Can we restore civility to Safety Harbor now?

Tranquility. That was the reason my wife and I decided to buy our first home here more than 13 years ago. Now that the second bitter, divided election cycle in a row is behind us, I must ask my neighbors: Can we now restore civility to the city we all love?

Disagreements on issues affecting the city always have been present, and they always will be. Even in a city of 17,000 people, it’s impossible to make everyone happy all of the time. But in the past two years, these disputes have gotten nastier. Much, much nastier.

I’m tired of it.

And I believe most residents are tired of it, too.

In the past two elections, we’ve witnessed the petty stealing of campaign signs, and the almost-as-petty wasting of Sheriff’s Office resources reporting those thefts. We’ve listened in horror as dozens of our fellow citizens heckled candidates at a forum, and residents threaten violence on each other at that same forum. And while I felt blessed that we had four strong candidates to choose from in Tuesday’s election, I felt disappointed when every single one of them chose to use their campaign fliers to tell me why not to vote for their opponent. I was hoping at least one would simply tell me why to vote for he or she instead.

This isn’t Washington, D.C. This is Safety Harbor, Florida. Negative campaigning should have no place here.

I’m tired of it.

And I believe most residents are tired of it, too.

Our city has been torn apart over a debate falsely framed as an absolute. Not every tree should be saved, though most should. Not every building should be built, though some should. One can be “pro-development” and still love trees. One can be “pro-environment” and still see the value in development. They key, as in with most things in life, is balance. And that’s been lost as rational citizens like myself have let extremists on both sides take our city away from us.

I’m tired of it.

And I believe most residents are tired of it, too.

Imagine for a minute if those who feel the need to disrespect our elected officials at the commission podium, and those who feel the need to disrespect our elected officials in cartoons posted to a Facebook page, would rechannel all of that passion and love that they clearly have for our city into positive pursuits, instead of negative ones? Imagine what could be accomplished. So, so much. The longer we let those who seek to divide speak loudest, the sooner it will be that those of us who seek to unite will have no voice at all.

The four candidates who sought office on Tuesday probably felt they needed to cater to the extremists on their “teams” to be elected. But the election is over. It’s time to govern. And to the five excellent commissioners who are leading our city now, I offer this: You can’t govern to the extremes. You have to govern to the masses. And the masses will be watching closely to see to whom you give the bigger voice – the dividers or the uniters.

I want my city back.

And I believe most residents want their city back, too.

~Scott Long~