Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 01:21:11 -0400
From: Donna Kelly
Subject: Re: a vast majority of well-behaved citizens
Maybe Ms. Crowell wouldn’t be so upset if she just read what people wrote instead of creatively rearranging and editing what is written.
She wrote:
“According to Kelly, instead of “creating spectacles at public meetings,” well-behaved citizens are supposed to “go back to living their own lives and trusting their representatives to do their jobs based on the principles they expressed during the campaign.”
It’s all well and good that some people have great confidence in their elected officials. But citizens’ responsibilities in a democracy do not end at the polls. And elected officials should not feel obligated to fulfill only the expectations of people who voted for them. They should know how to build consensus. They should be willing to listen to opposing views and take them into consideration in making decisions.
Kelly worries that “it may appear there are more opponents of the new board than supporters by the attendance at BOC meetings.” Apparently, in Chatham County, too many people with opposing views chose to air them in public input sessions. Not just “a few on the far left.””
What I actually wrote was this:
“I realize that it may appear there are more opponents of the new board than supporters by the attendance at BOC meetings. However, we must remember that there are many ways to contact commissioners outside of public input sessions. The majority of people in this county are busy taking care of their families rather than trying to push their agenda on the rest of the county. They believe that they are ultimately responsible for their lives, not the government, so they don’t feel the need to continually appeal to the government on every issue.
Apparently the opponents of the current policy changes feel the need to intimidate by creating a spectacle at public meetings or feel that the only voices that matter are those that show up at public hearings because they are appalled by recent actions. The opponents of the last board were appalled
as well by the actions they saw. Instead of making threats and creating a scene we went to the polls and elected new commissioners. Instead of following their every move, most of these people went back to living their own lives and trusting their representatives to do their jobs based on the principles they expressed during the campaign.”
I wrote that in part because of recent claims that the majority of the county opposes the BOC majority based on the comments at public input sessions. I was merely pointing out that public input sessions are not the only way commissioners get input. I was also pointing out why many people, particularly those supporting the board majority, don’t come out to public input sessions. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth. What’s even worse is that even when people come out for public input sessions few stay for the actual meeting, even when the first item on the agenda was the budget presentation. I certainly never suggested that people should just go home and place all their trust in their representatives.
In fact I was pointing out that when people were appalled by the actions of the previous board instead of creating a spectacle at public input sessions they went to the polls and elected new commissioners.
I do agree with her that citizens’ responsibilities do not end at the polls. That is why I have posted information numerous times on how to sign up for the county’s email notifier so they can stay informed with official information from the county instead of relying on hearsay. http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=107
While it’s true the last election was close keep in mind that of the three incumbents that were replaced, only one actually had opposition when they were elected. The other two ran unopposed. In this county the voter registration is approximately 25% Republican, 25% Unaffiliated and 50%
Democrat. For three Republican candidates to win with that distribution says a lot about both the effort they made to reach out to all citizens of the county, and how dissatisfied the voters were with the previous board. Incidentally, they were only the second, third and fourth Republican commissioners elected in Chatham County since Reconstruction. I don’t think anyone should be surprised to see some major policy shifts from the previous board.
Donna Kelly
Pittsboro