Frank,
As a simple member of both SHCA and FoCP (but an officer of neither), I
can tell you that any member of either body who wants to serve on a
committee like the Zoning Committee now in the spotlight, has only to
request it. It's much easier than getting a US passport or voting in the
April primary. It is participatory democracy at its purest. Let me be
blunt: anybody who doesn't sit on the SHCA Zoning Committee is just too
lazy to do so.
Why, then, should neighborhood decisions be decided by people who don't
contribute rather than by those who do contribute?
That doesn't equate with "participatory democracy at its finest". Every
form of government can make wrong decisions. If the US Congress can blow
any given assignment; so can SHCA. In this case, criticize the decision;
don't criticize the "process."
My point is that "people who actually went to the meeting" are not the
same as "people who actually learned zoning law, and decided to speak
honestly to their neighbors." The word of a willful ignoramus should not
bear equal weight with the word of an expert. The word of a shameless
liar should not bear equal weight with the word of a person who
struggles to tell the the truth in public, regardless of personal cost.
Do we disagree on these two points, Frank?
-- Tony West
Frank wrote:
The fact is that not everyone who has an opinion on or is affected by
any given project can be accommodated with a place on a board or
committee. Meetings like the one last night are one of the very few
places where some members of the community can actually be heard. We
took advantage of it. What exactly is the problem with that? Is this
not part of the public process? I would also argue that discussion on
a community listserv is also part of the public process.
Secondly, the people who have been writing about this process are, for
the most part, the people who actually went to the meeting last night
and participated in the process.
What is your point?
Frank
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