Local issues heat up...Calls to Action...Will They Go Unheeded?

A recent comment to Friday's post got me questioning the whole political scene here in the RGV, and in general really. The comment had to do with political clique's and whether I really believed we could change or replace a system that's been in place in San Juan for so long. I don't think we can actually change the clique if it's only a matter of changing the names on the "masthead", so to speak. It's about attitudes. These past couple of years have been wrought with news reports about F.B.I. raids, or indictments on local political officials. When the reporter asks for community feed back, it never ceases to amaze, or tick me off, that the first comment the community usually says is, "Oh, yeah, we know they're corrupt, but hey, that's life, right?". This is the type of attitude that one, gets the wrong people elected. Two, it's the same type of attitude that keeps these people elected for so long. I feel we need to find a way, as a community, to educate a public that is willing to hear that we don't need to sit back and accept the status quo just "because". We need to be taking a more pro-active stance if we hope to change anything, really. Question everything, and don't sit back and take it, or be quiet just because you're told to be quiet. Hell, they're the ones running for political office, and they're the ones that need our votes. If they get ticked off or annoyed by all these hassling questions, we need to remind them that being in public office opens the door to all types of scrutiny regarding policy or the community at large. It's nothing personal, it's just the type of system of government we live in. It's our Constitutional right to know what's going on with our government, or why they decide to spend five thousand dollars on a water faucet instead of five dollars. I'm exaggerating, but it's only to make the point that if we are concerned with just getting someone else in office, we may change things for a while, but nine times out of ten, we're just going to end up back at square one thiry years from now.