New Leelanau County Group Urges Communication Across The Partisan Divide

Can we still even talk to one another?

That’s the question Sam Getsinger is trying to answer with a new grassroots initiative called Common Ground Gatherings. The group brings together “important thinkers and leaders in Leelanau County,” from all different demographics and political affiliations, working to “break down barriers of thinking so we can listen to one another and work together.” Getsinger sees the approach as her way of addressing the staunch partisanship and harsh political rhetoric of the moment.

An 82-year-old retiree, Getsinger spent her career as a kindergarten teacher. What those years in the classroom gave her was a firm belief that just about anyone can get along.

“In kindergarten, the kids for the most part really liked each other,” she says. “It always made me wonder what happened later in school, where they didn't anymore. I think, often, what we do to kids is separate them, and not show each of them what they have to contribute.”

That tendency – to divide people into factions rather than bring them together – is the core motivator behind Common Ground Gatherings. Launched in January, the group hosts meetings of Leelanau stakeholders on the second Wednesday of each month. Attendees meet, mingle, and share a meal together. After dinner, Getsinger’s colleague – Josh Bareman, who serves on the Leelanau County Land Bank Authority – facilitates conversations about local issues. The goal, as the name of the group indicates, is to find common ground among people with varied viewpoints.

“What I'm hoping is that, if we establish a group where local leaders enjoy sitting down together and discussing what they have in common, perhaps it would make other folks in the county think, ‘Hey, we can do this too,’” Getsinger tells The Ticker. “I’d like it to be a proof-of-concept that can then be embraced by more folks. Because at the end of the day, I think more people want to be together than want to be divided.”

The idea for Common Ground initially came from a similar organization called Braver Angels, a national organization that hosts so-called “red/blue workshops.” Those events convene “Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning citizens for structured conversations, with a focus on listening and reflecting rather than debating and persuading.” Northern Michigan has hosted multiple Braver Angels sessions in the past few years – including, in 2024, a Leelanau event Getsinger helped organize.

“That event was really well done, but there were some things I didn't like about it,” Getsinger says. Her main criticism? The conversation stopped just when things were getting interesting.

“Near the end, there was one woman on the Democrat side who talked about a friend who was a teacher, and when this woman retired from education, she lost her insurance and could no longer afford her cancer medication,” Getsinger says. “That anecdote prompted someone from the Republican side to acknowledge that maybe, every once in a while, we actually should reconsider the social safety net. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, the door just opened a crack.’ And then the event ended.”

Getsinger ultimately walked away with two main critiques for Braver Angels: first, that the conversation was too structured – to the point where it did verge on becoming a debate; and second, that discussing national politics prompted participants to put their guards up.

“At Common Ground, we only have one strict rule, and it’s that you may not discuss national politics. We're only going to talk about happens here in Leelanau County,” she says. “In a lot of cases, local government impacts your life so much more than state or national government does. For instance, one thing we’ve discussed is: ‘Could the housing issue in Leelanau County be eased up if we had zoning for tiny homes?’”

Common Ground’s first two gatherings drew about 18 people each, including county commissioners from both political parties, local nonprofit leaders like Taylor Moore (of Food Rescue) and Sakura Takano (of Rotary Charities), farmers (Jim Bardenhagen), and even candidates for office (Kate Gallup, a Leelanau School teacher running for state senate). The next gathering is scheduled for March 11, and Getsinger says anyone interested in participating can email her at getsam231@gmail.com.

Rick Robbins, a county commissioner who has represented Leelanau’s first district as both a Republican and Democrat, is hopeful the Common Ground concept will catch on more broadly.

“Sam is an amazing woman, and what she's trying to accomplish is long overdue for the county,” says Robbins, who considers himself “politically purple.” “She’s trying to draw in people from all sides, and she’s doing it in good faith. The idea is that you take people, and you take the politics out of it, and you sit them down, and they just communicate. When you do that, you find out you do have some common interests after all. And maybe, when you find those common interests, you can also find a solution to some of the other disagreements you were trying to deal with.”

“The problem I see so often these days is the mindset of ‘If you don’t agree with me, then you’re the enemy,’” Robbins adds. “But that’s not what we are here in Leelanau. We all live in the same county. We’re all neighbors. And we have to put our guards down and communicate if we’re ever going to come up with solutions that will benefit residents here.”