One thing is sure, the Martin County Commission will have two new members within a few weeks. How will that effect the governmental direction of the county? What changes will there be in development policy? Will the Customs House be back? What about the pending contract with the county fire fighters? What about taxes? What is in store for the relationship between Stuart and Martin County? These are only some of the questions I have.

Elections are supposed to express the will of the people. In two of the three races for Martin County Commission, only half the voters could participate because of Florida’s election laws. While every candidate acted lawfully, the law itself still disenfranchised every registered Democrat and Independent. Perhaps this is a reason why we will see a sizable minority not happy with the direction this new commission takes.

What is wrong with the Democratic Party in Martin County that they could not field one candidate for County Commission? Is being on the Democratic line so toxic that it isn’t worth the effort? There is something wrong with the state of our politics when there is not a healthy two-party system. I would suspect not everyone who ran for a county office is really a Republican. You shouldn’t have to pretend that you are a Republican to do so.

And as I have already written, what does it matter what your party affiliation is in being a good county commissioner? We need to change that provision of the law regarding “write-in candidates” on a state level. We cannot have a sizable number of voters disenfranchised. This just adds to our political problems.

While I don’t know what the future brings (except on the Customs House), I do know it will be interesting. The wheels on the county bus go round…round…round. It sort of is déjà vu with Ed Ciampi once again sitting on the dais. But there will be a different spin to this line up because of the new guy, Harold Jenkins. Watch Mr. Jenkins. He will be the third vote on issues one way or the other.