By: Travis McGee
How long is too long for any community to be neglected for as long as ours? And when I say “ours,” I mean “We The People.” We all have the same problems—some just worse than others. An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere.
All taxing authorities and ELECTED officials should be held accountable for over taxation without any representation. As I evaluate the conditions of my neighborhood, I still see un-drivable city streets, ditches filled with trash and water (some up to 10 ft deep), so-called “affordable” housing surrounded by drug houses, high concentrations of halfway housing, no sidewalks, no zoning, school closures, a high concentration of sex offenders, an increasing crime rate, with a steadily decreasing police presence. I think all areas should receive superior services from our local government and beyond, regardless of the economic, geographic, or demographic makeup of the community. Even though we continue to be neglected, some of us still don’t VOTE for our best interests and keep electing the same people.
In politics the only thing more valuable than money is the voice of the people, 100% for “We The People.” Our vote should be priceless and shouldn’t be bought by anyone who will SELL US OUT.
Our vote is our power. The love of money is incentive for political corruption in which the politicians’ hidden agenda becomes priority over “We The People.” Our elected officials are supposed to represent our best interest and not their own financial gain or hidden agendas. The government is supposed to fear the people and not the other way around.
Believe it or not our elected officials can only do what we allow them to do, because they are ELECTED officials—keyword ELECTED. Once they are elected they become incumbents, but incumbent shouldn’t mean untouchable or another free ride. It should mean representation of “We The People” 365/24/7 or “We The People“ should be organized enough to vote them out, regardless of race, and continue to do so until we get the representation we rightfully deserve. We need voter registration, education, and mobilization to rectify this ongoing troubling situation.
Some will tell you all they think you want to hear and make promises they know they can’t keep, but as long as we are buying it they will continue to sell it—selling out that is.
So I ask again, how long is too long? I think one term is too long if they show no type of improvement, but promised the world. We The People deserve better representation and accountability of our taxation, by any and all ELECTED officials regardless of race or political affiliation. What we have been given is totally unacceptable and has been for decades now. When we evaluate the conditions and quality of life in our neighborhoods, it should become unacceptable for incumbents to become “Missing In Action” until the next election.
If we are honest with ourselves the only time we see our ELECTED officials is election time or when it is a high profile topic that will generate media coverage or money into their pockets. Once the news cameras and all the money is gone they become MIA all over again.
We The People should hold ourselves responsible for the lack of accountability of our ELECTED officials. There has to be accountability for all of them. There should never be a time that any elected official should ever neglect, vote against, lie to, not represent or not stand publicly with his or her constituents on any issue affecting their district or our community. We need more “Robin Hoods” in order to stop them from robbing our hood.
