Stacey Kellenbeck Consulting

CAVE People in GP

10/03/08

While on the topic of acronyms, here's a new one for the list. CAVE

We may have an alarming Caveman statue at the entrance to our community, but he is friendly in comparison to the behavior of the CAVE people.  It seems CAVE people still flourish in Grants Pass and although I give them credit for participating in government, Citizens Against Virtually Everything (CAVE) are a detriment.  They represent a small handful of people and claim to represent everyone.  They cost ALL of the City’s residents money, and usually under the pretense of trying to save money.  They play a roll in staff turn-over and they use scare tactics, name calling, and as one such CAVE man proudly said, behavior “so nasty.”

I’ll start by saying, I did not invent the acronym, it is being used around the country.  The concept is not new either.  These are the people screaming “keep MY town small” when just five years ago they moved here, built their house and no one screamed at them.  These are the people that sit on their own subdivided lot and fight against their neighbor’s request to partition his land, even though it has proper zoning.  You can easily spot a CAVE person because they take no notice of their own impacts but try to dictate everyone else’s.

There is always an exception, but generally CAVE people use fear and misinformation to spread their ideals.  They show up to workshops and meetings and somehow learn nothing.  It often borders on absurd.  City staff could give a ten minute presentation on how a plan can be adopted and exist for years without ever needing financial backing.  CAVE people hear nothing but the word financial and spend hours arguing how much the plan is going to cost.

Like I said above, there is always an exception, but many CAVE people moved here.  Many don’t remember (because they were not here yet) that Grants Pass was once a dying logging town.  I heard CAVE people argue that Grants Pass does not need a downtown river district plan because Grants Pass developed very nicely by free enterprise alone.  A perfect example of spreading misinformation.

Public meetings are designed to give people on both sides of a debate a chance to speak.  CAVE people want to be heard and respected but point fingers, make accusations, and even threaten.  In the end, a Citizen Against Virtually Everything gets ignored because their arguments always sound the same.

I say, let’s keep the statue but CAVE people need an attitude adjustment.

What are your thoughts?

Simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. Comments should be respectful of other voices in the discussion. I reserve the right to edit or delete comments at my discretion.