‘Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.?
? Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I would like to make a long-overdue formal apology to Oxford Township residents Sue Bellairs and Helen Barwig.
I’ve toyed with the idea of writing this column for a few years, but I have to admit, I guess my pride prevented it.
Unfortunately, last week my daughter was on the receiving end of some extremely vulgar comments uttered by an obvious coward who took issue with something I wrote. She handled it with class and dignity. I’m quite proud of her.
That incident motivated me to finally pen this column.
When I first came here in 1999, I jumped on the bandwagon bashing the efforts of Bellairs and Barwig, a pair of very vocal citizen activists.
What can I say, I was in my early 20s and if you didn’t make any poor decisions or mistakes in your youth, you’re either boring or you’re lying.
These two ladies fought tooth-and-nail to rid Oxford of the corruption, incompetence and wasteful spending that was rampant in the now-defunct joint township-village police department.
At the time, I had no doubt Bellairs and Barwig were 100 percent correct about ex-Police Chief Gary Ford, but I honestly believed they went too far in their crusade to get rid of the whole department simply because of the actions of one man.
I saw them as wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water and that seemed very imprudent to me. I found their tactics off-putting and it was hard to look past them to appreciate their message and their intentions.
Later on, I came to realize they were absolutely right about getting rid of the whole department because the cancer had spread from the head to much of the body. Sometimes reform is impossible and things are no longer worth saving.
During their fight against the old joint Oxford Police Department and the numerous village and township officials whose blindness, arrogance and flat-out complicity created the controversial mess that brought down the agency, Bellairs and Barwig suffered the slings and arrows of a variety of critics, yours truly included.
But in the end, these two ladies didn’t back down. They refused to be quiet and let the powers that be continue to cover things up. They stood up for what was right and helped make their community a better place with the aid of an active electorate.
One of the main problems Bellairs and Barwig encountered was the fact that many people don’t want the dead elephants in the room named. They prefer to tiptoe around them and go on believing that everything is just fine ? no problems, no bad people, just a paradise of positivity as far as the eye can see.
As the years whizz by and I continue to see things more clearly with age, I now believe Bellairs and Barwig were attacked and ridiculed because they committed the ultimate sins in the small-town bubble ? they told the unvarnished truth and they shattered the illusions so many folks cling to and cherish.
We all so desperately want to believe we’re completely surrounded by good people, from the lady that waves to us every day on her walk to the guy we always see at the local bar.
And in most cases, they are good people. I think there are plenty of good people in Oxford. I write about them every week volunteering for Oxford-Orion FISH, the K9 Stray Rescue League, churches, schools, etc.
But I’m not naive or foolish enough to believe everyone in our little bubble is selfless and kind. Not everyone can or should be trusted.
There are always wolves in sheep’s clothing lurking about, preying upon people’s goodwill and the fact that many of us just assume an individual’s public face is their true face.
Bellairs and Barwig dared to peel back the public masks of those in power and expose their true faces. They were relentless. They were courageous. They were the citizen watchdogs every community should have.
Thank you, Sue and Helen, for fighting the good fight against those who would dishonor the community and take advantage of folks who trust much too easily.
I hope you two will accept this thanks and my sincere apology.
After 16 years, I can truly see just how right you were based on bitter experience.
I understand your frustration. I understand your disgust. I understand your anger. I understand it all. It makes you sick.