As I sit
back and ponder over the controversy surrounding the solicitation of bids to
select a county attorney that has dominated the agenda of the Franklin County
Board of County Commissioners as of late. Most recently the February 19 meeting
as reported in the February 21 edition of the Apalachicola
Times and viewed online on the Forgotten
Coast TV website and on the Half Shell
Web Forum YouTube Channel.
I can't help
but wonder whether the Franklin County Commission realizes that they have committed
the most unthinkable act, when they sacrificed democracy, the most sacred tenet
of the U.S. system of government on the altar of local political expediency.
At that
February 19 county commission meeting, it was
apparent that the
values of order, process and the founding principles of fundamental
fairness were thrown out
the window and replaced
with chaos, self-righteousness,
blame and deceit.
Apparently,
all done to impede the disposal of two motions put forth; one to retain the
county attorney in his present capacity and the other to reject all bids
purportedly solicited to save the
county money.
Regardless
of where one stand on the issue, this political sleight of hands should be alarming and of the utmost
concern to every red blooded man and woman in Franklin County and throughout
America. When the move to block the two
motions prevailed, democracy as we know it died that very moment in Franklin
County and that end
certainly does not justify the means, especially when the means resulted in the
demise of a 236-year-old form of governing.
Democracy is
the core ingredient that holds this country and our community together whether
we agree with each other or not. It
separates us from a dictatorial form of government and gives us the freedom
that other countries envy. From the
birth of this great nation on July 4, 1776, men and women have bled and died on
both foreign and domestic battlefields so that democracy could prevail. Nonetheless, here in Franklin County and at
that February 19 county commission meeting, democracy was rendered irrelevant so
that political skulduggery could reign supreme.
When you
take these facts into consideration and throw the estimated $66 million the
county is expected to receive from the BP Fine Fund into this volatile mixture
of county politics. Stir
in the on-going east
vs. west
political turf war that's
been allowed to exist
for far too long in
county government. Top that
off with the
impact single member districts have had on providing an effective county
administration and only then can
one begin to clearly comprehend
what the concerns
are.
I
concur and for very
good reasons, that out of the eight disproportionately
impacted counties, the City of Apalachicola is the first and only municipality
within those affected counties to seek redress with the court to compel county government
to meet, discuss and resolve the conflict of how a proportionate share of BP
Fine Funds are to be fairly distributed among the communities within the county
to ensure Apalachicola maintains control of its own fiscal destiny as it
relates to the allocation of Fine Funds.
As we bid
farewell to democracy in Franklin County, I can only hope and trust that the
Franklin County electorate has the political will to resurrect it in the future.
Van W. Johnson, Sr., Mayor
The Historic City of Apalachicola
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