issues in the County get their time in the spotlight, complete with power point presentations, and those opposing should get like opportunity to plead their case. If that time is not going to be afforded in a public meeting, or doled out in small slivers kept by a digital timer, then elected officials have the responsibility to attend meetings with both sides and do their due diligence to find good, credible information.

For some reason in Jefferson County, we are targets for every purple cow pusher in a tri state region. We invest heavily in energy packages from more that one company and then can’t determine what, if any, savings can be attributed to drop ceilings and turning off the lights. We have financial planners that we blindly follow to the land of bonds and interest rates, never considering that the financial planner is a stakeholder in where we put our money. We dedicate our hotel and motel tax and other public funds to organizations that are designed to bring in industry, yet we never ask why those funds are not tapped first, before coming back to pick again from the public money tree.

And now we are looking at funding a purple cow cosmetic upgrade the size of a t-rex and still, no one is checking to see if cows really are purple. If I were a salesman of pet rocks or purple cow transformations I would certainly make Jefferson County the first stop on my list. Perhaps next we can open a quarter of a billion dollar snipe farm… I hear that the hunting is good and they make a great stew.