Optimistic Persistence

This past week, the City of Owosso achieved two long-awaited milestones, and the journey to them offers several lessons for those of us engaged in local government and community change.  The first piece of good news was for the Owosso Community Players who received construction loan approval from Chemical Bank for the rebuild of the Lebowsky Theater.  Now, with State assistance, long-term federal financing, and lots of hard-earned private support, the Shiawassee Performing Arts Center will begin its final phase of construction in the next few months.  Second, the members of the City's Park and Recreation Commission realized a three-year goal with the construction of a large playscape at Bentley Park.  This project, the result of a City investment and community donations of time, labor, and money, is the first of several steps in remaking this park into a gateway for Owosso.

Positive Change Takes Time we are reminded by both of these projects.  We live in an era of quick communication and amidst a constant stream of up-to-the-minute news.  Social media makes it possible to share photos, provide updates, and offer opinions in real time.  But reporting is not the same as achieving, and frequently local government does not move as fast as we would like.  We expect results quickly, and the bold step of announcing a goal (e.g. "Rebuild the theater") is sometimes forgotten when it takes months, or years, to achieve the objective.  The typical narrative of news stories leads us to expect a speedy progression of problem statement, resolution, and completion.  Our local newspaper headlined the playscape story with the modifier "finally" reflecting this impatience to get results.

However, it takes time to achieve real progress or make change.  Frequently, the problems are complex, and putting together the right plan of action requires both technical and political analysis.  Upon determination of a solution, the alignment of partners and the assembly of resources takes both skill and time.  Frequently, a project is started without having defined an exact path forward.  For example, the City started the playscape with a commitment of $15,000 several years ago knowing that this amount of funding was insufficient.  It took months before Kiwanis and other service clubs were fully on board, business sponsors had to be approached slowly, and the many fundraising efforts took lots of time and effort to initiate, coordinate and promote.  In the end, close to $100,000 was raised for the project, most of it from local, private donations..

Risk is Inherent to any community improvement effort, especially when not every detail is arranged or known in advance.  Things can, and probably will, go wrong and critics will be quick to point out the shortcomings of any plan that requires modification or is delayed.  Champions of change have to be flexible and be open to hearing the suggestions, or requirements, of other partners as they join in.  Most importantly, as obstacles are encountered, proponents have to be patient while finding additional sources of funds, coming up with an alternative design, or suffering through political attacks.  In both the playscape and the theater projects there were setbacks, and it is a testament to the organizations behind them that people kept moving forward, even when it required a step or two sideways, or backwards, before the goals could be achieved.

Optimistic Persistence may be the most necessary ingredient for any change effort.  I marvel at the people involved with these community improvement initiatives.  Some people had a vision, and would not abandon that dream despite being mocked or criticized.  Other people had the tenacity to keep to their task, whether that be asking for funds or shoveling wood chips.  Several people accepted the challenge to rework the plan and seek out an alternative options. And all of them had persistent optimism, a belief that things would get better if they were willing to stick to it.  Sadly, there are too few people with such an attitude, but I have come to appreciate how important they are to moving our community forward.  (I would add that news of these projects occurred as Governor Rick Snyder announced a cooperative plan with Canada to build a new bridge to support economic growth in Michigan; here too is a leader with optimistic persistence).

Long-Term Perspective is essential in our community if it is to weather the current economic crisis.  We need to look past today's tough times and recognize that the changes we are making now may not show results for several years, perhaps after our terms of service are over.  Policy choices can be distorted when we look for a quick return on our political investments. If creating an entrepreneurial culture in Owosso will take time to take hold, if gaining regional cooperation takes repeated outreach to build trust, if building community facilities requires waiting for the right grant, then we can not be afraid  to pursue such goals. If we avoid the long-term issues, then we might only adopt empty ordinances and resolutions, hire (or fire) staff people to show some sort of action, or take only the most careful and smallest of steps forward.  I am inspired by the examples of those who show optimistic persistence to keep the long-term view in sight.