Public Discourse (and how to do it well)

Photo from Kenton Troutman, Chetek Alert

It was standing room only in Council Chambers last week as the City Council heard from a local business owner about the idea of selling Denny Overby Field to her. Beth Siems, co-owner of Phil's Bar & Grill, has an idea of transforming this property into an 18-hole mini golf course as well as potential other amenities in the future. It was letter “I” on the agenda (of one that ended at “J”) and it was merely a discussion point but it was enough to fill up Chambers with a lot of citizens who were alarmed that the city would even consider such a thing. 

I think one of the great traditions in local government is the Public Comments section in the monthly meeting of the council. At that point, any citizen has a right to address the council and in three minutes time speak their peace. The council cannot take any action (whether or not the person is speaking to an agenda item) but they give their attention to the person standing at the podium and hear them out. 

In the lead up to last Tuesday's meeting, I received a couple of emails expressing concern that the council was entertaining such an idea. The rest of the council expressed that they too had heard from constituents by email and phone along the same vein. Last Tuesday night to begin Public Comments, City Clerk Mark Eby read five emails he had received all of which expressed their opposition to selling the ball field. And then the floor was opened to hear from anyone who wished to address the council. 

It's usually a scary moment for a lot of people. Studies have shown that way beyond fear of heights or creepy crawlies, public speaking is the number one fear that many of us struggle with. But in the next twenty minutes we heard from four or five individuals, both in-town and out-of-town, all of them opposed to selling Denny Overby Field. I'm sure there could have been more but there wasn't much more argument to be made after these folks had spoken; mainly, that there is limited space already for Little League ball in town, that Denny Overby Field is a beloved institution that has been enjoyed by thousands over the decades, and if the field goes away the council would be doing a great disservice to the kids of our area. 

Personally, I thought it was a good meeting. While there was obvious tension in the room, everyone behaved, spoke civilly, and yet expressed their opinions strongly. Contrary to this was the discourse that occurred on social media prior (and even after) the meeting. If you know you know. Of course, people will say things on social media that they would never say to a person's face because it's the easiest thing in the world to take potshots at elected officials. Its these same guys, I might add, who for very little money and yet a whole lot of love serve this town that they call home while getting, at times, heckled digitally. I guess it goes with the territory.

The arbiter rules

You probably have already heard what happened but just in case you hadn't individually the council commended Ms. Siems' interest in wanting to provide more amenities to our community but to a person they felt that Denny Overby Field should remain what it is: a ball field. Had there interest been piqued, at the very least someone might have motioned to send her to the Economic Development Committee to discuss the merits of her idea. But in the absence of that, the matter was settled in silence. 

For those of you who showed up to the meeting and, even more, addressed the council either via email or at the podium, thank you for caring enough to take time out of your week for this purpose. The entire council is grateful that you took such an interest and hope that you will continue to keep your ear to the ground about other matters that you believe affect our town and reach out either to your alderperson or myself and share your opinion. That's one of the reasons we're here after all.

Play ball!