“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” —George Bernard Shaw
At the outset, I was thinking better of publicly endorsing Josh Warburton for Washington County Commissioner. The perception of a conflict of interest would not be without some merit. And that conflict is two-fold here, the first conflict being his position and the publisher of The Independent and the second being that I write for his paper.
But challenging times demand people who can rise to challenges, and from what I have witnessed over the last five years, Josh is squarely up to the task.
It is said that the identification of a problem absent a solution is merely a complaint. And while on occasion some of the local populace have dismissed The Independent — and by default, Josh — as the complaint without a solution, it is actually the inverse.
Josh is a longtime Washington County resident. At 20, with a new baby in his arms, he started this paper from quite literally nothing. It was out of a need to both feed his family and fulfill his unique purpose that The Indy was born. And over the 20 years that Josh has been at the helm of the alternative news source, he has grown from a young man who was doing what had to be done to a seasoned and successful publisher. He has cultivated a paper that while largely known for going against the local status quo has also had the integrity to publish the willing and able conflicting points of view as well.
Over time, Josh began to realize and actualize the potential of his paper to implement what he considered to be positive change in a community long steeped in a monocultural and one-sided paradigm. And change often comes by challenging the status quo.
This is a status quo, mind you, that has a clear and consistent reputation for being single-minded in its approach to the governance of the people of Washington County by a group of leaders who can hardly be distinguished from one another in policy and prose.
Our county faces challenges common to many counties. Where and how will we get water in this arid region? What are we to consider when talking about eminent growth? Why do we pay our public safety people so little and our water managers so much?
I have long contended that it is never entirely beneficial to the people when one side of the political sphere dominates a local or national government. The reason is the abatement of checks and balances. A little diversity in government prevents a monopolization of thought, and subsequently policy.
And the simple truth is that such monopolization is rampant in Washington County and has been for most of its existence. It’s long overdue that the voices of all of the residents of the county to be heard and heeded, not simply placated by disingenuous statements to the contrary.
But I think it is important to emphasize that while it is a foregone conclusion that Josh would upset the status quo, this is only because there quite literally is no diversity in our leadership — and hence, no checks and balances.
As a business owner and publisher, Josh has been on the solution side of that identification of problems for most of his life, and for him, representing all of the people of Washington County would be a continuance of that “roll up the sleeves and get the thing done” attitude that anyone who has worked with him knows him to have.
And he simply will not be influenced by that monopolization of thought and policy I referred to. Anyone who has spent any time in this county, left or right of the fence, will recognize that as likely the singular most-needed attribute of a leader here in 2016.
For my part in this community, and if my opinion resonates with you or carries any weight, I believe in earnest that it is time for some serious change in the leadership here, and Josh has been an advocate for that for a long time. By running for Washington County Commissioner, he is only stepping up his participation. I think he will be a refreshing change that is long overdue.
See you out there.
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Thanks for your very well stated endorsement, Dallas. Josh Warburton has had my vote from the moment he announced his candidacy.
Back when I was picketing Stephen Wade and Josh approached me about doing a story I would have agreed with you. But not anymore. If you want to know why it’s because I don’t think Josh has the intestinal fortitude to handle the job. Why? Because he has shown me a side of him that makes me quite sure he can either be bought or bullied by the local good old boy’s. I’ll give you the story and you can make the call. As I said he approached me and told me he would like to do a story about why I was picketing. I was thrilled that a local paper would be willing to stand up and print my story since all the other media seemed to be afraid to do so. Shortly after talking with Josh I agreed to a meeting with Stephen Wade and I invited the Independent to be there. After the meeting I sent a Letter to the Editor which you contacted me about and I revised after talking to you. Well the letter was published and end up getting 4000+ views which I think is still one of the most viewed letters at the Indy. I talked to Josh after it had run and he told me that Stephen Wade had personally called him and asked why he had run the story when none of the other papers did and Josh told me he told him it was none of his business why he choose to run the story. So I felt as though Josh was some one who could be counted on. I went in and got a window sticker from him and told him I was going to put it on my picket sign and he said what I did with it was up to me. Well fast forward a little and one day I received an e-mail from Josh asking me to remove the logo from my sign. I replied and asked why. He replied because I asked you to. Well I contacted Josh on the phone and he was extremely rude and angry and when I asked him what had caused his change of heart he had no answer other than because he asked me. Well I got fed up with his attitude and told him I wasn’t going to remove it. After I calmed down I sent him an e-mail telling him I would remove it. Because after thinking about it the only thing I could figure is that either Stephen Wade was threating him some how or that Stephen Wade was offering him some kind of enticement to get me to remove it ( which was fine with me because it was costing Wade $ to shut me up). But either way as I said it proves to me that Josh doesn’t have what it takes to stand up to the good old boys. I don’t know if this will make it to the public but if it doesn’t it just will prove what I am saying right Josh.