Community in Crisis

In the Feb. 18 edition of the Bladen Journal, I wrote an editorial praising our town but also issuing a statement of fact and a challenge.

Those statements and the sentiments of this newspaper haven’t changed.

“There are some squabbles. Some going on right now, and though the powers that be think that it’s a well-hidden secret… it’s not. In small towns, secrets really don’t exist for long. In fact, at times, the infighting reminds me of seventh-grade homeroom. We have the power to grow as we develop the power to mature. And sometimes that comes from compromise and working together for a common good. I ‘challenge’ the county now as it faces ‘challenges’ going forward to find common ground. To find a same page. In unity there can be great growth and the combined forces of differing factions can take us up to the next plateau. It’s where we all desire to go. To our leaders and those we’ve elected to lead – take us there.”

At this point, there have been far too many rumors running rampant and life-long friends have been “frosty” at best to one another in coffee shops, on main street and in places we shop and worship.

The fight between the Bladen County Commissioners and the Town of Elizabethtown has gotten out of hand. I know that I am not “revealing” anything that is not already known. Many of the facts, however have been hidden from view – leaving the collateral damage in the form of the general public, to speculate, to panic and speak about things where all the information is not readily available.

After speaking to and listening to both sides of the issues, I can also reveal that there are problems that have seemingly become insurmountable. After sleepless nights as to how to proceed as the “Fourth estate,” we have asked both sides to be accountable for what has transpired.

At this point we have encountered closed sessions, “things that can’t be revealed at this time” and the statement that both sides have the inability to sit down and mediate. As to the facts, at press time, we have not heard all that we need to hear to provide fair representation to both sides. As a result, we will continue to gather information.

The caveat at this point is that the feud has gone into litigation. With gag orders and both sides having to walk on eggshells, board members “shushing each other” and preventing information of get back to the press – the task of bringing things into the light has been challenging at best.

Bottom line is the money that our leaders are having to spend in legal costs. The totals billed are already astronomical and someone is going to have to pay for it. Look in the mirror to see who has to be pulling out a checkbook.

He said. She said. Questionable tactics to achieve a goal. One side able to talk and share documentation and the other side under strict orders to stay silent.

There are some that just want this whole ordeal to “just go away,” but the fear is that once the lawyers get involved, the problems will “just go on and on… and on.”

This feud is holding a community hostage. It has caused the postponement of several major developments; it has cost the community well over a million dollars in grant money that was forfeited — money that was supposed to go to projects that are half-finished.

It has come down to a “who owns what,” who is making more money and who has control.

The Bladen Journal is a business here in Bladen County. We have waited for over a year for answers. We have been promised things that have not come to fruition. We are in business to generate communication to the general public – and there are some who have been tying our hands and trying to put a gag in our mouth.

This must come to an end. We must find solutions to the problems. I am putting forth a challenge that IF this feud continues even one more week, I promise, as your community editor that we will release the information that we have. The community has waited long enough for answers. We deserve to know the truth. Freedom for all will come in that truth.

At what point does the healing begin?

We are a town shaken to its core with the chasm of inept leadership, problems without solutions and taking sides on issues that may or may not be the right answers. There is no unity at this point. There is nothing united about us. Chaos is allowed to run rampant in the shadows of darting and damaging rumors.

As the layers continue to help create more white noise from this haunting tale, the revealing may force us all to look into a darkness that we didn’t ask to see.

The long road ahead for Elizabethtown and the alleged abuse has our community in shock as we all silently wait for more information and, hopefully, some much needed light for the journey ahead.

When a darkness of this magnitude comes upon our children, too young to discern the difference between being protected and being taken advantage of, it resonates with every fiber of the moral compass that we possess for our own personal path.

In every disaster, with bold proclamation of finality and with every promise of hopelessness, the frailty of the human spirit is tested and tried. Fears have set forth to conquer.

Trust me when I say that the casualties will be more than we can bear and lives will be paralyzed. The far-reaching effects causing collateral damage to family and friends will leave a wide swath of destruction and all who have heard the ill tidings are affected in one way or another.

A friend at the football game. A neighbor in the driveway. A shopper in line at the grocery store. A voice you have heard during Sunday morning worship. That is the stark tragedy of situation when we live in a small community. We are divided here at home. And battle lines have been drawn.

Words can be sharper than knives that cut to the very bone and marrow of the soul. And there will be words. The situation will become darker before the dawn and there has to be a bracing for the aftershocks.

The questions remain. At what point does the healing begin and what must we do to begin to move forward into it?

A wise man once told his son who was lost in the journey, “If you can find your way to your knees, you can find your way home.”

We are community. We are family. We have endured storms, faced problems without solutions and looked into the face of death itself. And we have prevailed. The only answer to a community in crisis is found in one simple direction.

In the Bible, it implores us to “Let us go boldly to the throne to obtain mercy to help in our time of need.”

Let “us” come. Together. Standing shoulder to shoulder. Not with boots on the ground, but knees on the ground.

At what point does the healing begin?

The human body begins the battle to heal in the moments after the affliction. We all need to be in that moment. The choice to battle is not only prudent, but critical to survival.

E-Town, settle this… expediently, compassionately, carefully. Together, we can do this.