“Just because you have a majority doesn't mean you walk all over the minority,” he said. “Too often there's more emphasis put on dividing people than on uniting them.”
Doesn't it make you want to just hug this guy?
(You know there's a beef coming, right?)
This guy is County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg of Missoula, Montana. And this is something else he said.
[County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said] a “gut feeling” led him to conclude Missoula's electorate misinterpreted the ballot language.
...and based on this gut feeling he convinced two of the three county commissioners to amend an admittedly non-binding citizens' initiative.
Initiative 2 backers say voters' will being ignored
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Missoulian
When county officials voted Wednesday to dilute a citizens' initiative urging local law enforcement to ignore marijuana offenses, pot advocates predictably hung their heads and lamented the defeat.
But following the Missoula County commissioners' 2-1 vote to amend the measure, which in its altered form excludes felony marijuana crimes from the realm of low-priority offenses, the loudest chatter was being churned by online bloggers and civic cheerleaders who think the outcome will discourage a new generation of voters.
And while the committee charged with overseeing the measure, called Initiative 2, convened on a cordial note Friday morning, some members expressed their own doubts about the message officials have sent to young adults.
There are many people out there who are wondering, ‘What is my vote even worth?' ” said Steve Zellmer, the oversight committee's harm reduction advocate. “They believe we should be trying to implement this initiative in the way it was intended to be implemented by voters.”
Zellmer's concerns, he said, were precipitated by a torrent of complaints from young people who wonder why they have to defend or justify their vote. Even worse, some people wonder why they bothered to vote at all.
On the Web site Grupthink.com , an online symposium founded by John Masterson, who is also chairman of the oversight committee, a post exclaims “I have lost all faith in Missoula County government.”
“Is there even a point to voting any more if the will of the people can so easily be subverted by two people?” the post inquires.
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