Greenfield Recorder – Becca King: Disheartened by City Council incident

I was disheartened to read Recorder Councilor John Bottomley recounting at a council meeting how he was spoken to in a hostile manner, with the intent to shame, and downright aggressive, by a member of the GCET board [“Words matter,” Sept, 28].

Nobody can behave this way towards our officials, especially not towards someone who has served on the city council in the past. This behavior is unacceptable in our community at all times and in all relationships, regardless of whether there are disagreements about decisions made. We are a community that strives to see each other through the eyes of a shared humanity.

We are all perfectly imperfect human beings here on planet Earth who need to learn to love better. Playing a win-lose game involving money and territory, as in Israel and Gaza, or city contracts won or lost, only leads to a war that ends in a dead end, whether in international affairs or locally in our community.

It is not easy to take on a leadership role. Our task is to learn to be honest, but with love and respect. I attended an event last week where two Israeli women and two Palestinian women showed us how it's done. We must first make peace with ourselves and find the center that contains a bigger picture than the ego's desires and defense mechanisms. What do we really want? Win/lose or win/win?

In AA 12-step programs we learn that when you point a finger at someone else, three fingers will point back at you. While living in a privileged society brings with it power, it also brings responsibility for the common good, and I am pleased that John Bottomley represents this.

May peace return to our community of neighbors who care more about how we treat each other than about who is right or wrong.

Becca King

Greenfield