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Public Comments - Speeches

Lions Club Meeting
Farrolls Restaurant, Rickreall OR
February 22, 1999

Rough Outline of Remarks Made

Thank you for that introduction...

I. Today I want to share with you three things that underpin all that I hope we can accomplish over these next few years.
- The American Commission
- Share with you some thoughts about heroes
- And finally, explain why tomorrow, not today must be our focus

II. First, I want to share with you my view of our American Commission - The Preamble to Constitution
- An intergenerational promise; a gift given through shared generational sacrifice
- Struck home during my time in the Air Force - only then did I understand exactly, how sacred this investiture really is
- We the People are all of us - not just the strong, the rich, or agile
- We must work together to construct a common good, for common benefit - our duty demands nothing less.

III. The fact is that our American Commission is a noble thing; but it means little if people choose to ignore their role.
- People are the necessary ingredient in our on-going experiment of self-governance.
- We must have a willingness to stake out a claim and make our area of the world just that much better than we found it.
- McCall's quote: "Heroes are not giants framed against a red sky. They are people that say: This is my community, it's my responsibility to make it better."
- We must all be heroes; for this is our community, it's our responsibility to make it better.

IV. To do this, we must focus upon tomorrow more than today because we cannot afford to allow ourselves to become mired in the here-and-now.
- There is too much to be done to allow ourselves to become engaged in the kinds of emotional fights that accompany incremental change.
- Please do not misunderstand me - we must do the things that are set before us; but we should endeavor to keep the bigger picture in mind - our decisions should correspond to a larger framework.
- And this is in fact, what I hope to be able to sponsor over these next few years.

V. We need to relearn how and what we think of, when we hear 'Community'.
- Community should be a verb, not a noun.
- Community is another word for family; for good or for ill, we are in this together and we are stronger together than apart.
- Community in its simplest form is: a relationship between neighbors working together for the common good.
- And Community is the place where change, any lasting change, must begin.
- We can change our country but we must help our neighborhood, first.

VI. Over these next few years I hope to work on the following things: - ACCESS: I want to help develop vehicles that provide citizens with more access to their government. - PARTNERSHIPS: I want to improve the ones we have and seek out new ones - for in today's world we simply must pool our resources because the deck is already stacked against us. - VISION: I want us to develop a community constructed/supported vision that explains to one and all where we are going and how we plan to get there.
- For me, the vision is the process, not the product; if people re-invest themselves in their community and work together on building a shared plan, than my vision, will be achieved.
- And finally, TOOLS: Once we have a community constructed vision in place, I want to help develop the tools we need to attain it.

In conclusion - It Matters. It matters what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.
- Community service groups like this make a difference. - You are making your corner of this world better that it was when you inherited it.
- But we must share the message with those that haven't figured it out - yet.
- We have real problems that demand real answers. They are out there, somewhere and only as a community can we 'find' them.