There isn't really a good old boy network, is there?

[AAbsolute]

If you can't beat them join them

Where do I sign up?

 

[ShallowsNole]

If I were a betting person, I would wager that there is not nearly the amount of what most would call "good old boy" politics now as there may have been in the past. Depending on how you define good old boy, of course.

Taking Scooter's definition about who you know, I know just about all of them, and it really doesn't help me one way or the other. It does make me more comfortable when I have to talk to one or more of our local officials, but that's about it.

So, no, I don't believe we have a good old boy network. If we did, I'd be slap in the middle of it, and I get no favors. (But my road did get paved!)

 

[AAbsolute]

AA, why waste useful energy pontificating on what is inherently human nature everywhere and the bane of small town politics. I am of the idea that when one uses the cat box and it gets covered over, eventually it rises back up to the top and gets stepped in. So, people get what's coming due eventually. Your energies could be channeled towards the betterment of your community and would in all likelihood eventually prove to be fruitful in all facets of your life.

I appreciate your points, believe me.

Short story from earlier today: I'm in a hearing on a Motion in Judges Chambers. During witness cross-examination I ask the witness how she knows that a certain property sold for a certain amount. She says, public record. I ask, what does that mean exactly. Now squirming, she says, I looked it up in the Official Records. Again I ask, what precisely did you look at to determine your opinion. Now red faced and stammering her attorney writes/slides her a note on a sticky that says in bold:$900,000 DOC STAMPS. I was lucky to see the quick switch and bring it to Judges attention. He looks at me and shrugs his shoulders.

 

[Bob Wells]

Letslook at another example of Good Ol Boy system at work. An article in the NWF Daily News talking about the new hangar/ classrooms/ hurricane shelter. A story of why it was needed and how great it will be. Today, Sheriff Morris in a letter to the editor talks about Speaker Sansom and his tireless work of behalf of the people. I understand the articles, I understand the purpose, had there not been the appearance of improprietynothing would have been said. I don't know when friends and political allies come to his rescue make him look any less culpable for his actions. I hope the process works, I hope a Grnd Jury is put together, I hope the States Attorney looks at this and if there is evidence, to move forward and allow the legal system to work. That being said, I hope the Good Ol Boy system fails and honesty and fairness rule.

 

[Here4Good]

Here's my .02: I grew up in downstate Illinois, where politicians followed the lead of their Chicago brethren. These guys ran their own network, but they still had to get elected in the first place and to do that they always made sure that things got taken care of for the general public. You could always bet on the snow being cleared (immediately), the schools getting funded, the parks having nice pools and skating rinks and the public offices being efficiently run. If you had a problem with anything, you called your alderman/councilman and complained until it was made right. It was all about constituent services, and as long as everything ran smoothly, no one said anything about the family members who got the snow removal contracts or the fact that the councilman's wife was the highest paid admin at the Overseer of the Poor's office.

Here, it seems to me, that if you are not in the immediate circle, they don't even pretend to serve your needs. You can get elected just with your circle (as we saw in our last Commission race) and so you don't need a broader constituency. It's like the county was so small, for so long, that they just do business the way they always did when it was all kinfolk and ignore everybody else. When you ask your commissioner about something, you get a vague answer from their assistants, and no follow up. I always feel like I am being pesky when I ask them what happened to a certain initiative or project.

Shallowsnole, you joke that you got your road paved, but you have something else - a County job. That's no small feat, they are the only steady employer around here with full benefits. Maybe that's why things are still the way they are, there is no one else with any power that they have to answer to.

 

[AAbsolute]

Ex Parte is always wrong in government activities. Who here will say it's o.k.???

 

[scooterbug44]

These guys ran their own network, but they still had to get elected in the first place and to do that they always made sure that things got taken care of for the general public. It was all about constituent services, and as long as everything ran smoothly, no one said anything about the family members who got the snow removal contracts or the fact that the councilman's wife was the highest paid admin at the Overseer of the Poor's office.

Here, it seems to me, that if you are not in the immediate circle, they don't even pretend to serve your needs. You can get elected just with your circle (as we saw in our last Commission race) and so you don't need a broader constituency. It's like the county was so small, for so long, that they just do business the way they always did when it was all kinfolk and ignore everybody else.

The first system you mentioned works because it benefits the voters and the politicos, the second doesn't because it only benefits the politicos, so the voters eventually get rid of them and then have many messes to clean up.

It's still sort of corrupt, but it sure gets things done and they take great care of the old people.

 

[Here4Good]

I don't know that we will ever have enough registered voters in District 5 to actually get someone elected, as long as we have county-wide voting for all commission seats.

I know, I've only been here 5 years. We got one "newcomer" elected, and she left after one term, perhaps because she was so outnumbered, I really don't know.

It's not just commission seats, though, it's just the way everything works.

 

[Here4Good]

And one more thing - I am not even saying that the network doesn't do good things. We get a lot of good projects done, and there are many excellent people working for the county.

I am just saying it's a closed system, which is okay if you're in a monarchy but not so much if you are supposed to be a democracy.

A closed system can't grow with the county, which is what needs to happen.

 

[Zebraspots]

Some of the nonsense in the commissioner races over the years has been appalling. Makes the "boys from the old neighborhood" look like saints in comparison.