So, there I was, minding my own business at Waterfront Hall last Saturday, and a young lady asked me, “Would you like to sign our petition?”
“No. No, thank you.”
A local activist announced in early October that he was collecting signatures of registered voters in the City of Wheeling in an effort to force a recall election for Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder. In his announcement on Facebook, he stated: “We can only be ignored so many times before we stand up and take the power back.”
The activist, a resident of the Village of Bethlehem, is not eligible to sign his own petition, but he does own and operate a business in downtown Wheeling and has been present. He must collect about 1,770 signatures, and his efforts have been promoted by local news outlets.
As of this morning, no update on the number of collected signatures has been offered on the same social media page, but I can confirm there were a few names on the list when the clipboard was presented to me.
Name. Address. Phone#. Signature.
But not mine, and not because I’ve known Mayor Magruder and his family since grade school at St. Mike’s in Wheeling. He is, after all, one of the last remaining humans who still refers to me as “Stevie” despite the fact I’m oh-so-quickly approaching my (cough, cough) 60th birthday. So, yes, I’ve always been a fan of the person, but he’ll tell you that we do not agree on everything.
But I know the man cares. I know he ignores no one. He certainly doesn’t lack empathy for others, and he’s always been persistently pragmatic. Magruder is not a selfish man, and he’s a Christian in all his actions. If he has questions, he asks first and moves forward second, and I know he ran for mayor to address the city’s issues, not add to them.
Freedom of speech is a right that must be respected and protected at all times, and that’s why I politely declined to sign the petition when offered the chance instead of making a scene in opposition. People disagree, and that’s OK, but for far too long, division has squelched quality conversation, and that’s pushed us all into a place where compromise is usually refused.
Not defeated. Declined.
It’s a local issue, a state hurdle, and a national dilemma, and it’s the reason why we have heart-wrenching issues we’re not solving because, on both sides of the political aisle, it’s one way or no way at all.
We can debate about data centers, Flock cameras, parking meters, and even about signing a petition to recall the Mayor of Wheeling, but until we can work together, the lack of all-in cooperation will always be our most pressing problem.
Only we can change that fact.
