By Curmudgeon
Interesting Op Ed piece in Sunday morning's Standard Examiner by Don Porter, headlined "Ogden’s slow, consistent move upward can continue if we’re civil."
Porter reports that:
in the 1980s, an editor who has long since left the Standard-Examiner was fond of describing Ogden as “the meanest town in the West” — referring to the city’s feral brand of politics and penchant for personal attack.Porter says that as the gondola/gondola/park sale matter heated up, he:
had anti- and pro-gondola/golf course sale/resort development people calling my office, constantly, and making the most outrageous allegations that you can imagine — often of a personal and criminal nature. The various personalities involved in this debate — again, on both sides — were subjected to some of the most corrosive venom conceivable.Lest anyone conclude that Porter has no stomach for a good political fight, or is [in a word much applied to those who recommend some civility in discussing, yes, even the gondola/gondola "plan" or the park sale or even the Mayor] a "pantywaist," Porter notes that he has
no trouble appreciating hostility. If I find myself in the right mood, I actually relish using a rhetorical blowtorch. But the trick is choosing the right time and place to load up the flame thrower. I know well it had better be rare. If all you do is holler, your words lose their effectiveness in no time — and then that powerful weapon is rendered ineffective.Exactly right. The most common term on the national level for the "feral politics" [nice phrase that; due notice, Mr. Porter: I intend to steal it shamelessly in the future] is "the politics of personal destruction." Once it begins, compromise and cooperation for the common good become more and more difficult to arrange, and end the end, can become impossible. Which, as Mr. Porter argues, will not serve Ogden --- or, I'd add, any municipality, any state, any nation --- well.
Porter ends his piece this way:
A quibble: we do not need to "turn down the volume," Mr. Porter. It's important that the discussion of Ogden's future, what it ought to be and how best to achieve it, remain visible, even noisy [squeaky wheel theory]. What we need to do is keep the volume cranked up but turn the heat down. Way down.Operating on the theory that if someone is not with you they are against you is no recipe for success in making a city prosper. Godfrey describes his decision to reject the golf course sale as a “compromise” with persistent critics. I hope he’s serious, and that the people who approve of his new position on the golf course will now engage him in a productive discussion on where to go from here regarding Ogden redevelopment and transit.
But the only way that’s going to happen successfully is if the people who have been shouting the loudest consent to turn down the volume.
Well, okay. Two quibbles. While Mr. Porter is careful to qualify his condemnation of the nastiness that has, I agree, been too often visible in Ogden politics of late, as applying to many or most, rather than all involved in it, I'd just add here that Smart Growth Ogden [full disclosure: I am an active supporter of SGO] has, I think, never descended to the feral politics he describes, but has focused its mailings, press releases, letters, public meetings and website content on issues, not personalities, on civil discussion, not venom. That some supporters of SGO have I wouldn't contest. But the organization has been careful, I think, not to. For evidence, see the SGO website here.
