This is a great post and I really wanted to bump it.Kate McCarthy wrote:Although this quote is from a book on how to protect yourself from violence, it really resonated to me as relevant to the current state of our city.
“We must learn and then teach our children that niceness does not equal goodness. Niceness is a decision, a strategy of social interaction; it is not a character trait. People seeking to control others almost always present the image of a nice person in the beginning. Niceness often always has a discoverable motive.” The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
So if you stumble upon the "nice" Lakewood community page, consider yourself warned.
Whenever I think about how Lakewood is governed , I think of those Apostles of Niceness- Summers, Madigan, Siley, Pae, Beebe, who's only refuge is decorum and a smile, having long ago forfeited any claim on truth and transparency.
I picture them in the " For the Greater Good " scene in the movie 'Hot Fuzz". Huddled together ( not in the woods, like the movie) but in that broom closet City Council calls home. Chanting ... For the Greater Good....For the Greater Good....For the Greater Good.