The peaceful community of Jacksonville is in real turmoil because of Hube Smith’s irrational and expensive recall efforts. It appears Mr. Smith only real end is to completely defund professional emergency response services for a small town of mostly senior citizens. Mr. Smith sees these ERS professionals as Big Government waste that must be cut. When the citizens voted against the proposed funding plan, that vote did not mean that we want NO or inadequate services. What is Mr. Smith’s plan for the time between when he has the fire department fired and the new all-volunteer senior citizen fire brigade is set up?
What is happening in Jacksonville is an example of what can happen when a community lets a group of people engage in the politics of pitchforks and torches without having a plan for governance once control of government is finally seized. My advice to Mr. Smith is to avoid running for local public office using the same fear and intimidation tactics that I voted against today.
Julie G. Grey, Jacksonville
