Resolution 3

There is the distinct possibility that Pacific, the bad boy of Washington municipalities currently standing at the precipice, is about to get a reprieve in the form of some very expensive liability insurance. This  will protect its employees and elected officials and allow the city to muddle ahead and get its act together. Don't delude yourself into thinking that everything is now hunky dory. It's not. This is the equivalent of grabbing a drunk by the ear, putting him in a holding cell as asking, gently, "well, now, have we got your attention, Bunky?"

What happens when you throw the drunk in the holding cell? The first thing he's bound to say is, "gee, I'll never do it again!!!!" Yeah, right. If you want to know whether a drunk is lying, look at his lips. If they're moving, he's lying. The same can be said about some of the political actors on Pacific's stage.

Time for the city to engage in a 12-step process. The Alcoholics Anonymous model appears at the bottom of today's blog.

But for now, we have Resolution 3 to consider. In the past two blogs I've already put forth two New Year's resolutions for how this community should conduct itself in the future. Briefly summarized, they are:

1. Protect the Innocent.
2. Don't exploit the weak (i.e., the mentally ill).

Here's today's resolution: Be honest. Ruthlessly honest.
The line between diplomacy and deceit can be very thin. If you feel like waffling, it's always good to remember that there is no truth more damaging than any lie. It's also helpful to remember that there is only one person you can ever truly outsmart -- yourself. 
Pacific has to stop lying.
Here is the truth: Pacific has not been a great little city, although it has been an example to others -- an example of how dishonesty, selfishness, malevolence and incompetence can join to become the perfect storm. Pacific has not been well run, fair, candid or kind. The leaders have lacked a moral compass, as illustrated by the lack of outrage over the outlandish conduct of  its public safety director and former mayor.
Have the courage to tell the truth, and when that truth uncovers poor performance, take action to correct the errors. And, stop blaming the guy who brought the whole thing crashing down. Just like General Custer, Pacific had it coming. If Pacific survives, it owes bumbling, incompetent Cy Sun a great deal of thanks.

And now for those wonderful 12 steps:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

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