Just follow the slime trail.

Loads more ethics violations for the county commissioners.  Looks like “Grinder-Pump-George” isn’t the only sleaze, or even the worst.  Outstanding work by Rick Boettger at the Blue Paper.

There’s a great song by Lyle Lovett, “Creeps Like Me”.  It runs through my head a lot when I think of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), the iPhone Bandit, and all their squirmy little minions.  Here’s a few lines packed full of wisdom.

Look around
And you will see
This world is full of creeps like me
You look surprised
You shouldn’t be
This world is full of creeps like me

Yup.  All you have to do is look and believe what you see.  The believing is the hard part for people.  It was for me anyway.  The BOCC isn’t particularly careful about hiding the nature of its activities.  They are too arrogant to bother covering their tracks, too used to avoiding accountability.  They make demonstrably false statements all the time, and brazenly double down on them when exposed.  (Here’s one especially egregious example.  Here’s another.)  Worse yet, the county legal team runs interference for them on the taxpayers’ dime.

Most of us “normals” – people who tend to abide by rules and laws, have a functional conscience and generally try to be decent – have a hard time recognizing “abnormals” for what they really are.  Sleaze-bags who habitually exploit every situation for personal gain, or screw people over just because they can.

That behavior is just so far outside our daily experience.  Most people simply won’t believe what they see.  They chalk it up to a misunderstanding or an honest  mistake or wave it away as “rumor”.  I still fall into that trap sometimes.  Even with all I know.

Hmmm…I wonder how the BOCC’s propaganda arm will spin this.  I wonder how the “go-along-to-get-along” Reporter/Keynoter will downplay it.  Five out of five county commissioners nabbed for ethics violations in a little over one year.  That’s newsworthy, right?

The Keys community is in a vulnerable place right now.  The BOCC’s recklessness already had the taxpayers on shaky financial ground even before the storm.  True, ethical, county-wide leadership is more necessary than ever.  And sorely lacking.  That should be obvious to everyone by now.  I hope.

The storm provided a glimpse at who out there might have the right stuff.  Village Councilman, Mike Forster, was looking pretty great.  Providing info, linking people to resources, acting as a watch dog.  It was awesome to see.  More of that, please.