Learning to get along

I am usually at the courthouse a couple times a week. I attend meetings, conduct interviews and take care of business matters. When I bought the Ledger six years ago, there would maybe be two people at different public meetings, if that many. I was often the only member of the public at meetings. Business would be conducted and there might be one comment from a member of the public.

During the pandemic, attendance increased and the dynamic of meetings changed. It became a rare instance for a meeting to run smoothly without outbursts from community members. When the commissioners would run a meeting such as the board of health, it was difficult to keep any sense of order. I get it. COVID-19 brought out very strong opinions on all sides of issues. Sometimes discussions became very heated and comments were disrespectful. I would come back to the office baffled and not understand how people could be so angry. I would wonder if we’d ever, as a county, be able to get back to a place of respect for other people and where progress could be made. Having lived in Sanders County most of my life, I wasn’t used to such drastic differences in people.

Fast forward to nearly three years later and we have moved into a new sort of post-pandemic normal. Last week there was a board of health meeting at which officials approved a Communicable Disease Surveillance Protocol for the county. There were questions, and not everyone agreed, but there was a noticeable difference in the meeting. People listened to what others had to say. I heard just a couple comments under people’s breath about matters that were happening. Community members were respectful when others were listening, and they listened to comments from all sides of the issue at hand.

A community member worked with the board on revising the protocol for nearly a year. When the issue of signing the protocol came up last year, he was adamantly against the idea. Through the process of editing the document and board of health members being willing to listen and address some of the concerns raised by the public, all parties, including some of the community members who so strongly opposed the document, were able to agree.

What we learned in the pandemic is that people can get very emotional about a variety of topics. What I saw at the board of health meeting is that people also can be respectful and work together to help our county. My hope is that we continue to see more of that collaboration and progress.

— Annie Wooden