Civil War in Lebanon

The title of this hub may be just a bit confusing. This war isn't being fought with gun's, mortars, or explosives; not yet anyway. I feel as if my family and I are right square in the middle of this war though. I have been attacked and I have attacked back--All with words.

We live in Lebanon, Missouri. It is in the midst of the Missouri Ozarks. We are just a few miles away from Lake of the Ozarks on I-44 North of Springfield, Missouri. Old route 66 runs right through Lebanon.

In the 2000 census the towns population was 12,155 and the county of Laclede's was 32,513. I'm sure those figures are much higher now.

Here are links to the towns web-site and a couple others. Don't jump up and move here though until you hear the rest of what is happening.

First and foremost, what drew me into this war was the murder of my Grandson.He was 23 months old. I have written some hubs on this and I also made Jonathan's Site.

We have a new mayor. I supported his election as he has been very caring through this whole ordeal of ours. I had told him before the election about the shoddy job law enforcement had done in our case. He knew about the ex-boyfriend breaking a protection order several times and the police not doing their jobs. Many other's had complained about the law enforcement here too.

When C.P. stepped in he made a point of getting the police department in-line first. After all, who wants to live in a town they don't feel safe in?

C.P. stopped them taking the patrol cars home after their shifts saving the town a lot of money. He also found that there were, I believe, 15 supervisors for 14 officers. He pulled stripes but kept their pay the same. That fired up the civil war that I speak of. C.P. was stepping on the "good ole boy" system of running things.He had unseated the long time mayor, Bud Allen. Many say that Bud considered himself Boss Hog. If you have ever watched the show- The Dukes of Hazard you will know who I am talking about.

A couple policemen resigned and the Chief retired. They weren't getting their way anymore. The war started!

All these changes have stirred the pot. On the local forum I frequent people are split on their views on this whole thing. Of course, I side with C.P. Many other's don't incuding Katie Hilton who is the main person at our local newspaper, the Lebanon Daily Record.

One certain woman spearheaded a recall campaign and she is trying to gather signatures now. Her name is Sieta Brown and what bothers me most about this person is: She didn't even vote.

I don't know how many signatures she has gathered in all of this. I really doubt she will gather the 2500 she needs.

Sieta was supposedly called with a threat just recently. C.P. has called in the Missouri State Patrol to investigate. Deep down I am wondering if there was any such call or if it is just a media ploy. I would never condone threats even against the "other" side and I think someone who would do such a thing should be punished. In the same sense, if it is found this woman made it all up, she should be punished too.

What it comes down too is: if C.P. is recalled the city council will appoint a new mayor. The council still has a majority of Bud's buddies on it.

I said earlier that there were no explosives in all of this, but some of the word's have been just like bullets. You can see a lot of it at the forum link I am putting below. I know many who don't even live here have jumped in on this. Feel free to join up and give your views too. Tell them all how it would work in the town or city where you are.

Scroll down because there is more to this war too!

Another part of this whole war is the campaign for Laclede County Sheriff. Another "good ole boy" run system. We had the primaries and it is down to 1 republican, the sheriff now Richard Wrinkle; 1 Democrat, deputy sheriff Johnny Brackett and my guy, the Independent who is Chief of policeof Richlan,Missouri, Mike Hurney.

Mike won't play the way these "good ole boys" want. He is in his 30's and he, I believe will make some drastic changes to help us normal "joe's" out.

There have been multiple mortar's and grenade's thrown over this issue too. I have been very vocal about this because I have had my share of problems with that department also.

I couldn't find a picture of Johnny Brackett but I am putting their webites below.

Main point of this hub is: if you are coming to Lebanon, Missouri you better put on your bullet proof vests and be ready for war. That is how it feels here. Many people feel they don't know who to trust.

In my opinion, we are probably the laughing stock of many other counties,States and cities all around. They are probably saying," look at those dumb hillbilly's"

Any of you praying people out there please pray for this town and pray that through all of this my family can get Justice for Jonathan. That is my primary goal. I could really care less about all this political stupidity, but the crime, abuse and stupidity needs to stop here.

I pray God will wake these people up to what is going on around them. I think many of these people have blinders on. They need to look real close at the recent audit of the city that showed many discrepancies. I believe they also need to audit the Sheriff's dept. I think they would find a lot there too.

I keep wondering when there will be a shootout at the OK corral.

There are four more things I need to say:

1. Say No To Recall!
2. Great job Mayor Craig
3. Mike Hurney for Sheriff
4. Most Important of all: JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN!

This hub will probably fire a portion of this town up. You know, I really don't care.Until they get their crap together, I will keep firing my bullets for the world to see. I have lived in some major cities including San Diego, Denver, Omaha and have never seen anything like I have seen in this tiny little one-horse town. Where is Wyatt Earp when you need him?

© G.L. Boudonck