Current state of discussion and dialogue in Carroll County
November 15th, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff
November 15th, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff
A recent letter to the editor of the Carroll County Times by Carroll County Commissioner Dean Minnich might mark a chance of Carroll County to start putting the past 18 months to bed and begin the productive process of moving the ball forward.
The current state of discussion and dialogue by responsible members of the community – especially the leadership community, is currently dead in the water.
The best description of problem identification and resolution in Carroll County is that it is at an intellectual level rivaled only by garden tools.
Considering the events of the last year-and-a-half: Who, pray tell, in their right mind, would ever want to wade into this morass?
We should all be thankful for one small blessing – that we are all in Carroll County 2006 and “not Salem 1692. In Salem, they hanged you or crushed you under stone. Here they just humiliate you and raise doubts about your integrity.” (I got the idea for this explanation from an old Dan Rodrick’s column about another matter… It just fits Carroll County November 2006, so well…)
No responsible person, who loves their pride, dignity and family would ever venture to express their opinion in Carroll County these days as immediately the morally superior among us will question your integrity; suggest that you are doing so for your own personal gain; or for the benefit of your profession; or as a part of the wildest, most bizarre and convoluted conspiracy theory imaginable.
What ever happened to the idea that some folks actually disagree about ways to move the ball forward and they disagree based upon a different assessment of the merits of a given approach…
Read the preceding two paragraphs very carefully, because I am not just referring to the negative campaigning by the right-wing conservatives of Carroll County, I am also referring to the folks who wanted a different district map for the “Five Commissioner initiative,” than the one chosen by the Carroll County Delegation to Annapolis… Or the toxic campaign waged against folks who disagreed with the proposed transfer tax…
If I read one more account about how the folks who voted against Code Home Rule were uninformed Neanderthals who were just voting in “their own short-term interests,” …
On a personal level, many folks, some who have supported me in the past and amazingly, some who haven’t supported me in the past - - were in touch when one opinion writer wrote a column expressing outrage and moral indignation at the negative campaigning of the last election; when he was the fulcrum of negative campaigning in my last election.
To the initiated observer of the current zeitgeist of Carroll County politics, one could easily assume that no one has all their Cornflakes in one box.
One of the best ways to explain the current state of affairs was written by the Washington Post in a discussion about the political rancor and unpleasantness that pervades the current environment in our country: “The numbing repetition of uncorrected falsehoods creates a phony atmosphere of uncertainty around key questions which in fact have already been resolved. Eventually voters throw up their hands and accept the fact that they’ll never know for sure what the truth is, and confusion ensues.”
A recent letter to the editor of the Carroll County Times by Carroll County Commissioner Dean Minnich might mark a chance of Carroll County to start putting the past 18 months to bed and begin the productive process of moving the ball forward.
Yes, please stifle your itching blazing fingers at the keyboard, I am well aware of the argument by many folks that Commissioner Minnich “started it” after the 2002 election. Yet the folks who take Commissioner Minnich’s side explain that he was only reacting.
Okay, everyone sit down and shut-up. Most of us don’t care anymore who started it and who didn’t… And the local newspapers could do us all a favor by banning three-quarters of the folks who have been writing opinion columns and letters to the editor in the last 18 months. Many folks I have heard from, simply do not read that drivel anymore anyway.
Whether Commissioner Minnich started it or didn’t start it – I don’t care anymore. Everyone’s reaction has been well beyond prudence.
But credit belongs where credit is due and Commissioner Minnich wrote a stand-up letter to the editor and I think that folks ought to do something productive with this opportunity and read the “olive branch” carefully and do something productive with it instead of jamming it up his nose.
Commissioner Minnich wrote in a letter to the editor which appeared in the November 14th, 2006 edition of the Carroll County Times, “Carroll government will move forward.”
Editor:
In a little more than three weeks, the dynamics of local government with change with the departure of Commissioner Perry Jones and the arrival of Michael Zimmer to join incumbents Julia Gouge and myself.
How is that going to work? It's a good question, and one that has already been asked, and will continue to be scrutinized in the weeks and months to come. As one of the incumbents, and a survivor of a rancorous election campaign, I would like to give my take on how it can and should play out.
First of all, we have an obligation to put any personal differences aside as we consider the work of governing. Election campaigns are full of rhetoric and emotional display; governance should be about dialog, thoughtful consideration of the complexities of issues and meetings of the minds.
There may be principles that cannot be compromised, and that may lead to conflicts. But differences do not have to be personal, and one disagreement cannot be transferred into every subsequent consideration. We need to get over the past and look to the county's future.
We all must remember that it is the future of the county that constitutes our reason for meeting as a board of commissioners. We are not there to further personal careers or carry the ideological flag for any political faction. Partisanship or personal politics may serve as a platform and provide a base for candidacy to public office, but once elected, we serve the population at large.
Over time, I believe we can build on the will of the people to develop respect, honest communication, constructive debate and cooperation.
I remain committed to managed growth (including attention to water and environmental concerns), progress in education, building on our initiatives for economic development and responsible fiscal policy.
My expectation is that we will find that we will share more in common than election rhetoric might suggest. The citizens of the county deserve a good faith effort to put politics and personalities aside and get to work - together.
Dean Minnich
Westminster
The writer is a member of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners.
In a little more than three weeks, the dynamics of local government with change with the departure of Commissioner Perry Jones and the arrival of Michael Zimmer to join incumbents Julia Gouge and myself.
How is that going to work? It's a good question, and one that has already been asked, and will continue to be scrutinized in the weeks and months to come. As one of the incumbents, and a survivor of a rancorous election campaign, I would like to give my take on how it can and should play out.
First of all, we have an obligation to put any personal differences aside as we consider the work of governing. Election campaigns are full of rhetoric and emotional display; governance should be about dialog, thoughtful consideration of the complexities of issues and meetings of the minds.
There may be principles that cannot be compromised, and that may lead to conflicts. But differences do not have to be personal, and one disagreement cannot be transferred into every subsequent consideration. We need to get over the past and look to the county's future.
We all must remember that it is the future of the county that constitutes our reason for meeting as a board of commissioners. We are not there to further personal careers or carry the ideological flag for any political faction. Partisanship or personal politics may serve as a platform and provide a base for candidacy to public office, but once elected, we serve the population at large.
Over time, I believe we can build on the will of the people to develop respect, honest communication, constructive debate and cooperation.
I remain committed to managed growth (including attention to water and environmental concerns), progress in education, building on our initiatives for economic development and responsible fiscal policy.
My expectation is that we will find that we will share more in common than election rhetoric might suggest. The citizens of the county deserve a good faith effort to put politics and personalities aside and get to work - together.
Dean Minnich
Westminster
The writer is a member of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners.
_____
####
Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org www.thetentacle.com Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report www.thewestminstereagle.com www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.