• The Ken Mayes Effect

Quick review of the Ken Mayes citizen’s meeting about the parks.

First,  nine people showed up. 

There are reasons that city officials couldn’t be there, so I get that… and I also know that this wasn’t planned for weeks or months. 

Still, 

N I N E 

people?  

Before anyone chirps that was because it was suggested by the oft vaunted “Wildomar Three” let me remind everyone of  last week’s Great Day of Service, where a city of nearly 33,000 people, couldn’t muster 500 volunteers on a beautiful Autumn morning. [That is NOT to denigrate the effort and the work done by those that put in the hours (so don't think I'm suggesting otherwise)... just an indictment of those that were too disconnected {read: lazy} to even know it was happening.]

Let's face it, Wildomar is no different than the rest of SoCal… where people have no clue what’s going on in their community… and they seem as happy as a pig in foshizzle in their ignorant bliss, yet are front and center to complain.  

C’est la vie.

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The Nuts and Bolts of It

 

Like any meeting of it’s kind, it took a awhile for it to find its bearings. First it was a history lesson of sorts, which was fine for me since the info was new to me; I was the greenhorn of the bunch. There was a relative amount of order, but there were also times where two people were speaking at once… which is always delightful. 

I only have two ears and they usually work as a team

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Early on, I heard Ken jokingly refer to it as a Bitch Session... which is eerily similar to how one FaceBook user predicted it might end up being.

There were no “sides” here. It was nice to see how well people interact when they are in person and not behind a screen on the net. 

There were agreements among some, and disagreements 

among others as each idea was mentioned. 

Communication and Respect go a long way to push a community forward. We need more of it… and less of places like the local privy The Patch and it’s wretched comment section. Something about a keyboard and a display that can sour the nicest of people, not to mention those of us prone to be edgy in the first place.

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What I came away with is that there is a desire for Wildomar to have a 
• Parks Commission,  
• Parks Committee [of non elected people]
• Parks Workshops
• Regularly scheduled public meetings on the parks, where actual public input is welcomed, invited and wanted.

Seems fair enough. We all share in Wildomar, and it makes sense to push for making things in a way that reflects the majority of the residents here. In all things really, but especially the parks.

My only question was,

 “Sounds nice, but how realistic is it that there will ever be a Parks Commission, Committee, or Workshop?”

Seriously... what's the over/under on any of it coming to fruition?

 

I just hate “Happy Talk” where a lot of ideas get bandied about, then promptly swept under the rug. The only way such things will come about is if people care enough to push for it.

If there's a downside to such things, please elaborate.

I like learning.

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Oh, and do I have to say that The Ken Mayes Effect is a play on the video editing term called The Ken Burns Effect? Tell me you picked up on that one right away... M'kay? 

Ken's a good guy, and it's fun to play with words.

• A Group of Concerned Citizens, or a Cabal From the Dark Side?

Let me start with this. I know that there are factions in our community that seem to have taken root since we became a city. Though I've lived here since 2001, and have paid some attention, I have no true understanding how the divisions came about, and at this point I'd only be getting one version or another of it... so I'm really not concerned with why this person doesn't respect that person.

I also can't imagine getting squeezed by one group for being on good terms with the "wrong people". Though, I have had a taste of that over at the Wildomar FaceBook Page a few times.

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With that out of the way.
 

Ken Mayes has called for there to be a meeting of concerned citizens.

Here is a reprint of Martha Bridges' post from Face Book:

Ken Mayes has asked me to invite everyone interested in the management of our parks to an open, citizen-based meeting this coming Sunday, November 3, 2013 at the public Wildomar Cemetery parking lot near the gazebo at 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcomed to come in their personal, unofficial capacity and contribute as we try to answer some of the questions Ken posed in his current Patch blog. 

Here is a link to Ken's blog.

This caused a bit of a firestorm over on the face book page. I'm not going to get into it... it's there for all to read. Though it's a "closed group" no one is going to prevent you from joining it. 

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Here's how I see the meet up.

No one is going to bite. No one will be fitted for cement shoes. There will be people of the community offering opinions. They [the opinions] may be contrary to yours, or you may be surprised and find you actually share common ground with them. Worse case scenario you'll have had a chance to gather some info first hand, and you'll carry on with the rest of your day as usual. 

Then again, in our nation, the order of the day is to dig in your heels and refuse to listen to the other side. The audacity of it all that there would be differing POVs.

I'm reminded of a quote from Bertrand Russell I found in one of my favorite books:

The Art of Argument by Giles St Aubyn.

 

"...Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid ... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man." 

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So, I'm being a bit over the top here when it comes

to the subject of an impromptu meeting about the city's parks.

That's just how I roll and the point is the same. 

Subjugate your preconceived notions and come see what's up. 

See you there.