My wake-up call

Up until 2001 I must confess I didn’t have a whole lot of interest in politics. It was tucked into newscasts, sucked up a few columns of the local newspapers and an occasional sound bite in a diner but so were alot of other things I had no interest in.

Like most of us, life was packed with interests, adventures and obligations. It was all around me but I had no way in . But as we all have come to learn these things happen and eventually makes it’s way to our door. Politics and it’s ramifications is no different and on a balmy summer afternoon in July of 2001 It made it’s way to mine.

It all happened an early summer day. I recall just finishing a nice cup of tea that afternoon and was on my way to the porch for a sit. It was just before dinner when the smells of summer breezes co-mingle with fresh garden salads and the barbecue grill. I was fully immersed in my placid, idyllic rural life when a strange car pulled in the driveway.

Out of this car a woman walked up to the door with what I can describe as a determined face. It was a neighbor, one I had never met and quite frankly never seen. She cautiously introduced herself and proceeded to level me with the information that forever altered my life’s path.

”Do you know about the mine,” she asked.

Huh? A mine? What mine?. It was a bizarre and abstract question. It had no place in a warm summer afternoon. It did not fit in a conversation between two newly acquainted neighbors. But it was there, bigger than the both of us and was about to pierce this beautiful summer day with each emerging detail.

I took a deep breath, got out the tea mugs, sat down with her. She began with the story of a plan to build a few luxury homes around a beautiful glistening lake up on the mountain. As the details were eventually leaked out. The excavation that would take place would actually be exposed as mining, that for 20 years that would yield a nice big hole which would later be filled with all that glistening water and THEN a luxury house or two would be built around it. Nice plan if you are making huge sums of cash selling the bluestone while your neighbors endure 20 years of blasting and 100 dump trucks a day roaring down your road with dozens of other complications this would bring. Oh and here is the kicker. The miner wouldn’t actually NOT be a neighbor but all the while miner would be nestled in his luxurious home in Westchester County with his new cash crop filling his bank account.

And to replace some of the shock with anger, it had surfaced that the project had slowly and carefully morphed into a full blown mining project with the shadowed support of some town officials.

Only 2 years earlier, I had bought this house.This was my first house.To enjoy with my family so the prospects of withstanding blasting and dump trucks and bad air wafting through my screen door for 20 years was not a good thing. What choice did I have? I had to do something.

I offered the only thing that I could. A website and some time. This I could do.
Within a couple days I had the “Stop the Mine” website up and running.My initial idea was a splash page with some changing information. Simple enough.Right away knew this wouldn’t do the trick. Trying not to reinvent the wheel, I searched the internet for related sites. Not a whole lot to draw from at that time. What I found were pages that only scientists and corporate lawyers could understand. This wouldnt do. I realized that the issue was so complex it really needed to be geared to the people I wanted to reach.... the community. There was a sense of urgency and time was running out as the mining proposal had snuck through several hoops while myself and others around me were unaware.

From there I hybridized everything I knew to get this thing out there and make it work. From logo to logistics there was a galaxy of informaton to present, create and make a page for, keeping in mind the diverse eyes of the community.My computer and I had become fused together for this new daunting challenge.

Very quickly information arrived. Emailed and hand delivered. From the juiciest insiders tips to the driest DEC documents trickling infrom this newly formed hard-working Stop the Mine neighborhood group. Everything was transcribed and scanned often within minutes of getting it to put it up on the website for the new curious and soon to become hungry audience.

I took pictures, others added to them. They were real-time evidence of what was going on and author and photo credits let the powers-that-be know there were others, then many more that were involved. We had very quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

Then I added what was to become my signature contribution: the artwork. Not fine art, a bit clunky actually, but it broke up the endless lines of text that though very important, not what any would call fun reading. So I added snappy headlines , a graph or a a humorous photo composition with the help of my best friend Photoshop. I was able to both inform as well as humor the audience. I knew this was working as the hit counter climbed and newspapers, town officials and our opposition’s legal team scrutinized the information posted.

From this I learned early on facts trumped any emotional rhetoric. I was paying attention and learning every day. Initially I was reluctant to invest too much time in the graphics. The people supplying me text could have cared less. What’s art got to do with it????
As I confirmed later...much more than anyone thought.

I grasped all that and more but it was the “politics” that were the challenge. To some politics are more intuitive. To me it was a challenge because it, more often than not, defies all laws of common sense. When answers and solutions seemed so apparent, it could be minimized by the action or lack of action of a public official. But even with the political wild card, pressure and perserverence by the community is a relentless stress on their ways and ultimately can and will jeopardize their positions and they are fully aware of that. Eventually it all comes down to votes. When informed and active a community has a real place at the table.. The bigger challenge is to make them aware of this and give them the tools and show them some movement.

Today, much more than in 2001 communities are very comfortable using the internet. With the unfortunate demise of many smaller local newspapers,websites and blogs are supplying the main body of public information. We have far more access to information than we ever have had and with that comes a responsibility to return the focus back to the community.

Community building through the web has been an invigoratiing and fulfilling experience. It has been a great opportunity to work with the people that make a difference in their communities. My guess is that you too are either one of them or have an interest in becoming one. If so please feel free to contact me and let’s talk. Your community problems may have solutions that are closer than you think. You could just be a cup of coffee (or tea) away.

Regards,
Ed Doyle

Work List

First Steps

Petitions

Addressing
Public Officials

Staying UN-political but effective

Keeping it fun

Thirteen cures for
Bad Meeting Syndrome