Branson voters will go to the polls in April to elect a mayor and three aldermen. The competition for these positions should be intense and offer Branson’s voters an opportunity to have the candidates discuss issues that concern them.
“Ah, Seagull, you do know that they are running unopposed, don’t you?”
“Whoops, a Freudian slip but the word ‘should’ was used.”
Obviously, with the candidates for municipal office in Branson running unopposed there will be no competition, intense or otherwise. One can only marvel at the fact that with all the rhetoric going on about how dissatisfied people are that no one is being challenged for office. That is of course, assuming that people are actually dissatisfied.
“Oh come on Seagull, of course they are!
“Name some things that people say they are dissatisfied with.”
“How about Branson Landing, the new convention center down town, the preservation and growth of our existing downtown, the new recreation center, the city’s use of TIFs to compete against exisiting businesses, regulations that are burdensome to small business development, the rising rate of city debt, to name a few.”
As the Ole Seagull travels around town, drinks coffee or chats here and there, and attends various meetings he constantly hears about how upset people are with “this and that.” And, more than likely, depending on the circumstances, one of the above topics will be mentioned yet, as the filing period for running for office came and went, where were those who are allegedly dissatisfied?
“Maybe they didn’t sign up because they feel that the deck is stacked against them and they wouldn’t be able to change anything even if they got elected.”
“Ah yes, proof positive that people truly do get the kind of government they deserve.”
Thank God for people like Bob Warlick, Dave Edie, Mayor Lou, Ron Huff, Larry Milton, Ray Wilson, Walt Stone, Jeannie Hendricks, Larry Taylor, Dick Gass, Jim Thomas, Stan Barker, and others who, regardless of their position on the issues facing our community, had the fortitude, commitment, and conviction to run for office. Their efforts at least gave the voters a choice.
And chose they did. For instance, the fate of Branson Landing and the downtown convention center was decided during the previous two elections. Voters had the clear opportunity to elect both aldermen and a mayor who were against both. They chose to elect the candidates favoring both. How does that indicate dissatisfaction?
Quite frankly, apathy, laziness, or whatever other excuses one wants to conjure up aside, the Ole Seagull believes that the real reason that there is no opposition to the incumbents in the up coming Branson election is that the voters are basically satisfied and no one likes to lose. As an example, the only thing that could compare with the experience of running against “Mayor Lou,” as he cruises to an unprecedented and well deserved sixth term as Mayor, would be getting a root canal performed with a teaspoon. In either case only a masochist would try it.
The old adage that people get the kind of government they deserve is true and in Branson, if the opposition to the incumbents is any indication, they are getting the kind of government that they want. What a happy Valentine’s Day it is for Branson as its citizens ask Mayor Lou and the incumbent aldermen to be their Valentine for another term.
