President's Message
by Dan Wilhelm, MCCF President
Question C. I want to thank everyone who worked so hard and supported our effort on Ballot Question C. This initiative received 39% of the vote, which we regard as a respectable showing. We need to keep in mind that it is hard to get changes enacted, especially the first time. By comparison, legislative bills at the state and federal levels often fail the first time or even many times before they are eventually passed. Time and repetition are needed before a majority of the legislators come to understand that the bill has sufficient merit. MCCF was faced not with just educating tens or hundreds of legislators but with convincing over 500,000 registered voters that voting for Question C would improve local politics and civic life by allowing candidates to run with less dependence on special interest campaign contributions.
Increase Membership and Communication. In order to become more effective in getting our message out in elections or in testimony before county/state officials, MCCF needs to increase its membership and increase its dialog with member organizations. We have started to do this, but we need the help of our current members to pass the word about MCCF and encourage them to join.
Rude Conduct. Just before writing this, I sent a letter to Councilmember Praisner about rude behavior on the part of councilmembers. She is bothered by the behavior described in the letter and plans on saying something to her colleagues.
Unfortunately, the passions of the recent election seem to have exacerbated
rude, inconsiderate behavior at our own meetings. Negative, disrespectful
behavior causes bad feelings, prolongs dialogue and, in some cases, causes
delegates to stop participating in the Federation. We must realize that we
do not all share the same views. Even when we agree upon the facts we may
draw different conclusions based on our individual priorities or experiences.
We can disagree on ideas, but we should not attack people personally. Rather,
we should treat everyone with respect and as a friend. Each of us should voice
our opinion and then let others do likewise without interrupting, complaining
to your neighbor, making disruptive noises or other physical motions. We should
also not be using procedure or Robert's Rules of Order to disrupt or derail
a meeting. I ask everyone to review their behavior and in the future to exchange
differing points of view in a respectful and courteous manner.
This Page Last Edited: December 5, 2004 .