On service, a lack thereof & those too tired to soldier on

By MICHAEL A. FURRH, A Citizen of Lavaca County

I chose to serve the city I love as a councilman for four years. I filed my paperwork, ran for office and won. While I was in office, I had the privilege of serving with fellow alderman and a mayor who truly care about our city.

We were tasked with some hard decisions, though most weren’t so tough. As I’ve told people before, “The job is easy, until it’s not.”

That’s a simple way to put it, I suppose. But the job of a councilman requires constant extra time, research and meetings, on top of our regular jobs.  

Most elected officials I’ve known since I was a child are good, hardworking and honest people who come from good families. They know their constituents and take pride in serving them. We as Lavacians also pride ourselves in how we raise our children. With so much controversy and strife in our cities, we find solace in this quiet sanctuary we’ve all come to love.

People still rail about COVID, for instance, and how businesses took a huge hit. I agree and find it VERY unfortunate that we Americans had to endure this. We face inflation, increasing interest rates and sharp increases in doing business. Simple parts you once could buy cheap to fix something like a water well, now require a team of bounty hunter hunters just to track down—if it exists—and buying it costs at least twice what it did just a year ago.

When healthcare workers must ration gloves to get through the month, you know we’re in some sort of trouble as a nation.

Just know that those same sharp increases felt in our homes hit just as hard with your local governments. Yet we saw countless requests for open records, running up extra attorney fees and eating up countless hours that someone had to spend tracking it all down. Sad part is, face-to-face conversation, not only would have given a better answer, but days faster, too. The same ones also take to their social media groups spreading half-truth and flat out lies.

Do you remember our world before social media? I do and I remember taking care of problems and issues as they arose face to face and in person.

The truly perplexing part is that these are the same individuals who demand such fiscal conservation from everyone else. Spending thousands more on legal fees, special elections and open records requests doesn’t faze them. What boggles me even more is that it’s near constant, with one organization or another.

Respectfully, it’s absolutely a part of being a free American. When it’s warranted.

Again, we live in Lavaca County. We’ve got honest people elected who can speak intelligently to these topics FOR FREE. You can’t demand lower taxes on the one hand and blow what little we have on things like this over and over.

Because I pride myself on my work, and I love the people I serve. I’m just tired. As are many others. The rhetoric wears on a person who isn’t a politician, and truthfully, most city councilmen and county officials simply aren’t. They’re men and women across our county just like me. They’re local families, business owners and public servants. Haven’t you figured out yet that forcing division on Lavacians only creates a stronger bond?

I will continue to serve the county I love with honor, integrity and truth. I also look forward to seeing some of those who bark loudest on these issues place their names on the ballots when the time comes, but I doubt they ever will. It’s so much simpler to criticize, finger point and send open records requests.

I hope we continue to see lots of names on ballots in coming years’ elections, and I wish them all the best of luck. I truly thank every single one for doing what they do.

Just remember: The job is easy, until it’s not.

Michael Furrh stepped down from the Shiner City Council last month, along with fellow alderman Bucky Boehm, following the election of new council members to replace them, as both Furrh and Boehm moved outside the city limits during their last two-terms of office. Furrh also serves as one of the assistant chiefs on the Shiner Fire Department and as director of the Lavaca County EMS.