Community Issues
Wes Huffman is willing to tackle them and make our community a better place.
Why Citizens Choose Bad Government
Summary: The government you have is a reflection of the choices made by its citizens, often influenced by media. The media prioritizes profits over promoting good governance. As a citizen, it is crucial to assess candidates based on their principles and character, relying on firsthand information rather than persuasive advertisements.
The Details
Many citizens are disengaged or apathetic, more focused on their personal rights—rights granted by others—than on fulfilling their civic responsibilities. Businesses, run by similarly indifferent individuals, entice people by promising happiness through the products they sell. These same businesses also play a role in elections by funding candidates’ campaigns. In turn, elected officials, who are also seeking personal gain, reciprocate the support. This mutually beneficial relationship, fueled by financial contributions such as PAC money, protects the interests of those funding campaigns, often without transparency. This is the essence of a "win-win" scenario in politics today.
The solution, while simple, requires collective action. But, most citizens remain in the "I" mindset, unwilling to take meaningful steps toward change.
Here's the key: **Pick up the trash**.
There is a large group of citizens who complain about the state of society or government, yet do nothing to improve it. If they joined the proactive citizens already working toward solutions—just as people literally picking up trash—much progress could be made. Over time, social pressure would encourage those contributing to the problem to stop.
As an example, consider Disneyland: It remains clean and orderly because no one tolerates litter. If we desire a better society, we must all take responsibility for its upkeep.
Remember these timeless words:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Public Safety
The crime in our county is mostly from our neighbors, not organized crime or gangs. The most dangerous call a law enforcement officer makes is a domestic dispute call. All of the participants in these calls should be required to face a civil court judge, be assigned mandatory public service, and mandatory attendance in character building and anger management classes. They should also be evaluated by the health services department for any medical issues contributing to their behavior.
This kind of support would help these families recover their lives and make all of us safer.
Fiscal Responsibility
The city should budget only 95% of its revenue for expenses. The surplus would fill our community chest; Protecting against downturns in the economy or catastrophic events, as well as capital for infrastructure investment opportunities. The invested infrastructure returns would provide additional revenues.
The accounting system needs to provide a per unit cost on all financial and budget reports. This would provide leaders and citizens a standard unit cost to compare the value of individual activities, departments, or the whole city
.
Un-sheltered Citizens
Respect is something that all of us desire. We should offer the un-housed an opportunity to obtain the Food, Shelter, Safety and Comfort they need by their own efforts. Like the WPA (Works Project Administration) or the CCC (Civilian Conservation Core) during the Great Depression the citizens were given an opportunity to work to satisfy their needs. In so doing, they earned the respect of the whole nation.
The un-housed don’t need a handout. They need an opportunity to work. (This is for the able bodied citizens. Those with mental, health or drug issues would have these addressed first, before they could participate with the citizens able to to work.)
