A Personal Congratulations to Greenwood Mo’s Newly Elected Officials
Posted by jennW in by Jennifer Warren, GSD Online
A note to our readers: This column is a departure from my normal venue here at The Dispatch and is more of an opinion piece than a news article.
What is a hobbyist newspaper reporter supposed to do with her opinions during an election season or when reporting on what happens at city hall and other potentially controversial topics? That’s the question, the answer is simple – keep them to herself, it is easy to say, harder to do. It is a tight line to walk – reporting the facts and trying to do so in a way that represents the facts and isn’t colored by your opinion of those facts. For the most part do I try to keep my opinions to myself, I’m not an opinion columnist – I’m simply a citizen trying to do my community a service by reporting what happens at those poorly attended BOA meetings. I go to meetings, talk to the Aldermen and Mayor, record the meetings, go home and listen to it typing notes as I go. Then, I write trying to turn a recorded city meeting and a few brief conversations into an unbiased, factual article.
There were times during this past election that it was really hard to keep my opinion to myself. There were questions I wanted to ask publicly that would have been construed as being biased, so I either asked them privately or did not ask them at all. I did campaign a bit, going door-to-door passing out fliers for my brother-in-law, Darrell Grooms, but primarily I was asking people to simply get out and vote. In going door-t0-door I was careful not to bash any candidate or sitting Alderperson or outgoing Mayor DeCourcy – because I do not think that is helpful, in fact it is hurtful and is part of what has handicapped Greenwood for so long.
Towards the end of the campaigning and even on election day there were some hateful things said here on the forum we have provided for our readers. I did jump in and chastise a few of you – asking you to be civil and kind. I told the editor of the Dispatch about mid-morning Tuesday that I had to take a break from the forum because I was starting to get snarky and was going to say something I would regret later. It was starting to get personal, I was starting to feel that The Dispatch was being unfairly attacked and I had to do what I’ve asked our elected officials to do and take a deep breath, step away and come back later with the standards of professionalism and civility back in place, guiding my words.
Now, I want to say congratulations to all of the election winners.
Nic Cover, you have jumped into the political frying pan early on – having only lived here for a little over a year. You already know I (obviously) voted for Darrell instead of you. I still trust you to represent me and the other residents here in Ward 1. Your professionalism and kindness during this campaign have earned my respect. You are thoughtful, taking the time to listen to all of the arguments about an issue before arriving at a conclusion. I think your professional background will also be beneficial to Greenwood. I believe that your service on the Board of Aldermen will be a benefit to Greenwood. And I have to say, that if you had been able to join us in the parade on Saturday, April the 3rd, that your float would have won the “best float” title (if we’d been passing out awards that is)! You and your wife are good people, welcome to Greenwood.
Al Reynolds, it has been a pleasure to meet you, your wife and your daughter. Your daughter told me that she plans on holding your feet to the fire – making sure you help Greenwood move past the bickering and in-fighting that has been giving this town a bad name. Your wife and I were able to visit for a few minutes at the polls on Tuesday, we were both encouraged by the turn-out and the good rapport among all the candidates. She also mentioned that she would like to see some more community events around here – so I’ll be watching for you to make some suggestions! More community involvement is one thing Greenwood needs – it starts with fun events and moves on to city hall. You told me early on that you felt that there were several good, young candidates stepping in and you wanted to serve in order to give them the voice of experience – that is commendable, and I thank you for stepping up to serve your community again.
Chris Seagraves – you made a strong showing, that speaks well of your reputation in the community. I enjoyed visiting with you and your supporters during the parade on April 3rd and at the polling stations on Tuesday. I do not live in your Ward but as a citizen of Greenwood, I am counting on you to be a steady, reasoned voice on the BOA. Bring the same dedication and determination that helped you overcome your write-in status to win this election to help turn Greenwood around. I challenge you to remember that you did win the seat, but only by a margin of 4 votes – reach out to your opponents in the race, see what Mark and Alex have to say, take their ideas into consideration. And finally, listen to your constituents, and remember why you are serving the people of Ward 2.
Marvin Megee – it was a close race between you and write-in candidate Leah Foster. You both have ideas, platform points, that I like, things that I feel could be beneficial to Greenwood. I challenge you to reach out to Leah and to consider her ideas. I challenge you to remember that you won the election, over a write-in candidate, by only 22 votes. I ask you to carefully consider all of the issues this town is facing, to take into consideration the advice of non-elected city staff, to seek input from the citizens of Greenwood, to make unifying this community and getting more of its citizens involved a priority, to be willing to compromise with the members of the BOA, to be willing to appoint “political foes” as well as “political allies” to the city’s volunteer boards. In electing you to be our Mayor we have placed considerable trust and responsibility in your hands, in return we ask that you do what is best for all of Greenwood.
To all of you I look forward to your service on the Board, I feel confident that you will conduct yourselves professionally and that you will act in the best interest of Greenwood – not only doing what is good for Greenwood in the here and now but also considering the results of today’s decisions on tomorrow’s Greenwood and acting accordingly. I encourage each of you to not only listen to your supporters but to also listen to the suggestions and ideas of your opponent’s in the race and their supporters as well. Once again, congratulations!
The winner’s of Tuesday, April 6th’s election will be seated tonight, April 19th, at the Board of Aldermen meeting to be held at 7 pm in the Greenwood Elementary gymnasium instead of at the meeting room in City Hall in order to allow for more residents of the city to be in attendance.
