Every two years, the county board reorganizes after the November elections. Quite often the same people remain in leadership positions, since it is rare for a county board to have a major shift in membership or political viewpoints.

This year has been different. Four brand new candidates won election to the board, which is a net change of one-third. That is significant.

The new members come to the board with a public perception of being one issue, against the wind turbines. Hopefully that perception doesn’t hold,  and the board membership delves into its new responsibilities with a desire to serve the county as a whole.

There is always a learning curve for new members to any political position. The new board will simply have to learn its new role as county boards before them have done. It will take a little time. The public needs to take a step back and give the board some time to acquaint itself with its new duties.

These were contested elections and some feelings are raw. Whatever anyone’s personal viewpoint on the election was, they are the winners. In a democracy, we respect the elections and accept the results. Encourage the members you know, and allow the new board to get established.

Outgoing Chairman Dave Newburg deserves a community thank you for the time he spent as Chairman and especially for his last act. Newburg knew that his faction had been weakened by the election, but his priority was to maintain a unified board.

To that end, he nominated Terry Ferguson to be the new Chairman. Terry Ferguson was then elected by the board members as its new Chairman. That was a class act as were Terry Ferguson’s comments to the media that he wished the board to address all issues that concern the county, not just any single issue.

Time is the ultimate judge of any political organization, but for now, the future looks promising.

Contrast DeWitt County  to the Presidential elections, and there is a marked difference.

The voters have spoken and Biden has won by almost all accounts. Trump has every legal right to contest what he believes are errors in the election, but at some point that must end if there is no proof of major fraud.

I have seen elections literally decided by a game of chance after a tied election. It happened in DeWitt County. In that case, Terry Ferguson, our new chairman, lost. Ferguson was deeply disappointed, but he did not file any lawsuits and accepted the results of the election until he ran in the next election and prevailed. That is the essence of democracy. We accept the legitimacy of the ballot. We do not riot. We become the loyal opposition and run again in the next election if we think we can change the voters’ minds.

Many of us are not Joe Biden fans. We are fans of this great nation. We need to respect the election results when Biden is sworn into office on January 20. We don’t have to agree with all of his positions, but we need to respect the office he will hold.

The voters have spoken and U. S. citizens have always respected the results of free and open elections.