A Lesson on Listening and Learning

To the newly elected and returning members of Newport’s city council and school committee:

Congratulations and thank you for being willing to serve. With three new members joining the city council and six joining the school committee, you have a rare opportunity. Before the first difficult vote, you get to decide together how you want to conduct the public’s business.

At every level of government, there’s room to do better. Here in Newport, we can start with something entirely within your control. Please, at one of your first meetings, set aside time for each body to agree on a few common-sense rules for how members will speak to one another, weigh evidence, and share the floor. Then hold one another to those agreements, especially when the issue is one you care deeply about.

Those of us who watch city council and school committee meetings know how easily two or three hours can pass with a few voices doing much of the talking. Some decisions deserve a long discussion. What’s frustrating is hearing the same argument a third time while still wondering what another elected member thinks. A simple agreement would help. Before anyone takes a second turn, let everyone who wants to speak have a first one. Give the chair your support when it’s time to say, “I think we’ve heard that point. Who else would like to weigh in?”

Give one another’s ideas a fair hearing, too. Ask a real question and give your colleague time to answer it. When you cite a figure, tell us where it came from and what it helped you understand. If you get a fact wrong, correct it publicly. And when a colleague raises something you hadn’t considered, say so. As a resident, I’d welcome hearing, “I came into this meeting thinking one thing, but what you just said changed my mind.”

As a retired teacher, I think about the student who comes to one of your meetings for a civics assignment or watches one from home. That student may forget the motion you voted on, but I hope they remember the moment someone said, “I see it differently, and here’s why,” and the person across the table listened, then asked a question to understand why. I’d love for that student to walk into class the next day and say to their group, “Remember when we disagreed and kept talking over each other? At the meeting last night, everyone got a turn, and people asked each other questions. Could we try that?”

We elected each of you to represent us. Please give Newport’s children a way of talking, listening and leading that they can point to with pride and want to practice themselves.

Keith Grove

Newport

A Lesson on Listening and Learning

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