Choosing community over conflict

Weston County has been through a bruising election season.

The weeks and months leading up to this year’s election have exposed divisions that did not begin with campaign signs and will not disappear simply because the ballots have been counted. Accusations have been made. Friendships have been strained. Motives have been questioned. Social media has provided plenty of fuel for disagreements that already existed.

Now comes the harder part.

Whether your candidate won or lost, Weston County still has to move forward together.

That does not mean everyone suddenly has to agree. It does not mean those who supported the losing candidate should remain silent for the next several years. And it certainly does not mean elected officials should be given a free pass simply because they won an election.

There is a third side between blind support and constant opposition: constructive engagement.

Elections are how we decide who gets the responsibility of governing. They are not supposed to determine which half of the community gets to spend the next term rooting against the other half.

Those elected deserve an opportunity to do the jobs voters selected them to do. They also deserve the support of the entire community as they work toward goals that benefit Weston County.

Support, however, does not mean silence.

Good government needs residents willing to attend meetings, ask questions, offer ideas and speak up when something does not seem right. Our elected officials should welcome that involvement, even when it comes from someone who did not vote for them.

Likewise, residents should be willing to recognize good decisions even when they come from someone they opposed at the ballot box.

That is where Weston County residents — and our country’s residents — needs to find the third side. We can disagree without assuming the worst about one another. We can hold elected officials accountable without hoping they fail. We can support our leaders without surrendering our responsibility to question their decisions.

Most important, we can remember that the people on the other side of an election are still our neighbors. They are still the people sitting beside us at basketball games, shopping in our stores, volunteering at community events, serving on local boards and helping when somebody is in trouble.

Weston County is too small to divide itself into permanent political camps and expect
to prosper.

There are real challenges ahead. Our schools, hospital, local government, businesses and families all face decisions that will shape what this county looks like years from now. None of those challenges becomes easier if every discussion begins with figuring out who is on which side.

The election determined who will hold office. It did not determine who gets to care about Weston County. 

That responsibility belongs to all of us.

Those who won should govern with humility and remember they represent residents who voted against them, too. Those who lost should remain involved and bring their ideas to the table. And those of us watching from the sidelines should resist the temptation to turn every disagreement into another political battle.

There will be plenty of opportunities to disagree again. That is democracy.

But between elections, there also has to be room to work together.

Weston County cannot succeed on the efforts of a handful of elected officials alone. It takes people willing to participate, businesses willing to invest, volunteers willing to serve and neighbors willing to cooperate despite their differences.

The ballots have been cast.

Now it is time to put Weston County first.

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