Ramapo’s first unity forum last night brought up lots of issues, and few answers, but some hints of movement toward more communication.

There were the niceties of pledged support. There were some pointed questions, about how many want a “ward system” for town board members, so that each member represents a geographical area of town; about the rejection by Ramapo (but acceptance by Haverstraw) of a petition to form a village of Ladentown; about lax code enforcement in unincorporated Ramapo; about old, worn-out infrastructure, about town leaders’ failure to respond to anonymous anti-Semitic literature in the last election (sadly, again, no response. Can someone just say it was bad, bad, bad?).

Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence didn’t answer all questions, but he acknowledged them. He waxed philosophical about the board reconsidering a formal “dedication” of parkland that he has previously said is unnecessary, but now says may be considered as a “belts and suspenders” measure to make people more comfortable. He talked about people saying “Monsey is a mess,” and ways he’s worked with changing collection days so trash isn’t left out, and being frustrated with pedestrians using the streets. “If we’re building sidewalks in Monsey, people should be walking on them.”

There was, for the most part, good discussion. A couple speakers made clear that the issue is much more textured than a “religious” vs. “non-religious” issue, and that many in the Orthodox and Hasidic community are fed up with the problems mentioned, including density and code violations. One speaker talked about his family’s decision to move to Ramapo a generation ago because, for a Jewish family, “Ramapo was safe.” He hoped that feeling would continue. In fact, only one speaker used the term “secular community,” which, following the other hopeful statements, was slightly off-key.

Communication, it became obvious, is key. Spring Valley Village Trustee Demeza Delhomme, one of the first speakers, talked about his own past tensions with other leaders in his village, and how a concerted effort to reach some kind of understanding with them paid off for the village at large. He lauded the fact that the first Haitian county legislator, Jacques Michel, was just sworn in. That, he said, was a victory for the diverse District 13. His message: The town government and Preserve Ramapo should “find one thing you can agree (on), and work from there.”

Will that communication happen? Will anything change? It’s hard to say. Let’s see if the next forum is held in a location where a more diverse crowd can attend, notably members of the Hasidic and Orthodox community and Haitian and Hispanic communities. Yeah, some will see the whole thing as an exercise in futility. But even if the politicians don’t listen (and we hope they will) neighbors will hear each other.