I attended the presentation at the beach as a member of Veterans For Peace wanting specific answers to questions on veterans issues. As with most such events the local politicians, including ERROL JONES, used it as a platform to emphasize their personal importance. I did eventually get to ask one quick question about specific plans for resolving homelessness among veterans and emphasized local government's total failure to adequately deal with the entire issue. At that point Mr. Jones began to loudly agree with my assessment with a lot of animated gestures. After the meeting I approached him about the possibility of working with him to deal with homeless issues. He quite literally blew me off telling me that I needed to talk with Mayor Boles who had a handle on the homeless issue.
Two conclusions:
1. People continue to talk about and act towards veterans and active duty military as if they are a homogenous group that are slightly less intelligent than average, all holding the same political views, somewhere between total self-interest and Hitler, and that the sight of an American flag generates a feeling approaching sexual arousal.
2. We need to stop expecting any solutions from any politicians at any level. Government, especially at the local level, has become nothing more than an arm of the Chamber of Commerce.
There are a number of people in this area who believe that the time has come to take back our city, county and state. We must take the initiative. We are expecting that we may well be forced to call for an economic boycott of the area. A boycott whose timing will coincide with the Chamber of Commerce's bogus "450th Anniversary."
Why support something that will only benefit those who already have? Any jobs created by this event will pay minimum wage and offer no real benefits, dignity or security. It will be used to remove the homeless and anyone else deemed to be undesirable from the city limits. The costs of promoting the event will be borne by the taxpayers. All this at a time when we lack sufficient money for education and basic human services.
As the poet Dylan once said, "The times they are a changin."
Peace through Justice, Justice through Solidarity
Terry Buckenmeyer
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