Will and Wallet

Whether you've lived in Norwich for twenty-seven days or twenty-seven years in all likelihood you've looked more than once at a situation or a circumstance where you live and said 'somebody really should do something about that.' 

And yet, as true as that statement is, we never seem to have quite enough 'somebodys' (or maybe we just have too many 'thats') for us to really do much of anything at any time. And that's sad because everywhere I wander across Norwich I encounter people who want to work to make where we all live better. 

As you probably know, I'm not a life-long resident (though I long ago wore out my welcome with many who are) but chose the promise of what Norwich could be for my family. I remain to this day an enthusiastic believer in that promise and the premise for improvement despite experiences to the contrary. 

You may have heard/read, "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?" I'd be one of the first to insist that though both questions can never be fully or finally answered, we should never cease to ask them. And as I've learned, talking about change and actually changing are two very different things.  

And it was in that spirit I supported the bonds for downtown Norwich we approved back in 2010. The progress across Chelsea, to both our quality of life and enhancement of the grand list, since that investment has been gradual and understated where most of us would have preferred swift and dramatic, but it has also been consistent and constant. My mom used to say patience is an under-rated virtue and I think she was right. 

We started a journey of reinvention that can continue and also have an opportunity to shape both the pace and the path of that journey as part of this Monday night's City Council meeting when our alderpersons consider a ten-year and 8.47 million dollar bond proposal first outlined to them in a late July workshop by Bob Mills of the Norwich Comunity Development Corporation.

We all agree this is a lot of years and a lot of dollars and each (and all) of our voices, insights, suggestions, and ideas need to be heard by our City Council before they decide what to do next. I'm not someone who confuses having hope with having a plan and neither are you. 

Especially because of the amount of money and the proposed scale and scope of the proposal we each need to measure (at least) twice before cutting once. From news accounts, I've read the members of the Council are doing their due diligence and seeking answers to questions they have and to those many and additional questions, no doubt, that some of those answers have precipitated. 

I'm confident armed with answers, they, and we all, will be better able to decide on how and how much to continue to invest in ourselves. I look forward to seeing you in Council Chambers Monday night.
-bill kenny