An angry member of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Commission Structure did something last week the majority of Americans are too scared or perhaps just too complacent to do. The Pickens resident, unhappy with the recent decision by State Senator Chip Pearson and State House Rep. Tom Graves to add a second alternative to the multi-person commission ballot question, quite literally crashed a meeting of the Dawson County Republican Party to give Mr. Pearson a piece of his mind.
During an open comment portion of the meeting, a crumple-shirted Bob Hayles introduced himself to the roomful of well-groomed strangers as “just a dumb redneck peanut salesman on the side of the road.” He then proceeded to tell the unsuspecting state senator, who had just completed an update about his efforts during the current session at the gold dome, exactly why he was upset with him. Ouch.
But, after Pearson’s initial shock wore off, he parried Hayles’ accusations with a well-delivered, effective impromptu rebuttal.
“I don’t mind taking a rap, sir,” Pearson said after explaining to the group why he opted to add a three-person commission option to the November ballot. “But I refuse to take a rap that’s saying giving the folks in Pickens County the chance to vote for more options versus less is less constitutional and less democratic.”
Touché.
It was inspiring to see such an exchange first hand. Participants remained civil throughout, but the room had that feeling only an unexpected, direct confrontation can produce. Not only was it deathly quiet, it was tense.
Some Dawson GOP members seemed to have a sympathetic ear for the Pickens man, but he took some hits too.
A gentleman in the audience was heard to say that speaking after Hayles would be like following a vaudeville dog act. Another Republican said she was “offended” by what she was hearing. Some said they were embarrassed for him, and one lady standing close by even tweaked her body language to show she was not affiliated with the dissenter.
Despite their varying reactions to the party crasher, everyone in the room paid full attention. Everyone––including Sen. Pearson and other lawmakers up for election this year.
This kind of in-your-face dissent is just what the country could use a little more of. When you work in the newspaper business, you see first hand how uninvolved the American public generally is in their government. You see the same handful of faces at commissioner’s meetings, public hearings, council meetings, each and every month. Oftentimes, there’s no one there but the government and us, the press.
Without public opinion and input, government does what it wants to do––and government has been known to get cocky when operating under the auspices of politeness.
If you are ticked off at an elected leader, don’t throw popcorn at them from the comfort of armchair politics; tell them about it face to face or give them a call on the telephone. They will hear you loud and clear.
Pearson has said he chose to include the three-person option after his office received phone calls from “three or four” Pickens constituents, people who, like Hayles, weren’t happy with how things were progressing. And while it is unlikely Hayles will get his way and see the three-person option excluded from the ballot, he made his opinion known to people who can change things.
On issues you are passionate about, issues that keep you up at night, standing up to give a public statement can make your voice heard. You can then rightly claim to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
|
|
