Fran Alexander's Monday column in the Northwest Arkansas Times supports Lioneld Jordan for mayor of Fayetteville, AR

 
CROSS CURRENTS: At a personal level
Fran Alexander frana@nwarktimes.com
Posted on Monday, November 17, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/71220
Early voting in the mayoral runoff election starts Tuesday at the Washington County Courthouse with the final voting opportunity on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 25, at your regular polling places. This election should take care of the local political season for this year, another reason to be thankful on Thanksgiving.
Now that the field of six for Fayetteville’s mayoral position has been narrowed to two, final impressions and evaluations have to be tallied. We all probably approach our choices differently, but whether it is an intellectual or an emotional exercise for each of us, either direction starts at a very personal level.
Long ago I realized that my particular cross current with the present mayor really mattered very little to others until they had their own tales to tell because personal experience is really the only brain voice most of us hear. In my articles, however, I have tried to point out some of the mayor’s actions with which I disagreed. Some of the biggies include the endangerment of the ecological sensitivity of the Wilson Springs acreage by selling it for development; the weakening of the hillside ordinance; the mayor’s silent allowance of the Divinity Hotel vote by aldermen that may well have neutered the city’s design regulations; and his disinterest in establishing a standardized process from which citizens can work with their city on divisive issues.
Contrary to wishful verbalization that things have been relatively quiet in Fayetteville for years, on personal levels there have been many small as well as several loud battles (smoking ban, impact fees, public land sales, dog security in trucks, wetland loss, massive developments, etc.) that have extracted time, money and energy from many citizens working one side or the other of these problems. After some people emerge from a civic rout, they brush themselves off ready to take part again. Others, however, go home with their tail between their legs and never return to city hall because of how they perceive their own community government treated them.
Issues do not have to reach alienation levels. Good leadership can recognize that there is value in conflict resolution and can provide a reliable process and public format for capturing good points and for showing appreciation of legitimate complaints. Resolution can rarely can take place as long as one humble citizen at a time approaches a podium, faces off with a mayor and city council, and risks his chance to make himself and his points understood. Solo Citizen soon realizes he should have recruited an army if he wanted to dent the attention deficit of some aldermen, who will nevertheless vote his fate. Herein lies the essence of what mayoral contender Lioneld Jordan is talking about when he says he wants to have an administration that is about people and open government and about involving everyone who wants to take part.
Meeting all over the city on a rotating schedule is more than just a “good idea.” Asking for input requires people skills honed in the trenches of controversy, skills that can handle the steaming results of opening the lid on hot pots. Modeled on his and fellow alderman Shirley Lucas’ Ward 4 monthly meetings, Jordan proposes ward gatherings for citizens to learn about city issues and to have faceto-face discussions in order to hash out with city staff, elected officials and each other what the town’s changes will mean at a personal level. This is not as easy as it sounds because it takes a special instinct to deal fairly with diverse opinions. Jordan has been a student of such public participation for eight years now, and there have been no killings so far!
Foremost, at least at my own personal level, an open and involved form of governing only comes with a sense of equality between citizens and elected officials. This cannot be attained when a person’s point of view is chosen to represent an extreme by a mayor or aldermen. How, for example, does a citizen measure his or her extremism while honestly expressing how city actions will affect his home, his neighborhood, his quality of life, his values, his finances, his business, etc.? When feeling threatened, how is he to resolve his situation if told he is just venting his spleen or can never be satisfied? Who sets the parameters of what is “middle ground,” that subjective location treated as the only ideal position where a citizen will truly be respected and heard? Where is it? Is there an address?
Being heard and being asked to participate in one’s community is a public validation of one’s experiences, skills, knowledge, work expertise and individual talent. I decided to take part in Lioneld Jordan’s campaign because for eight years he has heard me out. He has not always voted as I would have liked, but I have trusted that his decisions are his own. I like that he wants the people who live here to take ownership in building the town together and to depend on and consult each other when deciding how the community can become better. I like that he knows the meaning of “a level playing field.” I like that when I fuss at him about minor things that he realizes they are important to me at least, and he pays attention instead of acting like I am wasting his time.
Fayetteville, for some reason I have yet to figure out, is a hard town to give back to, a hard place to find affirmation for whatever particular idea or skill you may want to share. That needs to be fixed, and I think Lioneld Jordan is the guy who can lead citizens into a mutual respect with their town. It is worth a try.
Fran Alexander is a local resident and an active environmentalist.
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