Build Bridges NOT Walls

Some of what you're about to read is true; some of it is a little less than that. You decide which is which.

I had a fifth-floor office and used the stairs rather than the elevator to reach it. Walking those stairs and jumping to conclusions was about all the exercise I got most days.

One morning walking up the stairs I encountered a co-worker struggling to move a heavy length of chain and without needing to be asked, I grabbed as big a piece as I could and started to help him try to move it.

Despite our best and most strenuous efforts, after ten minutes, we and the chain were still on the third-floor landing. My colleague sighed in exasperation, "we'll never get this down to the second floor!" I looked at him with both alarm and chagrin. 

"Down to the second floor?" I repeated. "I thought we were trying to get it up to the fourth floor." He could/should have told me; I should/could have asked him. Our inability to simply and fully communicate caused us to fail.

I know. 'If that's your idea of humor, don't quit your day job.' Too late, I already did.

Actually, that silly story is my respone to last Monday's Norwich City Council vote on the proposed 8.47 million-dollar economic development bond and the published reaction by Mayor Peter Nystrom, Sunday's Op-Ed by Alderman Joseph DeLucia and the Bulletin's editorial in its aftermath.

I attended two presentations on the proposal before last Monday night's vote and was struck by two things: the sparse turnout at both of them and the lack of specifics at how the bonds would be managed. 

Quite frankly the former bothered me a lot more than the latter. I read a lot of comments online from people who are never at meetings; they not only know everything but know everything better. And I've come to expect programs and the processes that produce them to evolve as we move along.

To be clear: there's no Republican Norwich and no Democratic Norwich. There's just us, all of us here in Norwich. Last Monday's vote can make us better or bitter and help define us as victors or victims.

It's what we do next and how we choose to do it that matters now.

Was the bond proposal a good idea? I believe it was; but, that said, I also believe it can and should be open to improvement with successful and honest communication from all interested parties.

Too often we play keep away with information. If I know something you don't, I have an advantage. No one and no one political party has a monopoly on good ideas and I don't think I've ever encountered a good idea that couldn't be improved by inviting more people into the process. 

The City Council's vote was a reminder that at every moment we, as residents have the power to say this is not how our story ends. We can and should all work to make Norwich better because we deserve to live in a city we are proud of.

When do we start? Right Now.   

-bill kenny