Of 'dialogue'...

I'm not one for celebrity. Genuflection, worship, idolizing. Never have been able to get my head around the notion of putting people up on pedestals. Their accomplishments? Sure. But somehow elevating them merely for being them...and in the process not only reducing the observer's status (if you place someone 'above' you, then you're effectively 'lowering' yourself, yes?) but also in the process distancing themselves from their own value...has always seemed a bizarre notion to me.

Which is why you'll seldom see me referencing someone's writing on this site. (Never mind the fact that there's always the risk of getting the "expert's" message wrong. I can't help but be reminded of the Marshall McLuhan scene in 'Annie Hall'.) While I'm not professing to be a standalone thinker, I'm also really not interested in having the regurgitation of other people's concepts and theories as my default. After all, I'm still finding my way on this 'civic activism' journey.

But this week I happened across a writer who's got some things to say that very much align with what I tend to be yammering on about these days.

Almost twenty years ago, Scott London wrote the essay 'Electronic Town Halls Can't Beat the Real Thing', which I happened upon when doing research for the recent series of posts about what Councillors can do to contribute to civic engagement. Though the concept of an electronic town hall as discussed by Mr. London is entirely different from what I was focusing on (his had to do with a television broadcast of a bricks-and-mortar event, followed up by a Gallup poll), it's an interesting snapshot/time capsule. As well, it contains this gem:

"However noble his intentions, Gallup's mechanism has been a democratic disaster. After a half century it's beginning to dawn on us that there is no such thing as public opinion. Since people don't normally have fixed opinions or well-established viewpoints on issues, their answers depend on the questions. Since reason — and, by extension, democratic politics — cannot be measured, polls are at bottom useless. They furnish us with statistics and give an air of scientific credibility to the fundamentally unscientific business of politics, but they tell us nothing about the quality of the public's views."

But it was another essay on Mr. London's site that really caught my eye. Entitled 'The Power of Dialogue', it has some brilliant things to say about communication.

"Much of the time, we're not even listening to each other at all. The dialogue is a monologue. We fire salvos of information across the Internet, or shoot each other text messages, or blog or Twitter about ourselves. But is anyone paying attention? And if they are, do they catch our drift?"

Mr. London notes there's a difference between dialogue and other forms of discourse: debate, negotiating, consensus-building, discussion and deliberation.


"And unlike discussion, (dialogue) can only emerge when participants trust and respect each other, suspend their judgments, and listen deeply to all points of view."


Naturally, you can read the entire essay at his site, but I'm going to include a particular chunk in this post. If nothing else, the suggestions he makes are invaluable references for conduct in our daily life, for our Councillors in local governance...and for those of us who frequent message boards or the Comments sections of sites such as Raise the Hammer and The Hamiltonian.

Effective dialogue typically follows some basic ground rules:

• The focus is on common interests, not divisive ones
• The dialogue and decision-making processes are separated
• Assumptions that can lead to distortions of certain points of view are clarified and brought into the open
• People are encouraged to reveal their own insights and assumptions before speculating on those of others
• Concrete examples are used to raise general issues
• The process focuses on conflicts between value systems, not people
• When appropriate, participants are encouraged to express emotions accompanying strongly held values
• Participants err on the side of including people who disagree
• They encourage relationships in order to humanize transactions
• They minimize the level of mistrust before pursuing practical objectives.

Of The PanAm Games Stadium Site Selection Process...And Concomitant 'Discussion'

The Jack Joke

One morning, Sam was heading out the door to his car when he came to a halt on the sidewalk. "Damn," he said, black cloud instantly over his head. "A flat."

Just as instantly, he began generating thoughts. "Oh, boy... Getting the spare on is going to take time. Time I don't have. I'll be late for work, and I have a huge presentation this morning." He gasped. "I'm gonna get shit-canned."

Sam's thinking continued. Soon enough, he smacked his forehead. "I don't have a jack! What the hell am I going to do?" he asked, the drama descending. "No jack...no spare tire installed...I'll be late, I'll miss my own presentation..." Clearly, anguish had replaced drama as he visualized the potential end result.

"Wait!" he yelled, joyous. "Bob's got a jack! I'll go next door and borrow it!"

Placing his briefcase on the lawn, Sam set off down the sidewalk. His mood having shifted, he grinned as he went. "I'll go next door, borrow the jack from Bob, change the tire, get to to work on time...and deliver my presentation!"

Sam suddenly stopped at the street; the black cloud was back with a vengeance. "What if Bob won't lend me his jack? I won't be able to change the tire, I won't get to work on time, I won't be able to do my presentation..."

Feeling tears coming on, Sam shook his head as he marched off once more. "No. He's my friend. We've known each other for years. He'll lend me his jack. Everything will be fine."

At the bottom of Bob's driveway, Sam paused once more. "But what if he doesn't?" he asked himself. "What if he doesn't want to loan me the jack? I'll be screwed."

Again Sam set off, this time over-full with piss and vinegar. Jaw stiff, eyes steely, he continued all the way up Bob's driveway, marching to destiny, steam coming out his ears.

By the time he got to Bob's front door, he was livid. Reaching out to finger the buzzer, he recoiled and instead banged his fist on the door.

After a short wait, the door opened and a smiling Bob appeared. "Hey, Sam! What's up? What's happ-"

"Listen, dickhead," Sam spat. "You can take your jack and shove it up your ass!"

Regarding underlying impressions of the Council meetings this week

Often when people are trying to make up for other things -such as a sense of control, or authority or conviction...or credibility- there's a tendency towards earnestness.

If we don't have the necessary facts at our disposal, if we're feeling unsure...we often start adding sentiment. (Admittedly, some of us stop, reconsider, recalibrate and re-navigate.)

Indulging in bafflegab.

Or as the Brits say, 'faffing-about'.

(While there is a nasty extrapolation to be made here regarding lying, how we tend to 'say too much' when we're 'weave that tangled web', I'll leave that tack alone. For now.)

Civic Engagement: What Can Councillors Do? Part Six

As stated previously, I believe that the only authentic way to improve local governance on a long-term basis is to 'increase the relationship of engagement between the residents and their Councillors'.

The direction of the engagement is paramount. It has to come from the citizenry to be authentic and longstanding. The primary impetus has to come from us.

However, I also believe that Councillors must do what they can do to help build this new relationship of engagement. Here's my sixth suggestion towards this end.

A Councillor should be making public contact in non-event situations.

I believe that the inherent cynicism that people feel towards politicians is only magnified when it's perceived that Councillors are only 'seen' at events, functions, you know; hobbing with the nobs. There's no question that these occasions are a part of the game we call 'politics'. But there must be more to a Councillor's visibility.

If we're going to change the culture of voter apathy, change the culture of disinterest, of detachment, then we have to change how we as residents see our Councillors. Specifically, how our children, our youth see them. And to me, this can be helped along by having more opportunities to have contact under day-to-day circumstances.

These don't have to be public relations indulgences. In the case of improved awareness of 'civics', two birds can be killed with one stone. We have a lot of work cut out for us if we want our children to see local governance as not somewhat of an inconvenient obligation, but rather as something we feel a moral responsibility towards. Part of a fulfilling lifestyle. Getting our Councillors out there and seen, presenting them as 'real' is a powerful means towards this end.

Civic Engagement: What Can Councillors Do? Part Five

As stated previously, I believe that the only authentic way to improve local governance on a long-term basis is to 'increase the relationship of engagement between the residents and their Councillors'.

The direction of the engagement is paramount. It has to come from the citizenry to be authentic and longstanding. The primary impetus has to come from us.

However, I also believe that Councillors must do what they can do to help build this new relationship of engagement. Here's my fifth suggestion towards this end.

A Councillor should utilize 'electronic town hall meetings'.

Though the technology is still evolving, it's still possible to hold an online 'meeting' in which people are able to 'discuss' issues. It could be an 'Internet coverage' version of a live, bricks-and-mortar event, it could be one where the Councillor is essentially broadcasting in a video-chat mode and people can ask questions by way of text, it could be something akin to the traditional IRC chat-room mode, webinars, net-conferencing...

I believe that options via broadband provide superb opportunities to connect with a higher degree of convenience for all concerned, and just about every innovation should be considered. Connection and dialogue it the goal, after all.

Civic Engagement: What Can Councillors Do? Part Four

As stated previously, I believe that the only authentic way to improve local governance on a long-term basis is to 'increase the relationship of engagement between the residents and their Councillors'.

The direction of the engagement is paramount. It has to come from the citizenry to be authentic and longstanding. The primary impetus has to come from us.

However, I also believe that Councillors must do what they can do to help build this new relationship of engagement. Here's my fourth suggestion towards this end.

A Councillor should hold regular 'town hall meetings'.

I do not believe that anything will ever replace the importance of in-person contact. Of breathing the same air, of being able to see the person in front of you, of being able to shake their hand and confirm their humanity. Especially in local governance, where there's no reason why this can't be accomplished. (Unlike in say with your federal representative when Parliament's in session)

For too long, there's been a divide between resident and elected official. For too long there's been almost knee-jerk cynicism towards Councillors. An 'Us vs Them' mentality...even though residents are the 'employers'; City Hall works for us.

Town hall meetings are invaluable opportunities to not only break down walls, but to enhance engagement by way of genuine dialogue. They shouldn't be regarded by Councillors as 'inconveniences that prevent the job at hand from being done', they're actually a means to get that job done better.

Civic Engagement: What Can Councillors Do? Part Three

As stated previously, I believe that the only authentic way to improve local governance on a long-term basis is to 'increase the relationship of engagement between the residents and their Councillors'.

The direction of the engagement is paramount. It has to come from the citizenry to be authentic and longstanding. The primary impetus has to come from us.

However, I also believe that Councillors must do what they can do to help build this new relationship of engagement. Here's my third suggestion towards this end.

A Councillor should encourage neighbourhoods within the ward to establish their own blogs or sites and Facebook pages.

Gone are the days when a sense of community grew organically. Life has become too fast-paced, too fragmented for that to happen, by-and-large. People live their lives in ways that their ancestors couldn't have imagined.


And so the traditional 'ties that bind' have to be augmented, if not nurtured from the ground up. And online mechanisms are great ways to organize, to foster bonds, to engage neighbours. Which can only lead to better engagement within local governance.