Columns/Opinions

By Kenny Mitchell
Publisher

By Kenny Mitchell

Publisher

We wake up this morning to another senseless school shooting, more young lives lost, on the heels of the tragic accidents in Foreman and New Boston that claimed lives that were just beginning.

So much promise lost. So much potential that will never be reached. So much grief and sadness.

By Kenny Mitchell

Publisher

May 4^th is a day that will always be remembered around these parts. Especially if you lived here in 1999.

A week ago, Saturday evening, I looked at her mom, she nodded her head, and we made the decision to put her child, my wife, on a machine to keep her alive.

There was no other choice to make.

People were asking me about advanced directives, living wills and power of attorney, but in my heart, in her mom’s heart, there was no other option but to keep her breathing.

New Boston is a town in conflict. There is a need for resolve, but it is not a town at war.
To say such would be a disservice to all of those who ever served in the military.
No, this is not a war, this is a simple case of power run amuck.
It is a case leadership not obliging the voice of the people.

It is fairly safe to say, if a straw poll was taken, the majority would loudly declare that current New Boston Chief of Police Tony King needs to find a new career, somewhere other than New Boston.

By Kenny Mitchell

Publisher

A lot of fuss has been made in recent weeks over the infighting at New Boston City Hall and the turmoil inside the New Boston Police Department. Council orders have gone ignored, friends have become foes, and a sense of disarray has been unleashed on the general public by TV and newspaper coverage.

To say that there are no problems in New Boston would be a mistake. It is obvious that there are differences of opinion and that things could be getting done differently.

Yes, there should be an investigation into the police department when the kinds of accusations that have been made are brought to light, and yes, when an order by the governing body of any city is blatantly ignored, there is a problem.

Things could be and should be done differently.

All this week, I had the pleasure of listening to a friend learn a song to sing in church this morning. It is a great song for any Sunday morning, but it also speaks to a very relevant issue in our little world today.

How seriously do we take our beliefs? Living in the heart of the Bible belt, where most folks go to church and call themselves Christians, just how seriously do we take that name, that faith and the life that is supposed to go along with it?

When we talk to people on a daily basis, when we step into the grocery store or drive thru the fast food restaurant line, what is it that people see in you?

That is a tough question to answer, I know that because I have been trying to answer it all week myself. We like to think we have it down and that we are living the way we are supposed to, but again, the question is the same.

There are some people who go through life on a collision course with everyone they meet, manipulating others to get their way and treating others as pawns for their own self-advancement, furtherance of their agenda, or simple insecurity and the need to feel safe and in control. When those type people become leaders of a community, or are put in a position of leadership in a community, conflict will arise only when someone has the courage to stand up to them.

Organizations are generally governed by multiple people. The reason there are multiple people and not just one is because no one person knows what is best for everyone. We all have different perspectives and different strengths and can see things that others can’t.

There were a lot of threats of violence on school campuses last week. Threats written on walls, threats on social media and threats made to students, from students. School districts dealt with the threats, some in a proper manner, some did not. Some reported them instantly, some did not. Regardless, of how they were made or how they were reported, lives were changed.

We have to find a way to tell these students that are making threats, no matter how trivial or comical they may think they are, threats of violence will not be taken as anything other than a threat. We have to find a way to tell our students that there will be consequences. And there will be consequences.

Dear Community Leaders,

It has come to my attention that the career and reputation of a close personal friend and colleague of mine has come under attack from elements within the upper administration of New Boston ISD. Having known Patty Green for my entire professional life, I feel compelled to speak on her behalf in light of these recent developments.