Column for Oct. 6, 2011

You vote with your feet. You vote with your wallet. How many times have you heard those two statements? Well, they are true, which is why those sayings are still around. Then again, untrue statements like, “It takes a village to raise a child” still linger in our vernacular. No, it takes committed parents to raise a child, but that is another topic for another day.

I vote with my feet. I decided to leave ineffective organizations, whether they were political parties, town advisory boards, church groups, civic organizations, or county government boards. I vote with my wallet, too. I currently have in place family boycotts on two restaurants and one grocery store. One restaurant boycott is in place because of political and ideological treason committed by its owner in 2010. The other restaurant boycott is against a Mexican cuisine establishment because they were closed May 1, 2006 in observance of “A Day Without Immigrants”. If you remember, that was a nationwide event in which primarily Hispanic businesses closed down for a day in protest against stances for tighter immigration policies and in support of illegal immigrants. I used to go to that restaurant almost every week because of their excellently priced dinner specials on Tuesday nights. The grocery store boycott is because of the obnoxious treatment I received from the store’s proprietor in 2005. For six years I have not bought any groceries at that one store despite its convenient proximity. For over five years I have not eaten at the Mexican restaurant. For well over a year, I have not taken my family to the other restaurant, and we used to patronize them regularly. These businesses have lost many thousands of dollars of my business as I voted with my wallet. The ineffective groups have not had my assistance or participation because I voted with my feet.

In a day when most politicians practice kissing babies while stealing their candy, and mortgage their futures with unsustainable debt, every so often one elected official does the right thing by voting with the wallet of his constituents and with his feet. I give applause to Johnston County Register of Deeds, Craig Olive, for his decision to withdraw Johnston County from the North Carolina Association of Registers of Deeds. That organization gets money from member county governments and has come under scrutiny for its activities behind closed doors and poor fiscal responsibility.

Mr. Olive was quoted as saying, “I fought against customer fee increases, membership increases, opposed the organization's secrecy, and pushed hard for the removal of personal identifying information that can lead to identity theft. When the statewide association wanted to close its meetings to the tax-paying public, I said no. They did it anyway. Last year, when the association wanted to raise customer fees and member dues, which come from county taxpayers, I said it was too much. They went ahead with them anyway. In an effort to cut costs in these dire economic times, I have reduced my office's budget significantly. Meanwhile, the statewide association continues to spend recklessly. Even after the recent newspaper expose, its leaders suffer an arrogant sense of entitlement. I can no longer contribute Johnston County tax dollars to support such a wayward association, so I will not be renewing our membership and our financial support of it.”

That sort of decision by Craig Olive took a bit of political courage to buck the current system, but it also took some common sense. Why continue feed the beast that is ravaging you? Why waste taxpayer dollars on causes that are antithetical to your charge as an elected official and your beliefs as a responsible citizen?

On a side note, I still cannot get past Craig’s elected title. Is not the Register of Deeds the official record of deeds whereas the person who oversees the register should be the Registrar? Who came up with the title “Register of Deeds” with which to refer to a person? That has never made sense to me. Nonetheless, my thanks as a taxpaying citizen and as one who voted for Registrar Olive. For what it is worth, Craig Olive has done a better job than for which I first gave him credit. I was willing to vote for him because he has always had an ambition for public service and because I knew his conservative ideology. He has been the exception to the rule, in my opinion, outperforming my personal expectations. Craig has fortunately voted with his feet and with our wallets on our behalf. Thank you, Craig.