Wednesday, January 20, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
31
Next steps for ‘Speak Your Peace’
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Last Thursday the com-
munity had the opportu-
nity, through a series of
meetings convened by
Citizens4Community (C4C),
to examine what civility is,
how to encourage it, and
then to identify current prob-
lems within the community
that might benefit from those
involved practicing the nine
tenets of the Speak Your
Peace (SYP) project.
Speak Your Peace: The
Civility Project is a program
that provides tools to help
citizens communicate more
respectfully and effectively.
Following Thursday’s meet-
ings, on Friday morning
anyone interested in being
involved in promoting civility
in Sisters was encouraged to
attend a gathering to consider
“where we go from here.”
A group of about 30 people
met to share ideas, concerns,
and possible action steps to
encourage a more civil public
discourse in Sisters.
Larry Nelson, president
of the Sisters Garden Club,
shared his planned first step
in practicing the nine tenets of
the program (see accompany-
ing graphic).
“I will spend each day and
then do a report card at the
end of the day. My personal
goal is to work on self-eval-
uation before taking it (SYP)
forward.”
Kent Neff, C4C steering
committee member, echoed
Nelson’s thoughts.
“A way to proceed is to
orient our own self, practice
civility, and spread it that
way,” he said.
National spokesperson for
SYP Rob Karwath used the
image of a pond full of lily
pads, with their edges touch-
ing. If one moves or shifts,
the others are gently moved.
So it is in a community; one
person’s actions reach out and
touch others, who then reach
out and touch others, and
so on. However one person
behaves spreads out across
the pond.
Steering committee mem-
ber Clark Brody suggested
everyone consider the lan-
guage they use when telling
people about SYP. Invite them
to reflect on the nine tools and
give them time to consider the
concept.
Jerry Norquist of Cycle
Oregon would like to see
letters to the editor in The
Nugget be focused on issues
and not personal attacks on
individuals or groups.
There were several ref-
erences on both Thursday
and Friday to the concept of
“building the field of dreams
and they will come.”
Karwath outlined several
initial steps for the group to
consider, based on his expe-
rience with other communi-
ties. He recommended print-
ing more of the SYP cards to
share with friends and neigh-
bors. He encouraged schedul-
ing more public discussions
to keep the momentum going
as well as providing a way to
introduce the civility project
to people unable to attend last
week’s gatherings. He reiter-
ated the idea of individuals
committing to practice the
principles every day.
Jeff Campbell, Sisters
Park & Recreation District
(SPRD) board chair, said he
would be happy to be the first
organization to adopt SYP but
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realizes he needs to share it
first with all the board mem-
bers. Campbell encouraged
the C4C steering committee
“to continue to champion SYP
and be available for mentor-
ing and discussion.”
Robyn Holdman, who first
incubated the dream of SYP
in Sisters, told the group she
doesn’t want to create another
bureaucracy. She envisions
C4C remaining nimble, main-
taining good communica-
tion with the community, and
reflecting the nine tools of
civility.
C4C can act as a resource
for groups as they begin to
consider adopting a code for
civility. They can also arrange
to bring in more speakers to
present on topics of interest to
the community.
It has been a joy to be
here in Sisters… I feel the
best I’ve felt when leaving
a community. you are in
your own good hands.
— rob Karwath
Sisters Folk Festival board
chair Jack McGowan spoke
passionately regarding how
people here care about one
another, the town, and all of
Sisters Country.
“We’re here because we
want action; but at the same
time understand that the pro-
cess will take awhile,” he
graphic courtesy Duluth superior area community founDation
the nine tenets of the Speak your Peace program can help promote public
civility and community engagement in Sisters.
added.
Karwath left Sisters with
a very positive impression of
the physical town and the res-
idents of Sisters Country.
“It has been a joy to be
here in Sisters… I feel the
best I’ve felt when leaving a
community. You are in your
own good hands,” he told the
Friday group.
He was impressed with
the extraordinary involve-
ment of the residents, who he
observed speaking with pas-
sion and listening intently.
A Partnership
Beyond Your
Expectations
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