Category: Village of Rdgewood

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Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas – no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would
say
December 25th is just a “Holiday”.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and
credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas – was no where to be
found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your
ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate “Winter Break” under your “Dream
Tree”
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

>Overwhelming attendance at VC meetings is an inefficient and, often, unproductive way to convey a group’s position. It is a visable show of force from those who attend, which may be 50-100 people, at the most. That looks like a “landslide” at a public meeting. But, what if those are are the ONLY 50-100 people who support a particular view in a village with over 8,000 households? Not very substantial support!

No…trying to create the perception of support by stuffing the room at a VC meeting is a crude, unsophisticated and brutish attempt to intimidate the village into the group’s way of thinking. Occasionally, this leads to rude and inappropriate shouting matches. It ALWAYS leads to an inefficient use of everyone’s time, as a long parade of the “usual suspects” take more than their allotted time at the podium, often with outdated or incorrect so-called “facts” to support their case. Without supporting or criticizing their positions, I point to the residents who oppose the Master Plan proposals at Grove Park or the “anti-turf” residents, like Linda & Katie McNamara, as notable examples, in the past year, of members of groups who have repeatedly shown up en masse to meetings and often attempt to “shout down” opposition. Because one or two members of the VC are concerned about being “politically correct”, this tactic is sometimes effective with those VC members.

Ironically, groups with logic and the facts on their side generally do not feel the need to resort to these tactics and are typically more persuasive, as a result of their less antagonistic approach. Thus, a far more effective method of communication is to have thoughtful, factual and, sometimes, lengthy direct conversations with individual members of the VC and other community leaders on a frequent basis and long before a public meeting takes place. If it is necessary to demonstrate widespread community support for or against a project, then petitions with names and addresses of supporters can be presented and highlighted at meetings and in the press.

I am not saying that deals should get done in “shady back room negotiations”, as the conspiracy theorists on this blog incorrectly suggested happens so often. I am simply saying that, in my experience, if groups and individuals are willing to engage in thoughtful discourse with appropriate village leaders and can present factual and compelling rationale for their case, there is no need to make a “spectacle” at public meetings. It is an issue of building consensus among the VC members, who will ultimately cast the votes. This might actually lead to far more productive and effective village governance, since things might actually get accomplished without the need for multiple meetings to rehash the same topics month after month.

This post will not be popular with those on this blog who like to “stir the pot” of public emotion for the sake of a reaction. But, it is sage advice that might help to improve our democratic process of government in Ridgewood.