My Letter To the Editor and How it Happened
Or, Why Is Heather Cox Richardson Like Tolkien's Gandalf?
I’m a private person by nature. If there are female hobbits, and I’m told there are (by other than J. R. R. Tolkien), I could be one. The dictionary says,
A hobbit is a member of a fictitious peaceful and genial race of small humanlike creatures that dwell underground.
I love peace and I’m fairly genial. I don’t live underground, but then I’m not humanlike.
As you would expect, Bilbo Baggins and I share a problem. Let me put it as a universal truth. When you depend on a peaceful world in order to enjoy your tea and scones, eventually you have to get out there and fight to keep it.
My unease —
Last November our Board of Commissioners turned 100% Republican. Now they no longer have to disguise their private vision for our county, or to show respect for the people they serve. On Election night a newly elected commissioner declined to comment on his priorities for the office, saying, “I’m trying to have fun here.”
Some background:
In 2018, 60% of county voters approved a $68 million school construction bond. The Commissioners quickly began collecting the taxes, but since that day they’ve stalled on funding the projects. I’ve heard that by 2028 the tax money may revert to the general county fund.
Besides taking power from the School Board, they’re pushing through questionable economic development, a disputed new courthouse and the repurposing of the old one.
They’ve turned a cold shoulder to citizens who speak during public meetings and most recently, to the Mayor of the county seat who is seeking support for the completion of a public exercise trail.
I’m worried about their lack of respect.
I know something’s afoot out there, but what can I do about it? In Tolkien’s story, Gandalf the wizard motivates Baggins to act. He says,
I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.
In my world, my Gandalf character is Heather Cox Richardson. I imagine her talking to me as I stand in my doorway, my teacup in hand. She’s saying,
You can change our country [and your county!] by talking to people about what it could be, what you want our government to do. Taking it into our own hands is the first step to protecting our democracy.
Speak up to your neighbors, speak up to your local newspapers, speak up to The Wall Street Journal when you don’t like what it’s doing, take back oxygen from those radical people who are trying to destroy our country.
Before turning around to go back to Maine, HCR leaves a piece of paper on my doormat. At the top of the paper is typed, “Dear Editor, ….”
As I look at the paper, my letter to the editor begins to take shape.
It’s easy to feel again my outrage of several months ago when neighborhood leaders presented the Commissioners with a well-thought-out appeal to have a say in how their area will be developed. They were ignored.
And last week I personally felt insulted when the Board Chair corrected and dismissed a citizen who attended their meeting to ask about a large proposed project involving local tax money. The location of the new “luxury destination resort” had not yet been announced.
Citizen: “Will there be an environmental impact study on this project?”
Chair: “This is not so much a question and answer, this is a public hearing… specifically making any comments.”
Citizen: “I don’t have a good idea of exactly what the project is, so I can’t really comment until I’ve got a fuller picture of what’s going on.” [Leaves the podium]
Chair [to the audience]: “Additional comments? Any additional comments? Seeing none …”
Tax incentives for the project were unanimously approved by the Board, with no meaningful discussion.
I’m still holding the piece of paper, but I decide my letter can wait. First I’ll make tea, sit a while and think about it.
Then I notice that the back of the paper is covered with writing. It’s signed, “HCR”. It says,
After the Civil Rights Act of 1957 was passed, and on into the 1960s, white men voted to change that law.
But in the end they failed, because people like the NAACP members and its organizers and Black Americans spoke up. “This is not the kind of country we want to live in,” they said. They were able to push that incredibly heavy boulder uphill.
So we have precedent, we have hope, and the way you participate is simply by stepping up and starting to do it.
I turn off the teapot, sit at my desk, and begin to write:
Look for it soon in The Transylvania Times. Tea and scones are no longer enough for someone who wishes to help protect the peace, for all who live in our community.
Your witty arguments have sharp points; I hope they sting the Commissioners, who seem to be driving by looking in their rear view mirrors
Amen to Margaret P's comment: You, Deda, are a Gandalf, as is HCR. Indeed, we can't be quiet and sit on the sidelines if we ever again hope to live in a county, state, or nation that hallows justice-in-the-making and neighbor-love as foundational to our values. Our County Commissioners in Transylvania today are on an ethical par with the MAGA crowd in Congress. They deserve nothing except our concerted efforts to bring them around or, more likely, down.