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My apologies to Apopka; all is well

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Opinion

By Greg Jackson

Just the other day, I woke up to an awesome revelation: Everything in Apopka is coming up roses (no inherent pun intended). By that I mean there are no issues in the City of Apopka and all residents’ hearts and minds are clear. You may be wondering how it is that I came to this conclusion; well let me tell you. Over the past several months, I have diligently written about issues in the City thinking that I was identifying matters of importance to Apopka citizens. Things such as the lack of economic development, lack of resources, housing issues, the prevalence of crime concentrated to a certain area of the City, etc., all of these things I thought were important to at least a few Apopkans. I surmised that if anything I mentioned was even slightly true or of concern, someone, anyone in the areas affected would have stood up by now and called for action to be taken. To storm City Hall and declare: I am madder than heck and I won’t take it anymore, just like that guy did in that movie from years past.

But, I am happy to report that there has been no such uprising, no storming of City Hall and not a single peep from anyone for that matter. Residents, for the most part, have been as quiet as that proverbial church mouse, proving that there are no issues in Apopka worth fighting for. Rundown homes in your community, not a problem. Abandoned buildings lining your streets, not a problem. Funds diverted from your area to cover a parking lot; who could ask for anything more! The fact that community “leaders” are quiet, church leaders are quiet and political candidates are quiet as it relates to these matters is a further indication to me that the streets of Apopka are apparently paved in gold. And therefore, who I am I to challenge this utopia?

I figure my eyes deceived me by seeing things a bit differently. My experiences from traveling the World kept me from appreciating all the greatness around Apopka. The fire that burns in my belly to fight for others may have kicked up a bit too high and caused me to make something out of nothing; and for that, I am truly apologetic. In full disclosure, I have always had this fighting spirit about me, which I developed as a young man on the highest of seven hills in the capital of our great state. I carried that fighting spirit with me to law school where I realized that the practice of law is the vehicle through which injustices have been identified and corrected, and once realized I always wanted to drive the vehicle, so to speak. But back to the here-and-now, all this time I thought I was taking up the fight for those who could not speak for themselves, however, I have come to realize that no one is speaking up because there are no issues to speak up about in Apopka. Either it is that, or complacency has robbed the people of their fighting spirit. No matter the reason, I accept that all is well in Apopka – in my humble opinion.

Greg Jackson

 

Greg Jackson is a former Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida, a military veteran, current Orange County District 2 Representative on the Board of Zoning Adjustments, and General Counsel for the Community Redevelopment Agency. He has been as an active member of the Central Florida community for nearly 20 years. He was most recently a candidate for the Florida House District 45 seat.

 

Greg Jackson, Opinion

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