Fighting Local Government Corruption - Part 18 of ?

A real election is happening in Dalton Township. A real election with real choices. And that's a huge win.

Elections are one of the most important parts of a system of checks and balances. And without checks and balances, individual rights are never protected.

Dalton hasn't been having real elections. Whoever would run as a Democrat would simply win uncontested. The single party decided all positions of political power in the township. A rumor had even been started that no one other than a Democrat could run in Dalton. I broke through that myth when I filed for office. Others followed, and now we have a ballot full of options, for the will of the people to reveal itself.

Personally, I do not think this is a small step, I think this a gigantic leap forward for Dalton. There are two more important leaps: replacing people on the board, and then making positive policy changes. And that process has already begun by having an election the way that it is supposed to happen.

I've had a couple of people mention to me that they are afraid that the vote might be split in the Republican Party. This is another rumor that has spread. There are two elections. We will have the Primary on August 4th. That will decide who is running for office as the Republican and Democratic candidates. Then, on November 3rd there will be the General election. That's when the winner of the office will be decided. So there is no danger of a party splitting its own vote for an office. I created an event for anyone that wants to remind themselves about the Primary. Dalton Township Primary Election: https://www.facebook.com/events/296515554820767/

In election season it can be difficult to really get to know who's running for office and what they believe. For that reason I've started doing interviews with Dalton candidates.

Here's my interview with Gerold Flater, who's running for Treasurer:

And here's my interview with Lee Witte, who's running for Trustee:

You can also find them on my page: https://www.facebook.com/Fix-Dalton-Township-with-Jeffrey-Alexander-Martin-108163817463508

The Vote411 Voter's Guide is also live, where you can compare answers to questions posed to candidates. This is the one for Dalton Township Supervisor: http://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-detail.do?id=21848983

I also released my first 17 articles as a book, documenting the challenges and changes that have been happening in Dalton over the last year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0898WM18P/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0

The key thing though, is that we've seen it through. When I first started writing these articles I laid out the tactics that the township would use in its attempt to crush Hidden Creek Farm: lying, intimidation, and bankruptcy. We've seen all of those. I also laid out how we needed to respond in order to restore the justice and liberty of individual rights in the township: Resign, Recall, Replace. I called for the resignation, I filed the recalls, and now we are in the replacing stage. A real election is an enormous win, and it puts us on the road to better people and better policies.

Where might those better policies start? 1) We have to cut through the secrecy and lies. We need to broadcast and record meetings so that they are available to people. 2) We need to restore checks and balances. We have to follow the Open Meetings Act and have public votes on important issues. And we need to have the ability for board members to disagree and dissent. That's how the board is supposed to work. 3) We need to put our individual rights into black and white. Freedom documents have been an important factor in every society that has protected the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. Dalton Township deserves its own freedom documents.

You can learn more about that history here. "Five Key Documents in the History of Freedom": http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2020/02/five-documents-in-history-of-freedom.html

I started the discussion of what freedom documents might look like in Dalton Township in Part 17: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2020/04/fighting-local-government-corruption.html

Part 16 is where I dispelled the Dalton Township Republican myth: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2020/02/fighting-local-government-corruption_25.html

Here's a deeper discussion on the inadequacy of the idea of left and right in politics. "Two Problems with the Current Political Spectrum": http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/01/two-problems-with-current-political.html

I talk about the idea of better people and better policies here: "The Two Things Necessary for a Better Political System": http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/04/the-two-things-necessary-for-better.html

And this is Part 15, where I decided to run for office: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2020/02/fighting-local-government-corruption_11.html

We have not fully restored freedom or good government in Dalton Township. But we have restored choice. And that choice is the key. The beginning to everything else. The stepping stone to a future of possibilities. By following that path not only can freedom and good government be restored, they can be expanded, and they can be protected for future generations. We can inspire others by our good example. By following such a path we cannot know how good things might become, but we do know that they will be better.

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