Last week, one of my patients/clients/customers (whatever you want to call them) deposited into my bank account some money by Zelle. But the amount didn't make sense. It seemed like too much, and I wanted to understand for what (how many sessions; and I didn't remember how much I charge her -- what's her discount) she was paying me. So I sent her a text message. (Note to Self: You Know You Hate Text Messaging, So Don't Use It!) That was last week, and I never heard back. Nothing.
Yesterday, I got into a jam. Something was going way over time, and my appointment with this same patient was coming up very soon, so I (stupidly) sent her another text message, to ask her if we could delay by an hour. (E-mail takes longer and is unreliable, and I was on the phone with the other thing, so I couldn't call her.) She didn't reply, but the logjam on the earlier disaster broke, and I didn't need the delay after all. I sent yet another text message to say we were back on our original schedule. I didn't hear back, but I no longer needed to.
Except she did not call (it's all virtual now) on time for her session, and I no longer knew what was going on. (Except for the very disorganized and unreliable ones, I do not call patients to tell them they have an appointment, or to ask them why they're not there. I'm their psychiatrist, not their parent.) The exception I have made was when I had an office outside my home (which I no longer do), and I was there only for them, and if they were late, or not coming (but didn't call to tell me that), then I was sitting around wasting time that I needed to spend somewhere else doing something else. So then, I would call. Am I still expecting them soon, or can I leave?
I did finally hear from this patient, five minutes after our appointment time was over. She would get back to me about the amount of the payment, she had been working outside (in Georgia) and lost track of time -- forgot about the appointment -- and had changed her phone number, but never told me about this. So I was sending text messages to nowhere.
Anyway, why am I telling you this stupid story?
I've said this in an earlier post, and I'm going to repeat it: during the last week of qualifying for candidacy for the Commission, I sent Judi Hamelburg an e-mail. I said I wanted to talk to her about something, and I gave her my phone number, which I'm pretty sure she already has anyway. I did not hear back. So, if I couldn't get a sense from her that she would make a good Commissioner, which was what I wanted her to reassure me she would, or at least could, then I was going to run. We needed Tudor out, and I just wanted to know we could get a functional replacement. If that was Judi, great. It saves me time and trouble. If not, then I have to step up. But no; no word from Judi. So I completed the process, and I ran.
Several weeks later, the idea of using this blog for an online Meet the Candidates event struck me. It wouldn't be great, but it was as good as it was going to be. I reached out to all the other candidates. Mac and Art were all in. I got nothing back from the William boys, but I wasn't surprised. I was, however, surprised that I got nothing back, for a while, from Judi. The "event" started, and then, I heard from Judi. She wrote to me privately to say she works ("Some of us work" was how she put it), and she's too busy to be checking blog posts (and responding to her neighbors). She then made one response, and she dropped out. I should say that I corrected Judi. I told her that it's not "some of us" who work. It's all of us who work. And I said it's not my job to tell her how to deal with her neighbors, but I suggested she either do the best she can, or enter a comment that she's too busy, and can't find the time to answer questions.
A few days ago, after the election, I wrote to all the "new" Commissioners -- as you know from the "Note To Self..." post -- and I asked all of them to consider giving careful and special attention to the medians. I probably didn't expect a response from Ginny or Dan, who are disengaged anyway. I got a response from Mac. Nothing from Art, from whom I expected some sort of response. And nothing from Judi. She doesn't happen to like me? Fine. I wrote to her about my Village, our Village, her Village. And she's now a Commissioner. I want Judi to "rise to the occasion," as someone else put it. I don't want strike three. We've had a number of Commissioners who can't be bothered to respond to their neighbors/constituents. It's not good.
Last night, we had two Commission meetings. One was to hire a manager, who will work with Judi, and one of whose bosses Judi will be, and the other was to address a variance request. It was denied, sent back for reworking, and it will come back, to the Commission of which Judi will be a member. Judi was absent from both meetings.
We need Judi. She needs to leave whatever orbit she's in, and get down here. She has to respond to her neighbors. She needs to show up. We need her to make herself adaptive as a functioning part of a Commission. She has to be a cog in a wheel now. And if all of that doesn't happen, then we're back to spinning our wheels, and gradually continuing the decline we've been on for four years.
If you "know Judi" -- if you're a friend of hers -- please talk to her. Reel her in. Point her in this direction. We really do need her.
From Linda Dillon:
ReplyDeleteAs you know (for some technical reason) I can't seem to answer on your blog, so I'm sending this back to your email and you can do with it as you wish.
You keep badmouthing Judy and I wish you'd stop. At times ( most times) you have been uncivil and down right nasty to more people than I can count. I wouldn't respond either under those circumstances.
I know that she can stand up for herself, but she is also a dear friend. FYI she was scheduled to go out of town long before the Commision decided to have meetings three nights in a row. She was going to try to tune in on Zoom while driving in her car but it was also pouring rain and driving conditions were extremely dangerous.
I assure you she is aware of issues that need to be addressed. With our new Manager in place, maybe all of the Commissioners will stay in their own lanes and let the Manager do his job.
And speaking about the medians, I know for fact that she has already been giving this matter considerable thought. She is an artist, you know, but she is also keenly aware of priorities.
I think I'm done reading your blog so you can remove me from your mailing list.
By the way, Will drove to say goodbye to his son who is being deployed. This, too, was scheduled prior to last night's meeting.
Linda
Linda,
DeleteYour "dear friend" spells her name Judi, not Judy.
What you're calling "bad-mouth[ing]" is a recapitulation of my failed attempts to get Judi to respond to me, and her failures to respond to her other neighbors. I'm not bad-mouthing her nearly as much as she's bad-mouthing, or compromising, herself. We emerged not long ago from a reign in which the dominant Commissioner kept lists of people who weren't deferential in whatever way she required, and she punished them. Is that what you're saying I/we can expect from Judi, too? I was a Commissioner for three years, and I never ever treated anyone that way. I never would. If they disagreed with me about something, or were mad at me about something, then that's the way it goes. I did what I thought was right, and I explained myself. And that's the end of it. I never held grudges. Judi can't, either. We are her constituents, and she owes us something other than vengeance and being ignored.
Under the circumstances -- Commission meetings -- it would be much better, and more reassuring for BP residents, if Judi, and Will Tudor, would let the clerk/interim manager know they unfortunately made pre-existing commitments, and they couldn't be there, so it would not instead simply be said that Will Tudor was absent, and no one knew anything about Judi (whose other absences and failures to respond are never explained, even by you).
I don't need your assurance that Judi is aware of issues. You're not a Commissioner. I need Judi's assurance, and I don't have it. And it's not because I haven't asked, and given Judi plenty of chances to say what's on her mind.
I will remove you from the circulation, as you request.
Fred
By the way, Linda, you say I am critical ("uncivil," "nasty") to "more people than [you] can count." You yourself tend to be much more quiet about things you might not like. But during the reign of Truppman, you were very atypically (for you) vocal about things you didn't like about that Commission. No one accused you of bad attitude or bad behavior, and no one will. And you and I were in no way the only ones complaining, sometimes bitterly.
DeleteYou make clear that Judi is a close personal friend of yours. The implication, as illustrated by your request no longer to receive new blog post announcements, is that you will not criticize her, no matter what she does or doesn't do, and you don't want to know about it if anyone else criticizes. Even in your comment above, all you do is make excuses for her. And Tudor. If you think I excessively bad-mouth, maybe you will turn out to do the opposite. If you further think that my approach isn't helpful, perhaps yours isn't, either.
Fred
Judi the private citizen has every right to ignore whomever she so chooses. Judi the elected commissioner has a responsibility to be accessible and accountable to every resident not just those she likes. In 20 years Bob had his share of residents who weren't exactly thrilled with him and weren't exactly pleasant but he never ignored anyone.
ReplyDeleteWe've had many commissioners in the past who "stayed in their lanes". The result was management with no goals and no accountability. I want to see commissioners, as a body, setting clear goals and expecting accountability. A good manager who is secure in his or her own skin will have no problem with that and will appreciate the clarity.
Janey,
DeleteIt's true that Judi the private citizen who wouldn't call me when I was trying to decide about running, and Judi the private citizen who was too busy working to participate in a Meet the Candidates event, and Judi the private citizen (elected, but not yet installed) who couldn't be bothered to respond to my e-mail about the medians didn't technically owe me anything. There was no formal obligation for her to interact with me, or with anyone. All she had to do was what she did: have X number of friends, be a woman, and whatever else helped her get enough votes to win. But that kind of dismissal of people she's trying to get to be constituents is not a good sign of what Commissioner Judi will do. She had a ton of Village seniority on Mac and Art, and to be honest, I was hoping that her coming in third would maybe get her attention, and possibly be a bit humbling. I'm not seeing it yet.
As you say, we need this Commission -- whatever of it is capable -- to form vision for the Village, and set goals. Thus far, Judi said she did not participate in the Meet the Candidates event because she was too busy. She did not attend last night's meetings because she was too busy and was driving (and presumably could not pull off the road to Zoom in; she didn't even have to be there). So I get it: she's busy, and too busy for all this Village stuff. And that leaves us where?
Rox was busy. David Coviello was busy. I was busy. Mac is busy. Art is busy. And before that, Al Childress and Kelly Mallette and John Hornbuckle were busy. Lots of us are busy. But if we run, and if we get elected, we accept a responsibility, and we make it happen. Including that we respond to those of our neighbors who reach out to us. Even, as you say, if they have already demonstrated that we were not their choice. They're still constituents, and the rules the Commissions make still affect them. And of course, the vast majority of Commissioners still take their money. Those people -- we -- are owed something, other than a brush-off and punishment.
Fred