De La Paz

Got your attention....This is NOT about Mexican food

Let me start with I don’t have a dog in this fight. We don’t go out for Mexican food very often. I have a large family, and we eat tacos at home at least once a week. Mine are no where near the level of a De La Paz or Los Jalepenos. (at least that’s what I’ve been told)

A couple of weeks ago a bad review was put on HIP White House (the official) on Facebook. This created a firestorm which turned into a fight. This writer did not partake in said fight. The fight went from bad service and loud families to ignorance and inbreeding. Then the jokes started. I will admit, the jokes are funny. The loud family from the night that started it all was discussing underwear from what I can gather. The jokes have been unending, humorous, and sometimes mean.

On HIP WH (the official) I counted 34 posts with some form of reference to the incident or De La Paz. The original post is missing, or I am not tech savvy enough to find it. Really, it could be either. One of the posts had 531 likes, another 128, one 105, and another 404. The original post had hundreds of comments. In hindsight, I should have taken a screenshot of just how many there were. Here are just a couple I caught today.

What does this have to do with local news? Compare this to how many people have reached out to their alderman or mayor about the vacant alderman position.

ZERO- 0- NADA- NONE

This town is dealing with explosive growth, a change in leadership, an industrial area coming to the city, traffic issues, and water run off from developments all over town. People cannot be bothered to attend a planning meeting, a board meeting, or even make a phone call. White House can wait hours to eat tacos, but can’t show up to a city meeting. Citizens can rally behind a restaurant (which is positive) but can’t give an opinion on something as important as who is going to represent you on the city board.

There were less than 30 people at the applicant interviews last month. Honestly, I thought there would be more. After the turn out for the election in November, I figured people were concerned. It’s not that people did not know. It was on HIP WH. I have written about it. The information is out there.

Lately I have been toying with the idea of covering more stories in the local area. The idea of creating a paid subscription has crossed my mind. However, I’m not sure that our local community is as concerned as I am over what is going on. We have so little control over the Federal Government. Even state govt is hard to change. Local government is where we have a voice and can bring about change. Local government is where your voice can be heard. You have a direct line to the mayor and aldermen. They live in your community. They eat at your restaurants. You have their personal phone numbers. For the love of God, use the phone for its intended purpose.

It’s been fun to read the jokes, and heartening to see the citizens rally behind their own. Good for you White House for being loyal. Now it’s time to use that same energy in your local government. Challenge yourself. If you have time to eat out 1-2 times a week, you have time to go to a meeting once a month for an hour. Bring your kids. Wear underwear, don’t wear underwear, but start showing up.