Prosperity or Not

We have a very conservative county, perhaps to the point of being reactionary. It is evident from the many votes over the years that the majority of our voters are very reluctant to allow anything to change or to allow new ideas to take root. That is slowly changing with the aging of the population and the influx of retirees from other places. It is a painfully slow process for those who want to see the Somerset-Pulaski County area flourish. It is also a painful truth that the area will require a more progressive attitude to flourish. The city of Somerset has had a somewhat clearer path and has, through aggressive leadership, managed to overcome the inertia inherent in a conservative population. This points out the route that the rest of county government and other civic leaders will have to proceed if a more responsive and prosperous community is a desirable goal.

It has always been a mystery to me how we praise leaders who go out on a limb to lead people on a different but better path and then refuse to elect people who want to campaign on that vision. Far too often we elect people who promise to return us to some mythical better time and protect us from a world intent on invading us and destroying our way of life. History books are replete with examples of brave leadership in the face of contention. Teddy Roosevelt led the attack on the great Barons of Wealth and broke up monopolies to give the people a chance to share in prosperity. Where would we be if Abraham Lincoln had not seized the opportunity to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and force passage of the 14^th amendment? Yes, he followed his heart and it cost him his life but it led the nation into the new age that would take a hundred years to ripen. Martin Luther King gave his life to bring that ripening. But those guys did not campaign on those platforms. Had they done so it is likely they would not have been elected but they did seize the opportunity when it presented itself. These are historical examples but there are thousands of times that a local entrepreneur or crusader has lead a reluctant populace into the future.

Without vision the people perish is a phrase that most of us are familiar with. I think it applies here in a temporal sense in that without leaders to cast a vision a population has no reason to expect an economy that will allow our children to remain in the area to arise. Without a vision of what businesses will want there is no reason for any enterprise that is used to more amenities to locate here. Our practice so far has to use tax incentives to lure businesses here, mostly bringing low wage jobs when our area is positioned to offer much more in the way of infrastructure. What is lacking is a sense that Pulaski County is reaching for the future with the voices of civic leaders who can give governmental leaders the cover they need to act in a visionary way.

Birth is painful, I am told. Change is inconvenient and upsets our traditions and makes us take unknown paths but such is the price of growth. Sometimes it is drawn out and sometimes it is foist upon us but for prosperity growth is essential. As a young man I was working in Lexington in the late 60s and early 70s with the telephone company. The growth that was happening there was explosive due to various factors. The Boomers were entering college and the University was growing. Lexington had landed an IBM headquarters and all of a sudden Lexington was no longer just a horse town. Eventually it led to the formation of the Urban-County government that is still one of only two in the state. People there were reluctant also but they had a few leaders who went out on a limb to make it happen and even after it was a fact it was difficult to make it work.

Now, I don't really want to compare our area with the Lexington-Fayette County area because there are some key demographic elements that are very different but what is not different is that they required key leaders to take a progressive position and then work tirelessly to make it happen. It was not easy.

Another of the things that has astonished me from time to time is when a great idea is trotted out and it is met with antagonism or great apathy. Fact is that a transformative idea usually is treated like that. People just resist change even though it happens whether or not we choose it. We can only choose to direct it or to not direct it. Staying the same is not an option.

I want to encourage the leaders who make up the group that has proposed a study to examine the pros and cons of merging our city and county governments to not give up in the face of adversity. Neither should they attempt to shove this down a reluctant city's throat. I want to encourage them to lead to change attitudes and to some day achieve that goal. It is an admirable goal but is only has value in the ways that it can bring increased prosperity to the citizens and there is a lot of that to be reaped along the way. I have stated in this space that it is difficult for me to see the advantages for the city to enter into such an agreement at this time but that does not mean that it is not a good idea. It needs to ripen through the efforts of a new cadre of leaders who have potentially revealed themselves. Lead those who will follow into a new period for our county that will make it a more attractive partner for merger. The way will be painful but true leaders will not falter and the people will prosper.

A bit more of my take on this issue. It is great to see people interested in making our home a more attractive and prosperous place in which to live.