I’ve always thought Poteau had great potential to be the best small town in America. However, after all these years here I’m having my doubts. It has it pros and cons so I’ll go through a few here “in my opinion”.
Like most towns in America (and probably around the world) Poteau is still and probably always will be ruled by those few that have a big bank roll.  Most of those with the large sums of money ended up with the money because their parents or grandparents either had big insurance policies or worked their butts off and held on to every last penny until they died and left that to their kids.  I see it all the time in this town where the high rollers throw around their money just to show they got it and 90% don’t know what it’s like to dig a ditch, shovel asphalt or roof a house other than driving up long enough to see other people workin’ their ass off for minimum wage (a few pay better than that). Not to say this means everyone that has money is like that. There are a few that I’ve seen/known get right in the middle of it all and work right down in the mud and heat. I’ve stood elbow to elbow with Bill Hoffman throwing asphalt and dirt and I promise I was young back then and he’d work me under the table and probably still can.  There are several others that I personally know and not only do they work their butts off they treat you with respect no matter what you have.

The lowly citizens of this city really don’t have a say in the community anymore. If you want change you must run for office so you too can be a two faced politician like most of them or have money to back said politician! I’ve been involved in many things in the community over the years where a group of people tried to change or prevent something from happening and as usual the money people always win. This goes for our Government as well. If a large group of people get together to change something about an upcoming neighborhood re-zoning and show up in force at all meetings what ends up happening is that the planning commission gets together and decides that the city can make more money even if it makes all those citizens/voters that have lived in that neighborhood mad has hell. I can promise that those 40 people will vote differently in the next election. I would like to see a more caring, understanding, moral and honest government. We know you can’t please everyone so do what’s right and make a few people mad even if it doesn’t make the city more money and you look better in the next election. When I’m on my death bed I’d like to know I did what is right not what was good to make the city some money. I would also like to see calls returned and follow-up emails and phone calls. Email is a great way for politicians to communicate. The problem is then you have whatever they say in writing (I think that scares them). Then they have to stick to the agreement. Technology is awesome in these times.Technology has come a long way over the last 15 years. In fact it’s changed my life and my entire career path. I know it’s affected our community because I was a part of the beginning of the technology change in Poteau being the first ISP providing Internet Access to anybody that wanted it. About 70% of all Poteau households were on Cyberlink in its heyday. Now I just want the people to have great very high speed access and better access to our local government. Here are some examples:
1. Pay Water Bills Online (this just takes a couple of hours for any business to set up and in some cases just a few minutes).
2. Open a problem ticket online such as road repair, sewer repair, trash pickup etc…..
3.Complaints (which would be funneled to the proper people and be posted online like a software bugtraq so the citizens can see day by day hour by hour what’s being done with their complaint.
4. Fiber Optic to the Home (FTTH) to be able to keep up with the rest of the world. ( see this article: http://www.iptv-news.com/iptv_news/june_2010/chattanooga_to_launch_150_mbps_internet_connections )
4. Have all meetings in city hall streamed live over the Internet so we can all be there even when we can’t. This can be setup for a couple of hundred dollars and (that will be high quality) and setup in just a few hours when you have the equipment handy. (a few camcorders and maybe a good laptop or desktop and Internet connection.)I’ll stop here and rant some other time….Let me know what you think by commenting …..

Facebook? What the heck is Facebook? Why would I need or want it? Well!!!!! Facebook is a social networking website. The website’s name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better.

Why? Because everybody needs to be on Facebook! It allows users to add friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.

For example: I graduated in 1981 and haven’t seen many of my classmates since the graduation party (that had way too much everade) at the end of the year….. Facebook has allowed many of us to at least connect again after all these years, share pictures of our families and even organize a multi-class renunion (I didn’t attend but the pictures shared from it were really nice to see). It also allows people to find old college friends, neighborhood friends that might have moved way in the 5th grade and even family members that you may not have seen in years. Once the connection is made you can stay in touch, share pictures, videos and chat in real time or leave post on other friends and members walls (page). Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school or college.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you don’t have a Facebook page go sign up. It’s quick, simple and may help you connect with people you have completely forgotten about. http://www.facebook.com

I have to say that over the past 35 or so years I have always made some type of New Year Resolution. It may have been to become a Rock Star (lol), Quit Smoking, Get Rich, Lose Weight, Get Healthy or All of the above. I can honestly say that I never kept one single resolution completely. Sure I quit smoking 5 or 6 years ago but it wasn’t because of a resolution and I’m very proud of that fact. But, if it wouldn’t kill me I really enjoyed that nasty habit! As for a Resolution this year!? NO WAY! I’m gonna let life come at me one day at a time and do what’s necessary to live that day to the best of my ability. I still see the economy as bad and not getting better anytime soon. Health care will still be CRAP even if we have a brand new reformed system. Jobs will still be lost and people will still struggle.
MY HOPE ,however, is for the economy to rebound, get a new healthcare system, for medical cost to go down, have more money left in our pockets at the end of the month so we can REALLY start saving for retirement and more jobs to be created and companies to stay or come back to America.
I have to say that I am really thankful this year for my family, friends and great people that keep me employed. I look forward to the New Year and all the challenges and blessings it may bring. To all of you:

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I think it’s really sad when a newspaper that has the choice chooses to publish things such as foreclosures, civil suits etc…. I know its public information but why the hell do they have to publish it. These people are going through enough already and really don’t deserve to have their names printed in the paper just to add more hurt to their already bad situation.….I know there are those nosy bodies that just gotta know but let them go to the courthouse and look it up. If that’s what it takes to sell a paper maybe I’ll just cancel my subscription. Does anybody else see it this way…..

Wait wait wait before you judge!!!! I am a 46 year old who has not touched the drug in many many years. In my past there may have been a time that it was in my hand, I may have taken a hit…..or two…..and possibly inhaled…..deeeeply…….There’s even a possibility that I enjoyed it at the time. There’s also a very good chance that I was drinking legalized Beer at the time increasing the tax income for the city, county and state. With that said and now being older and more responsible I seldom drink and no smoking Marijuana (Pot) at all and not sure how many years it’s been since I last did and it really doesn’t matter.
Let’s get down to business now. And business is gaining tax revenue from the Billions (yes Billions with a “B”) marijuana trade in the US as well as the trade between other countries that are currently smuggling it in. I know there’s a downside to drugs as there is in anything similar including alcohol, guns, food (yes food), cigarettes, and prescription medications. Anything can be abused.
If Marijuana were legalized and controlled similar to alcohol it would cause no more social issues than alcohol and I agree those are bad enough but most of those issues can be helped by education and needs to start and run K through 12 . The main advantage of legalization would be the tax revenue that the government would gain which could pay for social security, Medicare and health care. I think an individual should be able to grow their own for their own personal use maybe pay a yearly license and then buy a different license to be a retailer or wholesaler. The same rules and regulations that apply to alcohol should apply to marijuana. There are many things that would have to be worked out to make this work and stop the billions in spending on the drug war. I do think that it could help the country’s economy in many ways. This is just an opinion…..what’s yours?