Things to Read and to be Said

TO BE READ

I am recommending you visit the Fairhaven Neighborhood News News again, either by picking up a hard copy at various locations around the area (free), or visiting it online (just as free, if you don't count having to pay for your Internet connection).

The Editorial needs to be read, along with the article on page 30.  Don't forget the letters on pages 22 - 25.

The Advocate is worth reading also.  The editor weighs in on the "Nazi" debate.  You can find it in the 2/2/2012 issue or online at Editorial Speaker for turbine opponents made offensive comparison SouthCoastToday.com. (By all means read the entire paper and judge for yourself all of the stories in it).

Pay particular attention to the last paragraph in the editorial, indeed the last sentence discussing the Windwise Forum scheduled for February 7, 2012.  "Let's hope they come up with real experts t­­his time."

If they don't what really is the point?

TO BE SAID

Okay let's address the whole Nazi comment saga.  All three local papers have weighed it.  All three have expressed basically the same opinion.  All three, in my own opinion were right.  I heard the presentation, I saw the slide.  The first thought that popped into my head was "I hope he isn't going to go there."

I have waited a few days to in fact see what would pan out, whether there would be anything further in the papers, any further statement from the presenter and comments from the public.

Maybe it is the lawyer in me, but it was very clear to me what the intent was.  Again maybe it is the lawyer in me, but it was his right to say it, just as he has to live with the consequences of what he said.

That being said, there are certain lines that we should not cross for the sole sake of making an argument, no matter what our intentions are, no matter how right we may think we are.  

Certainly those lines should not even be approached by someone trying to argue the moral high ground.

Yes we live in a free society protected by the First Amendment.  Yes in these United States you have a right to say just about anything you want.

Just because you have that right, does not make what you say right.

When you attempt to question the ethical acts of others, your own acts must be beyond question.

Shouldn't they be?

The Right to be Heard (at least that's what it is suppose to be about)

One of the chief complaints going around presently, and that was made during the new school debate, and a complaint that has been made for as long as I can remember, is and was that Town Officials were denying people the right to be heard. 

Many of you have heard me say repeatedly that perception is 95% of the battle.  It can also be said perception that is 95% of the problem.

As to 95% of the battle, the perception is there most definitely could have been a better job done of keeping the public informed about the progress of the wind turbine project. I would even agree with that.  This is not to say, however, that I agree with the allegations that the ongoing project somehow became s deep, dark secret that only moved forward under the cloak of darkness.  Also, because they could have done it better, does not mean they did not do their job.

Too often we become complacent.  If it isn't constantly flashed before our eyes on a computer screen or television we seem to forgot about things. 

Hand in hand with the "right to be heard" is the "duty to stay informed".  I find it hard to believe that all opponents were in the dark over the project when you can find posts as far back as February, 2010 monitoring the project; and posts in September, 2011 (two months before the digging) urging people to take up the fight to stop it.

I digress a bit though (something you will need to get use to).

If you are opposed to the project, or just plain jaded about government, the perception is because there was no extra effort to advertise meetings beyond on the issue beyond the SOP for providing notice, somehow we have been misled.  From purely a PR perspective, yes it would have been best to keep this project in the forefront.  Yet the lack of more notice does not equal no notice. 

Arguments that notice of meetings are only posted on the bulletin board at Town Hall, or legal notices are published in a weekly newspaper somehow deprives the people of their right to know are, to put it mildly, without merit.  We all lead busy lives.  We all have pressing things that need to be done.  We all have an obligation to stay informed, and not on just the issues we feel  are most important to us.  It may be inconvenient to stay on top of issues, but inconvenience is not a reason to argue I didn't know about it. 

Nonetheless, when a governmental body having jurisdiction over a matter is presented with a citizen's request to be heard, significant weight should be given to that request.  This is not to say I advocate repeated hearings over the same topic.  Nor is it to say that I advocate the right of an individual to say or do what they want at any meeting of any governmental board or committee.

The fact of the matter is I am left with the impression that the chief complaint isn't so much I am not being heard, as it is you are not listening to me (this applies to just about anything nowadays). 

I will pose this question to everyone out there:  Assuming we could find a panel of three neutral people agreeable to both sides (on any issue), and both the pro and con positions were argued, would you agree to accept the decision of that panel on what to do?

Time to go now.  There will be more on this at a later time.  I have to shoot my cat (FYI she is diabetic and needs her shot).

Also, any thoughts for the next topic? I was thinking maybe term limits.