Have you ever played the "Telephone Game"?  We did this several times during my school years to demonstrate the inaccurate way you hear and then pass on information from one source to another. Several people sit in a circle and start with one person telling a small amount of information to the next without others hearing it. Each person takes turns until the info gets around the circle and back to the person who started. In almost all cases you find the version of the story has changed, and in many cases turns into a story that clearly does not even remotely resemble the original story.

You can't help but notice that this happens quite a bit in the age of high social media use and anonymous online commenters. You hear one thing from one person on a certain day and often times a few days or so later the info has been twisted and restated in terms that totally miss the point of the original story, and before you know it, it's spread like wildfire. Ever witness this? It seems this sort of thing runs rampant during the election process, as candidates vie for sound bites and a leg up on the competition. It also is prevalent during the time when ballot proposals are being unveiled and people are trying to make sense of them. It's just like the old Telephone Game.

While the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce has in its mission to provide a collective voice for its members, we do not always take a position on every issue and do not endorse individual candidates running for office. We do however, have certain proposals that we feel are worthy of our endorsement, especially those that are good for business. Our Board and Governmental Issues Committee have been studying the upcoming election and want to make sure the Telephone Game does not get played with what we feel is an extremely important yes vote for Proposal 1 in the upcoming election.   

Proposal 1 is one of those cases that if you read the ballot, and are not a Harvard Lawyer, you will most likely glaze over after the first sentence. Even those who are familiar with the facts and intent of the legislation still find it very confusing. Then you get to those like me who are challenged by the twists and turns of language, you just plain get nervous about what it implies or does not imply.

The intent of my comments today are to encourage you to do your own research and listen to people who actually know about Proposal 1 rather than believe someone who might be playing the Telephone Game. You'll hear more about Proposal 1 from us in the coming weeks, but if you're confused about it, feel free to let me know and we can discuss it.