By Lisa Lucas Gardner, J.D. On July 2 at 8:09 PM
In the past, Ive heard so many negative second hand comments over the years about our town government and I have personally been rejected by my requests as a resident. I had become disillusioned with out small town system of government, something that a have a deep passion for. However, I didnt want to waste my time and get my hopes up by asking for services that I would like to see as a taxpaying resident only to be rejected. Ive even been angered and upset by a rude employee in the water billing office and complained to our assistant town manager. Things were getting to a point where WE disguntled, silent, residents were not going to waste our time wishing for the good old days when the government worked for US.
Well, I witnessed a first hand experience at last night's town council meeting that THEY are listening to ME and THEY do care about US, and WE can make a difference. In the past Ive heard residents tell me that our town elected & appointed officials "Dont care," "Dont listen to us," "WE dont make a difference," "Its no use," "They dont do what WE want," "I dont make a difference,"etc. I was very reluctant to waste my time on Tuesday nights (before I went to work) to go to town council meetings but I decided to start a couple of months ago when I started writing these blogs. And last night, HALLELUJAH! MY town council people, MY town manager, and MY police chief did TWO things that I had wished for. It may not be a big deal to other residents but it showed me that THEY are listening and it restored my faith in MY local government. I wanted to personally thank all of them for their consideration of MY wants and let them know how much I appreciate them. Now they didnt give me everything I wished for but they did listen to me. Im gonna give them the bad comments AND the good comments but it seems to me that they are earning more GOOD than BAD recently. I invite all town residents to come out and get involved with people like me. It is something to do on boring Tuesday nights and I can assure you wont regret it from now on.