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Post by fireball on Mar 1, 2010 16:11:26 GMT -5
magnusalistir, You make it sound so easy to try to over throw the small town politics here. Yeah you cant talk to a sheriff in a bigger city or sit in on meeting but what good does it do here. You sit and talk or make a point and it all goes in one ear and out another. The only thing standing up for yourself and standing up for the right thing will get you a hell of a reputation and a bad one at that. Everyone knows change needs to come to this county and the city. After all, the crap that is allowed here by city and county officials wouldnt be tolerated in a bigger city... So talking about changing the crooked corrupted ways around here is alot easier said than done.
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Post by magnusalistir on Mar 2, 2010 10:40:54 GMT -5
They also know that most people don't like to step out of their safe zones and try new things, they would rather listen to someone tell them how they think it should go and then say, that sounds good, we will do that, instead of trying something new. Very true! Now Think about walmart. Why does valdosta have 2? Because it's close to madison and they figured since Madison didn't want one, they would build another in Valdosta that was close enough to reach the customers from the Cherry Lake/Pinetta/Madison Area that it would make a profit and they did. Madison Doesn't want it for obvious reasons. Lets say the Walmart was one with the gas station and the tire/oil shop and a suntrust bank and say subway inside. Now, this is untrue, rumors. WM didn't come because it was a financial decison on thier part, not Madison's. They would love to have a WM for the tax base it would offer. Have you ever worked at a gas station, or know anything about the business? Gas stations make very little on gas, that is why most stations have 'JR' stores, the gas is the bait to get you in and they make the money off what they sell in the store.
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Post by magnusalistir on Mar 2, 2010 11:35:58 GMT -5
Magnusalistir, you are right that no perfect place exists and those of us that complain could move out of the county but I choose to live here. It is because I care for Madison that I complain and for the record, I have and will continue to work to make Madison a better place. Discontent can be a force for positive change. Oscar Wilde said “Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation”. Your post makes it sound like that those of us that complain are lazy and don’t want to “make it”. We are doing much more than just complaining. Both my wife and I are college educated professionals that have “made it”, so your accusation could not be more false. I have been blessed to travel to many cities in this country and to Europe many times. I have seen many things that would be good for the people of Madison if only we could move forward. I love to study history and the past is a great place to visit in our minds, but we can’t live there. Making it is so much more than getting elected to public office and then going into “power save” mode and doing as little as possible. We have some public official that I think are good people. Personally, I can’t say enough good things about our Sheriff, Ben Stewart. I think he has shaken-up the department and is making some major improvements. There are others that I will not mention that are supposed to represent my district that do absolutely nothing but collect a check. There is good and bad in the county but economic and social progress will not come our way unless we at least voice our complaints. Thanks to the Madison Voice and technology, everyone can voice our likes and dislikes. We can do this without fear of retribution. This forum has given me hope that people may be waking up and beginning to see that we must identify what we don’t like about our county and then work to bring about specific change. In any case, I will not be silent anymore! You hit it on the head, I do thinkl most people are lazy, not everyone, but most. You have an education and have traveled, you appear to be somewhat open-minded. But, I can't see how complaining on a local forum is goingt o change anything. The problem is when people come to live or come back to live in Madison after they left, they have changed, not Madison. What kind of 'change' would you like to see? And, how would propose they 'changes' be made?
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Post by magnusalistir on Mar 2, 2010 11:46:56 GMT -5
magnusalistir, You make it sound so easy to try to over throw the small town politics here. Yeah you cant talk to a sheriff in a bigger city or sit in on meeting but what good does it do here. You sit and talk or make a point and it all goes in one ear and out another. The only thing standing up for yourself and standing up for the right thing will get you a hell of a reputation and a bad one at that. Everyone knows change needs to come to this county and the city. After all, the crap that is allowed here by city and county officials wouldnt be tolerated in a bigger city... So talking about changing the crooked corrupted ways around here is alot easier said than done. I never said nor implied to overthrow the small town government. But I did imply it is much easier to get things done in Madison than a larger City. To what ‘crap’ are you referring? Most statements I have heard on this forum and from people out in town are uninformed and untruth. Most people choose to believe the rumors then fact. Granted, very few are in the know of these facts because they choose not to put their ‘business’ on the street.
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Post by DESTINY21 on Mar 2, 2010 13:25:09 GMT -5
To cade49, I salute you! Like cade49, I have been blessed to travel a lot and live in various places. Citizens of Madison County has been held hostage by a select few forever. Meanwhile our elected officials are busy collecting checks for being on the payroll and Madison County continues to fall farther and farther behind other counties in our area. It is a sham job at its best! I just don’t understand why more people aren't demanding more out our elected officials. My message to the people is simple...why do we keep electing the same old officials expecting better results. If Madison County is to move forward into the 21st Century, then we must have elected officials who are aggressive with a vision and a plan to improve the quality of life for all citizens of Madison County.
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Post by elmo on Mar 2, 2010 15:52:56 GMT -5
Is the City Manager an elected official? If so I would like to start with him!!! I just read on the voice where the 3 Candidates for Chief of Police would be picked by the City Manager after input from other officials, hmmmm, wonder which one he will pick, maybe the one who has friends and family in town!!!! One from Texas, one from Maitland and the other from FDLE, I mean we can clearly see no one existing in that department had the qualifications!!! Lets hope it is some new blood that can clean house and whoop ass!!!!!
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Post by magnusalistir on Mar 2, 2010 18:48:27 GMT -5
Is the City Manager an elected official? If so I would like to start with him!!! I just read on the voice where the 3 Candidates for Chief of Police would be picked by the City Manager after input from other officials, hmmmm, wonder which one he will pick, maybe the one who has friends and family in town!!!! One from Texas, one from Maitland and the other from FDLE, I mean we can clearly see no one existing in that department had the qualifications!!! Lets hope it is some new blood that can clean house and whoop ass!!!!! No, The City of Madison's Manager is 'hired' and works for the pleasure of the commission. The City manager hires and fires all City employees, with the exception of the City Clerk, who is also hired by the Commission. That's where to start, vote out the elected officials that you feel are not doing their job. Vote in someone you think will do YOU the best job. But remember, power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely! The candidate that currently lives in Madison, I believe just moved here, but I may have misunderstood that. No one on the force was chosen in the top three.
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Post by fireball on Mar 3, 2010 18:08:44 GMT -5
All the crap here that i was refferring to is the really the policy of who you know not what you know... if you are related to some big family with a big last name you can do whatever and you will be safe because of who you are related to, but it doesnt matter if your a nobody with a brain and experience. Certain things that the city does wrong here just get swept under the carpet and not talked about because they know they are wrong and will be scrutinzed so they hope it will all just go away...........
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Post by cade49 on Mar 3, 2010 21:13:17 GMT -5
While complaining on this local forum may not bring immediate positive change, it sure does make me feel better. As far as the changes that I'd like to see, they are basic and can be described as access, action and respect. 1) Access: The county commission should hold at least one meeting per month in the evening so the general public could attend if they desire. 2) Action: The commission should put forth more effort to develop and implement a real plan for economic development of our county that considers all options. I've watched the commission meetings and talked to a number of county employees and to put it nicely, their efforts appear anemic at best. Most wouldn't survive in the private sector. 3) Respect: I'd like to be treated with basic respect when I have business at specific county government offices. While most county employees are great, some act as if I'm a burden instead of a citizen. I always treat everyone with respect and I expect to be treated the same way.
The biggest change that is needed in this county is economic. An improved economy would bring positive change in many other areas. Valdosta is a great example of this. Lowndes County has grown by leaps and bounds since the "good-ol-boys" began to loose their grip on power. Their quality of life has been on a steep climb for a number of years. I wouldn't Madison to be just like Valdosta, but we could build our own version of success.
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Post by elmo on Mar 4, 2010 11:05:49 GMT -5
All the crap here that i was refferring to is the really the policy of who you know not what you know... if you are related to some big family with a big last name you can do whatever and you will be safe because of who you are related to, but it doesnt matter if your a nobody with a brain and experience. Certain things that the city does wrong here just get swept under the carpet and not talked about because they know they are wrong and will be scrutinzed so they hope it will all just go away........... Ditto: And you don't know the half of it that goes on. Trust me, not all of it GOES AWAY!!!!!!
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Post by haha32350 on Mar 5, 2010 0:30:35 GMT -5
honestly, i've noticed it isn't the people that are running for these offices but the people who put them there.. if this play didn't carry that good ole boy club mentality alot of crap wouldn't be taking place.. people who were best suited for the job would really get it... the old saying goes "it's all about who you know and who you blow" well seems the be the case around here as of late..
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Post by cade49 on Mar 5, 2010 22:54:56 GMT -5
Magnusalistir, you made some points that I can agree with in your previous post: 1) People that move back to Madison or have been exposed to the "outside" world are changed. Madison is mostly the same. 2) There does appear to be a lot of lazy people in Madison. This is the case in many towns and cities these days. Too many people are waiting on someone else to improve their situation instead of realizing that we are responsible for our own lives. They feel entitled to their desires. 3) It is critical for people that aren't happy with a situaion to identify exactly what changes are desired for the situation. This is just as true for the situations in our personal lives as it is for our city and county. Of course acting in a positive way to bring about the change is also important. Do you agree that there is plenty of room for positive change in our county? How would you propose people bring about this positive change?
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Post by starkiller on Mar 6, 2010 22:01:16 GMT -5
Bah, It was Madisons Decision. Madison has 3 walmarts 45 minutes away, Live Oak, Valdosta, Perry. and Not just regular walmarts, Super Walmarts. Figure out the Madison I am talking about and you'll know.
I never worked at a gas station, but a friend of mines family owns 3 and I know very well how it works. But you have to consider Walmart has it's own fleet and their trucks go right through Madison and the transport fees for gas would be much less for them, than the current stations.
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Post by cade49 on Mar 6, 2010 22:30:27 GMT -5
We are often urged to "buy local", but that has become almost impossible. There isn't much left in Madison. There was a time when you could buy most things local, but that time has long passed. I don't understand the resistance to Walmart that I saw when they were considering locating here. Since I am in Valdosta a number of times each week, I buy most of my gas at Sam's Club and lots of other things at Walmart. If we had a local Walmart, then we would shop there instead.
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Post by elmo on Mar 7, 2010 6:07:40 GMT -5
If Walmart was a Franchise that could be owned by one of the "Chosen Few" that run this town and county then we would have one. Case in point, new Burger King, Convenience Store and Gas Station, yep we needed another one of those.
There is not enough revenue in this town for Walmart to come here or incentive. One of the poorest counties and Florida and falling fast.
I have resigned myself to the fact that if I want or need anything I will have to travel to another community to get it.
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