Participatory politics is what makes our democracy work, but it also supposes that those who are participating are doing so in good faith.

How do we handle people who want to use the tools of participation -- things like open records requests and open meetings -- as soap boxes for narcissistic jeremiads? What if the people participating aren't intent on being constructive, but instead are out to just burn everything down (figuratively speaking)?

The City of Dickinson will soon hold a special election in which the incumbent, city commissioner Jason Fridrich, who was recalled to the ballot by petitioners, will run unopposed after the leader of the petitioning campaign, a local gadfly prolifically active on social media and in the public comment period at city meetings, chose not to run.

This exercise in futility will cost the taxpayers of Dickinson tens of thousands of dollars, and what does it accomplish? Satisfying the ego of a minority faction of malcontents?

"I bite my tongue," Dickinson Mayor Scott Decker said on this episode of Plain Talk of his efforts to keep his composure while getting berated during public meetings. "I'm patient," he continued, "but our patience is wearing thin."

Decker and his community are struggling with balancing the sort of openness and transparency that allows certain members of the public to verbally abuse elected officials, and accuse them of all manner of perfidy, with the need to just get on with the public's business.

Why should members of the public, attending a city meeting to learn about budgets, or taxes, or a zoning issue, be subjected to long-winded tirades that often have little to do with city business?

This isn't just a Dickinson problem. Local governing entities across North Dakota -- indeed, across America -- are struggling with these problems. During his interview, Decker offered some fascinating insight on what it all looks like from a seat in local government.

Also on this episode, Travis Finck, North Dakota's top public defender, talks about his office's struggles amid funding shortfalls, and his efforts to convince lawmakers to fund his lawyers on par with what prosecutors receive.

"Right now we're not worried about a level playing field," Finck told us. "We're not even in the arena.

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