An open letter to the La Plata County Commissioners
Brad Blake
Julie Westendorff
Gwen Lachelt
February 28, 2018
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Hello County Commissioners,
I live in rural La Plata County and yesterday I was called by a neighbor about an unsettling anonymous letter received in their mail. The letter isn't threatening per se but it does intimidate, 'we know who you are, where you live, and we don't like what you say in public!' sort of thing. Besides the intimidation, its content is vague, inaccurate and directed at the wrong people. An angry myopic venting that deserves a response.
It’s not worth calling the sheriff, but on the other hand it is certainly worth reporting and making a big deal about since I believe it's another example of outside forces bringing high-powered ruthless political practices into our community. It's pure poison.
Stoking hostility and misunderstanding and yes intimidation is not the American way to go, that’s the stuff of totalitarianism and hopeless conflict.
Our current land code planning controversies can only be resolved by recognizing that time does change our reality. Our population has been exploding and population densities do matter a great deal, no matter how much our nostalgia wants to wish it away.
Dreaming about the freedom of a bygone wild era, when the nearest neighbor was a mile or many miles away, are not going to help us deal with today’s down to Earth problems and moving into the future. That past is gone.
Our County Commissioners owe it to La Plata County citizens, and to our democratic process to redouble their efforts and vocally reach out to the community, only through directly confronting the paranoid thinking being propagated by outside forces, can we hope to achieve a level playing field where rationality can once again prevail.
Appeal for calm and reasoned discussion about land code issues. Perhaps remind everyone about how the process works - the way all three of you witnessed it happening at the Breen Grange community meeting.
Rather than dumping our grievances on neighbors, people ought to be reminded to first learn about the facts regarding their concerns, then write out their grievances clearly, succinctly, then take them to the LaPlata Board of County Commissioners or planning committees*.
That’s how the American democratic process has worked for all these generations, protect our birthright.
A telling irony is that the recipient of this cowardly letter belongs to a generations old local ranching/farming family. Thank you for your time and hopefully interest and some sort of engagement with the irrationality bouncing around our county.
Best wishes,
* Breen Land Use Code Community Meeting - This Is What Democracy Looks Like !
(click on the images for clearer view)
If you received one of these please let me know,
comment or email, citizenschallenge at gmail
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