Light-up McIntosh December 15
Light-up McIntosh will begin at the Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The event will host Santa Clause and an area choir from six local churches will sing.
07.11.06 -- EDITORIAL: Special Election
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
By 8 a.m. this morning 23 people had voted in the special election to add an amendment to the McIntosh town charter that would ban expansion of the historic district.
Things looked good this morning. I asked the poll worker outside how we found out the results. She said to ask the clerk inside. "Oh, is Julie inside?"
"No, it's not Julie," she said.
I was voter 23, I think. But when I crossed the threshold of the Civic Center I stopped dead in my tracks.
One of the women working at the polls asked me if there was something wrong.
"Yes," I said.
My mind was racing trying to figure out what I should do. See, Historic Board member Beverly Dodder was the clerk working the polls. Nothing against Dodder. I honestly have no idea of her politics. But there is a ethical perception to having a member of an historic board working an election concerning banning expansion of the historic district.
After I voted, I asked Dodder if she was still a member of the historic board. She was very ethical and proper in her response, telling me that she could not speak about that under the circumstances. In all fairness, her response is a credit to her.
At the town office, Julie Musselman said Dodder has been working elections for 16 years. She called the town attorney Scott Walker to ask if Dodder could legally work the poll. Legally, it was OK, they said.
But what's legal and ethical are different matters. I think most residents don't know who Dodder is and what her role on the historic preservation board is but some do. Some might see her pressence there the same way I did this morning: as something to make them stop in their tracks and question, how did this happen?
This is one of McIntosh's biggest challenges: when the old and the new collide. Many of us work in Gainesville or Ocala. This is 2006 and have an expectation that government be run at a higher standard. Folks like Dodder who have been manning polls for 16 years, doing things the old ways. I think it was an honest mistake. But I think it was a mistake to have her working the polls for this election.
The results will post at the Civic Center after they process them at the end of the election at 7 p.m.
posted by Cher @ 9:37 AM,
1 Comments:
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At July 15, 2006 6:26 PM ,
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i was sorry to hear about beverly dodder's problems. i know that i personally am extremely sorry, not worried that beverly chose to leave the historic board. i think the wrong person resigned. maybe when a calmer mcintosh emerges she will return to her rightful place on the board. i'm sorry you were hurt by hateful people, you don't deserve the titles you were called. casey
Editor
Editor and Publisher:
I'm Cher From McIntosh, FL I'm a graduate student at the University of Florida working on a master's degree in Mass Communication. While I was finishing my undergrad degree in journalism last year, I reported on McIntosh, Fla. for an in-depth reporting class. I figured that the reporting and the public record files should go somewhere people can access them. Reporters don't report to keep the information they find to themselves. Some of that reporting is included here in a forum that allows response. McIntosh suffers because with no news coverage, the local government and the rumor mill have too much potential to run rampant over residents. I moved to McIntosh in the fall of 1999. My profile
About This Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to accurately reflect what happens in town public meetings and dispel rumors. I record the meetings and make them available for download. One of the goals of this blog is to offer residents a place to voice opinions. The comments, views and opinions expressed there are not necessarily those of the editor.
