Chair Notes

2000 is almost over and 2001, the true first year of the new millennium, is fast approaching. I feel we have made some progress this year in defining goals and laying a solid foundation for realizing them, but it has been a rough year. Next year, too, I am afraid will be rougher than necessary unless we can solve a problem that at the first of this year I didn't realize existed. It is defined something like this: Do we want to go 13 different ways every time we perceive our interests as diverging from the rest of our neighbors (or don't want to go through the tedium of bringing an issue to the Council and letting it work its way through the prescribed channels) or do we want to try to forge a consensus so that we can go to the City or the community with one strong voice?

We don't have to agree with each other all of the time, but we need to recognize that what unites us is stronger than what divides us and that we can almost always come up with positions broad enough to accommodate the interests of everyone in the neighborhood, if only we work at it with patience, constructive intent, and an open mind. I truly believe that several decades of progress is in danger of coming to an end if we don't realize that it is better for everyone to give the Neighborhood Council a chance before firing off innumerable opinions - each different from the next to whomever we think might need to hear them. It is, of course, everyone's perfect right (thank God) to express any opinion to public officials. But it seems to me we are being better custodians of our rights when we take care in how we exercise them. Whose interest is being served by keeping public officials confused? As the scripture says: "... if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle?" Or, again, as Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: "We can all hang together, or, most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Franklin had a gift for the clever or witty phrase, but he knew this was no laughing matter. He and his compatriots stood a very real chance of losing their lives if their revolutionary scheme failed. We may not be facing dangers as great as our founders did, but our path is still strewn with perils of its own. We stand a better chance of meeting our goals, of making our neighborhood safer and cleaner, of preserving our history and enhancing our property values, if we hang together. Ironically, if we panic and scatter in separate directions our worst fears could be realized. Let's not make 2001 the year of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

A couple of remaining thoughts: City/County merger is now a done deal and it's up to us to make the best of it. We did, I believe, do the best job possible of informing ourselves. I was proud of the turnout for our October 18 forum, where we heard both sides of the issue presented. We need to do more of this in the future. But for now, wouldn't it make sense to think about working to see that our neighborhood comprises one of the 26 legislative districts in the new order of things? It would seem to me that we have just about the right population for this. Once again, if we can work together as one cohesive unit, our chances of accomplishing whatever we choose are greater.

Finally, as I write, we are just concluding the Holiday House Tour. It's too early to know how we did, but considering two days of cold and one of snow, I know we did well. Many thanks to John Sistarenik, Zane Lockhart, Jim Trousdale and all the volunteers, Andrew Laing, Gwynne Harpring, and Mariah Cummins, who did such a good job we hired her for the Information Center staff. Please come by and get acquainted with her if you haven't already.

Thank each and every one of you for your help and support this year and to all, a happy new year.

Dick Callaway

 

Neighborhood
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