Re: Worth Reposting

Naked Man, Wizard, Viejo Bill, Paul P. et all,

Feuding aside, I have seen a many post with lots of good intentions. I would think most of us could agree with Naked Man's official opinion in the above post. I also think we would agree that although the DC spring's are not under threat of closure today, there are no gurantees for tomorrow and all this feuding and talk of violence does not help.

So where do we go from here? The way I see it there are three positions forming on this website, the Mike Castro defenders, the DCHS defenders and those neutral to both. The idea of a meeting of minds of those in the middle would probably be a good place to start. However, as Wiz points out distance and time schedules would be a problem. This forum could be the meeting place but it could take hundreds of post to get any concesus and it would be very difficult to try and limit discussions of more controversial issues regarding DCHS Inc. and MC. With this in mind I would suggest a combination of both. First let see if we can agree on some ground rules for a meeting, then try and agree a time and place that most people could try to attend. After the meeting one of the attendees chosen as the chairman for that meeting could post the common suggestions that come up on this website so that those that could not attend can give feedback.

This is a concrete suggestion for the rest of you to build on. As I said on previous post I feel it would be best if the meeting had was anchored by local residents. Here are some sugestions for ground rules for the meeting.

1) It should be open to anyone intrested in participating, but respectful to those that do not wish to do so. However, in the best intrest of progress I would suggest that the initial meeting have two exclusions, Mike and Katerina. This is not personal against either of them, but if deep down they both are value the springs and want to keep them as they are, they should be able to trust the rest of us that have this as our number one priority.

2) All those wishing to participate must agree not to discuss Mike, Katerina, Bowen Ranch ownership, Mill Moss Road, whether the National Forest should be free or not, or any other controvertial subjects of that nature. That does not mean that they would never be discussed, but the purporse of the meeting is to find common gound so starting on our differences would be counter productive. If anyone breaks this rule, the rest of the participants should ask that person to leave in the best interest of the springs. A moderator might be ideal but I don't think we would all be willing to pay for one.

3) The objective of the meeting would be to discuss what we can do as DC hot spring lovers to preserve these springs as they are for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.

4) In order to achieve this possible subjects of discussion could include trash collection sugestions like those just presented by Wizard, appropiate ettiquete when at the springs, how to aproach those that do not respect this ettiquete, how do we share this information with other visitors, how do we work with the goverment agencies and authorities, etc.

5) No weapons allowed. I would suggest also no drugs or alcohol for this meeting. Come willing to listen to other people's opinions and work towards a concensus. We should also go on first name basis and no hiding behind fictitious names. If we want a group that can work with goverment agencies they will need real people.

6) Possible suggestions for a meeting place would be a local public place (most of you know them better than me) or the hot springs themselves in the nude, best way to know that no one is not concealing anything.

Please excuse all spelling mistakes. Any takers willing to take the next step?