Last week we wrote about the upcoming recall election and listed the reasons for why we are voting “No.”
In doing so, we said that the group that is pushing the recall has been disingenuous. But we also said that the spouses and friends of current candidates are involved in the recall, to which Cris Patnode, who is running for Gilliam Co. Judge, pushed back and said that her husband Joe Patnode has taken all efforts to avoid the recall effort. I apologized to Joe and Cris for this statement.
But the conversation got me thinking about the price of this recall and the divisions that it has sewed in the county and between family members.
I have heard people joke about genetics in Gilliam County – and the phrase “we’re all related” has come up often. And while small towns and tight-knit communities are typically a source of pride, they can also be a heavy burden for some people to bear.
While we have had to deal with threats of lawsuits, a barrage of emails and phone calls (even on Easter Sunday), and angry letters to the editor – nothing can compare to what the families at the crux of this recall and the upcoming election have endured.
Siblings Pat Shannon and Cris Patnode are the best example. I have asked both of them if politics is worth it – is it worth sacrificing a family bond? Both have declined to answer. I can only imagine the grief that all of this has caused them, their spouses, and their extended family members. April Aamodt’s letter to the editor last week came no doubt after many sleepless nights. I’m sure other family members have been eaten by their internalized feelings and opinions.
In some ways, Gilliam County is like a family. And like all families, we are prone to fighting and resentment. But we are also bound together.
My 4th great-grandparents Edmond and Mary Stephens were pioneers and homesteaded in Lost Valley in the 1870s. I took a drive out to Lost Valley this past weekend. I was thinking about the isolation and dangers that they must have experienced – and I wondered how they got through it. The answer is clear – they got through it together. With their family and their neighbors.
That strength lives in each of us and to me embodies what life is all about in Gilliam County. We might quarrel. We might not see eye to eye on many things. But it is true that in many ways, we’re all related.
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