- November 19, 2024
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Over the past few years, you need to go no further than any news day to see how important voting is. I'm not talking about the craziness of our own political news here in this country. Rather, I’m speaking of those throughout the world laying down their lives in uprisings to gain the right to choose their leaders — a right we, as Americans, have been blessed with but too often take for granted without realizing the privilege voting actually is. Nor do we recognize how easily that privilege could be lost. The truth of how easily that privilege can be taken away is right before us in our own county right now, and the culprit is the one we should be able to depend on — our supervisor of elections, Kimberle Weeks.
To say Kimberle Weeks is out of control would be an extreme understatement based upon her recent actions and holding our Palm Coast elections hostage. Her concerns and actions are not on behalf of or even remotely close to having the voters’ best interest in mind. Her concern is for herself.
If she “knows the election laws” so well as she often boasts, why would it take her two years to raise issue with an election she oversaw?
Then, after being told there is no issue, she insists on some “guarantee” of not ever facing legal ramifications for the matter. That sounds very much like someone who knows they did something very wrong. And her idea of appropriate behavior for her personal paranoia and neurosis is to hold an entire town’s right to vote hostage?!
Kimberle Weeks is obviously angry at the entire city of Palm Coast after reading her statement to the press (which is extremely unprofessional). She is angry because she was wrong. She is angry because she held on to letters from actual attorneys that told her there was no issue, yet she still went ahead with a highly inappropriate letter to the Observer berating city officials and the city manager. Thanks to the efforts of one resident, these letters were brought to the public eye, exposing Kimberle Weeks’ inappropriate actions. I am sure this was embarrassing for her, as it should be, but instead of doing the right thing and apologizing, she lashes out more at the large majority of the population of Flagler County — the entire city of Palm Coast.
We elect an elections supervisor in to serve the voters and local governments — not to try and rule over them. We elect an elections supervisor to work with local governments — not issue mandates. We elect an elections supervisor to protect and provide a means to vote without barriers — not to bully the voters and hold their elections hostage because of their own personal paranoia and vendettas.
Kimberle Weeks may want to spend some time observing some of the great elected officials in our area who are the model of what “right” looks like for public servants, such as Gail Wadsworth, James Gardner, Suzanne Johnston and Andy Dance.
It is my opinion that we simply hold our own Palm Coast election this year, as is our right. It will be costly. It will be hard work. But it is obvious that we will not be able to trust our elections supervisor to provide a truly fair election for the citizens of Palm Coast.
We have a right to that and should not be expected to bow to anyone to have access to a fair election. We talk a lot about bullies with children, but the truth is that bullies come in all ages, shapes and sizes. Like many, I choose not to be pushed around by bullies. And as a city, we should not allow a bully to push us around. Enough is enough.
The most important question right now is, who is finally going to stand up protect us as voters from the out-of-control Flagler County supervisor of elections?
Brad M. West is a Palm Coast resident.
