Just a real quick blurb about me.
I have been active in local politics for over 20 years.
I have recorded local government meetings and posted them up on IndianaProud.com since 2007.
Around 2010, I was one of the founding members of the Libertarian Party of Washington County. Running as a Republican (before 2010) I got as high as 46% of the County wide Vote. As a Libertarian (after 2010) I normally get 20% to 26% of the County wide Vote. I believe I have run in every County race since helping found the local County Party.
The reason I have had so much free time to watch and irritate our local government is because I have been in business for over 30 years. I have done both traditional Retail and Wholesale, but I have mostly been an online merchant for over the last 20 years. I do bounce back into a mall store on occasion, but currently I am an Online Merchant.
I am not a traditional Politician.
I do not like making generalized, feel-good statements like “I am going to get more money for teachers salaries!” like other Politicians.
The way the Indiana government works now, you can make all the laws at the State and Federal level you want, but they do not matter if the local government is not ethical or does not follow them.
For example, here in Washington County in 2018, our County Council and Commissioners took all the LIT (or Local Income Tax) credits away from subsidizing the Property Taxes.
In our campaigns, our Candidates told people repeatedly that the schools were going to suffer. And then they did.
Within the next two years, the Salem Schools had around a $500,000 shortfall because of what the County Council and the Commissioners did.
The statement “I am going to get more money for teacher salaries!” sounds great in a campaign, but it is a hollow promise if you do not get local government under control.
So now, I am going to say something harsh that we already know. Ready?
We can make a thousand promises, shake a million hands, and kiss a billion babies, but it just doesn't matter.
I am not saying that the voters do not care, but that the system is too corrupt for us to break through.
Because it is more comfortable to run a traditional campaign, I do not fault other people running for office this way.
You can hide behind generalized statements without the background or experience to take on real, broken Government problems that affect real people.
You can always blame “not enough money” for his loss.
But a traditional campaign will not fix our government and protect our people. Let's see if we can't make a difference this way.