Onedia in the Ozarks

I can so easily find myself sitting in my big comfy chair writing while my beloved comes by asking did you eat, did you take your meds, did you . . . Yes I will in just a sec and then hours later I am still typing, erasing, typing, searching and typing some more. Not simply here but on the other sites as well. Spending time on one site means not enough time on the other site. For instance right now I have posts churning in my mind for each of my other sites and I want to work on some jewelry designs, process some photos, fill the bird feeders and try to ignore the state of my house — the laundry, dishes, vacuuming, on and on we go.

Oh, and then there are the blogs I want to read (not to mention the books I have stacked up) . Over at Counterfeit Humans Keli writes great satirical posts about the stupidity of humans. Keli, love it , keep it up, we all need it to keep us from getting pulled down to ground level instead of soaring with the songbirds. I mention this because I have inadvertently become involved with a war with my municipal officials in this metropolis of 2000 or so. When I began publishing The Bull Shoals Beacon as an online magazine for the community, I also tried to learn more about the community which involved occasionally asking for information like:

• City Council Meeting Minutes and Reports
• Budget and Financial Statements
• Copies of Ordinances
• List of City Council Members
• Biographies of same (ha …. no such thing exists)
• Other odds and ends that I thought would be helpful

Now most of you know that we are entitled to those items under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) both at the federal level and the state level. However, in small towns, when people come asking for information there tends to also be the probability of paranoia setting in. The other issue is that in small towns the officials are often low paid or unpaid (as is in the case of our city council) and the people who run for the office are often retired or semi-retired and likely to have no prior experience. They even sometimes have little or no technical savvy including simple email knowledge and no idea of internet based journalistic endeavors.

This is a recipe for misunderstanding, fear, rumors, pointed fingers, and general chaos that turns a simple request for information to be delivered in electronic format (fully compliant with FOIA) to be suspect and a case for fear and a certain siege approach. After a lifetime of seeing such behavior, I am consistently amazed that people spend triple the time, effort, and resources trying to find a way of NOT doing something they should than it would have taken to just do it.

So, it seems in my requests for public information and best efforts to be considerate of workloads and in spite of my considerable efforts to make nice with the folks in question I am now persona non grata and the foe of most city hallers.

I took it personally at first until a local print journalist gave me a good shake up and said get over it. Someone will always be mad at you if you are going to ask questions,tell the truth and speak your mind. William Shakespeare tells us all, “it is a tale told . . . full of sound and fury, signifying nothing“ so I am moving on and letting go.

The good out of all this (about ten days of agitation, writing and ranting) is that I had to rethink the focus of the Beacon. It started as a “news” magazine and a portal for all things about Bull Shoals (but of course with no connection to any civic or government entity). I was spending lots of time as a reporter chasing photos and talking to people about this or that. I was also trying not to step on any toes (that worked well ) and refrained from writing about issues that are important to be raised. In short I was not being true to myself. I guess the writing muse used the hullabaloo to thump me on the forehead.

I was already re-working the look moving it to wordpress and installing a more professional theme. So, now I am ditching the news, events, profiles and such to write about ideas, issues, and concerns that matter to the city and to small rural communities. I already feel back in touch and even motivated to make time for my jewelry and other art. (My dear spouse just walked by with his morning toast saying, “meds? breakfast?” ) Some of you have been coming by the Beacon but perhaps it will be of more interest to you now.

Wish me luck and send positive energy.