Positive industry looks to the future

By at least one measure of November's election results, the security industry came out 50/50. In his race for Kern County Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator, Kimberlite public affairs vice president Donny Youngblood won handily, beating incumbent Mack Wimbish with 59 percent of the vote. However, Michael Morrison, manager of the guard and patrol division for First Alarm Security & Patrol's Monterey branch won't be leaving the industry for the political arena quite yet. He got fairly trounced by incumbent John Laird in his race to be District 27's representative to the California General Assembly, picking up just 30 percent of the vote. Congratulations to Youngblood, and to Morrison for throwing his hat in the ring. Without capable people volunteering themselves to run the country, the best intentions of our founders would be all for naught. I'm tempted to say the system might actually work, after seeing the results of November's national elections. A frustrated electorate made their collective voice heard and the onus is now on the Democratic Party to solve our country's many and real problems. How will this new direction affect the security industry? Such is the question we asked those operating in all of our different coverage areas, and you'll see their answers in stories throughout this month's paper. After reporting and editing them, I can at least say this: Our industry is one populated by optimists. Nearly all of those interviewed looked at the new Congress as an opportunity--for their businesses, for the industry, for the country. Though it's likely individuals throughout an industry that frequently refers to itself as "traditional" and "conservative" bemoaned the results in the comfort of their easy chairs, we found virtually no griping or partisan viewpoints. Instead, there was a hope that a stalled government would begin to quicken its glacial pace; that caucuses and advocates for the industry would be refreshed by new blood; that long-languishing bills that would benefit the industry might move forward thanks to reinstated power brokers. It is only with that kind of attitude that an industry that knows a little something about keeping people safe might begin to have more of a voice in keeping the country safe (and prosperous).