Am I a keyboard warrior?
The term was used by Mayor Tom Sidney to describe somebody, or somebodies, who level commentary and/or criticism of Council decisions, actions, inactions, and procedures.
It would seem that, by this comment, the mayor is demonstrating the possibility that such commentary, from whatever source or sources, is starting to strike a bit of a nerve, if that nerve hasn’t been tweaked before.
The comment came as Council was discussing debt load, debentures, and possible impact on rate levies, which is municipal-speak for the amount of money you pay in property taxes.
First, nobody likes taxes, although without them we’d have no services, so it’s pretty much accepted by the citizenry as a necessary evil. Where people almost always get agitated is when those taxes, or levies, rise, because if they hated taxes before, a raise in a tax makes people hate them even more. Double-digit increases get them red in the face, and levies that potentially represent 20+ percentage points of increase get them both hopping mad and red in the face at the same time, and that’s entirely understandable.
When those double-digit increases come as a result of potential malpractice, or incompetence, or possible malfeasance, or just a fumbledy-dumbledy approach to municipal affairs, then one can cut those ratepayers a little bit of slack when it comes to how they might react. I’d suggest that if property tax increases price a family out of their home, or make it more difficult for them to sell their home, then a certain amount of displeasure, or even anger may reasonably be expected and understood.
And it wouldn’t, nor should it, come as any surprise that people thusly impacted may share their anger and displeasure using any avenue available to them, and in today’s reality, social media would rank right up there as a place where disaffected taxpayers could articulate their feelings and share their situations, but also find a community of like-minded individuals similarly affected.
By doing so, if I interpret correctly, would that qualify them as keyboard warriors?
It can’t be me he’s referring to because I don’t think he cares to read my stuff, nor has he responded to any prior outreach efforts. So it’s not me. And if it is, he certainly knows where to find me. Hell, I sit in his direct line of sight every other Tuesday night, so if he’s willing to clear things up and be forthcoming about a lot of things, I’m more than open to that.
So it can’t be me.
But somebody out there, some group of somebodies out there, have come to his attention in a less than perfect way, and it’s moved him to make comments that come across as defensive in nature, in that he feels that a lot of the community criticism is directed at him personally, perhaps more so that anyone else.
He may be right.
I wonder if a keyboard warrior is something else, something worse, a person who just wants to show up and muddy the waters as much as they possibly can, ostensibly to satisfy some notion or desire to be an obstructionist? In short, to be a disturber of the stuff.
Or can it be something even worse still?
Perhaps the work of a “coward” with no skin or risk in the game, who doesn’t have the fortitude to stand up and put their own name forward, perhaps stand for public office themselves? Is this then a challenge to put-up or shut-up?
That would be an easy gauntlet to throw down for a guy likely twenty months away from being an ex-mayor of Renfrew. Sure he could run again, maybe out of spite, maybe as a spoiler, maybe just as a last, poorly thought-out desire to go down swinging on that hill, a local version of George Armstrong Custer, fighting to the last against overwhelming odds against a Sioux and Cheyenne opponent he badly underestimated.
Sidney’s Last Stand.
Has a ring to it to be sure, but I’m not a candidate for the movie, and the book I’m sure would be tedious. But at least like Custer, he’ll get his picture on a wall somewhere.
Instead of making defensive noises of protest, why doesn’t he have what it takes to reach deep down inside himself and understand that when you’re not as forthcoming and as open or transparent as you like to advertise yourself as being, people are going to take that informational vacuum and attempt to fill it. Nature, after all, abhors a vacuum, but that’s precisely what’s on offer from this mayor and his senior civil servants. Even councillors suffer from this disinclination to communicate to varying degrees, but nothing like the guy with the chain bling.
If the mayor’s going to complain about people not getting their facts straight, maybe he might consider helping them do so. After all, it’s all about openness and transparency, right? Aren’t those the watchwords for this group under his leadership? Sadly, though, those concepts are more often than not a big box of lip service, with a pretty bow holding it closed so nobody can see what’s really inside.
What he really doesn’t like is people reaching inside and feeling around for something of substance, as if they’re not worthy of receiving the information items hidden within.
I could certainly see being closed and confidential in any area where there is pending or current legal proceedings taking place, but all it would take is the old and proven “I can’t answer that question on the advice of the municipal attorney,” or “that’s a matter currently under investigation so I can’t comment.” You know, stuff like that.
But nothing. Just no response at all. And I’m not the only one that’s received the silent treatment from the mayor’s office. So I have to ask, what in blazes does he do all day, where he doesn’t have time to respond to citizen outreach? Or does he get that much of it? Granted, I’m not a citizen of Renfrew, living barely on the other side of the sign, but what about all the other folks, Renfrew folks, I’ve heard complain about not even being recognized? What about them?
As for me, my residency status can be as fluid as the next fellow’s. Would a move to Renfrew make me better qualified to be accorded some basic respect?
We can’t all be mayor, there’s only one chair for that. And we can’t all be on council, because there’s only six other chairs for that. So through your line of reasoning, should the rest of us just shut up and know our place because we’re not there in the trenches alongside you and the others? Should we just remain outside the locked store with our noses pressed up against the glass hoping to get a glimpse of something inside?
Thank heavens he’s talking about you and not me. It can’t be me. I’m too nice a guy.
So it’s you.
And you should know your place.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 