If nationwide reporting happens, it’s good to have it be positive reporting. That’s not what happened to Bastrop County TX. After the Bastrop County Commissioners’ caved in the face of opposition on the Charlie Kirk Memorial Corridor resolution, articles appeared in “The Hill“, “The Western Journal” and it was a subject on the Charlie Kirk Show.
Something similar happened when I was mayor of Denville NJ. My office got a call from a gentleman in Denneville France. Denneville is in Normandie, a small farming town with a beautiful beach area. Interestingly enough, the Ile of Jersey is just off the coast. Pierre Oheix had hoped we could establish a connection between our small towns. Both of us wondered if there was an historical connection.
I was a French major in college so was pretty excited about this possibility. I had the opportunity to travel to Denneville while mayor. An American flag was flown at the entrance to town when I arrived. There was a ceremony in town hall, a dinner with their state officials. What memories. Upon my return, though, the town council refused any connection. Why? Politics pure and simple. The press was quite negative toward the Council’s decision. Leadership in another town even wrote a letter to our paper stating that if Denville didn’t want to be sister cities, they gladly would do so.
Political foolishness. Just like the Bastrop County Commissioners back-peddling from an opportunity to honor a man whose life was savagely taken through political violence.
Postings on social media made it obvious people had not read the resolution and didn’t understand it. For days I had been posting on various forums that this was not a renaming of the highway but rather a request to the legislature for the designation of a memorial corridor. Additionally, people kept claiming Charlie had no connection to the County.
That’s flat out wrong. In 2019, I personally invited Charlie to speak in Bastrop County. I was president of the Lost Pines Republican Women and we contracted for 8/29/2020. Due to Covid, that event had to be cancelled and we rescheduled for May 1, 2021.
We were so lucky to host Charlie in Bastrop County. Having had the privilege of meeting him and talking with him, I’m very disappointed and saddened at how fast our all-Republican Commissioner’s Court caved on this issue. Elected officials need to have solid core beliefs that guide them. They cannot back down from that which is right just because some people don’t agree with them or for purely political reasons. Imagine if Charlie had lived his life that way…. TPUSA wouldn’t exist.
Charlie was a very religious man who gave everyone a chance to express their opinions, to ask questions, to discuss. He was not argumentative. What came through was his strong core values, deep faith and love of family. I was privileged to have met him and hope the day comes when our County Commissioners change their minds.