Did some one just kick a sleeping dog?

...Three Rivers has finally changed their website to update the trait...

Did you also catch the Poll Question regarding the sidewalk millage? Seems 4 people have already.

No I missed that but am going to take a look at it now. Thanks for the heads up! I do not know all the facts about this subject but my gut tells me that if it needs to be done, now is the time to do it.

Maybe the dog got kicked again tonight at the commission meeting. Did anyone notice what was said about the former city message board and the reasons that 2 particular commissioners gave for keeping it gone? I believe the words, garbage,slanderous,junk were used. Man, I just can't believe it.

Just call me the trash man!

Daryl, who is alienating who? They called us hostile, they called us troublemakers, and they claimed we were only rabble-rousers looking to cause them grief. They chose to ignore us in the hopes that we would go away.

Well we didn't go away and now we have the only interactive forum concerning the issues that face Three Rivers. In reality the permanent removal of the TR forum is a win win situation for Liberty1st. The competition just took themselves outa the game and it can now be said that the people of Three Rivers truly have a place where they can freely speak their mind, anonymously or not.

Buck

THREE RIVERS CITY COMMISSION VOTES 4-2 TO DISCONTINUE THE CITY WEBSITE FORUM:
Wow, I'm not sure if I was speechless last night or just to pissed off to speak. In a way I am now relieved Commissioner Keith won the First District election last year. At this moment I can think of nothing worse than being part of the commission that removed the city website forum. I can say only this to Gretta and Kurt, hang in there. Come November I (or Ronda) WILL be a part of the commission that reinstates it.

To Commissioner Baker: In the same paragraph of speech you said "I am against censorship" and I don't like what's being posted and I'd just soon discontinue it (the forum). Removing this forum because you did not like what was being said there, regardless if it one posting or many, is censorship.

To Commissioner Schneider: You indicate your opposition was to the anonymity offered and the negativity found there. Yes, the internet is anonymous, yes there is negativity, always has, always will be. You, I and every other surfer out there has to learn to weed through the crap and decide what information to discard and what deserves our attention. The Usenet is currently comprised of over fifty thousand discussion groups not to mention the forums that exist on many sites. Anonymity seems to be a manageable issue for all of them. The internet is here to stay; I would strongly suggest you learn to use it and give credit to others for being able to do so. As for the negativity, you are absolutely right. It is prevalent and it can be discouraging. On many occasions and many issues including Character First those negative people have been begging you to post your views and thoughts, to defend your positions. I believe that if one is unable or unwilling to defend ones beliefs perhaps it is time they be re-examined.

To Commissioner Keith: I will be in contact with you to find out your opinion on this. If I recall you were not in favor of a permanently unplugging it.

To Mayor Lowry: We all knew going into this where Commissioners Baker, Schneider, Webb and Schermerhorn stood on the issue. It was your stance that truly surprised me. I am dumfounded how some one with such a love for literature could even contemplate squelching the speech of another, dissenting or otherwise. I truly hope that before this issue is re-addressed I am able to convince you the travesty that occurred last evening.

I pose these thought to all of you.
A man stands on a street corner screaming at the top of his lungs that the government is trying to hush him.
If it is not true, he is a radical.
If it is true, he is a victim.

And last but not least:
I indicated this before when the city website forum was to be "temporarily" disabled. The single net effect of the 4-2 decision of the commission last evening was to relinquishing all control over the discussion forum for the city of Three Rivers. It is still thriving, still full of opinions (radical and otherwise), still all negative on some issues, but still there. If you do not believe this go to www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, etc. and type in the search string "Three Rivers MI forum" and click on the search button and follow the first hit atop the first page of results.

Daryl Griffith
A saddened candidate for Commissioner-At-Large
www.beam.to/griffith

Buck and TR Blue Collar,

There is indeed a fine line between attacking a person (or commissioner) and the issues they support. I hope I have stayed on the right side of that little ethical line I drew in the sand. The point I make is be aware not only of the regualar audiance you see here, but those I would, for lack of a better term, label "mainstream" that read but remain silent. Those are your target audience, those are the people you need to convince. Then again I don't know everything...

Daryl Griffith
Candidate for Commissioner-At-Large
www.beam.to/griffith

Excellent posts Daryl! It is truly a pleasure to me when people can disagree, as a matter of principle and do it with honor. You have done both and I commend you for it.

As I watched the commission meeting and heard what specifically Mr. Baker, was saying, and then Scott, I started to think that their fear of being criticized is only half the problem. The other half is their fear of technology.

I don't think they get how powerful a tool the Internet can be. I have said before that the Internet it is the great equalizer when it comes to political expression. Not even the president can force you to read what he has to say. On the Internet we have to compete for the peopl's attention and power, money and marketing don't necessarily apply to getting and keeping those attentions.