Finally, I am getting my thoughts together regarding this topic and putting them down in black & white which I've been wanting to do for some time now.
I was having a discussion last night with a couple of persons who are passionate about their community and neighborhood. One of them said, "I went to a City meeting and asked a question (which revealed his opinion on the issue) and after the meeting, the Chairman came up to me and said, 'I thought we were friends'." That's what I needed to hear to validate, once again, my personal passing thoughts on politics, especially local politics and I suppose all politics regardless of the level. Let's take for example, a City Council persons job and responsibilities, I believe that it is the job of a City Council Representative (get it -- "Representative") to make it easier for City Hall to "move" for you as a constituent, and "you" as part of a constituency (group of "you"). In order to do that the Representative needs to know how to get my and/or the constituent's problems, concerns, issues and questions addressed and/or answered. In other words, be the liason between "the people" and City Hall. You know the Directors of departments like Code, Police, Planning, Zoning, etc. You can feel the pulse of your constituents and deliver their needs or at least answers or complications with their concerns. The problem that I see today is people getting in politics, getting to know the Directors of Departments, thinking of them as "friends" and not being able to conduct business in fear of being perceived as a "boat rocker," "troublemaker," simply for addressing or asking tough questions. Like the, "I thought we were friends" comment. Why does a hard question provoke the comment of "I thought we were friends?" We can still be friends if you are the Director of Code, I am Council Rep and I bring an issue to you, or I ask a pointed difficult question at a Pre-Council meeting -- it's just a question, it doesn't mean that I am "black balling" you are wanting to cause trouble or I am against you as a person....that's nonsense, can't we all just be mature adults? It may mean, that I do an excellent job and I expect it from all others. Even if I don't agree with "how you run a department" doesn't mean that I don't like or love you as a person. Why are we so afraid of discussions and/or questions? I don't get it! Perhaps because there are too many individuals (drop the "folks" ok) who go into politics without a strong backbone of principles and/or without an agenda to do what's right and best for "the people" in which they represent......too many people who go into politics because they had the money to buy the most signs, tv commercials, name, etc. OR because there is too little of people who really study and know WHO they are actually voting for, too few voters who really know where the candidate comes from, what they stand for, what they are made of, etc. Bottom line, we as mature adults SHOULD be able to AGREE to disagree or DISAGREE to agree. (This is really a rant for me....I would beat my hands on the counter top to get this point across). Tip toeing and cronyism, it's gotta go.
I will probably edit this post as I just sat down, put it down and on the go.....Thanks for reading and Happy New Year.
I was having a discussion last night with a couple of persons who are passionate about their community and neighborhood. One of them said, "I went to a City meeting and asked a question (which revealed his opinion on the issue) and after the meeting, the Chairman came up to me and said, 'I thought we were friends'." That's what I needed to hear to validate, once again, my personal passing thoughts on politics, especially local politics and I suppose all politics regardless of the level. Let's take for example, a City Council persons job and responsibilities, I believe that it is the job of a City Council Representative (get it -- "Representative") to make it easier for City Hall to "move" for you as a constituent, and "you" as part of a constituency (group of "you"). In order to do that the Representative needs to know how to get my and/or the constituent's problems, concerns, issues and questions addressed and/or answered. In other words, be the liason between "the people" and City Hall. You know the Directors of departments like Code, Police, Planning, Zoning, etc. You can feel the pulse of your constituents and deliver their needs or at least answers or complications with their concerns. The problem that I see today is people getting in politics, getting to know the Directors of Departments, thinking of them as "friends" and not being able to conduct business in fear of being perceived as a "boat rocker," "troublemaker," simply for addressing or asking tough questions. Like the, "I thought we were friends" comment. Why does a hard question provoke the comment of "I thought we were friends?" We can still be friends if you are the Director of Code, I am Council Rep and I bring an issue to you, or I ask a pointed difficult question at a Pre-Council meeting -- it's just a question, it doesn't mean that I am "black balling" you are wanting to cause trouble or I am against you as a person....that's nonsense, can't we all just be mature adults? It may mean, that I do an excellent job and I expect it from all others. Even if I don't agree with "how you run a department" doesn't mean that I don't like or love you as a person. Why are we so afraid of discussions and/or questions? I don't get it! Perhaps because there are too many individuals (drop the "folks" ok) who go into politics without a strong backbone of principles and/or without an agenda to do what's right and best for "the people" in which they represent......too many people who go into politics because they had the money to buy the most signs, tv commercials, name, etc. OR because there is too little of people who really study and know WHO they are actually voting for, too few voters who really know where the candidate comes from, what they stand for, what they are made of, etc. Bottom line, we as mature adults SHOULD be able to AGREE to disagree or DISAGREE to agree. (This is really a rant for me....I would beat my hands on the counter top to get this point across). Tip toeing and cronyism, it's gotta go.
I will probably edit this post as I just sat down, put it down and on the go.....Thanks for reading and Happy New Year.
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