Opinion: As elected officials begin new terms, voters must remain vigilant

By MARK BALLARD
Guest columnist

MARK BALLARD

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, 9 p.m. — The new year begins and the old goes into the history books. Our public officials, whether newly elected or re-elected, begin their terms in their respective parts of local government. Their jobs are just beginning.

However, those of us who voted, whether our candidate of choice won or not, have not finished with our job yet. Going through the election process was only the beginning of our job. Now that our representatives have entered a new cycle of terms, and as they begin their duties as representatives of the citizens of this city and/or county, the second half of our job — and the toughest part — is just beginning. Whether our candidate won or lost it is still our responsibility to hold their feet to the fire and ensure they all uphold their oaths to defend both the Constitution of Kentucky and the Constitution of the United States.

Prior terms have shown that once voters’ candidates have lost, the majority of those voters go home and do nothing but wait until the next election cycle to poke their heads out and speak out again. We have all got to stay vigilant and keep our government in check. Anything that violates either Constitution, or anything that puts more taxation on the citizens, whether it originate from the judge executive, magistrates, mayor or city council or any of the department heads, needs to be questioned and fought against if need be.

It is time that we the people take back our government, reign in their spending, and make them work for us, not us for them. We should fill the meeting rooms as they decide the fate of our tax dollars and show up en masse when they try to shove illegal or immoral laws and taxes upon us.

Stay vigilant fellow voters. Our job job is only half done.

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