Photo courtesy Pier 22.

The Primary Election is over. There were winners and there were losers, but the biggest winner was the community!

Residents let their voices be heard. Perhaps the one thing I saw more of this election cycle than cycles before was that calculated misinformation was quickly disputed and facts were quickly disseminated. It would be great if this would continue through the rest of the campaign cycle in November. Hopefully, this will be the start of a trend that will render these shady campaign tactics obsolete. You may get mailers at your home that cast candidates in dark shadows that make them look less than trustworthy, but frankly they are just people with different views than your own. Yet, they put themselves out there to run for office and make a difference in the community. Now, it is time to come together and work towards solutions for the community. I always believe that we have more in common than we have that divides us (okay, call me naïve).

As we saw recently in the community, there are problems we didn’t realize existed to the magnitude that they showed themselves. I’m speaking specifically about the flooding in both Manatee and Sarasota counties after Tropical Storm Debby. I’m not an expert on this subject and I won’t pretend to know what caused this calamity in the lives of so many of our neighbors, but I do know that I’ve lived down here since 1979 and I don’t recall ever seeing anything like it before. We must work together to identify and solve what caused the flooding so it doesn’t happen again.

Though I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the outpouring of goodwill and generosity we have seen after the storm, which is so typical of the great community we live in.

As after every election, the sun came up the next day. We went on with our lives and everything was and will be okay. 

Our elections have become like action movies where the Super Hero must defeat the evil villain. Maybe we just watch too many movies or maybe once again I’m just naïve. These are differences of opinions, different visions, but not good versus evil. I’m old enough now to have seen the pendulum swing several times from one way to the other and I’m still here to talk about it. The world did not come to an end during any of the swings. Our country and our community are stronger than any one election cycle. 

Our democracy is stronger than any one election cycle, no matter what those shiny dark mailers may want you to believe.

Yes, I may be naïve, but I’ve seen over and over again that what binds us together as a community and our vision for a community where we want our children to grow and prosper is far stronger than what divides us. So, let’s continue to discuss and debate. Let’s continue to hold our elected officials accountable both while they are in office and at the ballot box. Perhaps most importantly, let’s continue to come together to build a stronger, more robust and more resilient community.

Mary Dougherty is executive director of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange.

Photo courtesy Pier 22.