Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The 120 Minute Hate


 Jim Riticher's town hall meeting was captured on video and posted to YouTube last night.

I would have made this event last night in person except my other half got home from work late.

Today is the first day since 2008 that my faith in the future of Dunwoody has wavered.  Ironically, only a few days after we celebrated Dunwoody's 5th anniversary as an incorporated city.

Watch the videos.  Take a good look at the faces and catch the names of the people talking.

If you think or live differently than they do, in the slightest way.  They hate you.

Read that one more time.

THESE. PEOPLE. HATE. YOU.

They are "The People".  If your opinion is different, you are not "the people".  You are an unperson.  Your voice does not deserve to be heard or acted upon by city government.  Your priorities are either unimportant or harmful to THEIR community.

I invited Jim Riticher to respond to a couple of questions I posed to all candidates during the election.  He blew it off.  I must be an unperson too.

There is to be no compromise and no coexistence between residents of different lifestyles.  The zoning rewrite attempted that compromise to maximize differing rights while protecting everyone's lifestyles.  It was unceremoniously thrown back in the faces of all who worked to compose and ratify it.

In the past, I've heard stories of some Dunwoody residents who moved away because their POV was dismissed.  Until this morning I thought that reaction was childish, even selfish.  "Just be a good example right where you are."  That's a lot harder to do than to say and I learned not to judge those who decided to leave.  Group hate is a hard thing to overcome by emulating the examples of Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, King, etc.

I'm going to continue to be a good neighbor, a good homeowner, and a good business owner, without asking permission to do so from this crowd.

Many prayers for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Update:  for the members in this audience who are concerned about the public release of the charter commission's report, the link to the document is the top button of the green vertical menu on almost ever page of the city website.

http://dunwoodyga.gov/home/Project-Details/13-10-11/Dunwoody_Charter_Commission_Final_Report-1811818886.aspx

2 comments:

Kerry de Vallette said...

He blew me off as well Adrienne. Both of Jim's opponents responded with timely and thoughtful responses. There are a lot of our citizens that do not understand how government operates and their "hate" is built on their ignorance.

Wise Acre said...

"THESE. PEOPLE. HATE. YOU."

Not sure if that is entirely correct, I'm thinking that their hatred was directed towards the few bloggers that make smart aleck comments about them (which you could probably include some of your posts in that category, though it's doubtful that very many people read your blog), but I do have to admit has to be pretty easy, as they didn't impress me as being the brightest bulbs in the neon sign. I watched the videos and that was my impression as to where they were directing their ire. But you probably know these folks better I've only lived here nine years.