Welcome to the Darktator Discourses. Today I will be speaking to you about the upcoming election for Sheriff of Hillsdale County Michigan. Our current Sheriff, Mr. Stan Burchardt, has been in this position for 187 months – since January 1997. He recently announced his plans to retire – so if you plan to vote for Mr. Burchardt in November you really should ask yourself for whom you would actually be casting your ballot. According to data published by the Michigan State Police, the crime rates for Hillsdale County went up nearly 150% between 2004 and 2009; in my opinion, this is an unacceptable figure.
Elected officials need to be replaced on a regular basis – if that were not the case, there would not be any need to hold elections. It is time for a new perspective in Hillsdale County – and it is time to elect a new Sheriff. There are term limits on the office of the President, and there should be term limits on every elected position. Otherwise, people get too comfortable in their positions of power, and as the saying goes – power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
How do we keep the officials elected to positions of power from becoming corrupt? By replacing them at regular intervals and requiring them to go back to the communities they served and live under the same rules as the rest of us!
How do we keep the officials elected to positions of power from becoming corrupt? By replacing them at regular intervals and requiring them to go back to the communities they served and live under the same rules as the rest of us!
A very good friend of mine, Mr. Jon-Paul Rutan, has thrown his hat into the ring to be considered by the citizens of Hillsdale County for the elected position of Sheriff. Jon is the most principled man I have ever met – truly a man of honor. He refused to accept any campaign contributions in his bid for Sheriff because he refused to be beholden to anyone if he were elected. How many elected officials can you think of who can honestly say they are not beholden to any special interest groups or any individuals? None – all of our elected officials have campaign funds, which they use to get their name out there. Now, I agree that getting your name out there is an important part of getting elected – it’s all in how you do it that determines your character. Do you buy a truckload of signs and plaster them all over – whether or not you have gotten permission to do so? Or do you show what you stand for in how you live your life, and stick to your principles no matter how unpopular that may be? What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. Jon-Paul Rutan chooses to err on the side of what is right, rather than on what is popular, as a man of honor would.
The primary election held this past August 7th had a voter turnout of just over 20% of the registered voters in Hillsdale County. Twenty percent of the registered voters got out to the polls and cast their ballot – which means nearly eighty percent did not. Mr. Stan Burchardt received 59% of the votes cast, which translates to just 11% of the registered voters in the county. Yes, you heard that correctly – eleven percent of the registered voters in Hillsdale County have essentially re-elected Mr. Stan Burchardt (or whomever he chooses as his successor after he retires) to be the Sheriff for another 4 years. That means that 89% of the people of Hillsdale County did NOT vote for Mr. Stan Burchardt – and I for one am not satisfied with the Sheriff’s office being led by a person with so little support from his community. Are you?
The primary election held this past August 7th had a voter turnout of just over 20% of the registered voters in Hillsdale County. Twenty percent of the registered voters got out to the polls and cast their ballot – which means nearly eighty percent did not. Mr. Stan Burchardt received 59% of the votes cast, which translates to just 11% of the registered voters in the county. Yes, you heard that correctly – eleven percent of the registered voters in Hillsdale County have essentially re-elected Mr. Stan Burchardt (or whomever he chooses as his successor after he retires) to be the Sheriff for another 4 years. That means that 89% of the people of Hillsdale County did NOT vote for Mr. Stan Burchardt – and I for one am not satisfied with the Sheriff’s office being led by a person with so little support from his community. Are you?
I plan to cast my ballot for Jon-Paul Rutan in November, and I suggest you do the same. It’s very simple to do – when you go to the polls on Tuesday, November 6th 2012, write in Jon-Paul Rutan under the Sheriff section, and fill in the circle that corresponds to his name. Hillsdale County needs a principled, honorable man of integrity as our Sheriff, and Jon-Paul Rutan is that man!
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Awesome blog, thanks for your support!
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