Next Year

I hope you had an opportunity to enjoy family and friends (socially distanced but still close to our hearts) over the observed Memorial Day weekend for a moment of reflection and perhaps introspection on who we are, how we came to be here, and where (and how) we move forward together in light of a frighteningly unique first five months or so of 2020. 

I wrote a lot of what follows well over a decade ago during a different time that somehow feels so much farther away than the calendar suggests. We got from there to here and that should inspire us to continue. 

For many if not most of us, this year so far can be summarized as a very sharp intake of breath and a word that sounds a little bit like 'shirt,' but isn't. Thomas Paine noted in the early days of the American Revolution 'these are times to try a man's soul.' I'd suggest our here and now would also qualify. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I'm told. And for many in Norwich, throughout the state of Connecticut, across the country and around the world these are (close to) desperate times. Our cities and towns, and the families who live in them and the merchants and businesses who provide our goods and services never thought of themselves too small, too fragile, or too beleaguered to fail. Until now. And now, for far too many, that's all they can think about. 

As a nation, we've always been able to run so far and so good for so long because we’ve had the better part of two and half centuries of sacrifice and success to fuel our always-forward momentum. We’ve had bumps, rough patches, and unanticipated challenges but we never broke stride and never doubted ourselves. Today is no different.

We face hard times whose cost and price by whatever metric you choose may be close to incalculable. For those in elected leadership here in Norwich, blame-gaming and finger-pointing solves nothing so it's heartening to see sleeves rolled up replaced by hard work, compromise, and communication no matter the party or politics because at the end of the day, partisanship won't get our children's schools funded, put emergency responders on the streets in the needed numbers, get roads repaired and rebuilt or help those in need of social services to get them.

As those on the City Council strive to listen to 'we, the people' they hear many distinct and different messages as they try their best for the good of all of us (to include those who didn't vote for them). Many of us have compelling reasons for why we feel Norwich cannot afford to spend more money next year than we have this year. And just as many feel otherwise but that's not actually our choice.

Providing for our schools, rebuilding downtown, preserving historic treasures, offering family-friendly recreational opportunities and hundreds of quality of life services and programs cannot be paused because of hard times. Rather, hard times require hard choices fueled by new perspectives that will create new opportunities with new solutions because there’s no other direction for us to go, but forward and together.

-bill kenny