Fighting The Man

I don't consider myself to be very political or an involved member of my community. Maybe because I am ignorant at 32 years of age of exactly how involved and emotionally taxing it is to "fight The Man".
I am the point person for gathering petition signatures for 384 households in my neighborhood, Castlewood. Quite the daunting task, but with the help of some brave souls in my 'hood, we are slowly getting this done.
The petition is to close off the side-street exits off FM 2499 that would allow traffic to flow through our subdivision if left open. The road is slated to be completed in two years. A few years later, TXDot is estimating that the traffic will be 35,000+ vehicles per day. The intersection of 2499 and 407 sees over 40,000 vpd. That's a lot of cars! And you want to drive through my streets? I don't think so.
Last night, myself and another resident held an information town hall meeting to disseminate facts, not fiction about the road and gate closure. This was strictly informational and not to decide if this would be closed off since that really isn't our decision. It was pretty well attended, despite the BCS game was on. There were definitely a handful of people opposed, a few who wanted more information and the rest in support.
One thing really chapped my chops. One resident, who is also a board member, was in attendance. He is opposed to the closure and the way he "voiced" his opinion was by bringing in his own petition to have folks sign who were against it. So, thanks for using our informational forum to pimp your own cause. If you want to set up your own "We don't care if 35,000 cars come through our neighborhood and mow down our kids, pets and spouses" meeting, feel free to do so. It's like bringing samples and order forms of Girl Scout cookies to a Weight Watchers meeting. You are sabotaging the efforts of several people who have worked very hard for the past two months at this. It's time to put on my big girl panties and get to work. I have a bunch of houses to visit tomorrow!