Chair
Thoughts
by
Larry Modell, August 5, 2004
What does Petaluma Tomorrow value? What do we stand for?
The best short answer is our mission statement: "To work for open government, responsible development and sustainable watershed management, and to support candidates who best represent these ideals and are responsive to the community."
I'd like to go beyond that to explore a series of key phrases that come up again and again in discussions among Petaluma Tomorrow's board and membership, and comment on what I think they mean to us. These phrases, in addition to our mission statement, describe a set of core values for our organization.
Community.
This word has many connotations, all good. It suggests neighborliness, compassion, and tolerance. It emphasizes what we have in common, as opposed to what divides us. And it connotes a sense of place and, in both a colloquial and scientific sense (e.g., "the plant community of the Petaluma marsh"). Whatever "community" means to you, I think without exception, we want to protect and strengthen it.Democracy.
Related to the "open government" in our mission statement, but it goes further. A healthy democracy is participatory, where people keep informed about, and actively shape, the civic and political life of their community. Democracy also implies a fair and equitable distribution of political power and influence among the population, so that all voices are heard equally (this is the philosophical basis of our current interest in campaign finance reform). We invariably come down on the side of vibrant, participatory democracy for our community as opposed to, say, autocracy, oligarchy, or "passive democracy" where people may vote, but do little else in terms of governing themselves.Public interest.
Also "public benefit." Some issues can properly be viewed as pitting the broad public interest against narrow private interests. On such issues, we have a strong predilection toward favoring the broad public interest. Note that "private interests" generally means material interests, not individual civil and human rights which, taken together, constitute a public interest (and are also integral to democracy). Sometimes public interests collide, and when they do, we value the longer term public interest over the shorter term, as suggested by the word "sustainable" in our mission statement.The commons.
Originally (and sometimes, still), this refers to land shared by everyone in the community, as was typical in much of Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution, and in many other parts of the world. Now this term is broadly applied to everything not privately owned, which has public ownership or stewardship. This includes tangible "assets" like public buildings, roads, major waterways, and parks, and also intangibles such as language and culture, the climate, and the genetic information of life forms. Almost every aspect of the commons is currently under threat by privatizing forces. We feel a fundamental responsibility to defend the commons, in the public interest, from such threats.These overlapping concepts, along with our mission statement, help Petaluma Tomorrow decide what positions to take on local issues, and how to prioritize our activities. They are, in effect, our lodestar. If they are your lodestar as well, we invite you to join us in the important and exciting work ahead.
Please send me your comments on these thoughts.
Larry Modell
Chair, Petaluma Tomorrow
