On April 7th of 2015, voters will go to the polls to cast their vote on the next Mayor. Two candidates are on the ballot for this position, J.D. Cole and Brock Moore. You have to ask yourself, who would best serve Barnsdall in it's present condition. I say condition because the city is far from being a shiny spot on your local "want to visit" places. Don't get me wrong, Barnsdall is a great place to live, it's just managed wrong and when management takes a dive so does the infrastructure that the city must have in order to operate.
Now, back to the candidates. First of all I have seen J. D. work well for the city in the past but over the last term of office I feel his dedication to Barnsdall's problems have become lackluster. Streets are in bad shape, sewer and water lines need replaced and the overall look of the town has become that of a hobo village. The way I see it, it's not the fault of the city workers. They do as they are instructed and if there is no instruction with leadership then there is a failure to improve. I also hear about the city finances being low or non existent so there aren't funds for capital improvements. When I hear this, it also comes back to management. There are grants that can be obtained for small city governments to improve their infrastructure. My question is this, has the present Mayor looked into any of these programs? And what about city finances? There was a time when the local newspaper would print what was going on the city government such as meeting minutes and monthly business tax intake. Now there is nothing, so there isn't any local knowledge as to how the city is operating.
Do I think the present administration is doing well with it's efforts to improve the city? No, easy answer. I haven't even heard of any future improvements that are on the agenda for repair or replacement if J.D. is elected back into office and if it's the same as what is on the list of projects that he presently has, then his list is as long as a blank sheet of paper. A Mayor cannot become complacent with his job and expect anything good to come out of it.
Candidate Brock Moore took the reign of city council and has seen the present situation the city is in. He has felt the need for improvement in many areas the city is lacking in. He has also stated what he would like to change in city government. Is he the candidate that has what is needed? That is yet to be seen until he is elected but the way I see it, there is more opportunity in what he has planned than someone that has had years of opportunity and hasn't done anything. To move the city forward a change is needed. It may not come over night but improvement takes time after things have been let go for so long. Brock wants change and improvement in the city. I agree with that. Moving forward with new ideas and management can be good for the city. The present way of doing business is clearly not working. If you want to know more about what Brock wants to improve on, contact him on Facebook. I would personally give Brock a chance in the drivers seat for four years, our present administration is driving from the back seat and we all know what happens back there, a lot of lip work and no action.
Barnsdall needs change, Barnsdall needs improvement. I guess this is my formal endorsement to vote for Brock. If he can manage and direct the city then maybe Barnsdall has a chance to become better than what it is. I'm not going to vote for someone that has no vision for the future, the past four years has shown me that. It's time for accountability, change and improvement. It's time for a new Mayor.
Vote Brock Moore on April 7th.
