The Good Neighbor Agreement sounds familiar to the gracious space that has been occasionally used by the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation. I remember a session to work through the controversies on state flags that were hung on Broadway in downtown. Of course being gracious can be hard for me when trying to process opinions that are based on someone’s own supposed facts (alternative facts) rather than based on verified facts.
Thanks for sharing, Bill! I think there's lots of approaches/methodologies (at some level this is simply political compromise as practiced in any democracy), with varying strengths at dealing with alternative facts. In my experience, they're usually small-town phenomena. So do small towns have something to teach the rest of the country? Or do these approaches not scale?
A shining example of how collaboration, or a type of collaboration – or at least a singular form of cooperation, can work. Thanks for bring this topic and story to light. As you may know, my wife Jessica specializes in conflict resolution, particularly in regards to large landscape quarrels. I think she would say that scale matters. The poster child for this approach may be the Quincy Library Group. As long as they restricted input to direct stakeholders and locals, it worked. When organizations from the outside, like the Sierra Club, got involved, matters did not go well.
On a trip to California a couple of years ago, I almost drove 100 miles out of my way just to take a selfie on the steps of the Quincy Library. But these stories are so hard to tell well!
Thanks for the kind words! I tried all night to come up with a humble-but-clever response. But if I'm going to get on with my life, I'll have to admit that words are failing me here. :)
Thanks! I felt like the panel was saying yes, only at small scale. But given the scope of our national stalemate, asking "Can it scale? (How?)" strikes me as worthwhile.
The Good Neighbor Agreement sounds familiar to the gracious space that has been occasionally used by the Red Lodge Area Community Foundation. I remember a session to work through the controversies on state flags that were hung on Broadway in downtown. Of course being gracious can be hard for me when trying to process opinions that are based on someone’s own supposed facts (alternative facts) rather than based on verified facts.
Thanks for sharing, Bill! I think there's lots of approaches/methodologies (at some level this is simply political compromise as practiced in any democracy), with varying strengths at dealing with alternative facts. In my experience, they're usually small-town phenomena. So do small towns have something to teach the rest of the country? Or do these approaches not scale?
A shining example of how collaboration, or a type of collaboration – or at least a singular form of cooperation, can work. Thanks for bring this topic and story to light. As you may know, my wife Jessica specializes in conflict resolution, particularly in regards to large landscape quarrels. I think she would say that scale matters. The poster child for this approach may be the Quincy Library Group. As long as they restricted input to direct stakeholders and locals, it worked. When organizations from the outside, like the Sierra Club, got involved, matters did not go well.
On a trip to California a couple of years ago, I almost drove 100 miles out of my way just to take a selfie on the steps of the Quincy Library. But these stories are so hard to tell well!
Timely and wise, John. This piece deserves a national audience. And there's a clear need for your valuable skills as a facilitator.
Thanks for the kind words! I tried all night to come up with a humble-but-clever response. But if I'm going to get on with my life, I'll have to admit that words are failing me here. :)
Good story! The question I have is whether this type of effort and result can ONLY happen at a small scale.
Reading Frost again (you have to if you live in New England), I realize that he is deeper than I thought.
Thanks! I felt like the panel was saying yes, only at small scale. But given the scope of our national stalemate, asking "Can it scale? (How?)" strikes me as worthwhile.
It is worthwhile, but after thinking about it for years find that either I have no answers, or that I don’t like the answers I have.