Small Town Politics

In the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, everyone wants to give their input on what the local officials’ jobs are, and everyone seems to have there own ideas of how the local government should be ran. At an unnamed message board I announced my run for mayor of Eureka Springs, AR and the vicious responses started pouring in. In direct opposition, I have also received many wonderful responses and have a good deal of people backing me in my decision. The amazement one must feel when running for an office in this town must be astounding. Everyone has solution, yet no one wants to share them or run for a local seat. It seems that many of the residents of Eureka Springs, AR are more intent on tearing those that sacrifice hours of their lives to run and hopefully win the positions they are vying for. This town is full of problems and they all have solutions that can be implemented with the cooperation of the city council. Old politics and politicians will continue to stumble on these issues while trying hard to please people in the here and now. New politicians will try to implement plans to solve these problems even if it takes time. The people that are complaining now-will be praising later, when these problems are rectified. The citizens need to learn to step back and look inside-but think outside-the box to see the plethora of problems that the local officials must deal with. There are not quick solutions to many problems facing many local governments, but there are solutions out there and many of them are economically feasible. A chance is all it takes, after 4 years plus numerous others, one would think that the people would be willing to take that chance in hopes of having a better town. At present there are three candidates who have announced that they are running for mayor-myself, Ricky Franklin; Dani Wilson; and Beverly Blankenship a 4-year veteran on a council that has received numerous complaints. ^{_{(more to follow)}}