Mayor’s Corner: Diligently search for common ground

Published 11:31 am Friday, August 19, 2022

By Leesville Mayor Rick Allen

The state of being united or joined as a whole is what the dictionary claims is the definition of unity. I’ve heard politicians use this elusive word in almost every campaign launched with the hopes of securing the position. How is it that shortly after an election is over they tend to shy away from the word and never address the division they were so quick to point out while campaigning?

You can ask any of my coworkers one of the things I do not tolerate is a person who is not loyal to the team or the mission. When you look at the voting record of a politician keep in mind that it’s imperative that you have all of the information that they had to base their vote on. Political negotiations are a necessity to be productive for the citizens that elected you but moral negotiations are not acceptable.

Finally, I want to discuss a touchy subject. Coming from a mixed family of Democrats and Republicans it helped me to understand this very well. If I disagree with Nancy Pelosi, I will not say I disagree with Democrats I will say I don’t agree with her and if I disagree with Donald Trump, I will not say the same about all Republicans. When you diligently search for common ground, I believe that you can find it. Just because you and I disagree on the topic of the day doesn’t automatically mean we will disagree on tomorrow’s topic. I vow to enter tomorrow’s topic with no baggage from yesterday, it’s the only way we will ever see unity thrive in this great country.

Thank God you won’t be held accountable for my faults and I won’t be held accountable for yours. We are challenged to be unified and it goes something like this. How can you claim you love who you have not seen; if you can’t love who you have seen?

Be mindful that unity starts with you