Day-late calendar wisdom proves poignant

As I look to my First Amendment desk calendar, still turned to Thursday, April 10, I'm drawn into contemplation of the quote offered for the day. It's a single line by Owen M. Fiss, a Yale University law professor, who said, "A public discussion in which only one side is presented or heard is no discussion at all."

It's an adequately deep thought, which for me this Friday morning offers an especially poignant wisdom.

Professor Fiss' quote is an affirmation to the words of the First Amendment that guarantee, among others, the rights to free speech, a free press and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

These privileges are never far from my mind or my work. And in the last year, I found that I am closest to fulfilling their promise through my participation in the Brownsville 2020 project, a collaborative experiment in civic engagement that was recognized last month by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors as "the purest and most effective example of community service."

It's a wonderful compliment offered by Ronnie Agnew, executive editor of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi.

Mr. Agnew, a judge for the Texas APME's annual newspaper contest, reminded me of a fundamental goal when we set out on this project in 2007: to provide an example "of how a newspaper can and should lead its community through difficult conversations."

"You are to be congratulated," Mr. Agnew wrote in closing.

The credit for any successes, including this award, are gratefully shared with the UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement, its director Joe Zavaletta Jr., and the center's staff and scholars who made the mostly volunteer effort possible. Without Mr. Zavaletta's idea (and passion to breathe life into it), the CCE's support and resources, and work of Herald staff members, there would be no cause for the commendation.

Without a commitment to continue the work of this partnership, there would be less cause to celebrate it.

And so, the discussion that we began about the things that matter most in our community, about government service and accountability, about the quality of life for the residents in our city, will continue.

The next Brownsville 2020 event takes place at 6 p.m. on April 28 at St. Joseph Catholic Church Parish Hall on St. Francis Street. The community forum will host back-to-back sessions with candidates for the Brownsville Navigation District and Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees.

In the next few weeks, we will begin polling for our second community survey, asking residents to identify their top 10 "matters of concern." The results will be presented in June, along with an accountability exercise for our City Commission that marks their first anniversary together that month.

Our online efforts continue at Brownsville2020.com with new Webisodes of 2020TV coming later this month and the Brownsville 2020 blog that lists news, opinions and hot topics in city government.

When we began Brownsville 2020, the goal was to provide a forum for public discussion between our city's leaders and those that they serve. It was to foster debate and deliberation on how best to move our city forward in the face of changing financial and social times. It was to bring as many voices to the ever-expanding table on which our future will be mapped.

Professor Fiss' quote will no doubt resonate in my mind as I turn the calendar page to Friday, and beyond.

Here, I find seeds for new thought. Selected for April 11 is a quote from author Kurt Vonnegut. "The First Amendment," he said, "reads more like a dream than a law."

Rachel Benavidez is editor for The Brownsville Herald. She can be reached at (956) 982-6610 or by e-mail at rbenavidez@brownsvilleherald.com.