DCC Name Change - What's In A Name?

The following was published in the "Other Voices" column in the Durham Herald Sun on Monday, March 3, 2008:

WHAT IS IN AN ORGANIZATION NAME?

By Jack Steer, Pres. Durham Citizens Coalition


Those who have created names or titles to describe an organization whether government, corporate, non-profit, club, etc. understand the difficulty of doing so. The basic choices include: who do we represent, what do we do/control/aid, what are the objectives, how specific should the name be and should it be an advertisement, represent a challenge, encourage participation, and so on.

This mini essay is about the Durham Citizens Coalition (DCC), formerly called the Durham Conservative Club. The founders considered other names including Durham Liberal Club. The big problem was that the meanings of words change over time and some are even hi-jacked such as "liberal". In Europe today, "liberal" still means what it did in the 18th century, i.e. open government, free trade, and freedom of individuals to seek their fortune without a maze of regulations restricting opportunity. Even currently in The Netherlands, the Liberal Party is the most conservative of Dutch parties. In England the Liberal party is a moderate conservative group distinguishing its supporters from the Conservative party.

The founders of the DCC originally decided on "conservative" because they were targeting fiscal restraint and accountability in local Durham government budget and investment decisions. They found out that some citizens who could align themselves with that overall objective did not want to be labeled as a conservative. Some thought that word described primarily religious groups. Others were concerned that as environmentalists they would not want to be labeled conservatives. Here again, we have a hi-jacking of the word conservative. How can one who embraces conservation of nature, including entire ecological systems, not be called a conservative?

The result of such considerations led the current Board of DCC to create a name that, while making no strident implications, asserts that we embrace a wide voter spectrum in a coalition focusing on good and accountable local government. DCC members do and will continue to make contributions to that objective by becoming active in one of our local "issues" study groups. These, in turn, lead to documents provided to the media and local government officials, and also lead to participation in local government boards, committees, and commissions.

For additional information go to www.durhamcitizenscoalition.com. You may also leave your message to us on our blog page.

DCC Board members Julie Simons & David Berendsen contributed to this article.