When Kelly and I moved into our home in Garner, we had two immediate brushes with Garner politicos. Our first day, a car pulls up to our house. Inside was mayor Don Rohrbaugh, who lived a few houses down the street. Talk about first impressions! I was impressed with any city where the mayor personally greets you on the day you move in!
The second brush was a bit more cryptic. Kelly wasn’t used to standalone mailboxes, having lived in townhouses or apartments all her life. One day Kelly put mail in the mailbox without raising the flag. This brought a stern message from our mailman, scawled boldly on a piece of paper: “mail will not be delivered without raising the flag!” We chuckled at the serious tone of the note, wondering if we had violated some kind of federal postal service law or something. We sure made sure that flag was up!
Over time, I got to know our mailman and soon discovered he was on the town board. From then on, Ronnie Williams always said hello as he made his rounds. He’d ask about the family when I met him at the mailbox. We would wave as he and his wife went for walks around the neighborhood. He would also say hello to me when I attended the occasional board meeting. I began to realize that Ronnie had a rare opportunity as a politician: few people know their towns the way a mail carrier does. He was on the street every day and knew everyone by name. Mail carriers arguably know their towns better than the cops that patrol them.
It was a cold November day when Ronnie last campaigned for alderman. I stopped into my local polling place and said hello to him as he greeted voters outside. I didn’t like seeing my neighbors working in the cold weather, so I returned later with hand warmers for everyone. Ronnie and the others were very appreciative.
Ronnie’s a good guy. Garner is in good hands with him as mayor. It’s good to see a neighbor do well.
I also live in Garner, but I do not know Ronnie Williams. What qualifications does he have to run the largest business in the Town of Garner, the Town of Garner? I understand he is a very nice guy, but is he a good business man? Does delivering the mail make you qualified to run a business?
Delivering the mail doesn’t make you qualified. Serving on the town board for twenty years does.
On another note, a government is not a business, no matter what anyone says. Anyone who tries to “run” a government like a business is in for a rough ride.
Yes, he served the Town Board for 20 years, but what decisions has he made that benefit the Town? I am not saying that I know he made bad decisions, because I actually do not know. I have not taken the time to research this.
If he was on the side of GIVING our water and sewer system to Raleigh and assuring me that my water and sewer rates would not go up, that was a bad decision. (up 50%)
How is gov’t not a business? Money comes in (by force), someone decides how to spend it, and then it gets spemt.
If you really want to know what he’s done, I suggest you do some research on your own. Don’t take my word for it.
From my point of view, Garner has greatly improved since we moved there in 1999. There are actual viable downtown businesses, the schools are getting the attention they so desperately needed, and there is far more retail now, broadening the tax base.
Signing over the water system was a smart move. It would have cost many millions to clean up that creaky system. It’s now Raleigh’s problem, and Raleigh doesn’t consider it a “gift” by any means. The recent economic growth in Garner absolutely would not have happened without that deal.
Government is not a business. It has no competition and no incentive to do better. Yeah, it deals with money, but the similarities end there. Name a business (other than the mafia) whose revenues come at the point of a gun.
I am in the water and sewer business and it seems to me that Garner could have just raised the rates a little on everyone in order to upgrade their system while maintaining a viable revenue source other than taxes.
Thanks for you input and say hi to Jeff for me.
Todd
I don’t know why , but I have just found your web page. I enjoyed reading your kind comments about me being Mayor. Just one brief comment about my qualifications: If 20 years of service is not a qualification, then I don’t know what is. Knowing the people and serving the people as a Mail Carrier does,I think, help. Local politics is a “people job” and so is the Mail Carrier job. Tell Kelly and the family “hello” You and your readers can always feel free to talk to me at 772-5783 or e-mail at rswalderman @ msn.com. After Dec 5th the e-mail address changes to: rswmayor@msn.com.By the way I never ran on my qualifications as a Mail Carrier. It was an honest career which provided me with a comfortable retirement.
Nice to hear from you, Ronnie, and congratulations on your election! I know you will do an outstanding job. It’s only natural.
P.S. If you’ve got time, our N. Raleigh mail carrier could use some training in those “people skills.” 🙂