THE SPECTATOR: PUT YOUR NAME WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS
“Kick them all out!”…”Replace every last one of them”….”We’ll remember this at the next election”. Those are just a few of the comments made on social media about local citizens who hold public office. I’ve seen and heard it about Brenham and Burton City Council, Washington County Commissioners, Brenham and Burton ISD Board members, and even Blinn College Board Trustees. Yet when it comes time for someone else to throw their hat in the ring and file for public office, hardly anyone steps up. There are only four days left for candidates to file in the May City and School elections. Guess how many challengers there are for the four Brenham City Council positions open for election? Zero! That’s right…only the incumbents have filed to run for another 4-year term. Council members Paul La Roche, Clint Kolby, Leah Cook and Shannan Canales are the only ones running. In fact, no one else has even requested the paperwork to file for City Council.
In the City of Burton, the story is quite different. Position 3 Council member Jeff Eckhardt is running against Mayor Karen Buck. Incumbent Council member Nathan Kalkhake is being challenged by Chuck Johnson. And Berneake Gantt has filed for Paul McLaughlin’s Position 4 seat. McLaughlin has yet to file. At Burton ISD not a single candidate has filed for the two seats up for election…not even the incumbents Demetrius Colvin Sr. and Jeff Harmel. (Editor's note: Since this was written, both Colvin and Harmel have announced their filing). At Brenham ISD, only one incumbent, Jared Krenek, has filed to retain his seat in Position 7. David Jantzi has filed for the Position 5 seat currently held by Tommie Sullivan. Justin Colley and James “Mike” Garner have both filed for Natalie Lange’s Position 6 seat. And for the Blinn Board of Trustees, only the incumbents Richard O’Malley, Jim Kolkhorst and Dennis Crowson have filed for re-election.
Where are all of those disgruntled social media posters? I guess it’s easy to criticize and blast public officials on Facebook and on websites…but it’s another thing to commit to the time necessary to run for office, much less the time it takes to do the job. I say if you aren’t willing to put your name where your mouth is, maybe you shouldn’t open it. There will always be that group of people who love to criticize others in public office, no matter who is in that position. No sooner is a new group elected, than the comments will come to replace them. That’s just the way some folks are, unfortunately. While I may criticize the job someone is doing in office, I will always respect their commitment and their time working for the public.
And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.
If people had to leave their real names on the comments section of the KWHI website, there would be less rude comments! I appreciate those willing to give of their time to serve, even if I disagree with some of their decisions. I agree we need more people willing to run for office and serve.
You are so right. In fact, having to use my name on other sites has caused me to pause before posting something I would regret.
I have no problem sharing my name while talking about govt growing too big and out of control. Huge problem effecting everyone but the wealthy is the out of control property tax assessments. I could list 12-15 people with properties valued well over $1million and they pay less in property tax than someone struggling to get by living in a 2 bedroom 60 year old wood siding home on a small lot in town. If put on the market, $90k would be a miracle yet its appraisal for taxes has it over $300k and going up every year. Its ridiculous how some families who have lived in here for 8-10 generations are being taxed right out of their property….if any elected position has the authority to make the system FAIR and the wealthy pay their share then thats the one i want. The labor working citizens have footed the bill without anything in return for too long…ya, theres so much more thats out of control, but the point was made….
I don’t disagree with the Spectator, but there are other factors that come into play. Many of our younger citizens who could be an asset to our community are still among the work force. Many travel to Houston and other cities for their job. They do not have the benefit of taking off every other Thursday to be a city councilman or every other Tuesday to be a county commissioner. The time of the meetings might be a big factor that there is such a small pool of available people who can run for an office. Unless you are retired or own a business in town, you don’t have the luxury of time off.. Just a little food for thought !
AMEN! Are you a part of the problem OR are you a viable part of a solution and willing perhaps to run for elections?? So easy to sit back and complain!!! Most likely, you have too much free time on your hands??
Amen! Well said.
KWHI posts their news on Facebook. When people comment on those posts, their names are shown. Most of them are retired and do not have to fear retaliation as if they worked for a local employer of which the majority are GOP. And IF you have not ever had to depend on being employed to survive, then you cannot know what others must endure. This is a small town with all the good things of small town life, but there are drawbacks. A few big fish in this small pond have too much influence, and that is why they like to live here.
Council and school board seats should not have political party support, but here they do. In recent decades candidates for city and county offices may have wished to run as an independent. But the leaders of the majority party here said no, and only offered support of their money and support if they ran as GOP, if they said no, then they had to face competition from that parties candidate. A sure loss for the newcomer and the community.
Until we are no longer a small, mostly Caucasian community this won’t change. And this is sad, because balance is important in everything for the best results. Government, marriage, etc. benefits from a balance of ideas, knowledge, opinions, etc. We don’t have any balance in our county, state or nation and price for this will be steep.
Sally your 100% correct. Thank you for speaking truth to power
AMEN!!! Well said.
It is easier for people to complain about something than actually do anything about it.
Mr. Spectator you have once again hit the nail on the head. Maybe Kwhi should not even post comments anymore if nobody wants to do anything but talk.