Fourth in a series
Re “Anti-Fracking and Obligations of an Elected Official”
[img]1849|right|Mr. Shields||no_popup[/img]One of life’s subtle lessons is to perfect your conduct when espousing a dearly held cause where you may be outnumbered or hold less power than the other side.
Such is the predicament of dedicated anti-fracking activists.
Don’t be overzealous, says Douglas Shields, a nationally recognized anti-fracking fighter from Pittsburgh.
He visited Culver City recently and shared with a group led by Stephen Murray his lessons culled from good and bad experiences while trying to halt fracking’s countrywide momentum.
“You have to be careful and not go off half-cocked” because it will mar the popular image of a movement that needs to be delicately managed.
“Don’t just spout off” because it feels good. Remember who you are representing.
“It is okay if the guy on the street talks that way, or comes to a Council meeting and says all kinds of crazy stuff,” said Mr. Shields, a two-term former Pittsburgh City Council member.
“You need to be precise when you speak. If you don’t, the other side is going to jump on you, and they are going to magnify that error to make it sound like everything you ever said was stupid, dumb, wrong.
“You really are going to have to bring that to the game,” employing a colloquialism.
Mr. Shields talked about the necessity of hometown politicians strategizing.
“You also are going to have to put people around you in your city government, your city solicitor or whomever. You had better get somebody who is ready to fight or well-acquainted with the dynamics.”
(To be continued)
