Like a bridge over a false divide

Local media and pundits like to frame local politics as a never-ending battle between labor and business interests. But does this dialectic withstand serious scrutiny, or is it just lazy thinking that privileges monied interests? Independent candidate for SJ District 3 City Council Irene Smith has talked to both business and labor leaders, and discovers--guess what? --they're a lot more aligned than people realize. From her Medium post:

As I left the SBLC interview, I realized again a lesson I learned as a mediator and judge: How you start a conversation, the expectations you have for the result, will define and determine the outcome. If you start from an expectation of polarization — the conversations of us versus them — this expectation puts blinders on the conversation and can even limit problem identification let alone problem solving. You won’t see the problem; and a creative and possibly easy solution will be as evasive as gravity in outer space.

However, if you start from a point of agreement and ask, what are the objectives, what do we already agree upon, and what are the things we all know are not working in the best interest of the public, then you can end up finding much more concurrence and potential partnerships. And solutions that actually work.

When I put my mediator hat on after both my Labor interview and Business endorsement, I realized that both groups share three very important goals and concerns:

How do we make this city a more attractive place for us to raise our families?
How do we make San Jose more affordable?
And in the spirit of Silicon Valley — How do we create more good-paying jobs, attract good workers to good jobs, and retain good workers in place?

Of course, there are disagreements about how to achieve these goals. However — and this is the big point I want to pursue in future conversations — there are a lot more agreements about how to get this work done than first meets the eye.

So, here’s my idea: let’s start more conversations from where we agree. And let’s see what agenda derives from that starting point. I have a feeling it will be a whole lot more effective than the flawed policies that have utterly failed to make downtown the livable, growing, fantastic neighborhood it should be — a great place to work, to start a business, to raise your kids, and enjoy a downtown that should be tops in the state, not at the bottom.