Civil Society

submitted by: Jay Jones

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As a teenager growing up on 200 West Street in Cedar City in the mid-1970’s, I remember Kerry Jones, who was then the mayor, commenting on an experience in local government.

Kerry told about a recent city council meeting where someone was petitioning the council on a matter of some kind. When the council started asking questions about the proposal, the person making the appeal responded with angry words and ugly accusations. The mayor told the irate citizen to calm down and to come back to the next council meeting to discuss the situation with a reasonable attitude and the council would make an honest attempt to come to a fair decision. They would not tolerate another outburst, nor consent to the request based on the bad behavior.

Kerry said that too many people believe that the way to get what they want is to throw a fit and resort to bad behavior. For example, when a child throws a tantrum in a grocery store, some parents will buy a treat to quiet the child down. The child learns that bad behavior can result in a reward. However, this leaves a type of scar on the child. Public officials sometimes cave in to the loudest or angriest voices instead of making decisions based on sound principles and the public interest.

While it may appear that bad behavior yields good results, it is a short-sighted approach. Greater long term success and happiness usually comes from working with others in a positive and constructive way.