On Political Discord

This was a statement made by Jefferson County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock at the beginning of the commissioners meeting on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 And as we opened our meeting this morning, I have a special statement that I would like to share with everyone, and this concerns political discord in our country. In a world that can be dark at times, and we have seen a lot of darkness in various ways, all of us in this room this morning can be a point of light. We have that capacity to be a point of light and bring light to an otherwise dark place, and especially for those of us who have the privilege to serve in public office, it's very, very important.So, where there is discord, let us have discussion, and where there is accusation, let us have understanding. Where there's hate, let us have love and let us build bridges of understanding and tear down walls of anger and prejudice.Now we can disagree on various issues. Those of us who are in elected office, we certainly understand that we can disagree, but we don't have to be disagreeable, and we can still stand strong for our principles at the end of the day that we're all daughters and sons of a loving God, and all of us, all of us, we were called for this time.In our church, we have one of my favorite hymns, and one of the verses goes like this, “To teach us tolerance and love,” and I try to remember that every day of my life. Sometimes it's a little difficult if you have somebody calling you that's very angry. It's important to understand that principle, that we need to be tolerant and to love each other, each of us, we're called for this time. And I think it's important that we remember that we are here as sons and daughters of a loving God, and to teach tolerance and to teach love.So, with that, hopefully we can remember that, and hopefully all people who are in elected office, whether it's at the county level, the state level or the federal level, we can have an increase in understanding, in tolerance and love for each other. At the end of the day, we're Americans all.It is important to remember that, in my long military career, I had the opportunity to serve with people from all over our country, all over the world, different colors of skin, different religions, different cultural backgrounds. People came from all kinds of different places. And the important thing was, we were committed and we were dedicated to working with each other. All those other things go away. And so, I think it's important for each one of us to remember those principles.

Would You Buy a Used Car from this Reporter?

Betty Jean Hoffman

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