Commentary: Extremes Divide Again; Stop or Replace

By Jeff Jobe, Community Publisher

Weak leadership and hidden agendas are destroying Glasgow. The political divide must stop in order to ever realize our full potential.

We saw it with our local power company and county government, and those were resolved. More on those issues as we move into the upcoming election cycle.

So now our challenge is not to allow the few weak leaders remaining who can be manipulated or use their office as a bully pulpit for personal gain.

Before giving specifics, let me first compliment Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd and the county magistrates for making openness a priority in their management style.

This is the second time in recent months county government has opened their meetings allowing the community to come, be heard, and share their beliefs. While the 7/22/24 Glasgow City Council meeting was a second time city government has kept discussions private and among themselves; with council members Max Marion, Marna Kirkpatrick, and Terry Bunnell being out voted by Patrick Gaunce, Chasity Lowery, Joe Trigg, Happy Neal, and Freddie Norris in allowing transparency to the public.

Openness is finding itself unanimous at the county level and in the minority for the citizens of Glasgow.

My experience is when transparency happens, the extremes will expose themselves and the chances for common ground are realized.

As for myself, I needn’t agree with decisions made in government; I simply believe it is my job as a publisher to expose when they go about it in a wrong manner and identify those doing it right.

Specifics of a current controversy can be summed up to the fact that Refuge Bowling Green (RBG) is new to the relocation task at hand, along with having some terrible on-the-ground representation allowing them to be pulled into the political extremes of our community.

As a business owner, I have personal friends of all sides who live most of their life with blinders on and anchored securely inside their choice of extreme land just waiting for the next opportunity to pounce their view. Friends yes, but not individuals who strongly influence my work.

Perhaps the quiet, nonpublic meeting on June 17 with select members and leaders of our community wasn’t meant as a means to keep secret, but it sure does seem like it when they refuse to answer questions from our reporters.

Perhaps none of the elected officials meant to keep the meeting secret, but it sure does seem that way when Sheriff Kent Keen was alone in sharing details of the meeting he was asked to attend.

Perhaps the leadership of RBG didn’t mean it as disrespectful or divisive when they emailed template letters for our city mayor, our sheriff, and possibly others to sign and send back to them. Letters saying they support and want the placement without approvals of council members or magistrates, those who are elected to represent the people of this community.

I am comfortable anyone who sat through the open discussions and witnessing the division on social media will agree it was not an example of openness. It was downright disrespectful to put Judge-Executive Byrd, Mayor Royse, and Sheriff Keen in such a position. They do not deserve being brought into something not at all necessary for our community, even though the 7/1/24 email to Royse indicated he and Police Chief Howie had discussed the letter a week earlier.

It is very clear RBG has rogue individuals when they attack the media covering the mess they created and ignorant as well when not realizing we back up what we write.

These same poorly trained representatives have joined our most divisive elected official, Patrick Gaunce, exposing his personal disdain for anyone who dares to disagree with him.

It is a terrible thing for anyone to be called a racist or a bigot, and this is exactly what is happening when RGB reps align with Gaunce in saying,“Are we going to allow 30 total refugees including adults children-I’m not sure City Council or Fiscal Court have the right to only allowing people who look like us in-See this isn’t one master race we saw in 1940’s-I believe the refugees,migrant workers,and work visas have as much rights as any citizen here-We don’t check moving people into our communities for our states-Matthew Stevens what do we need to do to keep things going forward-God Loves all the little children-I for one are for the 30 refugees to move here.”  (The quote is shared as written).

I don’t have to agree with Gaunce or the outspoken and misguided RBG spokesperson Matthew Stevens, and that is fine.

However, I’ll be damned if I will sit back while they accuse all of us in the community who simply have questions of doing so because we are afraid of anyone who doesn’t look like us. There has never been any discussion for how anyone may look and using the images posted on Gaunce’s site are more attempts to be divisive.

We are a diverse and welcoming community of good people as a whole. It is our poor leadership that causes us problems by dividing us into their way or condemnation.

Gaunce’s post is a “dog whistle” to an extreme position meant to attack those who disagree with him. Although there are, no doubt, a few backward racists to be found; it isn’t fair to the most liberal among us or those who simply have questions in an opposing view. This is Gaunce’s social media bully pulpit in which he thrives in praising God, while damning judgment upon others often in the same thread. It is terribly sad anyone elected to represent us all would even consider such a post.

I can ignore the attempts to discredit my company because my staff is professional and ready to prove all that we write. I’m so very proud at the professionalism of our managing editor Allyson Dix for exposing Stevens and his lack of integrity when challenging her work.

I’m also appreciative of Mayor Royse and Judge-Executive Byrd for squelching a rumor being spread that a woman in my office took a call from Sheriff Keen which was being used as a means to spread a false narrative. The sheriff has assured me he never made any such call.

Let it be known, anytime an elected official or government worker chooses to discredit or talk down the citizens who pay their salary or disrespect a Veteran who sacrificed their lives, this newspaper, while under my direction, will expose you for doing it.

You have my word on this, Jeff Jobe.