A Strange Fascination

If the disheartened and disaffected among us here in Norwich could fly, we'd have a major airport in Franklin Square, although with lack of space for a runway, we'd probably have to settle for a heliport.

I've been told the airplane was invented by an optimist while a pessimist invented the parachute. As someone who has a reputation for always seeking out the location of unobstructed exits even as I am entering a room or a building, I suspect in a moment of fight or flight, I'd be hitting the silk in short order.

You can't be surprised that I often (but not often enough) see us as a city of enthusiastic beginners or discouraged experts. The dysfunction of that conjunction is that we'd all be better off with and instead of or because sometimes shades of grey capture nuance better than just black and just white in describing color.

As much as many of us enjoy, if not secretly celebrate, living in the Rose of New England practically in the same breath as we are sharing our favorite things, we then hasten to list concerns "they need to work on."

The they in this case is always nameless, invariably faceless and consistently absent from whatever forum we are in at the time we make our complaint aloud. That's a rule for living here, and maybe not just here. Never, ever, voice your honest concern or suggest disagreement, especially in the presence of someone who might be able to offer an explanation or resolution.

I was at a not-especially well-attended public hearing on the Hampton Project Municipal Development Plan last Wednesday night. By 'not especially well-attended' I mean less than two dozen people in a city population of over 40,000, to include two reporters and two members of the Norwich Community Development Corporation, NCDC, one of whom was offering the presentation). There are as many reasons for the often sparse attendance at Norwich public meetings as there are people who are not attending the meetings. I try to never draw an inference about motivation from behavior.

Three residents spoke during the hearing and raised thoughtful and thought-provoking concerns which went to the core of the proposal though some of their issues were less directly connected. I was happy that four alderpersons were also present to take the temperature of the room, so to speak, and get a feel for the heart of the matter. Their decision awaits.

It was exactly the way 'small town government' and 'town hearings' are supposed to work, with the emphasis on hearing. All of the speakers and, I’m sure, attendees wanted to understand as best as possible the project itself, to include the involvement of the Norwich City Council and its engagement of NCDC in an effort that could, say the optimist and enthusiasts, add to the city's Grand List. Or not.

It's those two words, "or not," that constantly remind me that we live in the real world because in the land of make believe we would have a surfeit of happy endings and more than enough tax dollars to fix our streets, fund our world-class schools, provide for public safety, make sure we have enough ranch dressing so our kids can eat all the vegetables they want and still pay for all the goods and services we not only expect but have also come to rely on from our municipal government.

Our lives are risk and reward, parachutes and airplanes. Do we dare to jump or hope to safely land?
-bill kenny