If you have been following the CCSD’s activity over the last month, the name Jim Ragan will be a familiar one. Jim was one of the candidates for the open Board of Directors seat. (Read more about the interviews here.) The Board (lead my Mr. Sanders) chose to appoint Muril Clift ( a candidate, now director, I personally support) after a deadlocked vote on Jim Ragan. Clearly, Ragan’s decades of experience facilitating participation and public buy-in, not to mention his experience working with the Army Corps of Engineers, had impressed Joan and Peter. When Mr. Sanders again nominated Mr. Clift, Mrs. Cobin and Mr. Chaldecott apparently decided if they couldn’t change Sanders’ mind, they’d better back his choice, so the board could move forward. (DISCLAIMER: This is assumption on my part: I have no powers of ESP as near as I can tell and I haven’t talked with any board member about their reasoning process). Perhaps the board, now with their new director, could prevail upon Mr. Ragan to share some of his experience. In a recent email to me he wrote:
As you know, I have some major experiences in public involvement. Statistically over 30 years, I can probably cite over 300 public meetings, public hearings, public workshops, town hall meetings, and the like that I have facilitated on publicly controversial plans and projects. In virtually all of them, agency/plan/project opponents outnumbered agency/plan/project proponents. If they had prevailed, none of my projects would have gone forward.
Sometimes people in these meetings suggested taking a vote. I always rejected it. The attendees represented themselves only and did not represent the people who were not there. The attendees always accepted my decision. Dissenting voices show up because this is their forum to be heard. Supporters don’t, for whatever reason. Over the years, I occasionally suggested to agencies that they try to “pack” meeting halls with supporters. But they didn’t and couldn’t. Today, I know that it was a dumb recommendation. People do not have to attend public meetings. If you go to a few CCSD meetings, you can certainly understand why. People shouting at Board members (with occasional return volleys) interspersed with boring reports while sitting in highly uncomfortable folding chairs does not support the CCSD process. Most people do not want confrontation. A few do–actually a very small minority.
We elect boards such as CCSD to represent us and expect them to seek our input. But we don’t necessarily expect them to agree with our input. Democracy is never well served when boards succumb solely to the dictates of people speaking at public meetings.
I’ve posted this at Mr. Ragan’s request and think it has something important for all of us to hear. Thank you, Mr. Ragan. I, for one, hope you will stay involved.
Last 5 posts by Amanda Rice
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- California Coastal Commission Unanimously Denied Army Corps Desal Tests
- Cambria CSD Agenda for November 27, 2011 Meeting Includes Water Conservation & New Tank Project
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Gee -pack the board meeting to drown out the dissenters voices. Maybe if the dissent had been just a little louder we would not have an Iraq war.
Fortunately the CCSD made the right decision by appointing Muril Clift to repalce Director Villenueve. I shuuder to imagine Mr Ragan reperesenting Cambria on any topic.
If mickie will re-read my post, I hope she will see that I agree that my now historical recommendation re trying to “pack meeting halls with supporters” was dumb. I never intended my recommendation to “drown out dissenter voices,” but only to suggest a balanced debate. I did my mea culpa.
Nevertheless, attendance at public meetings/workshops/etc. NEVER mirrors voter opinion. Activists participate and express themselves. Most voters, non-activists, do not do so in public meetings.
They express themselves by voting. In Cambria, most voters did so by rejecting the rate increase. What a fantastic validation of democracy in action!