Given recent times in Orange and the various issues that have been put on the table, one has to ask oneself, whatever happened to the notion of serving the greater good. It seems this once noble ideal is now being overlooked more and more in our society and it doesn't look like much will change any time soon.

One recent national issue that has been getting extensive media exposure has been the slaughtering of former racehorses. The sentiment and emotion that has been stirred through this story among people who love their horses has been incredible. The way the story has been presented suggests that gross cruelty is the only issue to be considered, while others may view what's happening in more practical terms. Slaughtering animals at abattoirs for whatever the reason is nothing new, yet this particular issue seems to want to focus people's attention on only one aspect of the issue. I would like to see this and so many other issues debated in the media, so as to let people hear other sides of such arguments so that at least the 'greater good' is clearly made clear in the mix.

This is just one issue that helps make my point, but here in Orange, there have been many issues over recent times where small groups have seemingly controlled the debate, and the media seems more than happy to fan their side of any arguments while offering little or limited space for opposing views. In my opinion, the greater good has hardly been considered or aired sufficiently as a factor in many recent local decisions.

Among the list of local issues I have in mind, are the domestic violence facility, a low-cost accommodation facility, a pre-school and the recreational use of Spring Creek.

If you agree with me, shouldn't we as a community, start to think more about what has been going on in this beautiful city of ours and if we don't like the way we're heading or some of the decisions being made, do something about it? After all, if all that our decision makers hear are the arguments from one side, they can hardly be accused of making poor decisions based on that. There has to be a way for our leaders to get a more balanced view of community feelings than the system we have in place now.

Speaking for myself, I think we would do far better if we adopted a simple strategy that has served me well for a long time and I think it has implications for our city's decision makers as well. I've said before that I have three words that I try to live by - Integrity, wisdom and balance. I find that these three words keep steering me in the right direction when I apply them to important decisions or choices that I make in life.

It's not for me to tell our City's leaders how they should go about their business, or to tell readers how they should think. It is however, appropriate for anyone to share information or experience that one feels may be of help to others. What others do with such information is up to them.

For me, if integrity, wisdom and balance were applied to the current horse issue, and the local issues mentioned above, I'm sure we'd be looking at different outcomes. Sure there'd be winners and losers, there'd be happy people and there'd be some sad people, that's the way life is today, but as long as the greater good is being served, I think most people would be better off and happier in the long run. Isn't that the way it ought to be?