Conflict in College Station

In a recent comment on this Blog City Council candidate Derek Dictson commented,

I do not like the fact that our city has become driven by conflict and quarrel. We consistently have the East Side vs. the West Side; Students vs. Retirees; City vs. ETJ; Developers vs. Neighborhoods; and on and on with little serious dialogue or effort at understanding and compromise by any of the parties.

While I am not familiar with a dispute between East and West Side residents, Derek’s point is well taken.

He goes on to say,

We have far too much going for us as a community to be reduced to potentially harmful reactionary public policy or gridlock on critical issues that we must get right if we want to accomplish our common goals.

Again this is well said. We have the opportunity for many win-win situations in College Station if we can remain mindful of the dynamics of good community dialog.

There is more to it than the over simplified Rodney King approach of “can’t we just all get along.” It is important to look for those win-win opportunities where change can be created that everyone agrees with. It is also important to stay respectful so that those opportunities are not obscured by polarity. And it is important to state and defend ideas with conviction so that we become well served by the best ideas. It would be a mistake to make the Place One race that race between the nice man with the charming voice against that nice young man with the good hair. There is much more at stake here.