People usually think certain things will take care of themselves.

Take, for instance, the political process. Almost all people believe that the world of politics is corrupt. I would tend to agree. At the very least, it's hard to find someone who doesn't think that some of the political process needs reforming. I agree with this too. There are two main reasons for people thinking that our process is broken: money and the archaic two-party system.

In fact, these things often feed off of each other in today’s political world. Many people, a lot smarter than me, have written about the problems facing our political system and what can be done (or must be done) to fix them at the highest level. I will leave the federal government to those people. The only place I am familiar with is St. Augustine.

Right now we have a few problems in our local government. My biggest concern with our locally elected city and county commissioners is the way they give in to big development.

I’ve talked to some of the commissioners, and almost all of them have lied to my face about accepting campaign contributions from developers. To find out who took what money is as easy as checking for sports scores. Just go to sjcvotes.us, click on the finance reports tab, then click the view finance reports button on the left of your screen.

There, in front of you, you can see who gave to whom so there can be no lying. There on the screen is your political process working for you, right?

Many people complain about the political process, but too few are informed as to how they can change it. Most of these people only think in terms of Congress and on up. They have no idea what they could do for politics here in St. Augustine.

Let me tell you my vision of St. Augustine and its political landscape in the not-to-distant future. I envision a new breed of politician running for office. One that does not take money from developers. These candidates tell the truth because we, the people, demand that they do. These candidates listen to people. These candidates are open-minded, have new ideas, and are not afraid to stand up for what is right; politics be damned. These candidates are bright, educated, and have all of our interests in mind.

Can you picture a revolution? It has happened countless times before in local governments all across the U.S.

Big developers will run ads depicting our new breed of candidates as radical and fringe. They will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars just to keep their power structure in place so that they can keep building and building. Of course they will start rumors and lie about our candidates.

In the end, it won’t matter. Through public forums and untainted democracy, these candidates will start a new day in St. Augustine and St. Johns County.

With these new elected officials comes a new reason to believe in government. Channel three will have the highest ratings in history and other towns and counties will look to us as a model in how to solve their problems. St. Johns County will be a shining example of how people can take back the power in our government. I honestly see this taking place.

With every ounce of me, I know the above scenario is possible. All it takes is public participation.

This is something that will not happen unless you and I make happen. I know that there are still doubters and nay-sayers. I know it. I hear them every time I bring this up. They do not discourage my vision though. DO NOT LET THEM DISCOURAGE YOURS. Together we can put the government back into our hands.

A government of the people, by the people, and for the people is within our grasp! Our Democracy depends on it!