[RP TownTalk] A neighborly hello

Wed Sep 2 17:50:08 UTC 2009

Sure. I guess there will always be differences of opinion about what is 
a "civilized tone and a polite manner", though electronic communications 
seem to have a way of downgrading the tone of a lot of comments.

ABragg7393 at aol.com wrote:
> All
> I like it when others "speak out".  Many of us do not have the 
> resources, education, experience to run for public office, but that 
> does not preclude us from having an opinion and voicing it.  This is 
> America, right?
> If Don wants to invoke his freedom of speech rights, why should he be 
> accused of "attacking" the status quo?
> From what I have seen, Don does more volunteer work in the town than 
> many residents and I would call that an active role and not "sitting 
> and complaining".  I would think the governing officials hearing what 
> he thinks would take that in stride and under advisement and be happy 
> to hear some feedback and use it their best advantage.  Often, they 
> don't know what the public thinks, so this could be a good thing.  
> There are many ways to let our officials know what we think or what 
> ideas we have.  One, of course is going to the meetings but it is not 
> the only way and if one chooses to use a different method they 
> shouldn't be chastised for not going to the meetings. As long as we 
> keep a civilized tone and a polite manner, there is nothing wrong with 
> voicing our opinions.
> Audrey
>  
> In a message dated 9/2/2009 9:16:38 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
> regina at kreger.net writes:
>
>     Don, it's great that you want to be involved in town governance.
>     You've
>     got energy and ideas and a can-do attitude. If you find our elected
>     officials complacent, then why don't you run for office? Every
>     race in
>     town was uncontested this last time. If your response to elected
>     officials not acting to your satisfaction is just to "speak out", to
>     "point out the lack of stewardship", it sounds pretty similar to
>     "just
>     sit and complain". Not to negate your volunteer service in the town,
>     it's just that this line of attack seems singularly unproductive. If
>     there is something specific you think town officials should do,
>     suggest
>     it. Go to work sessions and advocate for your point of view. If they
>     don't act to your satisfaction, try to replace them. That's called
>     "democracy".
>
>     Don Lynch wrote:
>     > <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">Hello,
>     >
>     > I would like to acquaint everyone with Melissa and myself.
>     >
>     > We chose to live here because it seems that this is one of the last
>     > places untouched by the corruption of developers.
>     >
>     > A bit about my past...
>     >
>     > My father fought in WWII and had the misfortune to be captured
>     by the
>     > German forces and was a prisoner for eight months. He was forced to
>     > work in strategic factories that were daily strafed by allied
>     forces.
>     >
>     > Of all the hardships he endured, the one event that stood out in
>     his
>     > mind, was what occurred at a soup kitchen line in the prisoner
>     camp. A
>     > Russian soldier was given the task of dishing out soup to both
>     > Americans and Russians. The German soldiers were not kind to the
>     > Russian soldiers , and in this instance, a German soldier shoved
>     the
>     > Russian prisoner into the mud while he was serving soup to his
>     fellow
>     > prisoners.
>     >
>     > The Russian soldier picked himself up and continued to serve the
>     soup…
>     >
>     > My father survived this ordeal and came out a Disabled Veteran and
>     > later was the head of the local chapter of the DAV in the
>     Washington,
>     > DC area.
>     >
>     > He worked for the Department of the Navy and established many
>     > apprenticeship programs within the Navy department.
>     >
>     > My older brother was an auto mechanic in High School and my father
>     > asked the Montgomery County School system about opportunities
>     for an
>     > apprenticeship in auto mechanics, the response was “there isn’t
>     such a
>     > program”.
>     >
>     > Well, my father didn’t like that answer and so he started an
>     > apprenticeship program in the Montgomery County School system.
>     >
>     > So, when I feel that there are important occurrences going on in
>     this
>     > town that should be addressed, I hear my father’s objection to “it
>     > can’t be done”.
>     >
>     > Responses like “we should just look both ways at railroad
>     crossings”.
>     >
>     > If people would just examine the laws, they would realize there is
>     > much we can do as a community.
>     >
>     > There are laws in place that allow a town to demand a railroad to
>     > reduce the use of train horns in our township.
>     >
>     > Certainly, there is much more in the area of public safety and
>     60 mile
>     > an hour trains roaring through our town at “at grade” crossings.
>     >
>     > I’m not one who just sits and just complains…
>     >
>     > As some of you know, I have put in many hours of community service,
>     > including, the Holiday Festival of Lights, the ArtsFest, the
>     Memorial
>     > Day event, and created, along with our fantastic fire department, a
>     > new July 4th celebration, in addition to five months of
>     volunteering
>     > at the farm market.
>     >
>     > So, I can’t sit still when I hear a public official say “
>     there’s not
>     > much I can do”.
>     >
>     > Everyone in this town can do something about what is going on.
>     >
>     > Complacency, well, I won’t stand for it and I won’t let any elected
>     > official in our town sit back and do nothing.
>     >
>     > I will continue to point out the lack of stewardship that is
>     essential
>     > in our leaders of this community.
>     >
>     > There are some who will criticize me for speaking out.
>     >
>     > I will just pick myself out the mud and continue…
>     >
>     > Don
>     >
>     >
>     > </div>
>     >
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