This political season for elections seems to be getting more interesting by the week.
I have covered my share of elections, but there seems to be something about the day at the ballot box on October 14 that is getting more heated all the time.
On our front page today, we have the latest story about Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany (CCST) President Rick Franzo announcing he will not enter the race for parish president.
I am pretty sure The Slidell Independent is the only publication that last year had publicized the fact Franzo was very seriously considering a run. Right now, we know that Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer and incumbent Mike Cooper are going to be in the race, and that promises to be very interesting all by itself.
Had Franzo entered the race it would have shaken things up even more since the CCST head has built a reputation of publicly criticizing he doesn’t agree with.
From the time Franzo and several others from Lacombe started the group I have covered most of the things they have done. And I think they have largely been on the right side of the issues, trying to stand up for the public.
So, it would have been quite interesting to see Franzo suddenly on the inside of the political world, something he finally decided against doing since he wants to maintain the freedom that CCST offers him to seek transparency and action from the parish government.
Speaking of the parish, he spent most of his announcement doing what CCST seems to enjoy the most—attacking yet another group of public officials as he got pretty personal against the Parish Council. Being from New York is probably the reason he doesn’t hold his tongue much in the public statements he puts out, and this was no different than the others.
Franzo said that instead of running for parish president, he plans to do “all he can in the next six months” to defeat the majority of the Parish Council members. As I said, it’s interesting all by itself since CCST has over 18,000 followers on Facebook.
I’m sure many of the candidates will take note of that so it will be something to watch and see if CCST has the political muscle they like to claim they do. This will certainly be a test.
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Rick Franzo is a polarizing guy to be sure. And I think he enjoys that fact, like the New York guy he is.
But he does come out with his share of smart comments that I like and that’s why I keep putting him in the paper.
He spoke briefly at a recent event to introduce a candidate for the Louisiana Legislature and said he was backing this particular person because he thought he would be the kind of public official we want.
Franzo said that from his view there are three kinds of public officials:
–Those who stay under the radar.
–Those who check the political winds and then follow.
–And those who lead.
Rick, I have to say those might almost be called “words of wisdom.” But then I don’t want you to get the big head when the local paper says how smart you are. Ha.
But seriously, he is right. Where are the public officials who we need to step out and lead our country, our state or our parish in the right direction?
That is what I keep wondering on this library book issue. Anyone who has seen the material in the books has to know it is not something we want underage kids accessing so easily.
The material is pornography, some of it I would call hard core porn, and yet we have public officials who could find a way to do something about it, yet they still have not.
And once again for the people spreading complete lies—and I include some media I know about—no one is trying to ban the books or censor them. They are only seeking a restricted section, something the libraries already have for R-rated movies.
It is no different, so where are the leaders to get this messy situation cleaned up?
I’ll keep my eyes open.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.