Quote:
Originally Posted by Billy V
I want to thank everyone who stayed until the Public Comment portion of the meeting. -after lunch-
There was a much smaller group in the audience, and a completely different vibe when We addressed the BRTF.
The bulk of the enviros had left, but We were still there.
-Joe Zen had called a brief huddle in the middle of the room, immediately before the public comment speaking, and asked that we be brief to allow the BRTF to get on with their busy work schedule.
The people who got up to speak after that had command of the room, every one of them were spot-on, and seem to complement each other as they spoke very well and with a casual cadence that came from the heart.
I'm proud to know you guys. You stay to the bitter end and close the deal.
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Absolute thank you and much respect for your hanging tough.
I feel bad telling people to be brief after lunch. You guys took the whole day off work, and drove a long way through the nastiest traffic on earth to be in a windowless room. And I was telling you that you shouldn't let them have it.
But strategically, after we won the morning round (not 100% but it's a win--no doubt about it. The doom-and-gloom on the faces of the remaining enviro RSG members were worth all the pain and suffering I went through), it's important to show the BRTF that even though we are dominant in that room as a sea of black shirts, we will not take advantage of the rules and make them sit until 5PM (easily--with that many people) to listen to us and then have a huge number of agenda items they have to wade through. It may backfire and start to cause resentment.
Also, there was an agenda item that the fishermen side wants to hear very much. It's about fishery management (our preferred approach to ocean management) versus the MLPA. So it's important for the BRTF to get to that agenda item and give guidance before the next RSG meeting.
Thank you very very much for understanding.
It turns out to be a genius move, although I couldn't have anticipated it. If you all detected a change in Melissa's attitude, it's because she realizes that fishermen are not all about confrontation and "no". Also, one of the black shirts went ballistic later (after I left, I heard, still trying to figure it out). By showing in advance how cooperative and understanding we were, we were immunized somewhat.
Bottomline: Thank you so much for understanding. The absolute huge number of black shirts and orange tags was the decisive factor in the morning's fight. Even though some of you didn't get to say much, you spoke the whole time with your presence and your black shirt and your "No C" orange tag.
Remember how Ray (one of the enviro RSGs) after lunch tried to paint our group as disruptive, intimidating, bullying. By showing how much we are willing to cooperate after we got what we wanted, we blunted quite a bit of it.
Even Ken Wiseman was commenting on how well organized and polite for the most part we all were. And I'm sure they have seen much worse in other regions. Even Don Benninghoven, chair of BRTF, went and hang out with the black shirts during our 10-minute pizza lunch recess.
This is how we win--play smart, keep them off balance.