OKEECHOBEE — For the past 18 months or so, the Okeechobee City Council has been working on a plan to contract out fire protection services, save the taxpayers money, balance the budget, etc. If you asked 50 people on the street why the council wanted to make an interlocal agreement with the county for fire services, you would probably get 50 different answers.

Councilman Bob Jarriel says he wants to put the money back in the pockets of the taxpayers. Councilwoman Monica Clark says she wants to stop dipping into the savings every year to balance the budget.

According to Facebook posts, the entire city is up in arms about the decision the council made without taking it to a vote. A petition was put online, which garnered about 2,300 signatures. The problem with that was the signatures were not necessarily of city voters. They could have been county residents or of people from other states. No one really knows who signed it.

All along, there was vocal criticism online, but few people showed up to the meetings to actually take a stand. When they did come, they were usually family members of the firefighters and, often, it was the same people at the meetings month after month. Where were these 2,300 people who signed the petition? If they had showed up for a meeting, they might have gotten some results.

In reality, no one knows how the residents of Okeechobee City really feel, because the city council did not ask them. They chose to go ahead with the decision without a referendum, although Mayor Dowling Watford strongly advised against this.

After the council voted to go ahead and sign the contract during its meeting on Tuesday night, Facebook posters were outraged and the battle cry went out to “vote them out! Make your voices heard!”

The irony is that when that might have been possible to some small extent, no one even attempted to run for one of the seats. Two seats would have been on the ballot — Wes Abney’s and Monica Clark’s. When it came time for candidates to qualify for the race, only two people threw their hats in the ring, Monica Clark and Russ Cale. This means they both won seats by default, and there will be no opportunity for city residents to “vote them out” — for at least a couple of years.

John F. Kennedy once said, “If you aren’t willing to do something about it, don’t complain about it.”

We cannot sit in our living rooms and gripe on Facebook about how the city or the county is run but not show up at the meetings or run for office. If we are not willing to put our money or our time where our mouths are, what right do we have to complain about the way someone else does things?

In two years, three of the council members will be up for re-election, should they choose to run — Mayor Dowling Watford, Bobby Keefe and Bob Jarriel. During the last city council meeting, Mayor Watford mentioned that Councilmen Keefe and Jarriel most likely would not be running again in two years. If so, that will leave two seats completely vacant. Even if they do run, someone could run against them. Will you step up to the plate? Put your money, your time where your mouth is? They can’t be voted out if no one runs.