CONTINUING TO BUILD A NEW RESPECT

Some insiders have described the atmosphere in the courthouse as a “breath of fresh air” and others have said “there is cooperation around here built around doing positive things rather than twisting arms.” For the first time in a very long time Liberty County voters have elected citizens from among us that are in no way connected with the good ole boy system that has been taxing and spending and using political tactics to take what they wanted. The result has been a group of people who have answered the budget crisis we have here in Liberty County with a great deal less controversy and delay than we have seen in Washington D.C.

If voters want to see growth of a continuing cooperative effort to reform our local government in substantive ways, they must hope that our commissioners and county judge use their power and influence to bring in new people with fresh ideas and energy. The next opportunity they have to do this will be the way they handle the replacement of long time county tax collector/assessor Mark McClelland.

Four people have been named as replacements to be considered for replacing McClelland. The four names are JoAnn Smith, Dennis Odell, Ricky Brown, and David Taylor. We have no reason to believe any of these people have not been good parents and good citizens, but in order to continue to build a positive forward marching courthouse without some of the problems of the past, two of these candidates seem to be better than the other two.

First, long time Liberty County employee JoAnn Smith has been part of McClelland’s team for many many years and anyone wanting to see change and a fresh approach will by definition wish Mrs. Smith the best but hope she is not the choice of commissioners court. Despite the well known fact she is within months of her planned retirement, Mrs. Smith is most likely to receive support from long time Democratic officeholders Todd Fontenot and Melvin Hunt. Both of these men may still be having trouble digesting the decisions voters made in the last election and they may ignore any message voters have sent and support Mrs. Smith.

Second, former County Judge Phil Fitzgerald’s personally appointed assistant to help with FEMA, Dennis Odell has several problems that don’t eliminate him, but would make many voters wonder why commissioners and the county judge would choose anyone like Mr. Odell with a cloud over their selection. The first cloud is Odell’s connection to Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald has been indicted for serious crimes and Odell was in a position to see discrepancies that would have caught him much earlier. Instead, Odell publicly brags that the records he was paid to keep will prove Fitzgerald is a criminal. Can we afford Odell in another position where he can just file away crimes like he did in the FEMA scandal? We need public officials to take responsibility and stop allowing people around them to rip off us taxpayers. Odell may somehow think opening his files when federal officials demand his cooperation proves he is ready for higher office, but should we agree with him?

Choosing either of the other two gentlemen reported to be in the hunt for this office would signal to voters that the commissioners and the county judge understand their desire for fresh faces with professional approaches to public service. Ricky Brown is well respected by those who know him in the Dayton area and he is known as a very capable, community-minded asset to this community. David Taylor is also known to possess many of the attributes we look for in public servants and most of those who have worked for him say he is the best boss ever. Though all four of the candidates may do a good job if selected, considering the shift toward positive change in the courthouse, these two gentlemen have distinct advantages over the other two.