Redding, California Mayor Emeritus: Mike Dahl

While the goal of every Difficult Conversations workshop is to have as much diversity as possible, it’s a difficult task to accomplish without the help of local allies. In Redding, California — the 10th most conservative city in the state — that ally was Mike Dahl.

A Redding native, Mike had grown up in the area, served on the city council and as mayor, owned a local business, and remained thoroughly connected to community leadership. That background, together with his interest in the mission of the Difficult Conversations Project, made him the ideal person to help organize not just one, but a series of Difficult Conversations workshops.    

Putting his connections and reputation to work, Mike helped assemble three of the most diverse workshops in the organization’s history. People representing the private, public, non-profit, and advocacy sectors — many of whom had histories of strong disagreements — came together to  find common ground and develop channels for positive discourse. 

The selection process, said Mike, was carefully considered. “We wanted diversity and balance. But we also wanted to attract people who would pass on the principles of open-minded, respectful dialogue to their social spheres of influence.”

The Redding workshops remain a model for the ideal grouping of individuals within a community. So what motivated Mike to help make it happen? “I was enthralled with the concept of providing an objective workshop that focused on developing the skills necessary to augment a ‘difficult conversation.’ Then as now, I was concerned by the fissures threatening our society, such as counterfactualism, conspiracy theories, and our evolving tribalism.”

Mike’s commitment to dialogue over division, however, is nothing new. Deeply concerned about America’s current “descent into warring clans,” he’s also lived through such times before.  

A lifetime reflecting on division

Raised in a politically conservative household during the counterculture revolution of the 1960s, in the rural, ethnically homogenous community of Shasta County in Northern California, Mike followed the path of many young men in his community: He joined the Marines. Soon he found himself on the front lines at the outset of the Vietnam War, an experience that would lead to the first major shift in his worldview: “This surreal, brave new world of war, 6,000 miles from home, provided a lot of time to think… and ponder… and wonder, and ask questions of fellow Marines who came from other states, big cities with diverse cultures, and small towns in the Deep South and Midwest.”

After two tours of duty (during the first of which he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon), he returned home to a country even more divided than when he left. Attitudes toward the soldiers coming home were cold, often hostile. At the time, he greeted the hostility in kind: “In my view, I was an expert on the War in Vietnam. This attitude set me up for another learning experience. Maturity would eventually teach me that I was not an expert and I knew little about the war. I just happened to be there.” 

Upon returning home he entered University, earning a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in public administration. Mike spent much of the next few decades in the private sector as a partner in a manufacturing firm, often traveling to China and Mexico for work. Of these travel opportunities, he says, “I was exposed to a completely alien culture…my worldview continued to evolve and expand.”

During these years Mike also entered Redding local politics, serving terms as both city councilor and mayor in the late eighties and early-to-mid nineties. “During this period, I was able to leverage my knowledge of business in the private sector with my academic background in public administration. It was an experience that taught me humility and the importance of teamwork, like in the Marine Corps,” Mike said. 

Mike is now retired from his job, but remains highly active in the community he’s spent a lifetime working to maintain and improve. His energy for what can often be thankless work is nothing short of inspirational, but he sees it simply as his duty to the world and to future generations, saying, “wisdom is an asset. It has value. If it is shared. That is the key. If it is shared. To me, that is the responsibility and opportunity for our late-stage elder phase. We have a responsibility to the incoming generation to mentor, prepare, share, and guide. We can leave the world in a better condition than when we entered if we follow this path. Each generation must realize the legacy they leave behind is the legacy the incoming generation inherits. The good, the bad, and the ugly.” 

In closing, I asked Mike to reflect on how the issues facing his community and the world around have evolved since his time on council and before. The biggest change he points to is the ubiquitousness of social media, saying, “As a society, we are overwhelmed with information, disinformation, and noise. This novel digital platform has democratized social interaction, including the most bizarre and extremist assertions only a science fiction writer could develop in the past.” 

He acknowledges that these trends have created some dark dynamics, but his own outlook is much brighter, “…time is not static, and change is never permanent. Keeping that in mind provides comfort in the hope and desire that our upcoming generation of leaders and influencers will have the ability to listen and learn and participate in difficult conversations, leading them through their lifecycle of leadership which will leave the world a better place when they leave than when they entered.”

— Will Beare

The full text of the interview with Mike Dahl is available here. Mike and his former wife Pam also run the Nick Dahl Memorial Veterans Fund in memory of their son, Army veteran, Nicholas Dahl, as a means to assist local veterans with housing and to help with other veteran-related issues in the Redding community. 

Banner photo by Korney Violin on Unsplash