This evening was the last scheduled meeting of the board of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority for Ms. Julianne Dickson. Leaving the meeting, Ms. Dickson took the opportunity to ream me out. Royally.
I was accused of many things, including (among others) not getting the facts straight, telling lies, and misinterpreting the truth. She did say that she has been waiting for a long time for her term to end, so she could tell me what she really thinks about me.
I feel privileged to be in good company.
After a LCCCA committee meeting some weeks ago, several of us witnessed Ms. Dickson viciously attacking another board member for asking pointed questions. We clearly heard her say “I don’t care what your opinion is!”. We found out later that this was not the first time this had happened.
Of course, there were no witnesses to Ms. Dickson’s tirade this evening, other than a City employee who heard a part of it. And, I do believe that Ms. Dickson would have walked right past me without saying anything, had I not said to her, “Julianne, take care.”
I believe that what made the verbal attack much worse was the fact that I simply stood there and said nothing. I didn’t argue, I didn’t walk away. I just stood there and looked at her.
Over the years, Ms. Dickson has been the recipient of some of my more biting sarcasm. I always reserve my strongest criticism for public officials who try to stifle dissent, and while Ms. Dickson was City Council president she was particularly brutal in keeping public criticism to a minimum. So yes, I do plead guilty to picking on her, but only because her actions deserved it. I find it interesting to note that Ms. Dickson has obviously been reading both Looking At Lancaster and TalkBack for quite some time.
One lesson that I learned the hard way some time ago is the need to separate what I feel about someone’s actions from what I feel about that person. I’ve met a number of public officials whose actions were clearly counterproductive to the best interests of taxpayers, who are actually nice people when you get to know them.
I hold no grudge nor anger against Ms. Dickson, who has selflessly served the people of Lancaster for over a decade. My only problem with her is the bad attitude that she occasionally exhibits in the face of dissent.
One of the last things that Ms. Dickson said to me is that I should be ashamed of myself, standing there with a smile while she verbally tore me apart. The truth is, I’m rather proud of the fact that I maintained my composure in the face of a brutal attack on my personality. I really hope that Ms. Dickson will some day learn that lesson for herself.
