This community truly has a lot for which to be thankful.

The economy here is fairly recession-proof because of all the orthopedic manufacturing and other diverse industry.

There are good schools, a low crime rate, lots of churches. It's really a great place to live and raise a family.

All in all, living here is a very positive experience.

But one thing that has always surprised me about this community is what it takes to whip up a controversy.

I am forever wrong when it comes to predicting what will prompt readers of this newspaper to write a letter to the editor.

Sometimes I spend a lot of time researching a topic for this column. When I am finished, I sit back and think to myself in some self-important fashion, "That's really gonna reach people."

It never does.

On the other hand, sometimes I just sit down and write something off the top of my head. Those are the columns that seem to light a fire under readers.

Same thing with news stories written by our staff.

Over the years there have been literally dozens of stories that I thought would either enrage or uplift the community.

It never happened. Nobody cared.

Ah, but remember when Mayor Jeff Plank spent $250 from a city PR fund to replace a puppy that was run down in a street?

The letters flowed and flowed and flowed.

Another thing that always has the potential to generate a flood of letters from readers is basketball.

I remember the sports editor back in the early '90s wrote a column that politely pointed out that sometimes Warsaw basketball fans are a bit unruly. We got dozens of letters, many of them asking that we fire the sports editor.

Imagine.

Another anomaly of newspapering occurs here with moderate frequency.

It's what I call the "why didn't you tell me" syndrome.

That happens when week after week we publish stories on the front page about an issue that is coming to fruition, like a school building program or a new sewer plant.

In the stories, we spell out how many dollars are going to spent and how it will impact the average taxpayer or sewer user.

Invariably, when the taxpayer or sewer user gets their tax notice or sewer bill, they call me.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" they demand to know.

As politely as possible I tell them that we did, in fact, report on the impending increases in taxes or fees.

All they had to do was read. Of course, I never tell them that.

The latest issue to prompt me to perhaps invoke the "individual topic" clause of our Letters Policy is the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance at the Warsaw Community High School.

I think we have pretty much covered that issue on our letters page. There really is no new viewpoint or Bible verse a letter writer could bring forth to further clarify the issue.

Once again, I am surprised by the relative importance assigned to topics by our readers.

Here are a few issues we have reported on recently - off the top of my head - that apparently don't carry enough significance to warrant an opinion from readers.

Now, I am not saying these are good or bad or whether I agree or disagree. Just that they are things that one would think are at least as worthy of public debate as the GSA:

$20 million spent on a new wastewater treatment plant and a near doubling of sewer bills in Warsaw. (Here's a "why didn't you tell me" waiting to happen.)

$30 million proposed by Warsaw Schools for a building project, including several million for a football stadium and weight room. (Another "why didn't you tell me.")

Cardinal Center is building a multiple-unit apartment complex in the middle of a single-family residential area.

There was no public comment on a baby placed in a trash can at a Mentone factory.

Nobody seems to care that police and school officials conducted a drug sweep at the high school and declined to tell us what happened.

We haven't even heard a peep about the fact that there is an increase in sales tax slated for the beginning of the year.

Not to mention the fact that property taxes - when reassessment is finally completed - are likely to increase substantially.

No, none of that stuff seemed important enough to our readers to get them to put pen to paper. (Or fingers to keyboard via e-mail.)

I was uplifted, however, to see a couple letters decrying the fact that recycling stations were removed from Warsaw.

And there were a few letters about the election. That was good.

But it just seems that there are plenty of issues that go unnoticed.

I think this has the tendency to send a message to elected officials. They get the idea that people don't care. Or they get the idea that people are happy with their decisions. Maybe it's a little of both.

But one thing is certain. Remaining uninvolved gives elected officials a sort of undocumented mandate.

I believe government works best when the electorate becomes involved. Elected officials probably cringe at that notion, but I firmly believe in it.

Elected officials at all levels can be swayed by public outcry. I have seen it at commissioners meetings and I have seen it in Congress.

The best public policy is forged with the influence of the public.

I would never begrudge a letter writer space to voice an opinion in this newspaper. I am a fanatical devotee of an active letters page. I print every letter that conforms to our Letters Policy.

But sometimes I wish readers got whipped up over more compelling topics.

There are more important issues facing this community than puppy dogs, basketball and the GSA. [[In-content Ad]]