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Public Comments - Speeches
Monmouth State of the City Address
February 9, 2000Last year, Mayor McArdle and I wanted to begin something special.
We wanted to begin a tradition of jointly delivering our annual "State of the City Address" - at this forum.
Last year, the act itself was the message. John and I wanted to emphasize the value of the partnership between our two respective cities.
This year we wanted to achieve a little more.
We wanted to showcase some of our community's recent achievements, on-going projects, and talk a little about the possibilities of tomorrow.
Accordingly, my address is an assessment of the state of our community: where we've been, what we've done, how we're doing, and also a series of challenges; four missions I believe we should accomplish.
This year has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that distinct though we are - the respective cities of Monmouth and Independence are members of the same family: undeniably unique, undeniably kin.
We are a family of workers. We are a family that seeks out challenges and a family that finds a way to make things happen by working together.
Today, I am going to spend some time reflecting upon some good things that have happened in Monmouth.
I want to begin, with the City government itself; I want to emphasize the gains made and forecast even greater achievement in the future.
The City of Monmouth, under the direction of Manager Hecksel and his leadership team has maintained excellence in service during some tremendously challenging times.
We have undergone a score of personnel challenges and we have come out of that process stronger and more prepared for the opportunities of tomorrow than ever before - we've made changes.
There have been other changes as well.
For instance, there has been a change in public expectations.
I believe that this past year was the beginning of a revival, a revival of the "volunteer spirit".
This year our community spruced up the downtown, built a skatepark, began a Legacy, met the Challenge, and proved, proved - that "Community is a verb".
In June, in response to a request from Sonia Cooper, the Monmouth Merchant's Association, members of the Monmouth Church of Latter Day Saints Service Organization, and interested community members made a difference.
The '99 Downtown Sweep brought together friends and neighbors; they refurbished planters, painted benches, and made the downtown sparkle.
This summer, Carl Nightengale, Em Nutter, and Bob Cannon volunteered, in collaboration with the youth of our community and a small army of supporters, and built a skatepark that has become a model for other communities.
In October, Charlyn Eschette and Rena Hoover led an effort that planted one hundred-twenty trees. These living monuments will someday stand proud and tall as an example of what can be done when people pull together.
In fact, the weekend after the Legacy began, Ray and Dori Broderson, Jim Protiva, and Rick Igou coordinated an event that has become a yearly celebration of all that is right with this community.
The 24-hour Challenge brought people together, strengthened community relationships, and made some money for youth anti-substance abuse programs.
I suggest to you today, that the 24-Hour Challenge is a test, a test of the spirit - and thanks to them, this year we passed with flying colors; thanks to many of you - we had the means to take the test.
I want to stop for a moment and comment upon other, more "concrete" accomplishments. For in addition to renewing the Community Spirit, we also built the 'plans' for the future.
As of today, we have a Downtown Development Plan, a long-term Parks Plan, and an Effluent Reuse Plan.
In addition to these "finished products", we have begun work on future plans.
With Mayor McArdle's assistance, we have worked on issues that face both of our cities. Through our regular "All Calls", we are finding ways to cooperate and share our ideas between governmental and non-governmental entities within our community.
It is significant that for the first time in over a decade, the City of Monmouth and the City of Independence held a joint work session.
It is significant that last month, the City of Monmouth held a work session with representatives of Polk County Fire District #1, Western Oregon University, and the Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training and discussed possible long-term public service developments.
And it is significant, that on the 21st of this month, the twelfth Monmouth Visioning Process neighborhood meeting will be held.
This Mayoral Initiative is the outreach program I discussed during this forum last year.
By design, this process has been paid for and implemented, without a cent of public finance - it has been a labor of love and a truly amazing experience.
More than just a promise kept, this process has been a gateway - an opportunity for folks to get involved on their terms, on their turf. In this case, the process is the product.
Thus far, over eighteen hundred doors have received invitations - that means over eighteen hundred households have been individually asked to participate. Some took the opportunity to strengthen their neighborhoods and share their vision for the future; all know they could have - and that too is significant.
Whatever the end result, the people involved in this process made a difference; they took a first step and re-invested their spirit in their community.
I want to take this opportunity to make something very clear. The nature of the MVP Initiative has not changed - the findings are non-binding and no promises have been made - other than submission of the summary to the Planning Commission.
Whatever the Planning Commission chooses to do with the final summary is really up to the Planning Commission, but the participative methodology used in this process has paid dividends: 1) the collective view of those involved will be presented to those with authority over planning issues, 2) neighborhood gatherings were exposed to Neighborhood Watch programs, and 3) folks were allowed to ask questions and entertain questions that mattered to them.
As I think about this year, and all of the people and all of the accomplishments, something becomes self-evident; these successes are not the result of happenstance - they are the result of a re-invigorated public; people are showing us that they want to play a larger role.
I suggest to you today, that we are at the origin of something wonderful; progress is in the air and we have a firm foundation upon which to build - but build we must.
For while the State of our City is strong, this is not guaranteed.
We cannot afford to sit back and glory in past works. We must re-double our efforts and work toward the kind of future we really want.
It is time to begin an open and continuing dialogue about tomorrow; a community conversation where ideas aren't tossed out merely because they are new, or because they are offered by someone else or by somebody we may not like, but instead - a dialogue where ideas rise and/or fall on their own weight.
We have precious little time to determine our course and we need every single person in this community to play a part - we all may not have the same role but all our roles are essential to the script.
Therefore, for the purposes of this continuing dialogue, I offer the following challenges.
Number One: We should have a transit system in place by the end of this, the first decade of the 21st Century.
I believe that unless we focus on providing a reasonable alternative in terms of transit delivery infrastructure, with intra-community as well as inter-community needs in mind, we risk losing control of the size, scale, and feel of our community.
The answer for tomorrow will not be found in bigger roads, more pavement, more gridlock.
We must find ways of providing increased mobility for those that need to get from one part of our community to the other; a transit system that helps get people from this community to other communities and back again - all without the use of a personal automobile.
If we can get more cars off the streets, provide safe, timely, and reliable options for those in need of greater mobility, and potentially connect our business district with the rest of the valley, then it is not only the reasonable thing to do; it is the right thing to do.
It fits with our self-constructed sense of community identity.
It supports a Win/Win model for a new kind of growth.
Our seniors deserve it, our families deserve it, our students deserve it, and our community deserves it - ultimately, it makes sense.
Number Two: We should form a "Community Volunteer Corps". We have a large pool of productive, energetic, and interested citizens, some recently retired, other just starting out - expressing through word and deed, a sincere desire to have the tools and organizational structure that can allow them to more effectively, give something back to a community they love.
This vast untapped potential is a 'force-multiplier' for our small community.
Volunteerism is up but we need a support structure that can provide people with the tools to succeed. An "Opportunity Clearinghouse" web site with postings of projects would help foster efficient and effective partnerships between community need and volunteer action.
Over time, our policies and even a small portion of our budgets should reflect an increased role for volunteer initiatives - we should provide our neighborhoods with the ability to strengthen themselves.
Neighborhood Watch should be a proactive, preventative weapon in our arsenal in every corner of our city; we should find ways to connect it with other programs so people have a useful communication source, at the grassroots.
Number Three: We should aggressively pursue business opportunities that fit with our community identity.
This means proactive, purposeful encouragement of particular kinds of development; new as well as established businesses should be recognized as potential partners - we all win if our business districts are healthy.
Downtown Monmouth must not be lost because we refused to do what was necessary.
Right now, we have four thousand students at Western Oregon University, an open campus on the edge of our downtown district - we must find a way to engage that market.
We must make a stand here, now - we must collectively affirm our commitment to the value of local enterprise and embrace our intra-community business connections: we need an aggressive shop locally campaign that educates at least as much as it advertises.
This will take incentive efforts. Our budgets should reflect public/private "self-help" priorities. Simply put, we find ways to pool our time, treasure, and talent for maximum yield.
I am asking for this organization, the Chamber of Commerce, to play a major role in this effort.
Number Four: We should find a way to reach out to our youth. We should develop a Youth Agenda, Youth Councils; target one priority issue and focus our efforts on that issue throughout the year.
We should find logical connections to our youth; youth representation should be the rule, not the exception.
Columbine, Paddukah, and Springfield are proof that the cost of complacency is unacceptably high.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that a youth initiative will prevent disaster but at least we will be able to know we did what we could instead of having to admit to ourselves that we didn't care enough to try.
I want to conclude this afternoon with a statement made by former Governor Tom McCall.
He once said that, "Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky; They are people that say this is my community, it's my responsibility to make things better."
It's our watch. This is our community. It's our charge to continue to make it better.
Together, we can and will build an even stronger community but it will take a heroic effort.
Thank you.
