Letter to the Editor by Brian Donnelly
David and the Goliath is one of the most well-known and beloved stories which seems to be aimed at every child who can hardly wait to grow up and do something so brave, and skillful and important that they become heroic.
The small and insignificant shepherd boy fights the giant with only a slingshot and 5 stones and wins, Goliath is slain, and little David is a hero.
The story is an exciting adventure story, but it also had, for the people who first heard, three important messages. Even today, the messages ring true to us.
The first was that the small can defeat the large. It is still good news, for every underdog.
The second lesson of the story was about their first King, He was brave, resourceful, and clever. The adults in David’s world gave him a chance to take on a task that seemed too big for him, yet he succeeded. The lesson is that great leaders can come from anywhere. There are great leaders among the people we think are least likely to have that potential. But they need a chance to show what they can do.
And the third lesson was that David’s bravery came from his confidence that he was fighting for God’s honor, and that God was on his side. To our ears, this may sound misguided and even arrogant. But, don’t we believe something similar? We believe that when people stand up and fight for what is right, the justice of their cause should make them braver. The story of David and Goliath, the little shepherd boy who defeated the most powerful warrior in the world, asks us, “Where would we find such courage?”
This August 20th David will take on Goliath in the Marion County Primary for District 3 County Commissioner. David Blackwell vs Matt McClain. It’s a classic challenge – right over might. Here we have the son of a powerhouse career politician – appointed by the Governor – over more qualified candidates – seeking election over a total unknown. Honestly, it’s hard to believe anyone would even dare to try but here is our David stepping up to try.
Who do you want to win?
I caught up with David on the campaign trail a while back and I was impressed. This man is on a mission to preserve our lands, preserve our way of life, preserve our beauty and make Marion County safe, healthy and wealthy. He loves our farms and horses and wants to ensure we remain the Horse Capital. He cares deeply about animals and will do everything possible to make sure animals in Marion County are protected, loved and saved.
I make it a point to get to know who the candidates are and who is running our government. I go to a lot of meetings, talk to a lot of people and try to keep on top of things that affect us all. I must say I find David Blackwell to be an interesting man. He is a man for the masses. If you are looking for someone who will fight for you – look no further. This man is a warrior for what is right and good.
David wants Marion County to glow. He loves it here and wants to keep it special. He, like many others, see the overdevelopment, the accidents, kids in gross temporary classrooms, animals being killed in so called shelters and a resident base that is disgusted and disillusioned from all the politics. David wants to bring back honesty, integrity and fair play to our county affairs. He is an electrician by trade, and I bet this man will light the way to a better future for us all.
His goals are to increase impact fees so taxpayers are not subsidizing billionaires. He wants to encourage responsible and balanced growth while improving current infrastructure, ensure we have safe roads, adequate fire and police protection, low taxes and good paying jobs to keep our most educated here. He wants to protect our farms, our animals and our unique way of life. He wants to encourage and protect small businesses, eco-tourism and local arts.
David is very concerned about our finances and wants to maintain conservative fiscal responsibility. He is also very concerned about our fire department and first responders and believes they need more downtime, better pay, and improved benefits. He has pledged to lobby against state preemptive legislation that attempts to usurp control of our county and he wants to acquire grants to pay for improved animal welfare and environmental preservation to reduce the cost to taxpayer.
He wants to be a lightning rod for the community and make people feel as though they are actually listened to at meetings, treated with respect and given adequate time to express their views. He feels as though decisions are made before meetings even begin and the public is treated like a necessary inconvenience.
I have watched this race closely between the governor appointed Commissioner and David. I have seen the incumbent speak twice. What struck me immediately was the incumbent’s stated mission – liberty, faith and family. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out what happened to health, safety and welfare – which are a commissioner’s job. I am not sure if applicants will be asked about their religion or if they have a traditional marriage. There seems to be a total disconnect here and it is troubling.
If these are the incumbents’ guiding principles, may I ask where these values were when the discussion over school impact fees came up? Did they not have faith in a family’s right to have the liberty of a good education? Crickets!
What has become even more troubling during this race is the lengths people will go to on behalf of the incumbent to get David out of the race and cause problems. It is apparent to anyone truly watching what is going on that the incumbent does not want a race – he wants another free ride. He wants to stomp on the little guy to raise himself up any way he can. I think it is indicative of what is ahead for us little people if he is elected.
The incumbent has made it known on several occasions that he will fight for developers rights and give them liberty. He wants us all to keep subsidizing developers, raise taxes and carry on in the future as we have in the past – and have faith this will help our family.
I, for one, want us all to have a better future but judging from the past – without a change of leadership – we are headed for worse than ever before. We all seem to see what is wrong. We all seem to love to complain about it regularly on Facebook. We all seem to want a champion of the people to step forward so we can have even a little chance at keeping Marion County from becoming just another faceless Florida City that lost its way because special interests took over.
I will vote for change on August 20th. I will contact my friends, my family and neighbors to turn out and vote for change. I implore all who read this article to ask their friends and families to also go to the polls and vote this August 20th. This choice is easy – David Blackwell will represent we the people gloriously and he deserves our support. And maybe – just maybe David will lead us out of the darkness and back into the Kingdom of the Sun. One well placed vote/shot is all it takes.
David went to battle with 5 stones – we all need to be those stones. It truly is the only way we will have even the slightest chance in the years ahead to have any say or any fairness in the system in place. A vote for David is a vote for you – do something good for yourself and the rest of us please. Get behind David – and help him win for us!
