Citrus County Independence | Community
Turn on the television or open social media and within minutes somebody will tell you what you should be worried about.
Washington. Elections. Political parties. Another crisis. Another scandal. Another reason to be angry at somebody hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Before long, it can start to feel like ordinary people don’t have much control over anything.
But look out your front door.
There is an entire community where your voice still matters.
Civic Pride Isn’t Politics
Civic pride isn’t about being Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal or independent.
It’s about being a neighbor.
It’s caring whether the road down the street gets fixed.
It’s wondering why a local decision was made and being willing to ask the people who made it.
It’s supporting the family that opened a small business instead of automatically driving past them.
It’s helping stock a food pantry.
It’s showing up at a County Commission meeting.
It’s attending a school event, volunteering, cleaning up a roadside, helping an elderly neighbor or simply learning the name of the person living three houses away.
None of those things require permission from Washington.
They require us.
The Powerlessness Machine
National news has an enormous countryâand increasingly, the entire worldâto cover.
That means the biggest controversies, conflicts, disasters and political fights naturally receive enormous amounts of attention.
The result can be a steady diet of things an individual Citrus County resident has very little immediate ability to change.
Watch enough of it and it’s easy to begin believing you’re powerless.
You’re not.
You’re just looking too far away.
There are roughly 3,000 counties in America, and this one belongs to us.
Citrus County is our backyard.
And what happens here is something we can influence.
Local Government Is Government
We sometimes treat local government like the minor leagues while national politics gets all the attention.
Try getting a pothole repaired by calling the White House.
Your property taxes, zoning decisions, development, roads, emergency services, parks, water, conservation and countless other issues affecting everyday life are influenced heavily by decisions made much closer to home.
Those decisions are made by people whose meetings we can attend.
Their offices have phone numbers.
Their decisions create public records.
They can be questioned.
They can be praised when they get something right.
They can be challenged when we believe they got something wrong.
And ultimately, many of them have to ask us for permission to keep their jobs.
That’s power.
Your Neighbor Isn’t Your Enemy
Perhaps one of the greatest casualties of national political warfare has been our ability to disagree with each other without becoming enemies.
Your neighbor may vote differently than you.
They may watch a different news channel.
They may have a different opinion about the President, Congress or practically everything else happening in Washington.
But when a hurricane comes through Citrus County, nobody asks what political party you belong to before helping move a tree.
When someone’s house burns, we don’t ask how they voted before bringing clothes.
When a family can’t afford groceries, hunger doesn’t check voter registration.
Community has a remarkable ability to remind us that we’re human beings before we’re political categories.
Spend Some of That Energy Here
Imagine if just a fraction of the energy Americans spend arguing about Washington were invested in their own communities.
Attend one local meeting.
Learn who represents you.
Read an agenda before a vote happens instead of complaining afterward.
Ask questions.
Support a local business.
Volunteer somewhere.
Help a neighbor.
Learn about a local issue.
Introduce yourself to somebody you’ve never met.
And most importantlyâparticipate.
Civic involvement doesn’t mean agreeing with government.
Sometimes civic pride means supporting officials who are doing good work.
Sometimes it means standing in front of those same officials and demanding better.
Both are part of self-government.
Local Power Becomes National Power
America isn’t just Washington, D.C.
America is Citrus County.
It’s Homosassa, Inverness, Crystal River, Lecanto, Floral City, Hernando and communities like ours across the country.
National government ultimately sits on top of thousands of local communities.
Strong communities create informed citizens.
Informed citizens create accountable local governments.
And citizens who learn to exercise their power locally don’t suddenly forget how to exercise it when state and national elections arrive.
If you want to change the country, you don’t have to begin 800 miles away.
Begin across the street.
Begin at the local business.
Begin at the food drive.
Begin at the County Commission meeting.
Begin with your neighbor.
Begin in Citrus County.
This Is Our Team
Citrus County Independence wasn’t created to tell people which political team they should join.
Our position is simpler:
We aren’t on your team.
We aren’t against your team.
We’re on Citrus County’s teamâand we sincerely hope you are too.
We’ll support our elected officials when they’re working for this community.
We’ll ask questions when answers are needed.
We’ll criticize decisions when criticism is deserved.
We’ll recognize good work when credit is deserved.
And we’ll encourage the people of Citrus County to participate rather than simply watch from the sidelines.
Because civic pride isn’t waving a flag once a year.
It’s accepting some responsibility for the place you call home.
National headlines may make you feel powerless.
Your own backyard can remind you that you’re not.
â Citrus County Independence
Community over party. Neighbors before politics.