REXBURG POLITICS: “A Case of Party Politics”
A recent question asked about the mayoral appointment was, “was it legal?”, to which I answer, of course it was!
As some may have noticed, a particular citizen has some beef with who the City Council appointed. Yes, the person, not the process. This individual sat in front of me at last week’s Council meeting when they appointed Mayor Woodland. Not only was she visually upset with what was going on, there was also constant muttering of phrases and words too vile to be printed here. After the appointment there was booing from the crowd (ya, that’s civil) because their candidate wasn’t appointed.
This, my friends, is an example of party politics at its worst. I do not see this as has been described in other news areas. This is not about choosing a mayor behind closed doors and cutting deals. It’s just not. Why you ask? I’ll tell you.
Had Ms. Donna Benfield been appointed mayor by a 5-1 vote and in the same amount of time that it took the Council to appoint Mayor Woodland, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I firmly believe that if Ms. Benfield had been appointed mayor, very few, and certainly different people would be complaining. This is all about someone else being picked as opposed to “your candidate” from “your party.” We have all seen it for years in Washington and it seems to have come to Rexburg. As soon as your party or candidate isn’t being supported, then the whole system must be corrupt.
I have spoken with Ms. Benfield and she is just as shocked to see this happen. When I spoke to her I looked her in the eye and thanked her for not freaking out. I know that she is an honest person who just has a desire to serve no matter what the position. Thus being the position of Ms. Benfield, why do her followers declare outrage?
I am not a party person. I am an independent that sides with the majority voice of the people (so long as they are a worthy and moral voice). I don’t know why all of our decisions have to be based upon what little letter (R, D) is placed next to our names. We’re all Americans, people. As long as what they do is legal and with integrity, why care?
I hope that this will pass over, but let’s all learn from it in the process-party politics are giving us some major problems. I believe that only 30% (and that’s a generous number) of Americans even care about party politics. The rest of us don’t care. Just do what is right.
donna benfield is crooked and is bad for rexburg. the city made the Godly choice, stop complaining.
Chris, I noticed this too. As I campaigned for a candidate, I ran into a few people who were almost upset at the fact that Rexburg’s elections are party free. Frustrated at the fact that they had to look into each and every candidate to decide who they would vote for, they would ask what party you were affiliated with or identified best with. It was frustrating to see their obsession with parties.
What is more is people’s inability to accept the best possible outcome. Even as our constitution was completed, Benjamin Franklin declared his discontent with certain items, but that it was as close to perfection as one could expect. This document was far from perfect, there were compromises made to please the quorum of men who wrote it, and our written form of government has held up for more than 200 years. Debate is necessary, compromise is necessary, and we need to be happy and show support for our uniquely American process.
Chris, I appreciate your comments but to me what this comes down to is that, when given the opportunity most of the councilmen chose not to speak as to the reasons to pick or not pick a certain candidate. They did not avail the opportunity to justify their decision, which as elected officials I believe they owe those that elected them.
Really to me, it is not about sour grapes. I was at the council meeting where Mayor Woodland’s appointment was made. There was so little debate it was appalling. Possible appointees were hardly discussed. It was like most of the Council was afraid to say anything that could possibly offend. Most just said fluff and talked in circles. Frankly, I was caught off guard at how obvious it was that the decision was made before hand. You didn’t see that? I don’t have a problem with Councilmen talking one on one but the debate should have occurred in the meeting. The public had a right to hear at least some debate. What we all got was a bunch of nothing!
I would like to see more elections as non-partisan and cause a candidate to show who they really are and not hide behind a label like Democrat or Republican.