about my county st johns county florida

This is Part III of a Three-Part Series on the current conflict in St. Johns County. Read Part I. Read Part II.

Believing the negative is too easy

It is easy to grab on to the negative messages.  After all, anyone in public office will never be able to satisfy everyone.  Period.  In a nation (or county) as diverse as we are, with so many different opinions and perspectives, someone will be disappointed in a government decision.

But here’s the thing.  Elected officials are bound to make decisions in the best interest of the County. That means that they are bound to consider all aspects of a situation.

These elected officials live in our community, have their children in our schools, and own property in neighborhoods which they are part of.  Having worked with most of them over the past four years, I believe that they take their jobs VERY seriously, and work hard to consider everything that is placed before them.

Think about the amount of technical, legal and emotional information that they are faced with in every decision.  They must critically review information which is often well outside their scope of knowledge.  They have to lean on staff and residents to provide details that are not obvious and make their decisions accordingly.

Watch a Commissioners’ meeting on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month.  The angry residents who show up at every single meeting to demean and accuse the Commissioners would be enough to make anyone rethink their commitment. 

Yet each meeting, they are there having read thousands of pages, hundreds of letters and spoken to everyone who makes an appointment to speak with them.

Our Responsibility, as Residents

We have a duty to ourselves, our county and this beautiful land we call home.  That duty is to take an active role in learning and engaging in how our community works.

There are plenty of ways to learn, and I plan to share what I have learned here in this blog.  I hope that readers will consider more than just the nasty memes, and remember that there is A LOT that goes into any decision in local government.