I read most of the local blogs.  Some I read the posts and every comment, some just the posts.  Moonhowling has an interesting post up on the City Council and the situation with the adult store and the abortion protests.  Even if I don’t agree with everything she has to say, I do appreciate the thoughtfulness of the post.  People don’t write the Council or call just to report that everything is ok…:)  Greg has an open thread on the protest as well.  The JM has an article with a lot of posts.

I suppose that fundamentally I don’t see anything wrong with the nuts and bolts of what has happened in the past few weeks.  Some people who should have known better sent out emails and said things that they probably shouldn’t have but it happens.  This type of public discourse is how communities figure these things out.  It ain’t all pretty.  I’ll be the first to admit that it is pretty tough on the back to sit through a 5 hour citizens time but it is all part of it.  This is how it works.  Nobody was jeering and most were unfailingly polite.  I would say that it would be tremendously difficult to do one of those public meetings were you had a divided crowd.  Some of the 287g meetings we had early on had relatively divided crowds but it’s up to the Mayor to keep control of the meeting.  Participants must be civil.

In our case, the City, after a marathon public meeting, shuttled the matter to the Land Use Committee.  Mr. Way chaired a great meeting and we came up with a credible plan to proceed.  I think that it is fair to say that, even though few of the present Council members were onboard when the “Family” ordinance was passed, we learned from having to clean up that mess.  No laws were passed in haste and a deliberate course of action was established.

This is the way it’s supposed to work: The citizens identify something that they want addressed, the Council takes it up and figures out what, if anything, can be done.  Then we get about it.  Often, the initial phase of citizen comment and government response can be a bit messy but that’s the nature of the beast.  Citizens don’t usually show up to speak unless they are passionate about something.  This can lead to some difficult things being said but these too will settle over a short time.

What really matters the most in these trying situations is that early on in the process – when the heat is really on – that the Council stays cool and takes careful action – listen to the citizens and take considered action.   Above all, the Council has the resolve to do what the law demands – even if it is unpopular.

PS – After reflecting on this overnight, I’d also say that part of what has made the recent dialog successful is the willingness of the citizens to listen and educate themselves (often on their own!).  They have found, as I have found over the past 5 years, that you aren’t always happy with what you find out but you need to know.  It’s not enough to simply shout at the rain….I thank them all for that.

BTW – I’m currently reading a book written by the guy who prosecuted an obscenity case in Staunton.  It’s enlightening, frightening and encouraging often all at once but above all it shows that it is possible.