Dear Editor:
I hope that you and your readers will join me in expressing our gratitude to the members of the Franklin County Constitution Commission. These men and women from all parts of the county volunteered their time over the past many months to draft a constitution for the people that, if approved by the voters in April, will positively shape our future.
Like our nation’s founders who advanced our country from the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution, the members of our constitution commission have served to advance our county from an archaic three-commissioner system of government controlled by the state to one based on local control.
Over the next few weeks, a spirited debate will occur over this document. History has noted in other counties that have voted on Home Rule that the process tends to degrade into fear tactics, rumors, and sadly, some blatant lying. It will be no different here. You will be amazed at how many charter government “experts” you will hear from who have never even lived in a county with its own constitution.
The people of St. Louis County, Jackson County and St. Charles County have enjoyed the benefits of charter government for years. Before discovering “God’s Country” here in Franklin County, those were exactly the three counties in which I previously lived. I have witnessed with my own eyes the pride of a county that is in charge of its own future and that does not have to always ask the state for permission to conduct its own affairs.
Franklin Countians should keep an open mind before we vote. When we hear or read a negative statement from someone, let’s ask that opponent specifically which charter county they lived in where they witnessed such horror. Responses beginning with the words, “I heard about it” or “I was told that,” are not legitimate answers.
Scare tactics, usually by self-serving county officials, prevented the passage of charter government for years in Jefferson County until the voters realized that they had been duped, and responded by voting overwhelmingly in favor of it this past November. Franklin Countians should honor our constitution drafters, and do the same.
Kevin Threlkeld
Franklin County