Leave Your Pitchforks At The Door
It's been an interesting last few weeks since I announced my "insurgency" campaign for President of the Board of the Fenway Garden Society. My goal in all of this was to get a board in place that abided by the bylaws, however inconvenient that proved to be, and that members and the wider community could trust would be fair, impartial, and transparent.
Things got ugly almost immediately. But while some anonymous critics — or actually one anonymous critic, but I'm sure there are more out there — have charged me with "trashing" my opponent, the current VP of the Park, and others I'm sure blame me for stirring up this hornet's nest simply by choosing to run in the first place, I have from the get-go refrained from personal attacks.
I know there's a line. It took a lot of restraint not to cross it. Especially with an opponent who had no scruples about doing so himself and did so with gusto, and one who is especially vulnerable to personal attack, as mine is. But people are funny. Some see my simply pointing out that, say, David has called me a "pervert" in a widely circulated email as a personal attack — on David. I can't really speak to the logic of that but you see the sad results of the psychology of it everywhere in our society.
Just to recap. To say that your opponent lacks the communication or organizational skills to effectively carry out the job is not equivalent to calling your opponent a "pervert." Um, sorry. No. And I have to stress: there are plenty of names I could call David in return. But I haven't and I won't. And that's not a small thing. That's the basis of civil discourse. The foundation of a civil society.
And it's hard sometimes not to go there. But if you look back on it, there was no tit-for-tat here. No eye-for-an-eye. Like I said from the beginning, this is not about David St. Jean. This is about the Fenway Garden Society, a totally unique community in the heart of Boston whose strength is its diversity. Call me crazy, but I think you need a board that is committed to that basic premise.
How the meeting tomorrow will turn out is anybody's guess. From the beginning, David has threatened to disrupt it (though statements like "I will take volunteers from the floor" simply show a lack of basic understanding of how these meetings are conducted, and more specifically, who actually conducts them — it ain't the VP of the Park).
My hope is that we'll have an orderly and safe annual meeting (leave your pitchforks at the door), that everyone will refrain from personal attacks, and that whoever wins will have the cooperation of the other camp. We have some real challenges ahead. I'm confident that whatever the outcome, we can work together to meet them.
Posted by Mike Mennonno at 12/3/2010 9:48 AM 
Categories: The Agenda, Boston, That's So Boston!, The Naked Gardener, A Day in the Life
Categories: The Agenda, Boston, That's So Boston!, The Naked Gardener, A Day in the Life
I nearly always learn something, get a laugh, see a great pic or otherwise find very interesting things in your writing. But this local politics thing is getting old. You've lost your edge, you're consumed by an issue that is not on the national scale of what you usually write about. I'm giving up reading you until you get this down the block election out of your system. I hope you broaden your focus again, because generally I love your writing, your insight, your talent and your twisted view of life. Miss that a lot.
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I know, baby, I know. It's almost over.
But if you really look at it in the big, wide scheme of things, I've done nine posts in the last month on this. That's nine out of over 200 posts I've done on the Victory Gardens over the last four years.
If it's any consolation, I find comments like yours as tedious and irrelevant as you found this post. So I guess we're even :)
(Ooh! I think I'm getting my edge back!)
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With retorts like that you sound SO like Scott Smith at Bill in Exile.
Your election drama may be playing out in a small corner of Boston but, from what I have been able to gather, it's a microcosm of what had happened to the national political scene: lies, character assassination, scare tactics, and homophobia driven by paranoia.
This is all so very sad and a major problem in this country right now.
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What a drama, I hope you get elected!
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Thanks Linda!
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Volunteering to run any community organization is a big commitment. All the emotional mud slinging coming your way sounds horrendous. I am impressed with your ability to stand strong for civil discourse even in the face of personal attacks. It has been interesting to follow your journey, your writing as always is superb. Thanks for sharing and best of luck at the garden gathering for a sane and safe election.
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Thanks Frederick.
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Most importantly, though: have you decided what to wear? I know your tendency is 'nothing' but that probably won't be appropriate for this occasion. You can never go wrong with pearls, muted colors and clean, simple lines.
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Damn! I knew I forgot something! I was going to have my autumn fig leaf pressed!
What do you think about jeggings?
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too 'street'. Remember what you are running for. Maybe an updated Robin Hood ensemble? It's rugged, but with sufficiently known philosophical under-pinnings.
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You're thinking Errol Flynn, I bet. I don't know if I could pull that off. I could just about throw together a Russell Crowe with what I've got lying around.
Cross bow could definitely come in handy.
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The Crowe look is a better foil to your opponent's form of crazy, anyway - understated butch for the cause - excellent! Go Mike! Fight the Good Fight & all that!
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Unlike Jim, I've been quite riveted by the posts about this election, and am looking forward to hearing about the meeting and outcomes. I've also been really impressed by how seriously you've taken the matter, both in your candidacy and your response to the crazy.
Best of luck. You'd have my vote.
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Vote Mike! See ya tomorrow. If we brought pitchforks we could pose for multiple American Gothic take-off photos. That would be fun.
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Man is by nature a political animal. Aristotle
All politics is local. Tip O'Neill
Thank you kindly, Mike, for your detailed personal experience of the not-for-profit sector's election and campaigning process. If one hasn't had the pleasure and discomfiture of real involvement in a charity, one can't know the feeling. As one of your readers notes above, this election for the FGS Board is our recent national politics writ small. Which makes it even more elucidating of the present time. Best of luck from the Other Coast.
BTW I rather feel a sartorial ensemble from "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" might be more emblematic of your candidacy. The Midwestern roots and aw-shucks of Mr. Stewart may be somewhat removed from your current life, but, given the pilloring you've taken, a crypto-Trad / Brooks Bros. look might seduce the wavering. Just wear the jeggings under the grey flannels which you will remove for your acceptance speech.
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Didya win?!1?
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Read a bit more about the unfolding drama in this week's Courant. I think the whole incident is a hoot. I never would've guessed such drama lurked in the Fenway Garden's Society.
I'm hooked and enjoy reading about the transgressions and name calling its like a Latin Novella.
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