Here we are again

“You will never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.”
– Irish proverb

Here we are again in Fort Smith with another study. This time it’s an 18-month process in which the city of Fort Smith will dole out at least $340,000 to convince as many as possible that activity equals action.

A 28-person steering committee of “diverse” citizens was formed to work with the Fort Smith Board of Directors, city staff and consultants to “ensure that the process is both transparent and inclusive.”

This process will suffice for those who want to talk about what is possible. Some new ideas will emerge. A few new leaders will emerge. A few exciting developments may result. But it’s got a “good enough” feel to it. Quit reading here if you believe we can afford good enough. (And link here if you want more of a primer on the process.)

The effort is confirmation that our leadership is unwilling or unable to think beyond the conventional wisdom. This 18-month approach to figure out what we all want to be when we grow up is what leaders do who want to play it safe because it is what other “cool” communities have done. Hey, all the cool kids are doing it.

Cool. Here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.

Our latest batch of consultants are the good folks with Philadelphia-based Wallace, Roberts and Todd (WRT). They wanted to work with Fort Smith because the company tends to “gravitate to communities that set the bar extremely high, communities high for community character, quality of life, and for the creation of an environment that is fertile for innovation, whether it be for the arts, or technology or planning.”

To say Fort Smith has “set the bar extremely high” for character and quality of life and creating fertile environments is to be wholly ignorant of our recent:
• Wasted discussion about un-modernizing some trash service;
• Inhumane badgering over animal control policies;
• Time spent on firearms in city parks;
• Harassing legitimate businesses through sexually oriented business rules;
• Prepared-food tax fiasco;
• Lame excuses whether to televise or not to televise board meetings;
• Inability to stay on top of water payments to an important city in the region;
• Coming as close as a whisker to rolling over for Whirlpool’s pollution-mitigation plan;
• And we could go on, but these folks with WRT may have a low bar on what constitutes a high bar. (By the way, the consultants used the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to get to Fort Smith.)

During the initial meeting between the 28-person committee and the consultants, a consultant noted that at the end of 18 months they would have a plan “not capable of being ignored or set aside.”

That’s cute. And naive. We’ve proven capable of ignoring or setting aside just about damn near anything.

This community walked away from a “Tipping Point” plan in 2005-2006 that included the raising of around $4 million (in-kind and cash) and the spending of at least $150,000 in public funds for the creation of an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) – a center that was briefly a model for other Arkansas communities before it was abandoned and allowed to die. (By the way, our consultants listed the IEC and the Fort Smith Young Emerging Leaders as “ongoing initiatives” to be supported by the new comprehensive plan. Nice research, guys.)

This community also walked away from a professional golf tournament. We also allowed the negligence of a key business organization to drop years of momentum in the lobbying for funding and construction of Interstate 49 through western Arkansas. We once had a plan for development of the riverfront from downtown Fort Smith all the way around to Fort Smith Park. What happened to that? Where are we on the long-studied development plans and creative land use concepts at Chaffee Crossing?

A water park on which an election was held has been uncertain. If an election doesn’t guarantee commitment, don’t tell me a study will.

And here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.

We will spend 18 months identifying areas to address, and then will spend time addressing those issues. In effect, we are saying we are willing to wait 18 months to begin aggressively targeting areas to improve.

For the young entrepreneur, or the young family trying to decide where to raise a family, or for the business owner considering the future of the business, a two- to three-year holding pattern may push another region to the top of the short list.

Fort Smith could have a new mayor in 18 months. The city could have three new members on the seven-member city Board of Directors. We will have a new Arkansas Governor, and could have a new U.S. Senator and a new face in the Fourth Congressional District. Let’s hope ABF Freight System is still based in Fort Smith when the study is completed. Apple could roll out several more iPhone variants in 18 months.

In 2006, the first year after the now set-aside TIP plan was produced, the number of employed in the Fort Smith region stood at 130,699, with a workforce size of 137,374. Also, the average number of unemployed each month during 2006 was 6,675.

As of March 2013 the number of employed has fallen by more than 9,500 and the number of unemployed has ballooned to 10,316. And here’s another winning stat to consider: March 2013 marked the 51st consecutive month that the region’s unemployment rate has been at or above 7%.

Based on our jobs numbers, it is clear we need to spend 18 months on another study. Right?

But here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.

Katherine Giuffre’s book “Communities and Networks” uses “social network analysis” to provide a fresh perspective to what it is that drives community growth.

Giuffre – coincidentally, the daughter of Fort Smith attorney Paul Giuffre – notes that communities which foster innovation and creativity are those with an eclectic mix of venues that cause a variety of social connections in which divergent thinkers interact. In this environment, there is found a cross-pollination that connects people with ideas, resources, skills and other supports necessary to foster entrepreneurial development.

“It is not only in creative communities there are plenty of public places, but also, importantly, that there is a great eclecticism in the types of people who are present in these places. That is, people from many small worlds might come together in them and begin to build the bridge ties that will span structural holes,” Giuffre wrote.

She refers to research from Ray Oldenburg, who noted that these “third places” where people can gather are critical to a community remaining vibrant. Home and work are the first and second places, respectively.

What Giuffre’s research suggests is that the socio-economic shift needed to positively transform the Fort Smith region will more likely come from the wirelessly connected coffee-fueled talk at Sweet Bay than the cloth-covered tables at Hardscrabble.    

Fore! Here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.

It’s foolish to think city officials will reverse course on spending just short of $19,000 a month for one or two meetings a month for the next 18 months. The Kool-Aid has been mixed, poured and consumed.

With the course set, I respectfully submit the following requests to the committee of 28.
• Don’t let the consultants or city staff define the process. To be sure, there will be questions and tangents that will not be welcome. Multi-syllabic consultant speak will spew to encourage a return to the cookie-cutter format.

• Don’t let the consultants or city staff define expectations.

• Some of the best questions to ask are the simple ones. “Why?” “Why not?” “Says who?” “Why are you not using the Fort Smith airport?”

• Don’t be afraid to be the devil’s advocate. Just because something worked in another state, doesn’t mean it’s the answer for Fort Smith. And just because something didn’t work in another state doesn’t mean it is not a possible option for Fort Smith.

This study process has a chance to prove my cynicism wrong and be fruitful beyond the consultant-driven guidelines if enough members of the 28-person committee have a low tolerance for bullshit.

Watch your step, because here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.

Having seen this movie genre before, here are a few predictions on what we’ll have after 18 months.
• A short list of quality of place items which may or may not call for a tax (Could we see the return of a prepared food tax?) to construct and maintain.

• A short list of changes in city government that will be touted as a game changer in terms of being pro-business, development-friendly and possessing organizational efficiency. This could include a push for a new city hall. This could come with a tax plan.

• A new branding package for the city of Fort Smith that may have a regional “feel” to it.

• Something economic development related that doesn’t encroach too much on the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce. It could be another attempt at an entrepreneurial development program/office, with city officials and University of Arkansas at Fort Smith folks having a more high-profile role in economic development.

• Speaking of the UAFS, it’s not a stretch to think this study process will attempt to connect the university to a downtown Fort Smith development project.

• There may also be something relatively bold related to a shift in downtown Fort Smith vehicle traffic and pedestrian movement.

• Don’t be surprised to see something formal about a process to create better connections with state and federal elected and appointed officials.

You, Kind Reader, are now mocking me. You are saying that this list of predictions is nothing more than a list of things cities with aggressive, visionary leaders would do without the time and cost of an 18-month study.

Maybe so, but here we are again in Fort Smith with another study.