ST. GEORGE – Though campaign season has yet to officially start, one member of the community has made the decision to enter municipal politics by announcing her intent to run for a seat on the St. George City Council.
During the Pay It Forward for Dixie event Saturday night, Mike Miller made a surprise announcement that Michelle Randall, his daughter, plans to run for the city council.
“Now I can’t back out of it,” Michelle Randall joked concerning the announcement, confinrming her intent to run for election this fall.
Michelle Randall, along with husband Tony Randall, and her father Miller, are the owners of Dixie Ambulance. She said her experiences during the process that led to the company’s replacement by Gold Cross Ambulance led to her making the decision to run. She said she felt the process was not as open and transparent as it should have been.
“Some things need to change,” she said.
Randall said she’s always been a political junkie and wants to help make more of a difference in the community. Being on the city council would help her accomplish that, she said.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
This city needs many changes. It is past time to do away with the good ole boy network and the elect from the pulpit mentality! People need to think and research on their own. First and foremost the mayor and city manager MUST go. A few off the department heads must also go, if your a do nothing just waiting for retirement you should be fired. Most of these people are well paid and very much so underworked! The local knuckleheads also refuse to listen unless you have given to them generously. So get busy with the root beer floats and let us whistle Dixie!!
Thankyou, couldn’t agree more! How long has the mayor had his grip on this city, since the early 90s when it was about the size of Mayberry?! If so, isn’t that illegal? He needs to get the boot, we need new ideas and perspectives, this is ridiculous!
I think many folks understand your comments, but these same comments have been circulating for almost 20 yrs. Then when election time comes, the same 12-15% of the people vote and what ever happens is what happens. If 100% of the people complain but only a small percentage vote, there lies the problem. Don’t try and make up some “good ol’ boy network”, how bout the “idiots that don’t vote” network
Ditto! We the citizens are the only ones to blame. Maybe we should pull our heads out of our churches, cell phones, heroin, computers, facebook, crack cocaine, TV and video games and get out and see the whole picture and VOTE for change….much needed LOCAL change!!
I agree but with the cult church telling people who to vote for do you really think there will be change????
No (sigh)
If you mean the LDS Church as cult church, you are sadly mistaken, I have never been told by the cult Church who to vote for. Maybe you can be told for whom to vote, but we are encouraged to look into and vote according to the dictates of our own conscience.
I agree than more people need to get involved, but the actual decision for many positions in Utah is made in the caucuses and not by voting. Whoever has an R behind their name automatically wins and the decision as to who gets the R usually gets made in the caucus. .
Thanks for proving my point! “Don’t try and make up some “good ol’ boy network”, there is no making it up. It is a reality and you should wake up and understand what goes on in this area. Granted this is only my 34th year here so may be I am behind the times!!
So, you get rid of your opponent (Gold Cross) and think you’re good to go for City Council? Maybe we need to hear from the other side. What was the fighting like cats and dogs to be the #1 ambulance service in St. George really about? Is this who we want as a council member?
Not me.
Bree try your first sentence again as it makes any sense!
DENIED!! Just what we need to add to the good ol boys – people who couldn’t even run their business, yup seems perfectly fit for local city politics. Not hating, just saying it how it is!
Politicical puppets just tell you what you wanna hear, even a good ol ‘big name’ from good ol Dixie. Our latest elected “leaders” in Washington and here at City Hall are proving that, wake up and smell the corruption
You should have heard the thunderous applause Michele got at the Pay It Forward event when she announced her candidacy. For the gracious way the Randalls handle the injustice done to them. http://www.steveu.com/blog/upgrading-st-george-ambulance-service/#comment-14487
Oh, of course…by the same shameful 12 percent that vote!
This year presents an opportunity to replace Mayor McArthur and fill two council positions; these changes are within the grasp of every one of voting age in the City of St. George. If you’re not registered to vote, do it now! http://vote.utah.gov/register-to-vote/online/.
It is the folks who stay home and don’t vote who allow the few (less than 20%) to choose our local leaders. It is the mayor and city council who pass the laws that affect you as soon as you walk out of your house; please become actively involved and make decisions that will help preserve the beauty of southern Utah as well as bringing value added jobs to our area.
If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to an opinion.
(this replaces an earlier comment)
I am sure this is exactly what our community needs, another Good Ol’Boy to help run things. I truly was inspired by Mrs Randall’s comment on TV recently when she blamed the lack of city support on her business being shut down. DAS was run out of DRMC, Leeds & Ivins as well and I am certain this was all Steve Urquhart’s responsibilty.
Oh wait, Tony Randall will probably be her campaign manager so I am sure it will be the fault of the city of St George or some election board when she does not get elected.
Maybe she should have listened to the other owner of Dixie Ambulance Miller when he told everyone three weeks ago “we never should have let Tony run our business into the ground”…
HMMM makes sense here in good old boy st george.They can’t run a business correctly but think they can run the government????GAG
I wonder who she will be running against. I hope she isn’t running against one of the new city council members that we have been able to get in the last few years. If people really wanted a change, they should have replaced Mccarthy with Ed Baca.
Ken, Zeke and Rupaul, if by the “Good Old Boys'” network you mean the senator asking the city councilman to hand to him the 911 license that was Dixie’s employment for 30 years, so that he could give it to his client Gold Cross, next to him at the same breakfast table not long ago in a St George restaurant at 8:00 am, then I agree. The senator is also an attorney. Very few countries or states where that is not illegal. https://www.facebook.com/SouthernUtahEthicsAndTransparencyInLocalGovernment
Ron, it is what is and what’s done is done. Obviously Dixie had issues not meeting vital standards for the area, and quite frankly, we as citizens should be thankful that DAS got ‘graded’ if you will. I ‘m happy things went about in the way they did. When talking lives and response times, and adequate supply for demand, all power to the more legit services, hands down. Welcome Gold Cross, you have atleast my friendly welcome among these local dimwits who can’t see past their local big name(s).
WOW!!! We still have Ron clapping and shouting praise in the corner of the former owners of DAS… I’m beginning to think he has some monetary interest in the now defunct DAS. Thunderous??? That is an opinion only from a supporters perspective. People clapped because the announcement was made, that’s it! I was there & I’m not a supporter or non supporter. How can people not clap when so many good things were just said about DAS? Hell, I clapped. Anyway, the city does need to do away w/ a lot of the “good ol’ boys”… The Mayor, City Manager, Chief of Police, just to name a few. When someone has been in a position of power for that long, it begins to be about them and their paycheck rather than for the people of the community that they represent. I can almost guarantee you that all of them are supporting a lifestyle that they couldn’t afford without the pay from their elected/appointed positions. We need new minds from the top down so that our community can grow and flourish instead of remain stagnant like it has been for the past several years. I Support only one incumbent and he too is showing signs of “drinking the cool aid”… We all need to get out and vote in order to make a difference!!!
I truly dislike the fact that any media source continues to allow people who use fake names and profiles to comment, especially on issues about which they seem to have no knowledge of truth and facts.
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I am grateful to Ron C de Weijze for using his true identify and even photo when commenting and that he does so intelligently. I am also grateful to Dorothy Engelman for her comment and link to voter registration. The voting statistics in our county are embarrassing to say the least, and her point about choosing our local leaders is absolutely correct. If you do not involve yourself in local issues beyond making unintelligible comments on a news forum, then you should feel ashamed. Nothing changes until people are willing to understand what is wrong and make a choice that they want to make a difference.
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The comments by “people” above about the candidacy of Michele Randall obviously come from people who have not taken the time to understand the issue. What just happened to the Randall and Miller families has far greater implications to every person in, not just our county, but the entire state of Utah, that should be extremely concerning to all of us.
The “good ol’ boy” statement is getting old and tiresome. This is about electing people who can and will make a difference. Anybody who does not understand the economic and emotional toll this issue has on our community, needs to study the issue a bit more than what seems evident; that they read a news story with partial facts and jump to conclusions.
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Anybody who does not feel compassion toward the 50+ members of our community whom have served us well for many years, saving lives, seems incapable of human emotion. Where are the people who care about these dedicated public servants; that they just lost their jobs, incomes and careers? Where are the people who care enough to make this travesty not be in vain? Where are the people who care about the dozens of children in our community who now have unemployed parents? What this community is supposedly known for seems as a myth, rather than reality when I read such unkind comments. There was a time when I believed this community consisted of people who would bend over backwards to lift up others, to care for them, to be a “neighbor.” What has happened to “Dixie?”
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What happened to Dixie Ambulance Services is an absolute travesty of justice, and for anybody who doesn’t yet understand that, I will happily guide you to the irrefutable evidence of that. If you are not willing to do the homework necessary to understand the issue, or compassionate enough to care about the PEOPLE, yes people, whose lives were destroyed at the hands of our own city officials and a state senator who cares nothing about his own constituents; only his own self interests and the balance of his personal bank account, you should refrain from commenting.
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I respectfully suggest to everybody in our community who wants to understand the issue and its greater implications to pay attention. There is a great deal more happening, even now, that people are not aware of and if you want to make a difference, you need to do more than just “talk” about what is wrong. Why? Because we are the only people who can make a difference and it is only through our voices and our actions. Frankly, I am proud to be a person who intends to make a difference.
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As a result of my deep understanding through my own research of what has occurred in this community, I can honestly say, I am not proud to be a citizen of “Dixie,” anymore. The only way to make it feel like “home” again is to make a difference and that begins with doing my part to assure that the people who will do the job for which they are elected get into office. As for the the others, it is time for all of us to hold them accountable for both their actions and their failure to act.
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When it becomes acceptable to any of us that our city leaders participated in the devastation of a long-time business with no regard for the economic or emotional “fallout,” then we should be ashamed. I do not know, nor will I ever regard this as acceptable. Making sure it never happens again, means understanding the issues, voting for good candidates and holding them accountable to doing the job for which they are elected. There are far too many people who are either apathetic, or who seem to forget that the real power is supposed to be held by our own city council members.
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The reality here is that our city manager and city attorney hold the cards and even make decisions without knowledge by our city council. Our city manager and city attorney work for our city council, yet our city council, and even our Mayor do not hold them accountable for their failure to involve them in decisions which impact all of us. Our city council is elected by us – to represent US. If they do not have the courage to stand firmly for the very principles they say they have, then they do not belong in office. It only takes three of them to stand up and make a difference. What I have seen is a great deal of “talk” but no real action.
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I will save my words about the actions of our state senator for another time. For now, I and hundreds of other citizens will continue allowing the Independent Ethics Commission to handle this, along with the intelligent actions of numerous Mayors, Fire Chiefs and others in the state of Utah. If this exposes more about the wrongdoings of our local leaders, which it probably will, then we should all be grateful.
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Lastly, if anybody makes a choice to be unkind or disrespectful in comments directed at me, then please know in advance, I do not respond to that behavior.
Yawn……..please keep comments short. We all lose interest after 100 words or so
From your last paragraph in that long, hard to read comment, are we to believe that anyone who disagrees with you is being “unkind” or “disrespectful.” As to my name, Rosie is what my parents gave me, and Raughttenkrautch is the last name of the wonderful man I married.
I do believe you are right, as far as what happened to Dixie Ambulance is concerned. However, I really do question that Michele Randall would be right for a seat on the city council.
Nobody is forced to read my comments. I have no problem with anybody disagreeing with me, as long as they are respectful and civil.
In my comment, I encourage people to vote. I am also a person who strongly believes that we should all be independent thinkers; therefore, it is up to you to decide upon the candidate who will receive your vote. People who have a hard time reading long comments or understanding what I write should just ignore my words.
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For every few who do, because they find my writing style offensive or difficult to read, there will be many more who can more easily comprehend the written word and be encouraged to conduct further research. Thank you.
Wow, Pam, you should put your energy it took to write this editorial (cause it’s surely not just a comment) in a local paper or something, gee whiz. Oh, and my food for thoough of the day, cause it always seems appropriate for this town’s majority of views: Agree to disagree.
Cindy, relative to your reference to your “food for thought of the day – agree to disagree,” it appears you did not read beyond the first sentence of my comment which was: ” I have no problem with anybody disagreeing with me, as long as they are respectful and civil.”
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My preference also is that you let me decide how I wish to utilize my own energy. I promise, I will never recommend or even suggest how you choose to utilize yours, because frankly it is not my business.
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Thank you.
Whoa, Pamela, after reading your extensive piece, I have to say St. George pretty much outgrew or was on the verge of out-growing what DA could offer its citizens. You people cannot honestly expect small, local companies to be able to run and keep up with growing demand and changing dynamics of an up and coming metropolis. So why so surprised, I ask you all? This sort of thing is common ground when a town becomes a city. Get outta the box!
Your dislike of anonymity in these comment sections is really quite ridiculous. The fact that the poster does not use their real name means nothing about the validity of their opinions. There are any number of legitimate reasons why someone might choose to remain anonymous, particularly on a touchy subject such as this one. Your objection to our fake names/handles shows me the shallow nature of your intellect.
I would pay money for Randall to run against Jon Pike. The challenger against the city councilman that ousted DAS.
I hope Jon Pike loses every race he ever runs again. I’ve never ridden in DAS transport, don’t know their owners, and hope to never ride in Gold Cross transport. But the manner in which Jon Pike brought down a local business for the benefit of Pike’s homie “Stevie whats his name” is shameful and justifies never voting for Pike again.
Pike didn’t do anything to bring down a local business. By choice or not, the business did it to themselves. Common sense says you have to invest in your employees and growing your business to keep up with demand – in this case, a growing city. Thanks, but no thanks for your pointing fingers.
Just one of many examples of unethical, “back door” style politics by Steve Urquhart, Jon Pike and Shawn Guzman. I’ll keep it short so as to not get people so upset. Those who will listen and further do their homework to determine what constitutes a quorum relative to official business of the city and most other political subdivisions; what the rules relative to how and when official city business can be conducted, etc., will also understand why this is clearly wrong at every level. Further they will understand why as citizens we should all be concerned. For those who want to understand even more, I suggest you do some basic research.
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Understanding the entire issue – all of the facts, requires more than just reading media stories and comments on forums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_3ReP59Vgw
Apparently, you are the one who needs to do their homework. St George city ordinances clearly state the number of council members needed to constitute a quorum is three members. As such, with only Jon Pike attending the infamous breakfast meeting, no violation of the Utah Sunshine laws occurred.
Chris, you really should not try to confuse Pamela with facts. She gets so upset. Next thing you know, she will be accusing you of not being respectful, because you disagree with her.
What a snotty broad.
Thanks, Bo, for using your real name.
Chris, if I used my real name, it would start a family war. Just not worth it.
I am just kidding, Bo. Chris is not my real name either. Pamala thinks we should all be using our real names, as if that affects the validity of what we say.
While not using your real name may or may not have bearing on the validity of what you say, not using your real name certainly has bearing on the credibility of what you say.
Pamala has well-reasoned, informed arguments on her side. You deride her for the length of her post, and say nothing as to its substance. You make the argument personal, instead of addressing the facts. And you cower behind a pseudonym in the process and call your comments “valid.”
Low information/lowest common denominator is what I call it, and your vapid posts, void of any real thought or intellect, are emblematic of the reason that this nation is in the state in which we currently find ourselves, both at a local as well as national level.
Well, Leo, it appears that you failed to read any of the preceding posts completely. Nowhere have I complained about the length of Pamala’s posts (although others indeed have). My original reply was a factual rebuttal of Pamala’s claims about a council quorum, a reply that neither she nor you have addressed. You claim that anonymity affects credibility, but you fail to explain how. Your muddled thinking is as bad as Pamala’s. You are in way over your head here boy.
I can easily state my opinions with my real name. So, guys, what is a real name to ya’ll? one like Tyler?, Chris?, Pamula? because, it ‘appears’ real? and what’s a fake name? one like mine or Stewy Griffin, or Bo Diddly Doozer? Worring about what YOU think is a real name or not is stupid and irrelevent. I bet 95 percent of all names on any social online media/forum is fake. Most refer to it as a screen name etc. Oh well, no matter what the hell the name is, an opinion is an opinion!
Yeah, who ever heard of a company expanding with the community?
I invite everyone to read the posting that I made about ambulance service last Thursday. They couldn’t find the location where we were. No GPS??
It is in the right column of the FB page for STGNews. They hopefully will put it up here too.
Maybe I’ll just post it here.
And, yes, the name that appears is my real name.
Dan,
I read your comment just now on the Facebook Page of the St. George News. First of all, thank you for caring enough about the safety and well-being of the citizens of our community that you would write it. There are many instances much like what you describe that have occurred in the first week Gold Cross took over, some even resulting in deaths of very young people.
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I am linking to some testimony which was included in the hearings, testimony which was completely ignored by the media and Maxwell Miller, the lawyer from the lobbyist firm in Salt Lake City who issued the first Recommended Final Order. This sworn testimony was provided by Dr. Michael Tremea, just one of 16 emergency room physicians who unanimously stated in a letter that their desire was for Dixie Ambulance Services to continue serving our community. This testimony was not only completely ignored, but the letter was completely dismissed as unimportant. When you hear this testimony, you seem like the type of person who will likely be concerned, as many hundreds have been.
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Thank you so much for your willingness to speak out about an issue which should matter to us all – something as vitally important as public safety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZgk4WaRMtk
Pam. Just so you know. I am using an alias.
Do you realize what you and your super-dupe team like Ron and the rest of the team are saying right now?!!!
You are blaming Gold Cross for deaths that happened during their first week of taking over? So do you have any evidence that those situations would NOT have occurred if Dixie A. was still in charge??! Do you know who the medics were who responded to these scenes you are ignorantly and insensitively referring to???!!! I am thinking you have no clue who the medics were who responded or you would not be making reference to these situations so distasteful with little thought of all involved.
On another note… i have seen individuals using their real names in commentaries such as these with self-righteous indignation and a self-proclaimed experience or authority to speak on this or any other technically specialized story. However, in my humble armchair therapist opine… what it seems to be in truth and reality is that individuals such as these use their real name and lengthly eloques of rant in order to catch the attention of someone important in their mind; like the editor, with delusions that they will be swept up into columnist ecstasy due to the editor being so thoroughly overwhelmed by their eloquence, Etc.
And no Pam, i know you are hoping or fantasizing that I am Steve Urquhart and your dissertations have finally caught my attention. but I ain’t he. But keep dreaming… The sun’s a ball of butter. Don’t let anyone rain on your parade
…said the person who remains hidden behind their computer screen cloaked in anonymity.
18 April 2013
Letter to the Editor:
I’m writing about inadequate ambulance service in an emergency today
A group of 30 of us were playing bridge today at New Life Christian Center on Silicon Way in the Tonaquint area off of Dixie Drive. One of the ladies had a stroke while playing, so I called 911 while others attended to her. Dispatch knew where we were and asked appropriate questions about her condition, some of which were answered by a player who is a physician. It was clear she had had a serious stroke. I hung up with 911 and went outside to direct the ambulance to a parking place we had cleared for it. After a number of minutes we heard a siren coming and were heartened until we watched it pass by northbound on Dixie. I called back to 911 and told them it had passed the Silicon Way turn. They said they’d redirect it. Another five minutes later it passed again, going southbound on Dixie. It was another five minutes before it finally arrived and backed into the parking place. Dispatch did stay on the line with me until the ambulance arrived.
The attendants then got out, asked where she was, and we waved them inside. They then got back in the cab and spent three minutes doing who-knows-what (paperwork?). At this time a fire truck arrived with EMTs who assisted and observed as the attendants came in with a gurney and took the patient into the ambulance. I did report my unhappiness with the ambulance service to one of the Fire Department EMTs, who said he would report it. After she was loaded into the ambulance it was another six minutes before they drove away.
I’m not competent to judge the amount of time they spent getting to her after they arrived or the time they spent before they drove away. However, the physician felt that those times were definitely excessive. I am able to judge the incompetence of not having their GPS going and missing the correct turn not once, but twice, especially after I told Dispatch to have them turn at the giant DXATC sign.
The lady who had the stroke was eventually flown to Las Vegas in very critical condition. I’m sure that these delays didn’t help any chances of survival. I believe in giving any new organization or business a chance, but my expectations were certainly dashed this afternoon.
Dan Lester
4621 Elrose
St. George
208-283-7711
[email protected]
St George reminds me of a big over-grown child still in diapers. Yup, that sums it up!
Hahaha god, I have to agree in many ways!
While I agree that there needs to be some change in the current local government, this woman is NOT the change we need… are you kidding me??? You just OPENLY threw a temper tantrum because y’all mismanaged a company into the ground and you want people to trust you with allocation of taxpayer funds?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I would rather leave it the way it is than give this woman a shot (and I DESPISE half the members of the current city council)! She and her husband want to personally attack anyone who disagrees with what’s happened to their former company and as a voter, I’m supposed to think that she is a good choice to help run this city?? What a joke!!
I’m right up there with you. I do believe in buying locally and supporting local businesses. Dixie Ambulance legitimately lost its exclusivity contract due to its operating procedures and lack of ability to follow state directives. I did read the 66 page document, and (as I have stated in previous comments) was shocked that Dixie Ambulance wasn’t operated in a more professional manner. So far as the “50 employees” who lost their jobs, had it not been Gold Cross, it would have been another company vying for the contract.
– When the contract was fairly awarded to another company, the owners of DA blamed the process, the politicians who didn’t support them enough, and Gold Cross itself. But had they chosen to change their operating procedures, they would be in business today. In fact, they still had the opportunity to serve the outlying areas but chose not to because there wasn’t enough profit involved. Their purported commitment to the community appears to be more of a commitment to themselves.
– Michelle Randall “announced” that she was running for City Council in an arena that was created by her now defunct company. Of course she received a resounding show of support at that time. But I do hope that the voters of St. George will remember that she herself is a member of the good ol’ boys club – and that she personally attacked her detractors in a public forum. Why anyone would support a woman who blames the system for her family run company’s inability to appropriately provide EMS services is beyond me. Will she be personally attacking her detractors during her campaign? Will she run on a platform of ending benefits and decreasing the pay of city workers so that councilmen can be paid more for their public service? Will she blame the unethical system when she loses?
– The license to operate in St. George never belonged to Dixie Ambulance; it was an earned privilege. Their claims that their business was stolen from them, that they should have been bought out and that the system was unethical would never have been an issue had they even attempted to meet industry standards. This issue appears to be two sided – those who are emotionally involved and supporters of DA no matter what, and those of us who can read and formulate our own opinions.
There was once a City by the Sea and the city was full of CityFolk who said “Oh we hate it here. It is not at all like the great City by the Desert, where the people are so friendly and warm and so pleasant to be around”
So the CityFolk move from the City by the Sea to the City by the Desert. But then the CityFolk started noticing that things were not to their liking. And cries of “the town is being run by the Good Old Boys Club, and these hicks or Dixie-ite, are too backward and racist in their thinking to be in power”
So the CityFolk whine, and cried, and wrote about how things should be in the newspaper and campaigned to bring ENLIGHTENMENT to the City by the Desert. They got together and make up the Washington Coalition. They scoff that those who said “It you don’t like it leave”
After a time the CityFolk with help of others of their kind, got their way and made the changes, that brought the ENLIGHTENMENT to the City by the Dessert.
Then CityFolk put a For Sale sign in front of their house. When ask why they were leaving after getting ALL that they wanted. They cried “Oh we hate it here it now like the City by the Sea. It not like at all like the great City by the Forest where people are so friendly and warm and so pleasant to be with”
Very apt comment, William! You hit it right on the head.
William, we’re actually a City IN the desert, not BY the desert. Just felt like clarifying for you 🙂
Wowee. That’s all I can say after reading all of these puffed up comments, i thought this was a place where humans live, you know, the type that can gather the humility to admit their judgment is limited and they might, just might be possibly wrong about some things. Just admit it people, lay down your weapons of war because you’re all so damn wrong including me.
Bo, appears to me you would love a war on any terms. Name calling is just so
juvenile, don’t you think?