Elections and Technology

"Meet the new boss...same as the old boss."

That pretty much sums up my feelings about the national elections. The voters apparently sent a message to the Republican-controlled Washington DC that they were unhappy with the way things are being done. Now, as the Democrats take over the House and almost certainly, the Senate, be prepared for gridlock. And, after some of the humongous mistakes made by Republicans when they controlled both the executive and both houses of Congress, maybe a little gridlock is what we need.

But, you know what, in a few years, we will throw out the Democrats and replace them with a Republican majority because of the mistakes they will make that will make the voters very unhappy. My point is that very little change ever really takes place in the federal government. Its the same story year after year...only the names change.

Over the years, I've sort of become a fan of one party controlling one branch of government while the other controls another. But, it almost doesn't matter anymore because part of the government of this country is controlled by the millions of non-elected bureaucrats and the remainder is controlled by special interest groups with lots of money. Oh, how cynical I have become.

But, I really wanted to write today about our local elections, especially those involving the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD). The PUD is the starting place for growth and change in our county. They control the major source of energy in our county and well as our high speed connections to the world via the fiber optic program. Therefore, when a company begins thinking of relocating their business here, they must deal with the PUD very early in the process. This makes them a very important cog in our growth process.

After the perceived excesses of the previous PUD administration, the local electorate voted for change to bring everything, including fiber back to a more reasonable level. That's not what we got. Instead, we elected 3 new commissioners dead set on shutting down the fiber system and with strong personal agendas . These three are not men of vision...they were bean counters...men with no vision for the future. They basically worked hard to shut down the fiber optic system, and although they claimed that wasn't the case. But, standing still really means we are going backwards as the rest of the world passes us by.

Their actions, or lack of actions, has caused several privately held local companies to disappear or stop working to provide Internet services. They shut down the TV center, thereby causing VIB-TV to go out of business. Donobi shut down their local office and other providers have stopped providing Internet services over our fiber. The PUD made promises to make this a viable system, then broke their promises.

Yes...there were excesses in the past. But, even the independent investigator hired by the PUD to investigate these excesses prefaced his report by saying these deeds were not done for personal gain. They were done to make our fiber optic system the best for our county residents.

A lot of mistakes were made, and the sinners paid the price. But, in the future, we will look back at them and thank them for their vision. Sadly, some innocent parties, whose only mistakes were to follow orders, also paid the price. But that is another story.

But, we Grant County residents also paid the price by electing three new PUD commissioners who had no interest in providing fiber service and upgrading the future of our county. For them, dial-up was just fine. Maybe for them, but not for the future, not for our children. Without fiber, businesses would not migrate here and most of our children would have to leave the area. Do you think Microsoft or Yahoo would be here now without fiber? And at least one of the three tried to throw a monkey wrench into that operation.

One of these three commissioners came up for re-election this year. He had two opponents for his seat. In the September primaries, he came in last place, thereby losing his seat. I am glad voters saw this man for what he was and remembering that he was convicted of assaulting a sheriff's deputy four years ago. In my opinion, this man was not fit to hold this most important office.

On Tuesday, we elected two men whom I perceive have a vision for our future, Bob Berndt and Terry Brewer. It looks like the PUD may soon have a more reasonable approach toward our future as the Luddite majority of three becomes a minority of two. It's a good start towards restarting our future.

Now, on a personal note, many long-time readers know that Susan and I have had some major issues with Terry Brewer in the past. Six years ago, Terry fired Susan as his personal assistant halfway through her chemotherapy treatments. So, I am sure some of you are asking how we feel about his election.

In fact, Susan and I have both moved way past that episode. That's was a long time ago and we both believe in moving forward with our lives, not living in the past and trying to build a life on hate and anger. Susan and I truly believe that Terry will do a good job for all of us and there is no one more qualified to help bring new businesses to our county. We applaud his election and wish him and Bob Berndt well in their new positions.

Once again, we can look forward to the future of our county.