Cheers for grown-up, civil conversations

Let’s just admit this right now — in years gone by, attending Houston City Council meetings was not our favorite assignment.

It’s not just that the drive is long, the stakes low and the subject matter dry compared to other Mat-Su Borough hot-button issues. It’s more that the rivalries on that body were often enough to leave us despairing for the future of democracy.

Then we were witness to something really encouraging on Thursday.

We’d heard from multiple sources that the council meeting would be worth our time; that a controversial lake access issue was coming to a head. Usually, that’s a good sign there will be bitter debate and hurt feelings among those on the council and attending the meeting.

On the drive to Houston, our reporter worried that perhaps we were falling into old habits of only covering Houston when there’s a controversy. The meeting gaveled in and out within a single hour and afterward it was time to discuss this lake issue.

And that’s when something amazing happened.

The audience contained put-out residents from around this lake that has become a popular party spot and lake users who were shut out when the deputy mayor ordered access blocked to curb their partying. It seemed to contain all the ingredients of a pot-boiler. We were confident we’d hear a lot of self-righteous testimony and that someone was going to stomp out in disgust.

But Houston Deputy Mayor Jim Johansen, to his credit, sat down and had a grown-up, civil conversation that actually started with his own apology.

He was wrong, he said, to block that access and he had since ordered it unblocked.

The rest of the conversation was neighbors discussing an issue and seeking solutions. They actually listened to each other. Nobody shouted anybody down. Nobody made snide comments. Nobody called anybody names or alleged any kind of corruption. And nobody left angry.

That’s amazing, considering neither side got what they wanted. The put-upon neighbors are likely still going to have to put up with partying and the lake users were told that though the access is open, parking there is illegal.

A civil, adult conversation on a controversial topic is such a rarity that we felt compelled to celebrate it here. In fact, we’d be hard-pressed to recall the last time we’d seen something like that happen on an issue people were passionate enough about to spend an evening at city hall.

It’s wonderfully disorienting. It wasn’t long ago that Houston regularly saw petty disputes turn personal and ugly. Now, at least on this issue, the city is a shining example of democracy done right, an example others should follow.

Well done, Houston.