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Thoughts From The Back Of The Room

Monthly Archives: May 2017

100 Days

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Michael Calderwood in Cambria CCSD, Community Involvement, Local politics, Searching for Cambria's Reality, Words matter

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Amanda Rice Cambria, Cambria community services district, Gail Robinette, Greg Sanders, Harry Farmer, Jerry Gruber Cambria, Jim Bahringer Cambria, local board meetings, Mike Thompson Cambria

The Crazy Beauty of Democracy

Elections – our opportunity to make choices and vote our ideals. Or hearts.  Sometimes even our rational minds.  This past election season was certainly unlike anything we’d seen before.  And now we get to look back at the magical 100 days, and see what we have wrought!

Setting the Stage

Not everyone was happy.  No matter where one stood on the issues, the general sense was that some soon-to-be made choices would either lead to comfortable stability or radical change.  Some traditional affiliations held, but without the rock-solid surety of previous election seasons. New candidates emerged, familiar faces stepped up and fell back, and in the end, it came down to two.  One, a familiar and often scrutinized woman with a long and laudable record of public service.  The other, a man of some celebrity, known for things other than a firm grasp on the intricacies of complex and serious governmental process and responsibility.  Both had ardent and vocal supporters.  Both had detractors.  Both stepped forward and spoke of their vision for the future.  They were different, very different.

The campaigns rolled on, the candidates leaned on their respective bases for the votes needed to win the election.  Most observers thought that she would succeed. Her popularity wasn’t as solid and enthusiastic as it might have been; she had been urged to lean in a bit harder and expand her support, but she stayed true to her strategy.

He was a wild card from the beginning.  Of course, there was a core group of passionate supporters who shared his views and attitudes.  There was also a growing distrust of the established government and of the established governors.  The vague discomfort grew into something stronger as the campaign season wore on.  More and more supporters of adjacent candidates turned to him, embracing his message.  A message that was often hard to figure out, and positions that were more sound byte and vague accusation than firm and verifiable policy positions and governing platforms.  It was all, “They’re bad, I’m not” and, “There’s something going on here and I can stop it” slugs.

We all know how that turned out.

Raise your Hand and Repeat…

The oath of office was administered.  Some thoughts at the time:

“Well, he won on a wave of passion and desire for something other than the same old, same old… but running for the office and actually being in the office are very different things. He will realize how complex and difficult the role is, and will become more serious about doing the job. There is no way he will continue to pepper other government representatives with vague accusations of corruption, incompetence and elitism… no way he will remain under-educated about how the government works, how public service differs from public criticism, how the mechanics of public budgets and finance differ from simpler tasks of personal financial management…  how public works differ from private enterprise, even when both are technically complex.  He will grow and mature, and recognize that the words he used as a private citizen with little public accountability must be delivered more thoughtfully and with greater precision when holding the public trust. He will recognize that the other elected representatives are there, as he is there, through the will of the people… he will not need to embrace them, but he will need to work with them in a trusted and professional manner…”

Compromisers may not make great heroes, but they do make great democracies.

Walter Isaacson, writing about Benjamin Franklin and the Founding Fathers

Showtime

So the clock ticks, and the official record begins. His knowledge is on public display.  His questions are now coming from a position of responsibility, and what was ok before is now not so okay.  Expectations are higher.  Skills are expected to sharpen.  Efforts to become more expert in key areas have to be made, and results have to be measurable.  Careless and inflammatory remarks made as a private citizen, or as a populist candidate, now have to be challenged more quickly and more forcefully.  Attacking others, no matter how “benignly” will draw return fire; he can’t be surprised by it nor unduly offended.  This isn’t a game, its people’s lives.

Survey Says…

The maturity has not happened.  His questions and public comments remain, at best, difficult to follow.  The go-to move of repeating the vague accusations and suspicions that enthralled his supporters during the campaign just don’t pass muster now.  Certainly, many of his base still cheer him on and marvel at his courage and “stick it to the establishment”  attitude.  Great.  Fantastic.  Unbelievable, believe me.

I don’t, and here’s why.

It is easy to declare one’s intention to “bring people together” and “heal the divides that separate us”. But, with every comment to a reporter, every broadcast interview, and every indolent repetition of the same old lines, bridges erode.

Every repeated, simplistic analogy is evidence of a closed mind.

Every play to the base is a missed opportunity for wider connections.

The true test of leadership arrives; the opportunity to really listen, digest and incorporate information and develop a better understanding – well, still waiting.

The hundred day mark has been reached.  From where I sit things have gone badly.  Sorry, Harry, but that’s my thought from the back of the room.

 

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The Continuing Education of A Curious Boy

02 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Michael Calderwood in Cambria CCSD, Community Involvement, Local politics, Searching for Cambria's Reality, Social Media, Words matter

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bill Bianchi, Elizabeth Bettenhausen, William C. Bianchi

Cambria is as much a melting pot as New York or San Francisco.  Within the community there are artists and farmers, small business owners and the people who staff and run the many shops, restaurants and hotels that cater to the large visitor population that fuels Cambria’s economy.  There are retirees of all backgrounds, and young (though not so many) families who have chosen to build their futures here. Vineyards, microbreweries and tasting rooms share their own creativity, offering inviting places for people to meet and experience liquid art. The hills surrounding the town are dotted with farms and ranches, with cows lowing mere yards from the beautiful PCH or following well-worn paths up and through the hills and canyons.  At times I find myself thinking, as I take in the unreal beauty, that it looks like a painting.  Life not imitating, but being ART.

And beauty is beauty.  The coastline may be on the wrong side of the continent, and the pine trees look different, but the infinite wonder of the clear night sky over the rumbling ocean is as inspiring as a high winter sky illuminating crunchy snowfields and frozen lakes.  Beauty.

 Doctor’s Appointment

When not gazing at the sky, I enjoy talking to people from all parts of the community.  I have long wanted to have a conversation with Doctor Elizabeth Bettenhausen, Ph.D.  Ms. Bettenhausen is a frequent contributor to the ongoing dialog that fills the Vet’s Hall every fourth Thursday of the month. She speaks with an endearing combination of poetry, reverence for nature and education but then easily pivots to a rapid-fire statistical precision (often flavored with the tone of incredulity) that can make a listener sit up and pay attention or chuckle in admiration as she weaves her narrative.  She is always well-prepared, and though her facts and figures sometimes add up to disputable conclusions, she remains open to feedback and discussion.  She has a great mix of ego, passion, curiosity and desire to bring positive action to difficult situations.  In a series of exchanges on social media, we expressed very different views on “how much is too much” interaction with the staff of the CCSD. Anyone who spends more than eighty-four seconds on Facebook knows that more often than not these exchanges lead to less than polite endings.  Ms. Bettenhausen took a different path, inviting me to join her for coffee or tea and a discussion of the issues and the information that led us to our different conclusions. It took a few months to make that meeting happen, though we did run into each other at the Cookie Crock (I just love typing “Cookie Crock”) and at the Vet’s Hall.

I had two CCSD-related questions I really wanted to ask her.  The first question, based on a sentiment that has been expressed by some community members – was pointed and direct – “do you think that the Board is corrupt?”  And the second, and more interesting question to me – “why do you engage so deeply with the issues of the CCSD?”

Outside Benches, Inside Voices

We finally scheduled a time to meet before a special Board meeting. We connected, sans refreshments, on a beautifully sunny afternoon, coming together on the benches outside the Joslyn Center a moonstone’s throw from the Vet’s Hall. Our discussion began as most first conversation begin in this town – “what brought you to Cambria?”  This usually leads to a fun exchange of stories, but in this instance it laid a bit of a foundation for the discussion that followed.

Elizabeth  Bettenhausen is a passionate environmentalist, and a more passionate advocate for education. She devotes a good amount of her time as a volunteer at Cambria’s grammar school, helping the kids with everything from reading to understanding our natural world and the fragility of our environment. She teaches them about our responsibilities in sustaining all that it is.

As much as she is a passionate environmentalist, she is equally an advocate for Social Justice.  This led our conversation back to the reasons we chose Cambria, and the layers of social complexity that both knits the community together and keeps it separated.  After a bit of background and personal history exchanges, Ms. Bettenhausen brought the conversation back to that initial question, and examined it through the lens of her experiences.

Ms. Bettenhausen shared her experiences working with the kids in the grammar school, and highlighted some of the divisions within the community that play out in the classroom.  She spoke about the distance between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities, and between the different tiers of economic advantage.  We touched on the various “sub-cultures” that make up the community, and what each tribe saw as their vision for the town.  We spoke about the realities of the social ills that affect all communities regardless of size, location or economic status.  The painful and not always obvious darkness of drug abuse and the associated impacts on families and communities seem to bring the same pain and destruction whether in Cambria California or Katonah, New York.  Poverty in Paso Robles hurts as much as poverty in Bridgeport Connecticut.

We spoke of faith both learned and earned, and of the beliefs we examined, lived and ultimately rejected. And we discussed the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us.

Three o’clock suddenly tapped us on the shoulder, so we began our walk towards the Vet’s Hall. I remembered I hadn’t asked Elizabeth (by now I am comfortable using her first name) the two questions that had been clanging around in my brain for weeks and weeks. I  I’m glad I didn’t open our conversation with them;  the discussion might have gone a completely different way.

(Oh, by the way, the answers were “No – perhaps not fully competent, but not corrupt” and “I believe it’s my responsibility as a member of the community.”)

Doctor Two

As if talking to one gifted teacher wasn’t enough, I had the unexpected pleasure of joining a discussion with another local legend, Bill Bianchi, Ph.D. I’m sure a lot of people in the community are familiar with Bill’s work; a Google search will lead you to a range of his writings.  Worth a spin!

We were attending a social function filled with impressive locals from all backgrounds.  Bill was quietly sitting at table, engaged in general discussions about a range of things. As often happens around here, the conversation turned to water – a subject Bill knows a little bit about.  With a Doctorate in Soil Physics, his expertise runs deeper that the local aquifers.  In a quiet, light voice he walked us all through the fascinating history of water issues that have always been part of the California story. Bill blended his academic work and knowledge of local history with deep technical and statistical data wrapped in a very humanistic spirit and served up an education that put local water issues into a bigger context. Bill shared his experience and expertise is such a casual, inclusive manner that learning didn’t hurt at all!

Calm Tops Calamity

So many topics often become nothing more than ragged noise fueled by parochial passions that over time blur fact, fiction and feeling and lead listeners far from the kernel.  Both of these discussions reminded me that passion met with education and a thoughtful soul, delivered without arms in hand are so much more inspiring than red-faced and hard-hearted denial of different thoughts and perspectives.

Thank you, Doctors!

 

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