A New Equation!!!

I need your help. We have got to get Hickory back on track. Don't think me strange to say that I do not mind putting this town on my back. I know that Harry Hipps has my back and I've got his, but what about the rest of you?

You see, I was raised to be a responsible human being. I'm no better than anyone else. I am just a common man with issues that make me different in many ways from most of you. My father died when I was 2 years old, he was 24. My mother was an overburdened, shellshocked widow at the age of 22 with three children, aged 4, 2, and 1. Looking back, I know that she did the best she could under such a tumultuous situation. She made mistakes, but that's part of being human.

So, I don't come from the standard mother, father core family like the majority of you. I was forced to grow up in many ways before I was even out of infancy. There were no father-son banquets or closely bonded relationship that men cherish with their father. I have always been the outsider.

I eventually had a stepfather, but he never was a father figure in my life. He was more of an overburdening enforcer of will. So I rebelled and never did respect his authoritarian nature. That is the reason I can't stand when an entity tries to overpower a weaker subject with brute force or intimidation.

My Grandfathers were great men in my life, neither were perfect, but who is. Leroy Shell led by example in my eyes. He was a good Christian and I saw him constantly go out of his way to help his fellow man. Vic Padgett was a gregarious man who had a multitude of friends. Whenever we went out somewhere, he was sure to know someone and easily strike up a conversation. They have both been gone for a while, but they are still in my heart and in my head. I think of them often.

My Grandmothers have both been steady influences in my life. Mattie Padgett used to be a local radio personality on WIRC for 50+ years. She is cool, because she can do about anything. She was in the military during WWII and she doesn't take lip from anybody. She is very strong-willed. Martha Shell was a nurse here in Hickory. She saved my life when I was a teenager, because she got me out of an anxiety riddled situation and gave me the independence that I needed to blossom.

I needed to give you that overview to let you know that no matter what happens in your lives, everything is going to be alright. We all have negativity in our lives, but the key is that we must turn it into a positive by learning from it. It is alright to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and don't continuously repeat them.

I hated my primary education. I didn't like many of my teachers, because I felt and still feel that they were petty. The ones I didn't like were generally the ones that thought they were there to play some kind of mind games. I was there to learn, not be indoctrinated with social class and structure, and so I was always an outcast. Sort of like James Dean in Rebel without a Cause. But, I did (and do) have a cause.

Read the Declaration of Independence http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 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. Amen brothers, amen. I bathe myself in this statement. I glorify our forefathers who put their lives on the line so that we could be free from tyranny.

My family, my heroes, and my mentors have brought me to where I am today and given me the knowledge that I am unique and I have abilities and responsibilities to help myself, as well as my fellow man.

My problems are my own and it is my responsibility to solve them. That does not absolve me from the responsibility of helping others, when I can. When someone gets in the way of me solving problems, then it is my responsibility to figure out a way to get that person (or entity) out of the way so that I may resolve the issue. That is the reason I am beseeching you to help me move Hickory forward. It is our responsibility to change this city's purpose.

For too long we have seen the blame game. Blame Raleigh, blame Washington, blame Democrats, blame Republicans....where has it gotten us. Seven years of stagnation!!!

Our governmental leaders' vision is negative. Whether it is the negativity in dealing with the drinking establishments, the conflicts of interest, the hostile nature in which they have dealt with local businesses, the way certain council members want to take away our property rights, and then absolve themselves of any and all responsibility for the malaise our city has endured for seven years; it has got to be brought to an end.

It's not about vision. It's about the equation! Negative attitudes produce negative results.

Our city's leaders vision doesn't add up. So it is time to change the equation, because certain leaders just don't fit into Hickory's equation. We must get rid of the people with the negative attitudes, the people that tell us what we can't do, and the people that always want to play the blame game.

They need to show us what they are going to do, because all we have heard are excuses. They should look at it as a priviledge and honor to serve us, because I think that some of them look at the citizens as a burden. They are here to represent us all. The black, white, yellow, brown, tan, or green are supposed to be treated equally.

I need your help. I believe in this purpose. I believe in this movement. Please spread the word. Preach it from a pulpit or whisper it in someone's ear, I don't care. We need eyeballs. We need comments. We need participation. We need them to know that we exist and we need them to know that we are here to stay.

Take a chance. What's it going to hurt? We know that our city leader's vision has not worked. What indication is there that things are going to get better? It's up to you. Do you want to see us continue down this path of failure or do you want to see a new equation?