One of the best things about Oakland is getting out of it, or staying out of it.
Getting out of Oakland does not necessarily mean you need to move, or even leave Oakland at all. That’s one of the most beautiful parts of Oakland, you can leave without leaving.
“Take a hike!”, is something many of us would like to tell people who annoy us, but it’s actually good personal advice.
Oakland has so many opportunities to get out of it while not leaving it. There’s great hiking all over, and from many points you can look down on the town of Oakland. Not in a condescending manner, but from a higher plane, from a distance; putting things in perspective, getting some distance, getting the big picture, that is a wonderful thing.
If you feel like taking a hike, or even if someone suggests that you take a hike, go for it. There’s two parking lots off of Skyline Drive, one at the bottom and another further up the hill. The top parking lot has hiking trails on either side of Skyline.
There’s hiking behind Truman Field, there’s hiking in Pleasureland, and there’s hiking off of Longhill Road.
Get out of Oakland without leaving Oakland, it’s a great thing.
When it comes to staying out of it, that does not literally mean staying out of the town, it means staying out of anything that goes on with the local government. Don’t read the Suburban News, certainly don’t watch or attend town council meetings, and just live your own life with no connection to anything that seeps out of town hall.
Maybe buy some Girl Scout Cookies, help with a food drive, donate to the Relay for Life coming in June. Give, support, and enjoy all and any effort that exists outside the town government, stay out of it.
Don’t volunteer for a committee, don’t volunteer for a commission, and never dare to raise an issue with the local town council; don’t raise a concern, don’t make a suggestion. It does not matter whether your intentions are good, don’t do it. Even if you have an idea that might be wonderful – where no one can find objection – don’t do it.
Vote, pay your taxes, and just turn and walk away; stay out of it….At least for the time being.
While volunteering is a wonderful and rewarding experience that enables a person to share skills, knowledge, and participate in a larger community – it’s best not to volunteer with anything associated with the local government because it can make you physically sick.
It’s not just the metaphysical stench of politics that hangs like a thick flatulent cloud over every committee, board or commission, and emanates from the bowels of elected leaders. It’s the real and tangible poison that can infect your body and soul.
Just as the food and drink we consume impacts our body, so do the words and experiences endured impact our mind, our body, and soul.
When one chooses to involve themselves in any municipal endeavor – which is the norm for small towns where volunteers are fundamental to the functioning of town government – one risks becoming the subject of contention, the target of personal attacks, and the victim of character assassination.
It is usually the posers and the pretenders that inflict the most damage. Those who act in an affected manner in order to impress others, those who defend their arguments with weak, egotistical and childish reasons.
Oakland is not alone in this, many small towns have similar dysfunctions, but to paraphrase Tolstoy “All functional towns resemble one another, but each dysfunctional town is dysfunctional in its own way.” This is certainly the case in Oakland, where a lethal concoction of poisons are brewed to ensure a hold on power – and for who and for what.
For a town with no sewers, it’s remarkable that so much activity occurs there.
While Oakland may have a history of nasty political campaigns, some might yearn for the days of yesteryear when local candidates would be physically threatened. Today, the wounds to individuals and the town do not – cannot – heal like a physical wound – so they fester, and the infection spreads slowly, continuously.
The recent transition from one mayor to the next exemplifies the poisonous environment of Oakland government. After serving for 8 years, after professing so much love and dedication for Oakland, the former mayor walked away with no tranisition period, no assistance, and not even a repository of emails concerning municipal business — he walked away with and/or destroyed those… So much for love and dedication.
Our most recent town council meeting offered up another poser attack on volunteers as being “angry people”, and pretenders seeking to torpedo initiatives to improve quality of life in Oakland. Oakland has in place a dysfunctional modus operandi of using slander, intimidation, abuse of process, and other illegal and immoral efforts to silence, defame, and demoralize those they perceive to be political opponents.
This is why it is appropriate to define these individuals, like most bullies, as being posers and pretenders.
If you are a business, you will be intimidated; if you are a resident, you will will be ridiculed and slandered; and, anyone may easily find the police at their door — or worse – not there when they should be. This is the silent reality of Oakland.
Playing politics in Oakland, where the difference between a Democrat and Republican is in name only, makes no sense. For who and for what? The answer is not the people, not the community of Oakland.
When it comes to Oakland it’s best to get out or stay out…. go take a hike.
For those who still consider involvement in civic matters a virtue, here are some helpful links:
http://thecitizenscampaign.org/ – Promoted by Governors Kean & Byrne, this is a NJ based organization helping citizens work toward good government.
http://www.getinvolved.gov/ – This is a national organization working to promote volunteerism amongst Baby Boomers.
http://www.dosomething.org/ – This effort is geared towards younger citizens and provides tools and ideas for getting involved in their communities.
Submitted by Richard Saunders