The Wedgefield Examiner has been busy researching, and drafting a posting that is complicated, and not finished yet. In the meantime, handling all the material has left me frustrated, and looking for a key problem statement, and a concrete resolution. So, for this morning at least, perhaps because humor eases stressful thought, I'm suggesting that we need a new club in Wedgefield.
What kind of club? A book club. If you are an avid reader you have probably belonged to one. The structure of a book club would work. A book is suggested. Everyone reads the book, and hopefully understands it, and prepares to discuss it. Usually there is a set of questions prepared, almost an agenda, so the discussion stays on track.
Usually in the case of a club, there are charter members. Those people who first committed to the project, and kept things moving with the focus of the group. Others join, and buy into the club's format and focus.
Wedgefield, whether you know it our not, already has an established book club, and charter members. The book - our governing documents. The charter members of sort - the board. The other should be avid readers - the residents. The meetings - board meetings, you know where there is an actual real meat and potatoes published agenda - the book club questions of the evening, where everyone has read the book, and prepared to discuss it. The nine charter members actually should have all read the book, know every chapter in it for themselves, and be prepared to discuss it, as to how it applies to life in the book of Wedgefield. The discussion should be open, with references to the book. The discussion should line up with the book - no rewrites of the author's intentions. New members to the group (resident members) should have taken the responsible moves of acquiring, reading, and understanding the book, so that during the resident member discussion at the end of the meeting that they can speak with references to the actual book, and question the charter members interpretations.
Why do we need a new book club in Wedgefield if we already have one? The current book club isn't benefiting Wedgefield.
The charter members - the board, either haven't read the book for themselves, are doing their own rewrites to the book, or don't want to discuss the actual written content.
Most of the resident members haven't bothered to acquire the book, let alone read it. If they have, they aren't willing to attempt discussion, because the charter members - the board, have the behavior of bullies during the discussion period, and no one appears to be willing to suffer through it, to get the real interpretation of the book out.
We don't need a new book club. We need a whole new board willing to read the book, and INDIVIDUALLY speak to the actual content, and vote according to the content on the issues in the story of Wedgefield.
Let's keep our Wedgefield Book Club! Let's start replacing the charter members. Will you consider running for board? It is time to throw your hat in the ring, because this board has failed to read the book, and discuss it with the club membership.
