[MissoulaGov] Thoughts on Civil Discourse... and my neighbors.

[Jordan Hess]

Hi John and all,

I agree that the character on 11th street might need some interpersonal
skills training, but I think that it was incredibly inappropriate for city
staff to speculate about Mr. Reed publicly in the Missoulian.  Sure, he
sounds like a complete nut, but for the chief of police and the city
attorney to publicly suggest that Reed has a mental disorder seems to me
like a violation of Reed's privacy and an attack on his character of a
magnitude not appropriate for an audience of a couple tens of thousands of
readers.

It would be okay for Chief Muir to outline past police actions regarding the
man in question, but he crosses the line with this: "Part of what's going on
here might be mental health issues..."

Similarly, it would have been perfectly appropriate for City Atty Nugent to
mention the letter sent to Reed and past actions against him, but he too
goes too far by saying: "This man really needs some help..."

While these types of statements are probably well founded, it shouldn't be
the place of high-level city staff to publicly denounce Reed's character,
turning the local paper into a gossip mill.  Am I off-base, or was this over
the line?

A little off topic for this list, but certainly pertaining to the state of
our city government.

Best,
Jordan Hess




On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 1:10 PM, JOHN WOLVERTON <yodelingdog at hotmail.com>wrote:


> Hey Brent,

>

> About:

> "...Pier Massimo Forni is a peacemaker, not between nations,

> rather on the fundamental level of individual personal relations. He's

> not a therapist, psychiatrist, or such. He's a master of the

> ameliorative skills that are as old as human society and, to him, more

> productive of social harmony than most people realize.

> We're talking about manners, courtesy, civility."

>

>

> Sounds like good stuff. Maybe you could convince Mr. Forni to have a visit

> with that guy on 11th street who is making my neighbors' lives so miserable.

>

> Regards,

> John Wolverton

>

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