“It is better to be alone than in bad company.” George Washington As I have noted in the past, there are some unfortunate examples of bad sportsmanship that can occur in politics. Locally, and recently, threats we have heard bring to mind what we are told happens too often in other places, not in Las Cruces. It goes beyond disappointing to hear what some here have been willing to say in hopes of “winning” the particular political “game being played at the moment. It would seem that resorting to such threats is deemed easier by them than building strong arguments for or against particular minimum wage numbers and implementation timelines. Unfortunately, a few obviously must believe that such threats, both veiled and blatant, are somehow a valid way to influence policymaking. There was another time, two years ago, when threats were made against some of us on the city council. While I do not recall the exact words used at that time by one of my colleagues on the council, I remember well the stern expression and the sentiment that my colleague then expressed. It was basically this, “Such threats do nothing to change my mind, but they do make me angry, and they do harden my position.” While I will continue to maintain that we should be listening for the compelling arguments and new facts that may inform our deliberations and possibly alter how we vote or what amendments we might propose, I too have to offer my own response to those who would seek to compel us in one direction or another by threats. That is this, we would hardly be the representatives whom our constituents thought they were electing if we could be so easily moved to vote against what our consciences and our minds hold to be true. “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” Albert Einstein. The tactics being employed have ranged from the publicly issued to the privately shared attempts at intimidation, and from threats of recall petitions and lawsuits to scare tactics regarding negative campaigns and character assassination. Admittedly, that last would seem to bear a particularly ugly prospect. Still, any thoughtful person surely would have to question the value of a reputation if a hollow maintenance of it was given higher priority than doing the City’s business in the most responsible and thoughtful way possible, which is what I believe we have been elected to do. “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” Frederick Douglass So, I issue this challenge to those in this community and to those from elsewhere who wish to exert their influence here: rather than threatening those elected and obligated to do their best for this community, try instead to share why a particular minimum wage number is appropriate for THIS city. Explain why a certain timeframe for getting to that number will be what is best for us HERE. Thoughtfully suggest and be willing to actively support ADDITIONAL ways we can help individuals struggling in our community. Demonstrate that we value this, our hometown, and ALL of the people in it more than we crave scoring political points.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:55:24 +0000
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