PETERS – Little chance a community forum would be constructive
(Image: CFJC Today)
IF MAYOR REID HAMER-JACKSON gets his wish to hold a large community town hall meeting, I will not be volunteering to moderate.
Unlike the Armchair Mayor, I don’t see any way a meeting like this has a positive outcome. Call me a cynic.
Mel Rothenburger may have experienced a positive community forum 22 years ago, but the difference in the tenor of our community between then and now — even in society as a whole — is stark.
See also: EDITORIAL – We need another KamTalk, not just another ‘town hall’
Today, the community is fed up. Its patience with its political leaders is short.
By now, eight months after the election, nearly everyone who even remotely follows Kamloops council has taken sides.
James Peters is the radio anchor at CFJC, coming to Kamloops in 2006. He anchors the afternoon news on B-100 and 98.3 CIFM, and contributes weekly editorials to the CFJC Evening News. He tweets regularly @Jamloops.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I expect nothing but a scream-fest between the 2 sides, and I expect the RHJ side to be the noisiest … not because they are the majority of citizenry who believe they are correct on the matters at hand … but because they are simply … noisy, trump style.
This is smacking me of a trump town hall rally, but carefully designed to appear like its a level playing field with all Council and stakeholders sitting in a circle.
I expect nothing to be decided, nothing to change, but a bunch of people will get a charge out of ignoring anything said by anyone else, and beating their own chest loudly … then going home thinking this is how democracy works.
I wont be attending, I dont see a point in trying to have my point of view heard over the cat calling of the RHJ stocked proceedings.
I’ll just wait the 3 years and 3 months and then make change,
the actual democratic way.
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Some folks are too biased to be a moderator.
Kind of like marriage counselling; talking things out, maybe having some harsh words to vent frustrations and having someone not in the field of journalism to guide the parties involved might be constructive.
This isn’t a case of 8 against 1. It isn’t even a case of picking a fight with a fighter & there wasn’t a lot of forethought went into that move.
Time to clear the air a bit, face to face and go from there. I’m with the Armchair Mayor.
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