It's an election year, and nothing works better for politicians than generating fake outrage at non-issues if it keeps residents from talking about real issues. Fake Outrage Sweeps Johns Creek.
It gets even better as some of those faking the outrage are criticizing others for doing the very same things that they have been doing themselves in private or through other means. City officials have never had an issue criticizing me to others within my community with false statements because of my unwelcomed criticism.
The Johns Creek Post has the main content side and a reader comment side. The comment side has posts written by various residents in Johns Creek (to my knowledge all are Johns Creek residents) on issues from the City Budget to Billboards to Zoning Issues to Traffic problems and potential solutions.
The comment side is where readers are allowed to post their moderated comments with or without their real names. The left side is the heart of the blog. The right side would not exist except for the left.
And what are those "Fake Outragers" upset about? Certainly not the content side. They are more than welcome to write their own counterpoints and submit to the Editor of the Johns Creek Post.
No, it's the comment side, where residents may praise some Council Members and criticize other Council Members for the job that they are doing. The loudest criticism is actually coming from City Council Members and friends of City Council Members. Imagine that.
Instead of rebutting the content side, despite it being factually correct, they attack the commenters and they label the site "Fake News". They take to their Facebook pages bemoaning their victimization.
City Council members as victims because the job that they are supposed to be doing is being questioned by residents? Seriously?
For three or more years the residents that write the content at the Johns Creek Post have been questioning what the City is doing and why they are doing it. From 400-foot radio towers to the "District" to the Thru U-turns, to the potential road widenings, to city contracts that apparently will never be put out for a re-bid.
Unfortunately, there are those on the Council who want to restrict your criticism to what can be squeezed in during three minutes at the start of the Council Meeting(for 10 residents) or for 5 minutes in the end. They do not like the idea that they are being challenged for their decisions.
They need to address the real issues and stop being so "shocked" that we are not buying what you are selling. You need to figure out a better way to sell it, or maybe reconsider whether or not it is right for Johns Creek.
The problem is not this Blog. The problem is what we see happening to our community. And we will always have the right to challenge, question, and criticize.
Whether you like it or not.
EJ Moosa
