There’s a Japanese expression that says, “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.” Some in Whitewater don’t like dissent, and conflate the political and the personal, in ways detrimental to both.
You may have heard, if you’ve bothered to look at a local headline (and who could blame you if you’ve not?), that Whitewater’s Common Council first considered abolishing, and now seeks to suspend, its Tree Commission. Long discussions, at both the Common Council meetings of July 21st and August 4th, took place on whether to abolish or suspend the Tree Commission (TC).
Video of the Meetings. I watch and record my own videos of Common Council meetings, but I like to refer to a recording that others can see, too. Our public access station posts video recordings of these meetings, and other public meetings, at www.blip.tv.
Here are the recordings from the two sessions on the TC, about which I comment below.
7/21/09
8/4/09
Citizen Commissions. The TC’s members are citizen volunteers. They deserve more, not less, deference than office holders (especially officer holders who are paid.) Imagine being someone other than the few hundred who think they own this town, define its culture for everyone, and may not be questioned. If you’re someone else, with a different point of view, why volunteer if you’ll be tarred with accusations that may have no immediate connection to you?
Some of the complaints from city workers about the TC may be justified, but by the time of the Council meetings, many of these complaints concerned matters in the past. That didn’t stop speakers from complaining as though these problems were continuing, often ignoring what the new chair of the TC had just said.
(I’m not interested in being part of any of these boards or commissions; for those who are interested, watching these sessions with a prospective interest in service must be discouraging. You want to be part of … that?)
Really, though, the whole abolition effort serves as an early valentine to insiders, upset over how they had been treated. Making an example of citizen volunteers, by abolishing their commission, really sends one message: you’re not one of us, and you can go to Hell.
I cannot believe — truly cannot believe — that this would escape someone. Perhaps it did. For some, it may not matter; for others, it assures that those who serve will only be the ‘right’ people, familiar and thus similar.
It’s true that Whitewater does not have to have a TC; other cities function differently. So what? We do have a TC, and the question for us now, is: since we have one, what will we do?
Abolition or Suspension. I was surprised, truly, with the discussion on July 21st, at which the Council considered a proposal to abolish the TC. I’ve teased about trees, and the TC before, but it struck me among the most innocuous of citizen commissions. Then, I’m not the Lorax, and I don’t speak for the trees. I know that trees are important to many, and that they’re an important part of our ecosystem; then again, I once proposed planting cactus in Whitewater to reduce maintenance.
Abolition was a precipitous proposal, even for someone who’d prefer fewer political bodies. If I were to start with abolition, that start would begin elsewhere.
It says nothing good about a majority on our Common Council that they voted to abolish a citizen commission so quickly. Two weeks later, Council settled on the more sensible (but still serious) step of suspending the TC.
Next: Part 2