Jay GreesonWednesday morning at the Hamilton County Courthouse started with doughnuts and several dozen poster-waving partisans clamoring for a tax increase.
Yes, a tax increase. You've likely heard about it. It's made most of the papers.
Wednesday morning blended into Wednesday lunch as various Hamilton County citizens took to the podium and used their allotted three minutes to praise or condemn the proposed 34-cent tax increase to boost the Hamilton County Schools' budget by about $34 million in county money.
The tenor and tone of the proceedings in the commissioners' chamber were telling.
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger presented his budget to the gathering, a group assuredly less enthusiastic than the UnifiEd-supported gaggle of onlookers outside the courthouse before the meeting.
When he was done, commissioners were silent and declined formal comment. Remember, the vote on the proposed budget is not until June 26.
The silence seemed strange until all of the commissioners decided to weigh in on the budget during their traditional announcements portion of the meeting.
(Whether that was a chance to make a statement without rebuttal or just a way to keep the meeting moving is anyone's guess.)
Universally, commissioners praised Coppinger and his finance staff for the work they put in and the efforts to inform the public about what was coming.
And that point is fair considering, whether you agree or disagree with a tax increase this big for a school system this flawed, there is no debating that the mayor and his staff worked hard to be upfront from the start.
Katherlyn Geter pleaded for people to keep an open mind, and noted that the number 44,000 - the number of students in our school system - has been haunting her through this process.
I concur that an open mind is important through this process. But that openness is a two-way street, right?
If I am against a tax increase because of a lack of accountability or against 5% across-the-board pay raises or the idea that adding more truancy offices and giving the central office mandatory raises seems more about bureaucracy than better education, that does not mean I am against our schoolchildren.
It's funny how those who want people to have open minds are only really wanting people on the other side to open their minds.
Commissioner Chip Baker wisely noted that his mind was open going into the meetings with constituents over the next few weeks.
And all of this was after Dr. Warren Mackey said the path for the county commission the next three weeks was going to require bravery similar to that shown 75 years ago today on the shores of France.
Hamhanded segue aside, Mackey's point about reminding all of us about the sacrifices and success of the great Americans before, after and on D-Day should all make us feel proud. In fact, this day should be a federal holiday in my mind. Dr. Mackey thanked those who served in World War II, including his father.
Professionally in politics, supporting a tax increase this large - and that's two years after a tax increase that was a tax increase in everything but a name - is putting your political future on the line.
Vote for it, and you are going to alienate a large number of your constituents. Contrary to what some informal polls and organized rallies might suggest, widespread county support for such a tax increase seems dubious to me.
Vote against it, and you run the risk of alienating the ever-growing influence that has become UnifiEd, which has been pushing for this moment for several years.
How big a political and fund-raising sword is UnifiEd wielding currently? Ask Joe Graham, Jonathan Welch and a whole lot of other goodhearted and noble public servants who did not bend the knee to their strong-armed 'equity over excellence' tactics.
Bravery, Dr. Mackey, may have been the right word, even if it was the wrong comparison.
Because bravery, by definition, is not the absence of a threat. It's embracing that there is a threat.
And politically, there is great peril for some county commissioners looming in three weeks.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.