In politics, people want you to say what you mean, mean what you say, and not be mean about it.
Of course, there are people who will not understand what you mean. There are other people who will accuse you of not meaning what you say if circumstances change and you change your position. And then there are those who will always say you are being mean, especially if you speak deliberately, with conviction, and happen to disagree with their position.
In an effort to say what I mean, and mean what I say, and not be mean about it, I submit the following points:
Point One: The city is not living up to expectations when it comes to removing graffiti. There is an ordinance that governs this, there should be money from the drug forfeiture funds to cover the cost of removal, and there are plenty of offenders whose community service could be directed this way.
Graffiti is deplorable, it hurts business, and it harms the image of our community. One person with a can of spray paint can do a great deal of harm. After the harm is done, it would behoove us all for it to be removed immediately as required in the ordinance. Everyday this city is traveled by some paid employee who can report when and where graffiti appears. The city can do and must do a much better job of getting these gang tags and messages out of public view.
Point Two: When our money went missing from the Vance County Tax Office, it was our business. Keeping the public in the dark about their business leads down a convoluted path. Surely if a deposit bag went missing between the courthouse and the bank, then would have been the time to tell it. The public would understand covering up a theft to catch a thief if the culprit was caught right away and the crime was then made public. Keeping the public in the dark in order to uncover a pattern of mishandling or embezzling of money might even be understandable if that pattern is found and revealed quickly. But keeping this story from the public for this long, only to have it revealed by Home in Henderson leads the public to speculate and suspect wrongdoing that is being covered up.
The county manager has a public relations problem that could have easily been avoided. Things that are covered up begin to stink, and then everyone becomes a suspect. That speculation is undeserved for everyone but the person who is responsible for the missing money.
Tell us the truth, and tell us in a timely manner. The public has felt for a long time that the tax office was slack in the collection of taxes, and now they have good cause to believe they are even less reliable. It is an unfortunate situation, but keeping this unfortunate news from the public is not good for anyone.
Point Three: Our government agencies are failing us when it comes to teenage pregnancy. It is probably impossible to figure out how much money goes to this problem in Vance County. Our money goes to the schools, social services, Medicaid, churches, the Vance County Health Department, the Recreation Department, Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunities, the court system, Weed & Seed, and numerous other non-profits, and that’s not even a complete list. With all this money being poured into all these agencies, no correction has come about, and the problem continues to overwhelm us. Over 25 years ago, this community had a forum to address this issue. I do not know if another forum would help, but it is time for some accountability and some consensus-building in a big way. We know there is no single solution, but that should not keep us from trying to find the many solutions to this ill.
I have taught seniors who planned to get pregnant before they graduated because (they told me) that way they could get help with housing and schooling and child care. A husband or partner was not part of their plan. I have taught young girls who came from stable homes with very concerned parents who said they just wanted a baby. Again, a husband or partner was not in the picture. I have also taught young ladies who mothers’ had them while on birth control because they were not using it correctly. And I have taught young ladies who were shameful and reticent and depressed, and you could only speculate what was going on with them, at least until they started to show.
This problem has tentacles, and these tentacles are growing. We need to get all the agencies that are vested in helping to become part of the solution. We especially need to get fathers and young men involved in the solution. The Vance County Health Department should take the lead in this health issue. It is time to face the hard reality that having one of the highest rates of teen-age pregnancy in the state is _____.
I’ll let you supply the appropriate predicate adjective so I don’t end on a mean note.