Say what you will about Gov. Roy L. Schneider and his leadership style, you have to give him credit for what he did accomplish.
Case in point: We have a cleaner, prettier island today than when he took office four years ago, and some of the credit goes to Schneider's get-it-done approach to governing.
Our roadsides aren't nearly as littered. Garbage is picked up regularly, and isn't always scattered around the Dumpsters. Trash cans have been placed in spots where people would otherwise dispose of their litter on the streets or sidewalks. The Emancipation Garden park is a little gem in the midst of downtown. The waterfront looks better.
Not that this is all because of Roy Schneider. Others played key roles too, including the Chamber of Commerce, which helped make the park a reality, and environmentalists who have raised the community's consciousness about the need to preserve and protect the beauty that is ours. And, of course, we have to tip our hats to Mother Nature, whose copious amounts of rainfall have made the islands lush.
But Roy Schneider saw the need for improving the overall look of these islands and made it a priority.
The challenge for Gov. Charles W. Turnbull is to continue where his predecessor left off, and to accomplish what Schneider failed to do, including filling potholes, paving and maintaining roads, restoring blown-away roadside mirrors and making sure roadside brush is cut regularly.