๐ P๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ M๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐:
We wonโt have final election results for at least a few more days, but I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect.
The question at the forefront of my mind today is, โDid our actions align with our values?โ
Too many folks who ran for local office have reported that they were stunned by the vitriol, and worse, that it had a deleterious effect on them and their families. Some candidates have said they felt isolated, unsupported, and depressed.
That should not be what happens when people choose to run for office, particularly in a small city like Chico. We donโt want to discourage good candidates, but just as importantly, we donโt want people in our community, whatever โsideโ they are on, to have terrible experiences. This isnโt who we are. Or at least it shouldnโt be.
Itโs appropriate to ask ourselves if we contributed to this environment.
It felt tricky to balance things, and it still does. How do you share relevant, yet negative information about a candidate without it feeling like a personal attack?
We donโt have paid consultants and we arenโt affiliated with any national group. We didnโt get any special training. We believed that our beloved community was under attack and that we needed to act. This group is about as grassroots as it gets.
Mostly, thatโs an advantage. We can be agile โ if we feel something is out of alignment with our values, we can say so, and we can change course. We arenโt beholden to anyone.
We will talk about our vision for moving forward in the coming weeks, but for now it feels important to invest some time to reflect on what weโve done so far.
๐๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ?
๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ?
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ?
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐?
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ?
Lastly, a big thanks to all of you who have been on this journey with us.
We hope you will remain engaged in the work and help us tackle the hard questions about our community as well as how we function as part of the community.
- Angela McLaughlin
