The year 2024 has begun. How are you feeling about that?

When, in late 2023, I asked some neighbors about what was to come, they cited the presidential election as they expressed fear, dread, and alarm. At the start of The Production Alliance’s First Night event on New Year’s Eve, however, responses were far more positive, even optimistic. To quote show promoter Danny Milholland, “I think it’s gonna be an amazing year.

“Lots of healing is needed among the humans in this next chapter, and I think this is a good year for it. We need a deeper level of communication and listening and compassion and forgiveness in order to step into our stride and make some real human progress. We have a lot of s**t to wade through to get to that point. It’s going be long endeavor, but I think that we’re gonna make some important changes in this next chapter.”

Two nights later, at the first City Council meeting of 2024, a dedicated group of residents called for healing as they spoke eloquently in support of a City Council resolution that advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza. While text of the poorly-punctuated proposed resolution was included in the meeting packet, many council members did not have sufficient time to read it with care.

At the conclusion of public comment, Vice Mayor Amy Howard noted, “There is not ‘no hate here.’ [Port Townsend] is a liberal bubble, but there is a lot of vitriolic sentiment that hangs out in the corners. I am not ready to vote on this resolution [without] text in it that includes a very strong commitment on our part against antisemitism and Islamophobia … in addition to calling for a ceasefire.”

Mayor David Faber chimed in. “I’m incredibly troubled by the circumstances in Israel and Palestine, and I have been for a long time,” Faber said. “I don’t think the tragic situation there is really solvable as long as there are religiously motivated national extremists on every conceivable side.”

Then he triggered any number of eyebrow raises when he said, “I’m concerned about being used as a patsy to support something that is insufficiently vetted. I understand that this is the local governmental body that people can approach, but we have far less influence on this than people seem to think … I just generally don’t feel this is the place for national security issues. I think it’s a distraction from the actual work of this body, but it’s even more of a distraction to debate that instead of doing what people are asking. So, I would ask that if we act, we do it carefully and with thought.”

Reached the next day, Faber clarified that he did not want to act without fully understanding what he and the Council were being asked to do. “I want this to be vetted in greater depth by the Culture and Society Committee on January 10 to make sure that facts and figures are consistent with reality, and the statement doesn’t play into what I might want to avoid. My gut tells me it’s probably right, but I want to make sure.

“Speaking to the concerns of local residents has moral value. But we could be approached on all sorts of issues that could eat up all our time. I don’t want to be a Council that sends messages and doesn’t do the work, or that didn’t speak up about Russia invading Ukraine or the military junta in Myanmar, but speaks up about this. We say a lot with our silence, which is why the issue is so complicated.”

Injudicious language aside, those are the words of someone who attempts to take in the big picture and visualize the future before taking action. It’s an approach I wish far more Americans would adopt. Instead, as we enter an election year with 25 percent of Americans indicating, in response to a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, it is “probably” or “definitely” true that the FBI instigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, one can only wish that more people would devote their energies to clear thought and vision rather than conspiracy theories and divisive, trust-eroding rhetoric and fantasy.

Jason Victor Serinus is a critic of culture, music, and audio. A professional whistler, he’s also the oldest member of the WA State LGBTQ Commission. Column tips: jvsaisi@gmail.com.