Irrelevant – The Sunday Word Of The Day

As a practicing writer, I like words.

I have been interested in the meaning of words and their origins, phrases and the flavor of semantics since I started reading.

Words have meaning.

When used thoughtfully, words can inspire or make you smile or frown.

In short, words, and their use, are important.

Over the past few months, particular words have stuck with me as I navigate the choppy waters of Storey County politics. I have decided to write down my thoughts on these words in the context of their utterings and draw conclusions from the words (or phrases) in warm little essays.

This is the first.

Ok, Let’s go…

irrelevant |əˈreləvənt| adjective

• not connected with or relevant to something.

relevant |ˈreləvənt| adjective 

• closely connected or appropriate to what is being done or considered: what small companies need is relevant advice | the candidate’s experience is relevant to the job.
• appropriate to the current time, period, or circumstances; of contemporary interest: critics may find themselves unable to stay relevant in a changing world | her films are relevant for feminists today.

At the very end of the October 17th Storey County Commissioners Meeting I stood to exercise my right to provide public comment. After waiting nearly 4 hours (which is total BS as I wrote here) for the Commissioners meeting to wend it’s way to its conclusion, I railed against the notion that Kris Thompson, Lance Gilman and the band of merry TRICsters consider Storey County tax revenue their profit. If you want to hear me rant, listen here:

 

After I left the podium, Jack McGuffey suggested that the virtual town square for his district, the Virginia Highlands email chat group, was “not relevant”.

Sadly, the exchange happened after I left the podium and Commissioner McGuffey moved back from his microphone. As a result, our voices are not captured with clarity. While I used software to increase the audio, the exchange is not as clear as it would otherwise be.

Nonetheless, as the 6 or 7 stalwarts still alive in the courtroom could hear, Jack and I discussed the merits of the VCH email chat group:

In case you can’t make it out, this is the meat of the potatoes:

JM: Where did the word profit come in?

ST: It was on a Virginia Highlands Blog Post that Mr Thompson wrote.

JM: I don’t read that.

ST: Well I do, and you know what, it actually is relevant.

JM: It’s not.

Listen to the audio below:

 

So there you have it, gentle reader. Jack “I’ll decide if it’s relevant” McGuffey thinks that your VCH email group is not relevant. This is the group that has hosted some spectacular verbosity from TRIC Project Manager, Storey County Planning Commissioner, Mustang Ranch Brothel resident and Mr Kris Thompson espousing the miracle of TRIC and the amazing accomplishments of his roommate Lance the Magnificant.

The same chat group that bore witness to the excoriating of our Thrice elected Sheriff, the public conviction of Brett Black and the discussion of the TRIC effluvium Pipeline where the Lance and Kris Show revealed what really think of Storey County tax revenue.

Let’s review.

Jack “I’m not irrelevant” McGuffey thinks the VCH chat group is not relevant and doesn’t read it. He thinks whatever goes on there is irrelevant.Yet, interestingly, in the last couple of days, he himself has taken to the group in a feeble effort to resuscitate the relevance of his own irrelevant tenure as County Commissioner.

Consider the posts made here, here and here within the past couple of days. These two efforts suggest that he is somehow providing information,  leadership and being an all-around good guy in the community. To me they suggest a desperate effort to remain… wait for it… relevant.

Anyone with a pulse and a half an open eye on county politics sees Jack for what he is; A Casper Milquetoast empty suit who does what the other two guys let him do. In other words…

Irrelevent.

Lets hope that there are viable candidates from the VC Highlands who have proven experience in leadership, managing people, managing budgets and truly caring about what is good for this county and doing the right thing for it’s citizens as opposed to what is expedient and in the self interest of the power structure.

The last thing we need to move this county forward is the kind of irrelevant muddling we have come to expect from Virginia Highlands Storey County Commissioner Jack McGuffey.