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As I sit in at various meetings and listen to the community conversation, it is clear that some elected officials have forgotten who they serve.
It’s disappointing, frustrating and discouraging when the residents take the time out to go to the polls and cast their vote believing they will be represented only to find out some of that promise is not kept.
When an elected official takes the oath, that’s when the works begin for the people, not yourself.
I think there’s a disconnect. Somewhere down the line the thought process gets confused by some elected officials as to whom you are serving.
If people have taken the time to vote so you can hold office, it is the same people you are obligated to work for.
The community needs are not being met in some areas, which leads to the community being upset. If you, the “representative” of the community, has shown that you are truly fighting for the cause and concerns of the people, frustrations would not be so high.
Just showing your face in various functions or meetings is not showing that you are working for the community. Your position is a position of service, and somewhere down the line when your name was called for that elected position, you forgot who you were serving – the people.
These elected positions are the place where you use your voice to speak for the people, not against them. When we can come to the realization it’s about the people, things will be better and go a lot smoother.
This is not about you; it is about the needs of the people. Hiding the facts, covering up the reasons why you do what you does not help the situation; neither does it help the community.
It amazes me that our community is suffering so. Yet when you go in and ask for certain things for our community, the response is, “We don’t have the funding” or “This cannot be done” or better yet, “Let’s see what we can do next year.”
Why is that?
There are public funds given to each area, and I have yet to see them used in the correct manner – where you can see evidence of it benefiting the community.
The part that saddens me the most is: it’s our community that does not get the funds, and our community that has school closings.
It is our community that’s given the most excuses as to why something cannot be done.
It is our community where you can’t see the result of our elected officials’ work.
When you walk around and you see everyone else coming into the community from the outside, instead of people here oing the work, that leads me and others to questions why.
At least make the effort to fool people and give them something they can see to make them think that you have a concern for the community.
When I look around at the suburbs and other areas, it seems that we are the people who suffer the most from lack of representation.
There are things in this community that are needed, and they are needed now.
There should not be another developer coming in from the outside when we have capable businesses in the community that should get those funds to help them get to the next level.
No voice should go unheard, and no one who has a concern for what’s happening in their community should feel like their views do not matter or aren’t being considered.
This is not your job; it’s the people’s job. You are the representative of the people.
So ask yourself this question, “have you forgotten who you serve”?
Renna Thomas has lived in the community for over 42 years. She loves conversation that “provokes a thought process” and helps “bring you back to reality.”