To the Editor:
To the residents of all our communities:
As we get ready to elect our civic leaders in November, I have found a little speech in the quilting magazine “Country Register.”
I think it sums up the things that need to be addressed in our communities.
Enjoy the read and put some thought into what is needed to improve our communities.
Christalee Froese writes that she is a “community development nerd,” and summarized in the magazine some thoughts by Doug Griffith, an Alberta MLA , who wrote about “13 ways to kill a community.”
He writes:
Water Quality: If you want your community to fail, just don’t bother to address the issue of water.
Business attraction: Don’t do anything to entice business development.
Youth involvement: Don’t engage youth. Don’t find reasons for them to stay and don’t seek out and use their ideas.
Assessing community needs: Continue doing things the way you always have, then expect things to change.
Shop elsewhere: Spend your money out of town if you want to ensure that local business may have to close its doors.
Community appearance: Continue to make business and community esthetics a low priority.
Avoid cooperation: Refuse meaningful cooperation with other municipalities and businessses.
Negativity: Hold onto negative attitudes if you want to strangle your community.
Ignore seniors: Don’t cater to their needs, warehouse them in old folks homes.
Nothing new: Use the same ideas and leadership over and over again whild continuing to expect different results.
Ignore immigrants and newcomers: Make little or no effort to integrate them into the social fabric of the community.
Don’t take risks: If you like the status quo and have no stomach for risk you will be in a good leadership position to keep your community from being successful.
Don’t take responsibility: Whatever you do, find someone to blame. That way, no one will be compelled to fix anything.
Bev Fraser, Olalla