For the week of December 23 thru December 29, 1998  

Peace and good will


The announcement that organizers of a recall effort had failed to gather enough signatures to force a recall election for three members of the Ketchum City Council honored this season of peace and good will.

Ketchum and other valley cities will face a lot of difficult issues as the future unfolds. If residents—old, young, retired and working—can meet the future with good humor and good will, the valley will remain a great place to live.

Every disagreement should not provoke a recall election, or a lawsuit.

Disagreements on how and where to grow, whether the area must grow at all, what to spend and what to change are inevitable. It’s how residents handle them that will matter.

The test for everyone in the Wood River Valley will be the spirit in which we come together to solve problems.

In this latter part of the 20th Century, small mountain towns like ours are idealized. They have the reputation of being good places to be a family, where people care and reach out to one another when times get tough. It’s all true, but there’s another side.

The downside of small towns is that sometimes they are too small. Their politics can become petty and ugly and distance neighbor from neighbor.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing, but residents can disagree without being disagreeable.

The quality of life in our towns will not be determined only by planning and zoning nor will it be judged by whether the streets are free of potholes. It will depend on our ability to disagree honestly and honorably without poisoning daily life.

Happy holidays.

 

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