Monday, February 22, 2010
Change or Not to Change
Posted by John Branston on Mon, Feb 22, 2010 at 7:17 PM
And I don't change, or at least not much. Maybe reading and thinking about change is a poor substitute for making friends, taking piano lessons, writing a novel, and doing more pushups. Which brings me to the slightly weird campaign to reinvent local government. Big Brother meets Up With People and the Chamber of Commerce. I'm not sure who and what is behind this and why, but I know one thing: the proper role of journalists is to be journalists, not boosters.
There was a quarter-page advertisement in Sunday's Commercial Appeal with a picture of an attractive young woman and the message: "MemphisShelbyCounty: let's have a real conversation." The mix of plain type and bold type, apparently meant to subtly convey a message, was too cute by half. The contact was www.Rebuildgovernment.org, the disembodied voice that sometimes posts on this website.
I have no use for paid spokespersons, disembodied voices, or anonymous commenters. I lie for free. Introduce yourself, tell me where you're coming from, and we can have a conversation. I'm listed.
I strongly suspect that The CA, my employer many years ago, is in cahoots on this. Back in the day, if somebody wanted to launch a campaign to change city and county government, a reporter would have been dispatched to ask questions. Nowadays, the CA editorial page, still stuck on Willie Herenton, huffs and puffs about transparency but won't tell us much about its own earnings, its sacred cows, or the people behind rebuildgovernment.org. and its newspaper advertisement.
Rebuilding government may well be an idea whose time has come. Or not. But it's a little presumptuous to talk about having a conversation. Some of us in politics and the media have been getting our hands dirty, using public schools and parks, taking our lumps, and having conversations — pleasant and not so pleasant — for years.
Meanwhile, government has already been rebuilt. Profitable nonprofits and high-paying quasi-public agencies and authorities have carved out dominions ranging from the airport to downtown, the riverfront, Shelby Farms, hospitals, the Orpheum, and now part of the Fairgrounds. Public gets the trash pickup, police, schools, buses, car inspections, and the jails for people and animals. And the bills, of course.
Then there's this, from a review of "Switch" by Christopher Chabris, a professor of psychology writing in the Wall Street Journal. The book is about people, companies, and organizations that have successfully changed in a big way.
The key is "precise actions that will each achieve a minor goal and move one step closer to a major one." Sounds like pushups to me.
And this: "Politicians, for instance, have long known that appeals to emotion are more effective than appeals to logic — not because people are stupid but because the mind is designed to use logic as a tool for supporting our beliefs rather than challenging them."
And this: "All the good intentions and native intelligence in the world can be defeated if the setting is not right. But small changes to one's environment can have a big effect."
And a disembodied conversation that goes nowhere can have a big effect on preserving the status quo and the vested interests.
Comments (3)
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Wow! Loved this article. Perhaps I enjoyed it because I too, have my questions about who/what is behind Rebuildgovernment.org. I participated in their website quest for Memphians wishing to contribute ideas for reinventing Memphis government. This was prior to the last Mayoral campaign, and I suspected it had something to do with candidate A.C. Wharton. When I received no acknowledgment of my contributions, I ceased "communicating" on the site.
Is someone serious about reinventing City Government? G_d knows we need that discussion. I, like you, prefer to meet with all parties and have all the cards on the table at this meeting, whether it be in a public setting, or even on line. Please, whomever is behind this organization...step forward, so together, we can move forward. Transparency and trust in our government cannot be accomplished in a clandestine beginning.
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You say, Rebuilding government may well be an idea whose time has come. Or not. But it's a little presumptuous to talk about having a conversation. Some of us in politics and the media have been getting our hands dirty, using public schools and parks, taking our lumps, and having conversations — pleasant and not so pleasant — for years.
And lots of us have been getting our hands dirty, but how's that worked out for us. We still pay too much in taxes, we still have two of everything, and we still have to figure out which government does what for whom.
I'm for getting on with the discussion and seeing if we can get the charter commission to write the right kind of charter.
And if anyone wants to see who's running Rebuild Government, you might try looking at the 30 people who are chairing it and asking Brian Stephens and Darrell Stephens who are charged with its operations.
www.RebuildGovernment.org * 901-347-8623
John,
Because we have built a broad coalition of people from throughout the county to help Rebuild Government, our intent in posting as one voice was certainly not anonymity. On these public comment sections, we list our Web site address and phone number so people can see who we are and what we are about.
And what we are about is a simple mission that accords just fine with my journalistic upbringing – engaging people in a conversation and making this process more accessible to the public. As Brian Stephens, our executive director, reminds me all the time – we are not arguing with people. We are listening – to their hopes, values, concerns. And we are taking those to the Charter Commission so they can have as much information as possible about what people most want to see (or not see) in a new charter.
Again, we ask – OK, I’ll play your game. I, Zack McMillin, ask my fellow University of Michigan fan, John Branston – do you have any ideas you would like to see incorporated into the charter? Any questions you want to make sure the Charter Commission answers during this process? Let's discuss. I'll bring a six-pack of the sublime Two-Hearted Ale I brought back this summer from our Michigan family vacation.
Thanks …
zack
www.RebuildGovernment.org * 901-347-8623
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