I’ve tried and tried to write this letter and I keep getting out in the weeds, so this time I’m just going to say it. Yes, the first draft of resolution 17/019 was divisive. It was penned by one person who assumed that version would never see the light of day. But if anyone thinks there aren’t plenty of people in Homer who are that opposed to the Trump administration, they need to get their head out of the sand.

The resolution was revised several times before it was submitted to the city. The final version contained no reference to Trump; it merely asked the city to endorse values enshrined in the Alaska and the U.S. Constitutions (which the city declined to do). Still, the first draft was divisive, though it was no one’s intent to cause division.

It was, however, not a bit more divisive than calling people “anti-Homer” and implying that people who have lived in Homer for decades are stooges paid off by George Soros. It was not a bit more divisive than threatening and trying to intimidate the city council members who brought it forward.

If we want this divisiveness to end, we’re going to have to start trying to understand where the other side is coming from. It takes two sides to make a fight, and it takes both sides to end one. Suggestions have been made that Alaskans should avoid all mention of politics. I disagree. Things pushed to the back burner and ignored tend to simmer until the bottom burns out of the pot. A lot of steam was blown off at that city council meeting. Can’t we now acknowledge that we all want what’s best for our community, do our best to understand each other’s positions, and work together for the welfare of all our citizens?