Hearing about a CDC survey, asking some, but not all, members of the Pagosa Springs community for their opinion on a citizen-generated ballot measure to generate funding for workforce housing…
Imagining, for a moment, what might come to mind, with regard to the survey… might be kind of fascinating.
Both the survey and the ballot measure were discussed in Bill Hudson’s Daily Post editorial, last Friday.
It appeared that only people doing business in the town of Pagosa Springs – but not, necessarily, everyone in the business community – was being invited to fill out the survey, which might seem a bit unusual.
But more about that, in a moment.
Let’s first delve into how folks are expressing themselves, as various things come to mind. Especially when they’re sharing thoughts on current events, in the comments section of online articles, for example.
In one of the articles I was reading the other day, someone posted a picture, with a dinosaur, and a turd. There were no accompanying words, just the picture, which had to do with an article about something Senator Mitch McConnell had said… that “African-American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”
That ruffled feathers for anyone wondering if the Kentucky senator was drawing a distinction between African Americans and Americans.
Someone reacting to another article, this one about former President Trump, had posted only a single word… the word ‘gassy.’
Sometimes, it seems, a picture, or just a word, can convey a whole lot.
To be fair, folks posting comments, in other articles, were expressing their opinion of Democrats.
The picture with the dinosaur and the turd was particularly powerful, as was the word ‘gassy, considering what they both were bringing to mind.
So… here’s a thing, or two, about the CDC survey that may bring to mind, some words or visual images.
The ballot measure proposes a “workforce housing fee from short-term rentals (STRs) located within town limits.” That’s what is stated – those words – in the ballot measure. But as noted, in the Daily Post, the CDC’s survey says… “We want your opinion on a proposed Short Term Rental Tax.”
A tax? Who said anything about a tax, which, for some reason, is the word used in the survey… rather than the word ‘fee,’ which is the exact word in the language of the proposed workforce housing ballot measure.
Lawyers might wonder, if there was some intent – some purpose – in the CDC’s word choice. ‘Tax,’ instead of ‘fee,’ could influence opinion, in some way.
Just a single word can convey quite a lot. Like a word like ‘gassy,’ for example, that the person reading the article about former President Trump decided to use, in expressing an opinion.
In a Pagosa Springs SUN article, a local businessman is quoted, saying that “the ballot language is somewhat vague and abstract…”
Vague and abstract? Really?
Is there some intent, saying those particular words?
What comes to mind, with that? Some word? Some picture?
What else?
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