Seeking to move CL toward common goals

The City Council elected Tim Brown as Mayor for the coming year.

Three years ago I wrote an article about selecting the Mayor of Canyon Lake. After three years on the City Council and a couple of months with the Mayor’s gavel, my perspective has changed.

Three years ago I was worried about committee assignments, honoring traditions and having a likable face represent the City in community affairs. I now see the Mayor’s primary job to be moving the community forward toward common goals, as united as possible, and ensuring every perspective is heard and considered.

It is human nature for people to advocate in their own interest. Our democracy was founded on the principle that diverse interests would be willing to subjugate their individual will to that of the majority if allowed to express their personal or minority will openly, freely and fairly. This principle has worked reasonably well for over 200 years, but tends to break down when people believe they are not treated fairly, feel not understood or vilified.

Where unity is not possible, as will often happen, conflicts are inevitable. A good Mayor is a good mediator. A good mediator should do his or her best to ensure divided interests understand (if not respect) differences of perspective.

There seems to be two, if not more, factions in Canyon Lake who have given up trying to work with or even understand people holding dissimilar views. Both groups seems to have decided that political posturing and personal vendettas are more important than civility and understanding.

Vilification, personal attacks, stifling of expression and counter constructive rhetoric has replaced democratic dialogue. We must not let political posturing or adversarial maneuvering get in the way of making Canyon Lake a great place to live for all of us.

Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ve learned to accommodate the role of being a minority voice during the past few years. I know what it feels like to be steamrolled and kept from expressing my views. I know what it feels like to learn that my heartfelt views do not represent those in the majority.

I’ve also learned that the vast majority of people in our community only want what they believe to be in the community’s best interest. There really aren’t any really bad guys out there in the political firing line. We simply have different ideas on what will best serve our town.

In the coming months I would like to hold a town forum where where people who disagree  can meet and discuss how to move forward together to serve our common goals. Hopefully this encounter can generate a set of principles and understandings to cool down the vilification and ensure the political posturing does not get in the way of moving toward a better community. It might not do any good, but as your new Mayor, I think I have an obligation to try.

Please do your best to have a happy and prosperous New Year, enjoying all the wonderful reasons to live in Canyon Lake.