Government does not exist for the benefit of the people who hold office, their friends, or the people who happen to have influence at City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Town of Carrollton belongs to ALL of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet time after time, we are left asking whether decisions coming out of our local government are actually being made for the good of the community\u2014or for the convenience and benefit of a select few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at the RV ordinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the dead of winter, Carrollton enacted a prohibition on people living in RVs and made it effective immediately. Think about what that potentially meant for people who had nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But drive around Carrollton today. I have personally seen numerous RVs on major streets with slide-outs extended and other indications that people may be living in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where is the enforcement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If an ordinance was important enough to enact immediately during winter, why isn’t it being consistently enforced now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That raises a legitimate question: What was the real purpose of the ordinance, and who was it intended to affect?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then consider the fire ordinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the Town was sued over the Fire Department’s handling of dangerous smoke from an open fire\u2014and after questions were raised about mandatory language requiring action under certain circumstances\u2014the ordinance was subsequently changed from mandatory language to discretionary language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of asking why the existing protections allegedly weren’t followed, the law itself was weakened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now we’re hearing questions about what happened to previously livestreamed Town Council meetings and why current meetings are no longer being made available the way they once were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At some point, these things stop looking like isolated controversies and start raising questions about how our local government views the people it is supposed to serve.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Government officials are not our rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are our employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They exercise authority that ultimately belongs to the people of Carrollton<\/strong>, and that authority comes with an obligation to be transparent, accountable and fair\u2014even when transparency is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need people in local government who understand that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need people who aren’t afraid of public criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need people who will apply ordinances consistently instead of selectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need people who will preserve protections for residents rather than weaken them when those protections become inconvenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we need people who understand that holding public office is a public trust<\/strong>, not membership in a private club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carrollton has already demonstrated that voters are willing to look outside the traditional local power structure. Beginning January 1, 2027, our community will have a judge coming from outside Carrollton rather than simply continuing the familiar local pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever someone’s opinion of any individual involved, that should send an important message:<\/p>\n\n\n\n People are willing to demand something different.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For too long, people in small towns have been told that this is simply how things work\u2014that everybody knows everybody, everybody protects everybody, and challenging the system isn’t worth the trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I disagree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn’t about Republicans or Democrats. It isn’t about settling personal scores. And it shouldn’t be about attacking people simply because they hold public office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s about accountability.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If an ordinance is good enough for one resident, it should be good enough for another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a law protects the public, officials should follow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If government makes a controversial decision, officials should be willing to explain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a public meeting becomes uncomfortable or embarrassing, that’s when transparency matters most<\/strong>, not least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if the same people and the same relationships keep producing the same problems, then perhaps it’s time for different people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The “good old boys” era of Carrollton government needs to end.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We need residents who care about this community to attend meetings, ask questions, request records, speak publicly, run for office and\u2014most importantly\u2014vote<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Change doesn’t require tearing Carrollton down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It requires expecting something better from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Town works for the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s time we started reminding our government of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The time for change isn’t someday. The time is now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Government does not exist for the benefit of the people who hold office, their friends, or the people who happen to have influence at City Hall. The Town of Carrollton belongs to ALL of us. 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