The Apathy Election

The citizens of Danville have alot to fear unfortunately they will never realize the source of the fear. This is because it is going on right under their noses but they choose to do nothing about the situation. As Edmund Burke said in 1756, “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” This spells out the case for Danville very prophetically.

Danvillians fear change. Why change it when it is working? Why rock the boat? Leave it alone. Such statements are the thoughts of fearful people. They accept the substandard, the mediocre, the bland. They accept that in their leaders also. The more they blend into the background the better they like them. It is government by fear of change.

The city council elections are coming up in just two weeks. The leaders elected will guide the city for two more years until the next group are up for a vote. But instead of widespread questioning of the candidates the only sound heard are the sheep lining up to be fleeced. For the last few years the people of Danville have been sold a false hope. Hope that more jobs will return. Hope that utilities will decrease. And hope that Danville will revive itself from its Rip Van Winkle sleep. Hope lacking foundation.

Danvillians should jam the candidate forums asking the hard questions of the people seeking the positions. But only a handful of people show up. No hard questions just softball throws from the press. A middle school child could put together the answers to the questions. But why worry? Life will go on as it always has, with no direction, just fear. Fear that someone may actually have a new idea that hasn’t been thought of before. Fear that the candidates might have to answer a real question.

The school board elections? Please…………. A jackass could run and win. Or has one already won? What a pitiful group. They are the biggest collection of failures lacking the basis intellectual standards to move the needle on a brain scan machine. They sit by quietly as the district dies a slow squirming death. The leadership of the district are a collection of misfits who masquerade as administrators. Dumb decision after dumb decision is made and supported by the board. When are the tough questions going to be asked of them? For example why does the city fund the school board at over $6 million above the minimum when example after example can be shown of the board’s complete inability to control spending and stop wasting money? Why does Pittsylvania County produce such better results on one twentieth of the funding? Why have a majority of the district true leaders resigned or retired over the last four years? Why has the board stood by when hundreds of thousands of dollars has been wasted on idiotic purchases, mismanagement, and fraud?

Well I for one refuse to let them get by. I will continue to write about them and the greed they display. They will not slink silently into the night. I will not let apathy win. As Charles Nimitz once said, ”God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”

People of Danville. Wake up. Throw off the shackles of apathy. Ask questions. Demand answers. Vote like your life depends on it.