Out Cold
Kip Ward
Posted: 09.27.2009 / 4:20 PM PDT
I love Lincoln City. For those of you who haven’t ever experienced a small town; you don’t know what you are missing. And you can’t just move here for six months and experience all of the subtleties that marble their way through the community. Like a good steak, small towns are best enjoyed with friends, slowly a bite at a time.
I welcome new people to our community; with very few exceptions we were all new here once. A lot of the people who move here are escaping something. Most are sick of the city and the rat race, and some are just trying to escape themselves. Good luck with that.
It’s the new people who give this town its pulse. They are full of new ways and ideas, but ironically in at least some measure they try earnestly to re-create the very things from which they are trying to escape. Fortunately most of the new stuff doesn’t stick, but some does and for the most part that’s good too.
We have a hands-on democracy here. And we take it for granted. If you want to be on the city council most likely you can. The mayoral post is a little tougher to get but realistically it is not beyond anyone’s grasp that would want it badly enough. Even if you are a complete Bozo, if you have something to say the council makes time for you at the beginning of each session. Most town people know at least one or two of their representatives personally and feel free to complain to them at will.
We can’t fathom the idea of special interest groups or lobbyists. I guess we don’t see them because they don’t believe that there are spoils worth taking in this tiny town.
I would disagree. There is plenty here that has value. Our city’s budget is balanced and our leaders for the most part are trusted even though they are not always in agreement with some of us. But unfortunately those aren’t the type of spoils that the special interest groups are after.
As a community we are struggling together to get through this great recession and in the process have gotten closer. We are helping each other, rather than calling each other liars and shouting one other down. Certainly we have our disagreements but there are no special interest groups that are trying to stir the pot. I think that’s how a community and a democracy are supposed to work.
Winter is coming and we have our hands full here just trying to get by, but most of us still have time to be resentful when it comes to the politics as usual in Washington. Most people feel that our democracy at least on the national level has slipped away, and that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people is accurate only if “the people” have money and an agenda. And that just leaves us cold.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Nice, Kip. The only comment I’d make is that it’s not a positive aspect of our community that it’s so easy to get on city council. I read of past years, when 8 or 9 candidates entered a race for a council seat, and wonder why we’ve become so disinterested. The dangers of this lack of interest range from being stuck with any joker that opts to throw his or her hat into the ring, to watching a council hand-pick its successors, secure in the knowledge that none will step up to challenge the status quo. Hopefully, such a relaxed attitude is a sign that we’re all pleased as punch about city hall and that, when that changes, so will our level of involvement. I say all this as one who’s very proud of the sitting council, and its achievements in areas ranging from the environment to gay rights - issues most local governments wouldn’t dare address in the first place.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
What we have with city council is a group that is all for making a dollar, anyones dollar, anyway and paving streets and parking lots and acting like they care about the environment but the **** with people.
Now looking at building their own bridge to nowhere for another $400k along with an ODOT grant, how about another $200k waterslide at the community center, or over $200k for the mayor to soak in a hot tub with eleven other people who agree with her.
Some left leaning bunch this is, suck up all the tax money and spend spend spend while people starve strave strave and proudly proclaim the city donates to the food pantry.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I have been a property owner in Lincoln City for 18 years and have watched things change over that time.
The reference to a waterslide drives me crazy. Why would anyone want to support more development of the fake, waterpark type. We have the ocean, bays, rivers and mountains. The traffic is intense during weekends and summer now. There is nothing good that can come from a waterslide or water park. Plus as cold as it is most of the year, including summer, a water park is just dumb.
Talk to your friends and convince others to value the existing beauty of our community. We do not need to import silly ideas to benefit from tourists, or create jobs. The natural features of the coast of Oregon provide a bounty that can not be improved.