As many of you know, the South is in a weather crisis. Roads are icing over, temperatures are falling below zero, and pipes are starting to freeze. Amongst the madness, the Mayor of Colorado City, Texas, Tim Boyd, has resigned after sharing an insensitive statement.
Despite Texans going through one of the worst storms they have ever experienced, Boyd wrote that, “one the strong will survive and the weak will [perish].” He continued on with his harsh comments when he released a statement that said, “No one owed you are your family anything; not is it local government’s responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owed you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout! If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water you deal without and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family. If you are sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising!”. These are just a few rude words that the former Mayor said to a struggling community.
After deleting his post, he resigned from his position as Mayor. Despite the removal of his long statement, he received an abundant amount of understandable backlash. As a leader that is supposed to support the community during a trying time, his words were extremely inappropriate and unprofessional. Because Texas is not equipped to handle the magnitude of this storm, about 3 million homes and businesses do not have power. Additionally, the giant car pileup will forever be a devastating event.
Although Boyd released a halfhearted apology stating that he does not want to offend those who are truly in need, he announced that he was, “… making a statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout. I apologize for the wording and some of the phrases that were used.” The bottom line is that there are people in need and having good leadership that will not tell people to fend for themselves is crucial.
