I’ve had both emails and a conversation with a journalist about yesterday’s post, Scenes from Whitewater’s Failing Drug War. I’ll summarize some of the topics of those messages and my replies.
Shouldn’t the UW-Whitewater chancellor receive deference? I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s all-too-clear that Chancellor Telfer receives ample deference, and from my way of thinking, too much. Far from being overly-criticized, there’s not enough critical review of arguments from the Telfer Administration. I’d say these arguments are often below the quality that residents of our city deserve.
Second, it’s an enduring principle that to whom much is given, much is expected of him (or her). Pres. Truman was right about heat and kitchens. The privilege of being a prominent chef in a fine restaurant requires that one be comfortable with hot stoves and demanding recipes. No one is required to be a chef – there are other, less difficult jobs for the taking.
I’m convinced that people are, generally, very smart and capable. It’s false – and often an expression of self-flattery – to contend that there are only a few smart people in Whitewater. No, and no again: the city’s teeming with clever people.
Whitewater deserves leaders at least as capable as her many sharp residents.
Finally, on deference, I mentioned to a journalist this morning that there have only been two chancellors about whom one need be particularly concerned:
Chancellor Angela Merkel formidably governs a nation of eighty million; Chancellor Palpatine went on to rule a vast, galactic empire. Accomplishments of that kind deserve caution, if not deference. Otherwise, deference is earned from quality of argument.
Hasn’t Chancellor Telfer’s incrementalism been effective (or at least the best anyone can do)? The question assumes that Chancellor Telfer has adopted an incremental approach of better town-gown relations. Perhaps he has: if so, it’s been ineffective.
Telling someone who has been consigned to the back of the bus that she can sit closer to the middle does represent a kind of incrementalism, but it’s also an inadequate, unfair half-measure. Any part of it, at any time, forward: nothing less will suffice.
Is it possible that City Manager Clapper understood that the UW-Whitewater presentation would be tough, and that’s exactly what he wanted the city to hear? Yes, that’s possible. If that should be so, then City Manager Clapper isn’t looking for an end to town-gown conflict, but to enduring ongoing strife. He’d also be choosing the wrong side in that conflict – unreconstructed opposition to the campus doesn’t have a long-term future in Whitewater.
Why do local discussions suck [the writer’s word] so much? Not all of them do, but when they do, they do so because leaders don’t trouble themselves with the same, high-quality standards that many residents meet every day.
Hyper-localism has its charms, but strength of argument comes from striving for a national (or international) standard. (Quick note: touting bogus international awards doesn’t meet a high standard; such creation meets only the low standard of laughable self-aggrandizement.)
When residents use national products, watch national programs, and enjoy the fruits of others’ creation from across this vast continent, they’re meeting a standard far in excess of some local official’s flimsy arguments and string of fallacies.
When will local discussions get better? When all leaders try harder than third-tier arguments.
It’s vital to observe that some leaders do meet this standard, now — more need to try to do so. Everyone can; if they don’t try, it’s not for lack of ability.
Who do you think was a good leader? Over time, I have come to see that Dr. Suzanne Zentner was a fine leader with a national focus. It took me too long to see that; the fault was wholly mine. There was much one could have learned from Dr. Zentner. Regrettable, truly, that I didn’t see this sooner.
(My remarks aren’t intended as a specific comparison to any other leader; it’s a general answer only.)
I well understand (and have heard from those who have complained) that she was hard-driving. No doubt, but then a day of hard-driving is preferable to a month of self-promotion from town notables or lazy employees.
Here’s how to understand critics of a hard-driving approach in a professional setting: as those who would sell others (and themselves) short.