Thomas Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence that people will tolerate innumerable wrongs before they stand up against them. The corollary also seems true, that people who are happy or in agreement with certain policies will say nothing in their support, while the few opponents rent the air with their objections and criticisms.
This happens often. How many times have you done a great job or had a great idea and received not one word of thanks or support? And then when you make one minor misstep or controversial idea, people seem to come out of nowhere to criticize you?
We feel this…complacency, this silent agreement, is occurring concerning the proposed Fennell Street fire station renovation project. At the two village operations meetings on the subject, less than a handful of residents attended and 90 percent of them vocally opposed and criticized the idea of moving village hall. That small vocal opposition has also been heard outside the meeting room walls.
The board of trustees has asked residents to offer up their opinions on the proposed project. How many have they received? One. And yet, in our conversations and experiences around the village, it appears the majority of residents are heartily in favor of the idea.
If this is as true as it appears, why is nobody telling the village board? The board seeks to act in our best interests, but they cannot do so if they do not know what our interests are because we do not tell them.
Agreement and praise need to be voiced in a community just as much as opposition and criticism.
While we support the Fennell Street fire station project, our concern is not so much about that as it is about community participation. Opposition is not only good but necessary, but for an idea or project to possibly fail because the apparent minority is vocal and the apparent majority is complacently silent — that is communally irresponsible.
We continue to encourage village residents to voice their opinions on this proposed project, call or email the village trustees, send us letters to the editor or attend village board meetings. The next board meeting is this Thursday, Feb. 9, and this issue is expected to be discussed.
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