Steve Mensing, Editor (Originally published in the RFP on November 7th 2013. The conflict that day still reverberates even though “mutually terminated” Doug Paris is gone and Jim Sides will go into political hibernation this winter.)
♦ Probably no one is more privy to what happened last Saturday morning at the Republican Men’s Club Meeting than myself. After all I’m the Republican Men’s Club Breakfast President and emailed and Facebooked out invitations and post public announcements about it in the RFP. Our Rowan County GOP also sends out announcements about it. I moderate what goes on during political discussions with our local officials. Anyone is welcome to attend-–we’re not exclusive to Republicans. Last Saturday we had a Democrat and a few unaffiliateds attended. I invited my good friend Jeff Morris, a Democrat and alderman from Spencer. The event is always free and open to the public.
I was glad when Doug Paris showed up-–I knew he could add to the discussion. He did and he’s always invited back. I enjoy open channels and am not adverse one bit to political conflict and the public airing of it. That’s why free speech exists in our country. In fact I profoundly dislike any move to suppress conflict and its sometimes uncomfortable speech. Doing so creates false harmony and dishonesty. Folks don’t need to be name calling or be rude–but it happens–it’s part of the human condition. I have a temper and have been blunt over the years, but I do my best to be diplomatic in asserting my “unassailable” positions. I’ve gotten better at diplomacy.
I didn’t know Doug was coming. That came as a pleasant surprise. The moment I spotted him out in Ryan’s food area, I sensed the morning would be stimulating if he entered the discussions. We have our fair share of city and county Republicans who are not huge fans of the Salisbury city government and their municipal broadband “challenge”. I warmed to the idea of a collision between a mammoth iceberg and a volcano out in mid ocean. (I enjoy disaster documentaries and how people handle the aftermath)
I greeted Doug out in Ryan’s food area. “Doug–you coming over to the Republican Men’s Breakfast?”
“I was invited,” he said. “I hope I can say something on behalf of the city.”
“Certainly. Thanks for showing up at the devil’s den.”
Doug laughed, peering at the great heaps of food in the all-you-can-eat breakfast display.
“Steve,” he said. “When you were a kid did you have favorite football rivalries?”
“The Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. THAT was a rivalry.”
“Didn’t that rivalry make it more exciting when those two teams met?”
“No doubt. The same in politics–the conflict between views is not only engaging–it leads to a better product. Hopefully folks with differing viewpoints get to examine their own and refine them in the light of competing input. It goes both ways.”
Know that County Commissioner Jim Sides and Craig Pierce were not frustrated that Doug Paris showed up. They were irritated with two major items that Doug’s read on the Mall purchase brought out. Jim and Craig carried a history with Doug and the city meddling with the county’s jurisdictional areas such as the county airport, the central office, and after that morning the Salisbury Mall. What raised the burners higher during the early exchanges Saturday was that Jim and Craig heard Doug release information from a closed-session county commission meeting. Obviously someone within that meeting violated closed-session policy and passed it on to Doug. It certainly wasn’t Gary Page, Jim Sides, Chad Mitchell, Craig Pierce, or Mike Caskey. Clearly Saturday morning’s perceived invasion of jurisdictional boundaries as well as a betrayal of closed-session confidences fueled Jim and Craig’s annoyance. I don’t blame them for their emotional reaction. Maybe it would make them ill-suited for the diplomatic corps–but they’re county commissioners and you’d expect them to draw a quick line in the sand for county interests. Doug likely attended because the moving of county offices would create some major vacancy challenges in the already struggling downtown area.
Saturdays discussions were genuine. People in political life and its bystanders need to have tough skins. When people ask me: “Why didn’t you stop them?” I say: “Why? They were really talking.” By the way its a myth that contention between the cities and the counties keep businesses from locating in an area. These small battles go on across our nation at any given time. And even in the most prosperous areas.
Perhaps at the next meeting they may need to talk about where the county’s boundaries start and where Salisbury’s stops. And the release of information from a closed session was not meant to be publically aired. It could interfere with negotiations. Should it be mentioned next time? The person, who released this information against rules for closed sessions, needs to face consequences.
Saturday morning’s Republican Men’s Club meeting brought to light the very basic conflict between Salisbury’s government and the county government. Right now it centers on the 329 S. Main where the county commissioners won’t okay a loan. With the “No Further Action” letter said to be available, the majority of the county commissioners view the lot as too small and lacking in expandability. It also contains 38 feet of backfill with the water table running through it, making it more expensive to build upon with Geo-pier adjustments and may create future instability. Where’s the parking spots? Also the chronic attacks by city council, Paris, the Post, and some members of the school board was counter-productive. Quite naturally the county commissioners resisted the overzealous push.
A Central Office won’t be going to 329 S. Main unless the city makes some incredible “let’s make a deal” concessions. Most people in the county support the commissioner’s position. They don’t want a Taj Mahal–they want a practical cost effective building. At this time the DSS property off of West Innes offers the most advantages.
In the interim we look forward to more square offs between the county and the city at our meetings. Perhaps something more fruitful than the political edification and entertainment of our attendees will occur. The airing of conflict is good, its suppression is not. Within any conflict resides a sleeping resolution. I’ve witnessed it many times in my life. Public forums can make a good incubator.
See you December 7th at Ryan’s. Does December 7th sound familiar?
Rick Johnson’s video of Doug Paris’s visit to the Republican Men’s Club Breakfast:
