Talk of the Point

I was talking to a long-time Pointer about Tom Butt the other day. He said, “I’m ambivalent about Tom. He’s been courageous. He’s often been the lone dissenter on the City Council. That takes courage. And then he does something like the email to Masquers.”

And then there’s the grouchy comment last week to “An aspirin for N.I.C.E.” He wants me to simply shut up and fall in behind the N.I.C.E. boosters, who “know something about business,” while he refuses still to avoid hard questions.

The man is frustrated, that’s clear enough. Point business people, who do indeed know a thing or two about business, voted no on his cherished N.I.C.E., 70 percent of them!

Still he mocks my curiosity about how business improvement districts have worked elsewhere and what experts have to say about them. He calls Talk of the Point “negative” and suggests, “Try being a community booster for a change.” And still, 40 days after his attempted extortion of Masquers, we’ve heard no apology. In fact, he told the Contra Costa Times he’d do it again.

It’s strange behavior for a man who calls himself a leader. Any politician more worth holding office at least tries to persuade, to take opposing viewpoints and turn them around. I wonder if Tom knows just one style: sheer bullheaded stubbornness.

I hope he learns a sweeter tune in time for The Return of N.I.C.E. It would be too bad for the valiant efforts of other volunteers and for the Point–so much in need of a boost–if a good idea had to struggle again under the weight of such “leadership.”

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