The Village Square

Riddle: How many wikis does it take to make the internet civil?

Answer: One. As long as you visit us. We the Wiki coming by summertime…

Add comment March 9th, 2010

Michael Smerconish nails it: The world of “media fiction”

Michael Smerconish, Philadelphia Talk Radio show host, who just made what seems to have been a tormented decision to change his political affiliation from Republican to Independent, talked to Chris Matthews last night on Hardball:

“We live in a world of media fiction. Where talk radio and your business everything gets presented in black/white red state/blue state left/right terms. And I don’t think that’s the way the real world is. It’s not the way I carry about my life as exemplified by people I meet on a day to day basis. It only exists in the world in which you and I work. And I, frankly, have had enough of it. I frankly think that stirring the pot at the ends of the political spectrum as been terrible for the country and I want no more of it.”

“People in the middle need a voice. We’re underrepresented in the world of talk radio and on cable stations because the bookers they only look for those who they can introduce as a liberal or a conservative, a Republican or a Democrat. That’s not the bulk of America right now. What about the folks in the middle?”

Smerconish wrote about his decision to register as an Independent: “Collegiality is nonexistent today, and any outreach across an aisle is castigated as weakness by the talking heads who constantly stir a pot of discontent.”

Add comment February 24th, 2010

Mike Huckabee does Village Square again

“With news that Michelle Obama would make her first appearance on Fox News, some were upset that she was appearing on Fox and some were upset with me for hosting her. How very sad. I’ve got disagreements with the president on a number of policies but I don’t have a desire to have his plans and policies fail. My goal is to see them change. If the administration proposes something that I agree with, I should say so. And if it’s a policy that needs to be revised then I should be specific as to how, not merely dismiss it because it was presented by someone across the political aisle. Political aisles are fine, but political islands are not.” –Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

1 comment February 22nd, 2010

Tallahassee Democrat: Peaceful Village

We were out of pocket last week when this editorial ran in last Thursday’s Tallahassee Democrat, so never got it posted. We simply couldn’t let that travesty stand:

Remember the fracas surrounding the town hall meetings on health care?

The founders of The Village Square do. Their efforts to bring together diametrically opposed ideological groups has earned a $72,000 slice of $24 million offered through the Knight Foundation’s Community Information Challenge.

The money will be used to support programs that help concerned individuals follow Albert Einstein’s charge: “To the village square we must carry the facts … from there must come America’s voice.”

The Village Square is the type of resource citizens of this country, and more distinctly, area residents will need as we consider opposing points of view with a mind toward strengthening our republic.

Through conversations over group dinners, political discussions over a pint of beer, and soon, online tools that will allow community members to post, read and edit information on locally focused topics, Executive Director Liz Joyner and members of the board are striving to “bring communities back together again as neighbors taking care of what neighbors used to handle.”

Round-table and panel discussions sponsored by The Village Square, through the use of the Knight grant, could serve as the antithesis of the well-intentioned — but easily maligned — local “town hall” meetings.

A good example was the one held on health care reforms Aug. 25 at City Hall. Though it was attended by U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, it quickly fell victim to an ideological shouting match because it was sponsored by some community agencies that stood to benefit from federal stimulus dollars. An opportunity to meet with our congressman was drowned out by rhetoric from both sides, and an opportunity to truly hear and understand opposing views was crushed.

By contrast, Village Square forums would primarily focus on the local issues, including topics such as the great biomass debate, coal plants and constitutional amendments. The group’s outreach efforts encourage individuals to read, think and opine for themselves rather than allowing their talking points to come from nationally focused partisan agendas.

The first test of bringing the community together in such a down-home fashion is to raise matching funds for the Knight grant. The group is halfway to its goal, but it’s important that donations (and participation) come from throughout the community.

“Knight wants to see that the community supports the idea,” Ms. Joyner said.

Input is sought on how The Village Square can best use its grant money to unify the community in the exchange of ideas.

“There is a way for anyone who’s interested to get involved, whatever their abilities are,” she said.

Whether residents of this area support The Village Square with their dollars, their attendance, contribution to an online Wiki of information pertinent to local topics or in some other form, Ms. Joyner and members of the board march forward with a charge by writer Patricia Nelson Limerick: “Let friendship redeem the republic.”

We hope that it can, and will.

(Photo credit.)

Add comment February 2nd, 2010

Painting ourselves into a partisan corner

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Add comment January 31st, 2010

Village Square moments in last night’s State of the Union

Pigs fly moment #1:

Now, I am not naïve. I never thought the mere fact of my election would usher in peace, harmony, and some post-partisan era. I knew that both parties have fed divisions that are deeply entrenched. And on some issues, there are simply philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways. These disagreements, about the role of government in our lives, about our national priorities and our national security, have been taking place for over 200 years. They are the very essence of our democracy.

But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day. We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent — a belief that if you lose, I win.

Pigs fly moment #2:

They are tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can’t afford it. Not now.

So we face big and difficult challenges. What the American people hope — what they deserve — is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences; to overcome the numbing weight of our politics. For while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds, different stories and different beliefs, the anxieties they face are the same. The aspirations they hold are shared. A job that pays the bills. A chance to get ahead. Most of all, the ability to give their children a better life.

Add comment January 28th, 2010

Village Square wins highly competitive national Knight Community Information Challenge Grant

Read entire press release HERE.

Tallahassee, Fla., – The Community Foundation of North Florida, in partnership with The Village Square, recently received a $72,000 challenge grant to revitalize the dialogue among the city’s diverse residents around community issues. The project entitled “We the People” will create a 21st Century virtual and face-to-face public square by offering unique town hall forums, in addition to constructive online engagement through a community problem-solving Wiki. The project’s goal is to renew Tallahassee’s marketplace of ideas where good solutions rise from an informed citizenship, and where abundant information can be channeled into constructive results.

The grant was awarded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as a part of the Knight Community Information Challenge. The challenge is a five-year, $24 million initiative to help community and place-based foundations find creative ways to use new media and technology to keep residents informed and engaged. The Community Foundation of North Florida is one of 24 community and place-based foundations recently selected to receive a grant in this highly competitive national grant contest.

“Access to information is essential for the quality of life in our community and for providing resources to help increase access for all citizens,” said Joy Watkins, President of the Community Foundation of North Florida. “Through this grant contest, Knight is challenging communities across the country to respond to the changing media landscape and ensure that residents have access to information. We are pleased to be able to support Knight’s work in our area, strengthen The Village Square’s endeavors, and increase access to information for citizens in our community.”

“Information is as important to a thriving democracy as clean air, jobs and schools. As leaders, local foundations are taking the initiative to meet those information needs,” said Trabian Shorters, Knight Foundation’s vice president for communities, who leads the challenge. “This project and others like it help ensure that everyone has the information necessary to make decisions about their governments and their lives.”

Allan Katz co-founded The Village Square in 2006 with Tallahassee Community College President Dr. Bill Law. “Rapid changes in the way we communicate with each other and the hyper-partisan environment nationally have left communities less able to deal with local and state issues constructively,” said Katz, a former Tallahassee city commissioner who has been nominated by President Obama to become U.S. Ambassador to Portugal. “The best ideas in a democracy come from engaged and informed citizenship,” said Law. “This project will bring more light and less heat to problems ahead of us.”

“The social glue of communities has changed substantially over the last 40 years,” said Joyner. “Civic clubs and service organizations used to knit us together to form a geographical community whose bond was greater than political difference. But ideology-based groups are on the rise and, as a result, our unique made-in-America social fabric is fraying.”

“We the People” will expand The Village Square programming on local and state issues through varying formats like “Dinner at the Square,” “Take-out Tuesday,” “Politics, Partisans & A Pint” and “Sunday Night Supper Club,” intentionally reviving community between people with diverse perspectives.

To compliment these face-to-face forums, the project will have an online component: A Wiki-based online problem-solving tool, where neighbors can collaborate to assemble relevant facts and resources for addressing local, state and national issues. “We hope to create an online community that defies the trend toward angry likeminded groups; where people will treat each other with the same respect as they do when they see neighbors at the grocery store or at their mailbox,” said Joyner.

Learn more about the project HERE.
Learn how you can get involved HERE.

Add comment January 26th, 2010

This Thursday: Politics, Partisans & A Pint

From yesterday’s Tallahassee Democrat:

The Village Square continues its monthly first Thursday happy hour, “Politics, Partisans & A Pint,” this week. The event is 5 p.m. Thursday at Finnegan’s Wake off Thomasville Road at the MANOR@midtown. At 5:30 p.m., there will be a short program featuring Kim Williams, chairman of the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County. Participants interested in sharing a round with someone across the aisle from them get a chance to win the next round on The Village Square. The Village Square will also give away two tickets to its January Dinner at the Square, “Global Warming, Cap & Trade, Dollars & Sense.” For more information, contact Liz Joyner at 264-8785 or go to www.tothevillagesquare.org.

Add comment January 4th, 2010

Mary Ann Lindley: Civility and humility vs zealotry and ideology (…and The Village Square)

Mary Ann Lindley mentioned us this morning in her “Local Conversation” front page article in the Tallahassee Democrat. I can’t find it online yet, so here’s a clip: (Update: Here’s the link.)

Probably the toughest challenge for people once elected to office, apart from not taking too personally all that kissing up, is to bear up under the zealotry and frankly crude and outrageous public dialogue. If you can call it dialogue.

Electronic communications have unleashed the demons in a lot of otherwise (I sincerely hope) well-behaved people… The fact that public officials hear more often from extremists than from moderates no doubt contributes to their finding such comfort in party ideology. Just repeat the party line; repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s much less of a strain than examining the jumble of nuances of public policies and risk exposing yourself as an independent thinker, rather than a loyal ideologue. (Voters are, sad to say, merciless on officials who change their minds – which is absurd on the part of voters if the official has merely learned a thing or two.)

2010 would be a good time to begin working our way out of the current practice of twisting and shouting on every topic. We do that via every means of communication and in every venue – except for that most civil of them all, over your shopping cart at the grocery story.

The Village Square and Florida Humanities Council are noble bearers of this calming effort, trying again on Jan. 12 to convey the message that you can sometimes make progress by just talking to one another about the things you have in common and then working on your points of disagreement.

This approach is call civilization. It’s what separates us from the braying beasts of the field, some of which look pretty nonthreatening compared to the bellowing at town hall meetings that marked the year ‘09.

Former Iowa Republican congressman Jim Leach will be speaking at the Village Square’s Challenger Center event on the 12th, kicking off his 50-state “Civility Tour.” It’s meant to emphasize the dangers of perpetuating what Leach calls this “era of clashing civilizations” – on the back streets of cities as well as the back halls of Washington and Tallahassee.

Give me a yell if you find an online link so that you can read this whole excellent article.

Add comment January 3rd, 2010

50-state Civility Tour: National Endowment for the Humanities Chair joins The Village Square

“The temper and integrity of the political dialogue are more important for the cohesiveness of society than the outcome of any election.”–Jim Leach

Join us for this special opportunity to talk with NEH Chair Jim Leach on Tuesday, January 12. Find details and RSVP HERE

Add comment December 22nd, 2009