IT’S FIVE O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE
Officials at Rotan ISD set a respectfully high bar earlier this week, as they are the first entity or organization that voluntarily opened themselves to largescale public criticism. It takes courage to engage in internal reflection.
Asking a random group of strangers to give unbiased feedback on your performance takes more than courage, it takes conviction.
Rotan ISD, like other school districts, has historically sent out written surveys as well as conducted surveys in digital formats to gauge public evaluations. In most situations, the public simply must trust that their evaluations are being read and considered.
Choosing to lock yourself in a basement with more than 30 critics and not leave until hearing each of their assessments, I think displays a willingness to engage with the community that is a breath of fresh air in Rotan, as uncomfortable of a breath as it to take.
I both attended and participated in Tuesday night’s meeting where the community assisted in conducting the district’s SWOT analysis. One would figure school officials would receive enough of my opinion through my editorial commentary, but mistakenly or not, I received an invitation, and remaining silent when asked what I think is like a cartoon character struggling not to complete Shave-and-a-Haircut...
The fact that most of you just said, or more likely sang, “two bits” in your head pretty much proves my point. Sometimes it’s nature, but developed habits are difficult to change. Reflection helps.
It was further refreshing on Tuesday — despite being less than 24 hours before our press deadline — to hear the council of Dr. Lloyd Grahm, particularly his advocacy of open public discourse. He was quoted in the article, and it bears reprinting here that Graham said, “Informed and respectful disagreement is the oxygen of democracy.”
Any self-respecting newspaper editor is going to reflexively give an Amen to that kind of sentiment. What else is a newspaper except a living SWOT analysis of any given coverage area?
Take a month of news coverage, and you’re going to have a pretty decent set of indicators for a community’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. And while it costs a little more for the district to call in three educational rockstars — two with PhDs — working with an Austin-based law firm for its services, you can receive an average of 12 pages of data-driven, SWOT-related information as well as objective commentary and criticism each week for less than 10 dollars a month.
This advertising segue was brought to you by the Double Mountain Chronicle, reporting news officials wished you didn’t have. Seriously, two dollars for a newspaper seems like a lot until you compare it to the cost of a Snickers bar and begin questioning which might provide the most satisfaction in this economy, a sugar high or the answers to why?
As proponents for not only the free and open exchange of accurate information but also as advocates for the resulting public discourse in pursuit of favorable societal evolution, this newspaper’s SWOT analysis often begins at home. Although ours unusually goes something like, “We really suck at sports coverage,” or “You have got to improve your conflict resolution skills you insufferable jackass.”
Operationally, it takes no further examination of history than last week’s editorial column to showcase the value of living up to set expectations and the result of failing to meet one’s deadlines.
When the press rolls at 6:30 and I'm still at the typewriter at 6:45, reflecting in the manner of Kung Fu Panda, I probably sucked more that day than anyone in the history of journalistic kung fu, in the history of newspapers, in the history of sucking.
No doubt my publisher would have responded in the manner of Master Oogway, who said, “Probably.”
Self-reflection is often a key component of uncovering certain truths, the acceptance of which tends to be the first step toward growth.
The evidence of this is empirical, found within the pages of millions of self-improvement books, yoga courses, AA meetings, Tibetan Monasteries, psychological therapy sessions, and the lyrical genius of Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”
Given that much of this week’s news coverage fits into the category of “Opportunity,” I ask each of us to take a page from Rotan ISD’s playbook and participate in your own community SWOT analysis.
Whether it's over beers and barbecue or between soccer practice and bible study, the next time you talk among your group, reflect and discuss your community.
Ask one other what you like about where you live, and what makes it suck sometimes. What is it that poses the biggest threat to our way of life, declining economy, taxes, infrastructure, or feral hogs?
And perhaps more importantly, discuss whether the final ingredient in an opportunity for improvement is your involvement. Objective reflection at the end of the day is key to starting on the road to a successful tomorrow, and well, it’s five o’clock somewhere.
the rest of the editorial from March 22, 2024 for those who wondered 'Is that it?' - because the Publisher, who also puts everything together and makes it look pretty, suck last week too...
I bring this to the forefront of this discussion because as I have found readers tend to be drawn to the news happening within their community, often skipping over an article about the goings on in a neighboring community. However, the way these two city councils go about establishing a municipal court, the information exchanged, the specifics discussed, and how the stakes of the decisions are weighed will appear like shadowy reflections of one another.
I have written in the past about how the Aspermont City Council could teach a class in civic discourse, and I have written about how the Rotan City Council has traded public service for financial security. I bet that by the time the first gavel swings at either city hall, citizens will have a playbook of how rural communities get things done along with the world's longest civic warning label... but time will tell.