I'm baffled.
On paper, we probably have the most talented and even-tempered group of Selectboard members I've seen since the early 1990's.
On paper, at least, this is the most qualified Town Manager we've ever hired.
The rancor and ill will of the last decade finally seemed to have subsided and yet, in practice, this group has got themselves in a tangle over this tower that is only just beginning.
Back last December 9th, I posted a lengthy critique of the proposal to site a 198' tower in a valley along the drainage that borders New Boston Road. In the past nine months, I've spent dozens and dozens of hours writing to the listserv and selectboard, appearing at capital facilities committee and selectboard meetings, and pursuing extended conversations with individual selectboard members and our town manager pleading with them to slow down and revisit the basic premises of a misconceived tower project that is now, perhaps, unraveling before our eyes.
Over the next ten days, I'm going to post a steady stream of sometimes pointed critiques of how we got into this mess. I hope to persuade those town officials, townspeople, and taxpayers who still need persuading that we need to reject the VTel contract and get on with building a tower that actually is designed to serve the community for the long-term. The VTel tower proposal was designed and managed in a manner that has, I feel, diminished town institutions and now threatens to discredit the selectboard members and town manager who have -- in the earnest belief they are doing the right thing -- championed it.
For now, I just want to relate one important lesson -- the essential civic virtue -- I've learned these past nine months:
Embrace the opposition.
Try, in good faith, to understand what they are saying, however shrill or close-minded they may seem, simply on the off chance they may see something you do not.
Give them a listen because we don't know what we don't know and it's often the least pleasant experiences that teach us the most.
And in a democracy, trust in compromise with those who oppose you because, over time, unilateral decisions simply don't survive.
One of the best examples of this civic virtue in action can be found in our chief of police, Doug Robinson.
For those who recall a few years back, Chief Robinson, fairly new to the job and working under an earlier town manager, found himself and his department raked across the coals for being out of touch with the community he was meant to serve. The difference in his response and that of his boss was marked. Doug went out of his way to meet with concerned citizens wherever they wanted to talk; patiently explained his views on difficult topics and showed flexibility as he came to understand opposing viewpoints. He listened then and has since exhibited that same wisdom and good judgment in some very difficult settings, in the effort becoming a chief of police who completely nullified the concerns many townspeople had expressed about the size and mentality of our police force, becoming an exemplary public servant and a true asset to the town.
His boss, less flexible and more confident in his own road, has since moved on.
Most of the mistakes made in this tower misadventure, I believe, are the result of haste and a fundamental misjudgment -- made nine months ago -- that the looming FCC deadline justified trying to bull through the opposition. Our current town manager is an individual of exceptional talents and, with due respect to his predecessors, his capabilities far exceed even what we thought we might find when we first recommended creating a town manager position a decade ago. I strongly believe this town manager can also become an exemplary public servant and long-term asset to the town if he can learn to trust this same civic virtue.
Our efforts to present a practical alternative to the current proposal -- based on demonstrated community standards and designed to serve both public safety and broadband telecommunications goals that may well be more cost effective and more functional -- has fallen on deaf ears these past months. It's time to stop dismissing those of us who live near New Boston Road as NIMBYites and those who live further off as vocal cranks. Time is running out, there's important work to do and the mistakes made today in the name of expediency will, in retrospect, seem incomprehensible errors this town will have to live with for decades.
On paper, we probably have the most talented and even-tempered group of Selectboard members I've seen since the early 1990's.
On paper, at least, this is the most qualified Town Manager we've ever hired.
The rancor and ill will of the last decade finally seemed to have subsided and yet, in practice, this group has got themselves in a tangle over this tower that is only just beginning.
Back last December 9th, I posted a lengthy critique of the proposal to site a 198' tower in a valley along the drainage that borders New Boston Road. In the past nine months, I've spent dozens and dozens of hours writing to the listserv and selectboard, appearing at capital facilities committee and selectboard meetings, and pursuing extended conversations with individual selectboard members and our town manager pleading with them to slow down and revisit the basic premises of a misconceived tower project that is now, perhaps, unraveling before our eyes.
Over the next ten days, I'm going to post a steady stream of sometimes pointed critiques of how we got into this mess. I hope to persuade those town officials, townspeople, and taxpayers who still need persuading that we need to reject the VTel contract and get on with building a tower that actually is designed to serve the community for the long-term. The VTel tower proposal was designed and managed in a manner that has, I feel, diminished town institutions and now threatens to discredit the selectboard members and town manager who have -- in the earnest belief they are doing the right thing -- championed it.
For now, I just want to relate one important lesson -- the essential civic virtue -- I've learned these past nine months:
Embrace the opposition.
Try, in good faith, to understand what they are saying, however shrill or close-minded they may seem, simply on the off chance they may see something you do not.
Give them a listen because we don't know what we don't know and it's often the least pleasant experiences that teach us the most.
And in a democracy, trust in compromise with those who oppose you because, over time, unilateral decisions simply don't survive.
One of the best examples of this civic virtue in action can be found in our chief of police, Doug Robinson.
For those who recall a few years back, Chief Robinson, fairly new to the job and working under an earlier town manager, found himself and his department raked across the coals for being out of touch with the community he was meant to serve. The difference in his response and that of his boss was marked. Doug went out of his way to meet with concerned citizens wherever they wanted to talk; patiently explained his views on difficult topics and showed flexibility as he came to understand opposing viewpoints. He listened then and has since exhibited that same wisdom and good judgment in some very difficult settings, in the effort becoming a chief of police who completely nullified the concerns many townspeople had expressed about the size and mentality of our police force, becoming an exemplary public servant and a true asset to the town.
His boss, less flexible and more confident in his own road, has since moved on.
Most of the mistakes made in this tower misadventure, I believe, are the result of haste and a fundamental misjudgment -- made nine months ago -- that the looming FCC deadline justified trying to bull through the opposition. Our current town manager is an individual of exceptional talents and, with due respect to his predecessors, his capabilities far exceed even what we thought we might find when we first recommended creating a town manager position a decade ago. I strongly believe this town manager can also become an exemplary public servant and long-term asset to the town if he can learn to trust this same civic virtue.
Our efforts to present a practical alternative to the current proposal -- based on demonstrated community standards and designed to serve both public safety and broadband telecommunications goals that may well be more cost effective and more functional -- has fallen on deaf ears these past months. It's time to stop dismissing those of us who live near New Boston Road as NIMBYites and those who live further off as vocal cranks. Time is running out, there's important work to do and the mistakes made today in the name of expediency will, in retrospect, seem incomprehensible errors this town will have to live with for decades.
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