Wednesday, in the midweek edition, we reported on the graffiti painted onto the sign at the Habersham County Administration Building. We made the decision not to run the photos of the spray paint damage with the news story. However, on this opinion page you will see the two pictures cropped.
We can all agree, complaining about taxes by damaging our local government’s sign makes no sense. The sign belongs to us and the bill to repair it comes out of our county’s coffers, too. What a waste of tax dollars!
On a national level it seems we have forgotten how to debate, disagree and still remain the United States of America. Harty discussion is vital to a well-functioning democracy. But today, people pick sides, draw a line in the dirt and rule out any and all compromise.
There has been a lot of discussion about taxes in Habersham County as our commissioner set the new budget. Some people have been well prepared with their points in presenting them to their elected officials, others not so much and many just decide to rant about the topic without ever attending a meeting or reading the facts to form an educated opinion. And then an individual or individuals haul off and spray paint our sign.
Folks, we live in a geographically-blessed place with a lot more good people than bad people. Our local governments meet at least monthly and all meetings encourage the public to attend. If you have a concern about how your municipality or county government is run, get involved. Prepare your points and discuss them with your elected officials. Write a letter to the editor. Getting focused and being involved could and will make a great impact for you and your neighbors. But spray painting a government sign to make a point is straight hogwash.
And we look forward to reporting the name or names of those involved with defacing our county’s property.