By George Moss
It’s almost the season…. No, not Christmas but election season and once again, we here in Winnfield must choose our leaders. But, who is it going to be? Where will they come from? And, what can they do for us? Before we choose these leaders we must ask ourselves if they understand the situation we are in. These people must know the daunting task ahead and we as voters must know that there is no magic button that will achieve greatness. It will take time.
Winn Parish was once a strong, proud parish but, no more. We have allowed mediocrity and self-enrichment to undermine everything our forefathers worked for. With that in mind, we here in Winnfield are at a turning point. We can either work together to build a future for our children and grandchildren or we can continue on our path of mediocrity and watch our children leave to build their lives elsewhere. If that continues we will watch our home sink into devastation like so many other towns before us.
To move forward we must first look at ourselves in the mirror. Who are we? What have we done? Why are we in the place we are in and how can we get out of it? Then, break that down even more. Who am I? What have I done? Have I sat back and complained while others tried to do the work. Have I contributed anything more than complaints?
In the first paragraph I said, we ask of our leaders what can they do for me. That is the problem! For years, so many in Winnfield and Winn Parish have been looking out for “me”. If you are one of those people that just wants to sit back and wait for the world to hand you something……. YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.
When I was mayor I was constantly asked why don’t “y’all” build this or build that and why are there not more businesses in our town? The real question is…. Who is “y’all”? Who is “they”? The answer is “we”. The answer is “you”. So, let’s look into that mirror and take a hard look at ourselves and try to find out the answer to some of those questions, and in doing so, maybe we can at least have a clue as to where we are going.
Step one is a reality check. Where are we? Winnfield and Winn Parish have been on a downward spiral for decades with no relief in sight. As I continue in my next article we will take out that mirror again and see if we like what we see.
To be continued..
George Moss is a former Winnfield City Mayor now turned columnist. This piece is the first installment of several being shared with the Winn Parish Journal.