COMET TIMES - MARCH 15, 1997 - 7 LETTERS TO THE TIMES Dear Jack, Now—I’m not the originator of this term. this nickname that is increasingly & more appropriately coming to describe your writings of late. Because I first heard it coined somewhere a year or two ago. The nickname was “Jack Slambell.” Really Jack! Is all this talk about the futility of searching for the golden fleece of representative government, this holy grail of real politik, —the general consensus, a covert attempt ot move your own personal opinion concerning matters to the forefront? I believe I can offer you some simple but real examples of consensus. For starters how about the notion that most of us would like to co-exist peacefully with our neighbors? What about the reality that most of us want to maintain the rural residential flavor of CV? How about the idea that most of us are willing to live within the confines of law, that attempt to insure civil tranquility, even to the loss of seeming personal freedoms, ie: light ordinance, firearms ordinances? So say what you will about the well intentioned but ill -advised struggle to arrive at conclusions concerning consensus. And how it creates friction and animosity. And I’ll say to you that I’m fairly certain a consensus would find you viewed as the greatest, most persistant, adept, & tenacious instigator of agitation this valley has ever witnessed. Respectfully, but increasingly bummed... —Dave Wagstaff flavor of CV,” the answers are once again all over the spectrum. You gave other examples: “the lighting ordinance and firearms ordinances.” There isn’t any firearms ordinance. Past Town Councils have been afraid to touch something so controversial. A quick glance around the valley at night shows there isn’t agreement about shielding outdoor lighting. I think you’re last point is maybe the strongest. I have been a major focus of controversy. I have been v active in pursuing goals that I believe are desired by a majority of the people in Castle Valley. This work included: reducing helicopter over-flights; having new electric power lines put underground; preventing multiple dwellings on a lot; reducing outdoor lighting pollution; writing the summer fire ban ordinance; preparing the watershed protection ordinance; prohibiting more B&B’s; and getting enough “free” money from the State that the Town has been able to survive the past two years. Each and every one of the above projects has been opposed by some ple in the Town. Even getting the ' “free” $10,000 a year from the State for the Town was not popular with everyone as 41% of CV residents voted to disincorporate the Town just two years ago. The best way to be popular is to do as little as possible. I have failed this miserably. And then there’s the fact that I’m such a charming, humble, and gregarious kind of guy! —Jack Campbell Just look around and the diversity is obvious. Instead of learning how to live in a commumity that could be celebrating its diversity, we are told we should be trying to find some illusive and non-existent consensus. My experience is that people can often accept decisions they don’t personally agree with if there is a feeling that the decisions were made conscientiously and validly. This requires a lot of work. I believe that if we are willing to do the work necessary to make fair and legitimate community decisions, the amount of conflict will rapidly diminish in this valley. In a community with as much diversity as Cmtle Valley, there are ways to reduce the amount of friction and animosity. But if we’re supposed to be “looking for common ground,” these constructive techniques aren’t used because anything that includes lack of agreement is viewed as “being negative.” A simple example: if several people get in a car and head out of Castle Valley down toward the River Road, as they approach the “T” intersection with the River Road, they will have to make a decision. They am decide to turn right or left or turn back. If they refuse to decide, they will crash off the road on the other side of the intersection. (Life rarely allows the “stop and do nothing” option.) At times decisions have to be made for a community as well as for a group trip. (A community really is a group trip.) In a community as diverse as this one, it’s extremely unlikely that everyone will want to make the same turn at each intersection. Rather than trying to reach consensus on issues Dear Dave, (This is the article Dave is referring to) I’m apologize for not defining what I meant by “consensus.”I used “con- WHAT CONSENSUS? sensus” as it’s used in the decision making process, where “consensus” references to the “common ground” or decisions involve the entire group agreeing to a decision. In Castle Valley, there are numer— ous examples of “majority” (70%-30%, 60%—40%) viewpoints. You listed some good examples of these in your letter. It’s interesting that a statement like “most of us want to maintain the rural residential flavor of CV” probably would receive a near “consensus” Over the years I keep hearing consensus shared by Castle Valley residents and property owners. I believe this notion is one of the myths that keeps Castle Valley in turmoil. People moved here and continue to live here for completely different reasons. Some came for the natural beauty, some for inexpensive land, some for friends and community, some to escape personal problems, some to escape the city, and some to be able to response. But, when you ask people what they mean by “rural residential do anything they wanted on their land. Some were born here. where it is clear this is not possible leading to the frustration and animosity which is more likely to create a “crash”), I believe our energy would be better spent improving the quality and integrity of our community decision making process. —Jack Campbell