Rocks Draw Angry Gas Station Poster from Anonymous

If Mayor Travis Schaunaman can be persuaded to go back to paying for advertisements and using the free mayoral column in the weekend Aberdeen paper to simply inform us citizens of what’s going on in our community, perhaps he can dedicate his next column to explaining this quizzical flyer posted at my corner gas station:

I generally don’t respond to anonymous posts, and I’ve already exerted a lot of energy chiding people who aren’t exercising their First Amendment rights effectively or civilly, but this poster draws my attention as an oppprtunity for a tutorial in effective civic engagement.

1. First, if you want to mobilize people, give your name. let us know whom we should contact to learn more and find out action.
2. Instead of leaving it to some poor clerk at city hall to explain your vague allegation, inform us. Do what reporters do: tell us who, what, where, and when, and if you can, how and why.
   1. Who dumped these rocks? (“These rocks were put…”—come on, that’s passive voice. Be direct: Who did it?)
   2. What… well, you’ve got that: rocks!
   3. Where were the rocks dumped? The picture gives us no idea. Could be a park, could be your backyard, could be the country….
   4. When were the rocks dumped? Is this picture from last year? Did it just happen this week?
   5. How’d the rocks get there? Did the dumper carry them from a farm field? a construction site? With what equipment?
   6. Why did these rocks get dumped? Was the city shoring up the levee along Moccasin Creek? Were dumping rocks to keep idiots in Trump trucks from driving over the softball diamonds? Did Mayor Schaunaman need some big rocks removed from his yard, and did he dispatch city workers to dump them in Mike Levsen’s yard, just to rub it? Why?

The more we know, the more people may be willing to act. But if you just take a picture of a bunch of rocks, make a vague allegation, and tell me to call the city, why should I bother?