Journal editorial: How much blame do city staff have to withstand?
No one deserves to be treated badly.
No one deserves to be personally attacked via social media.
No one deserves to be mailed inappropriate “gifts,” so to speak.
No one.
Including the staff of our city, our city council and the like.
When you sit back and reflect on the negativity City Hall personnel have had to endure over the last 12 months alone, it would be fair to say their plates are filled – to capacity.
Water issues, zoning rules and regulations, lengthy road closures connected to infrastructure upgrades, fireworks, land purchases, water towers, sidewalks and narrower streets in the core area, and most recently, concerns of train cars stored on tracks within the city limits and future worries these cars will roll through Brandon on a daily basis. And the list goes on.
These are all valid concerns and big challenges for our city to overcome. But they’re also signs of progress, signs of a growing community.
Of course, the final decision, the direction city officials decide to go – based on gathering all of the facts or relying on the expertise of those in the related field – is never a one-size-fits-all solution.
Never.
And yet a small population of our community feels the need to continually call these folks out by sending inappropriate gifts in the mail, creating vicious and downright cruel Facebook pages and posts, posting untrue and unfair comments that our city leaders are “corrupt,” or part of “the good ol’ boys club,” and so forth.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Our city staff, the council and supporting agencies, such as our local Chamber of Commerce, only have the best interest of its residents and our community in mind when making decisions that ultimately affect us all.
This holiday season, if you will, please take a moment to thank our city leaders for the work that they do day in and day out to make Brandon a better place to live, work and play.
Because no one deserves to be personally attacked for doing their job - honestly.
No one.
