Avoiding meltdown
I should go back and write about this meeting with the Citizens Recovery Committee and government officials. We were laying out the reality that two thirds of residents are not coming home to Jefferson Davis county and it is not possible to provide services to the whole county with one third the tax revenues. The question we wanted them to grapple with was, what do you do in this situation. If you recall, I predicted disaster.
Well, things went pretty well. There was lots of discussion and lots of chaos, but almost everyone at the meeting realized that it just does not make sense to rebuild every neighborhood. There was only one person, a politician who represents one of the worst hit areas, who disagreed, but he did so respectfully.
I think the meeting was not a disaster because
1) the biggest hot head, Boss Hogg, was not there (I will write more about Boss Hogg soon
2) The meeting was so chaotic, that everyone expressed an opinion in small groups and we never tried to reach any agreement
3) Most people were on board with the idea of not building in areas that are prone to flooding
The interesting thing is that politicians are totally out of touch with their constituents because so few people have returned to the county. Politicians are guessing what their constituents want, but have no real way to truth their hunches.
This was illustrated a few days later. There was an informal follow up discussion at another public meeting we held last Saturday. “Judge” and Tim, the politician got into a big debate. The Judge was making his case that the county should give up on some neighborhoods and Tim was countering it. A lady who I never met before said, “I live in that neighborhood you are pointing to (i.e. and proposing not be built).” This instantly silenced the crowd. “My sister, and brother and mother, all live there too.” (Ah, Mississippi!). “And I agree with that man,” she said pointing to the judge.
We will see. I suspect politicians will change their stripes if enough people speak up like that brave woman.
Well, things went pretty well. There was lots of discussion and lots of chaos, but almost everyone at the meeting realized that it just does not make sense to rebuild every neighborhood. There was only one person, a politician who represents one of the worst hit areas, who disagreed, but he did so respectfully.
I think the meeting was not a disaster because
1) the biggest hot head, Boss Hogg, was not there (I will write more about Boss Hogg soon
2) The meeting was so chaotic, that everyone expressed an opinion in small groups and we never tried to reach any agreement
3) Most people were on board with the idea of not building in areas that are prone to flooding
The interesting thing is that politicians are totally out of touch with their constituents because so few people have returned to the county. Politicians are guessing what their constituents want, but have no real way to truth their hunches.
This was illustrated a few days later. There was an informal follow up discussion at another public meeting we held last Saturday. “Judge” and Tim, the politician got into a big debate. The Judge was making his case that the county should give up on some neighborhoods and Tim was countering it. A lady who I never met before said, “I live in that neighborhood you are pointing to (i.e. and proposing not be built).” This instantly silenced the crowd. “My sister, and brother and mother, all live there too.” (Ah, Mississippi!). “And I agree with that man,” she said pointing to the judge.
We will see. I suspect politicians will change their stripes if enough people speak up like that brave woman.
posted by JNA | 6:44 PM
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