Jonathan Sweet … Be On The Lookout!
Be on the Lookout!
In the last two years, Pulaski County was the recipient of multiple international, state and regional awards; we achieved record levels of residential and industrial development; our unemployment rate has been averaging below 3%; we celebrated the investment of the single largest public-private infrastructure project in the history of the County (broadband); we are offering more recreation programming than ever before and continue to improve upon our community parks and recreation assets; we have enjoyed more than thirty-five ribbon cuttings, and the list of positive community successes goes on and on.
We literally have so much to collectively celebrate and to be thankful for as a community. These successes, our positive momentum and the opportunities that await the County, our business community and our citizens, should be the driving forces that help bring everyone together to aggressively compete in this highly competitive marketplace.
For whatever reason, we have folks working diligently to try and find negatives to exaggerate and/or exploit, in order to make the County and/or its leadership look bad.
Having been a part of the leadership of the County through one of the most difficult times (the COVID-19 pandemic), I saw some of the best come out of our community. The pandemic was a unifying dynamic that figuratively brought our community closer together, paradoxically, as it literally forced us apart.
Other tragedies in our County’s past have unfortunately also been agents of unification that have helped bring our community together.
It may be a paradigm shift or considered cockeyed optimism to dare fathom that our successes should also be an agent that drives our unity and our collective pursuit to elevate our County. Perhaps because it is election season, logic, reason and common sense may not always prevail, but the continuation of our positive trajectory is worth broaching the subject.
There are forces that seek to derail our success and twist the truth for political and personal purposes. They will lead you to believe the sky is falling and your local government does not care. I strongly feel that proxy watchdog organizations, anonymous social media posts and special interest individuals/groups should not represent the pulse of the community or negatively affect local investor or consumer confidence.
Look closely at the intent of those who choose to bring the County down, spread distrust, cause dissention and in good conscience speak falsely about the County or its leadership.
Be on the lookout for those folks who wish to dig a hole and place the County in it. It is a choice to think positively, speak positively and engage positively, and I am asking the community to come together in this time of historic global, political and economic uncertainties and work together for the common good of Pulaski County and all those who call it home.
Pulaski County is…A Positive Place!
April 10, 2023 @ 8:51 pm
U. N. So proud of all you have done. Remember you when you were in Carroll County. Keep up the good work!
Katie Shockley, Carroll County.
April 11, 2023 @ 9:54 am
The primary factor in public image of governmental leadership at any level is physical outcome. As you have said Mr. Sweet, the county and our employees together with the public, faith-based, and other organizations have given the county constituents an above-average level of output in these recent years. New parks have gone up, projects tackled responsibly, efficiently, and with proper oversight, schools and roads improved, etc. The proof and the driving force behind positivity and trust in one’s appointed or elected officials is their output. Do these individuals work together as a team to deliver on their promises and their duties or don’t they. Some simply don’t, and should be held accountable and removed from position. Many many more in fact do. This county is a gem in the mountains here, striving to keep an even keel politically with a solid core of American ideals rooted in small-town life, agriculture, and easy going mutual safety where neighbors know and appreciate one another. We have many more blessings and from a man who has spent many years in other countries including those of conflict, I know and have seen strife and hardship. We do not have any of that here in Pulaski, not even on our worst day. What we do have, and unfortunately for whatever reason chosen to tolerate, are too many dope fiends and addicts who, with their personal choice to destroy their lives, bring down the social welfare of our beautiful county. The American and the Pulaski way of life is dedication, moral virtue, and hard work. Responsibility to one’s self, our neighbors, and our community. Things are getting better, the biggest issue here is not with our local government, not with detours from paving, or a slightly delayed water main project that’s sole focus is infrastructure improvement for everyone (who would complain about that?), the most impactful issue is the degeneracy revolving around drugs and the personal choices these individuals make that affect the safety and American wellbeing of the majority of Pulaski residents who work hard and simply want a peaceful American way of life. These individuals should be held accountable and not with free walk in treatment centers. I have to wonder why more low risk offenders surviving on our tax money in the jail are not in orange jumpers picking up trash along our county roadways, why they are not mowing, cultivating, pressure washing, or cleaning up the many eye sore lots around the county or assisting in public routine maintenance? Hard work fuels the American spirit, let’s start instilling it in theirs, and more importantly, let’s be thankful for the beauty all around us. The peaceful life that we enjoy in our small quiet corner of the mountains. Keep up the solid work Mr. Sweet, ensure each and every county worker knows how much we appreciate them. The proof is in the pudding. A. Stango Sgt-USMC
April 12, 2023 @ 6:09 pm
This is what I do not understand in the post above: Mr. Sweet starts off positive and then goes negative. This is similar to his actions during a recent appearance on WSLS-10 where the entire piece had otherwise been positive until the the end when he chose to further fuel his ongoing disagreements with Marie March which, in no way, related to the subject matter of the interview. When you are involved in a public governmental setting there will never, ever be a time that 100% of the people agree with what you have done or are doing. That’s precisely why in the United States Supreme Court you have dissent opinions. It seems as though Mr. Sweet overly engages himself in being obsessed with those that don’t agree with him or “his Board” as he likes to call them. I feel that these displayed and ongoing behaviors should be concerning to “his Board” since he frequently engages in social media, publications and news broadcasts to utter his ongoing displeasure with anyone who dares to disagree with him.