Revising the ‘good place to die’ pitch

A recent commentary by me suggesting that we make Fort Smith a place that caters to the retirement crowd was not well received by all. My tagline, “Fort Smith is a great place to die,” didn’t pass muster as my suggestion for our city’s marketing theme.

What you can’t credibly disagree with was my list of the great attributes that belong to the city. Respected Fort Smith businessman and banker Sam T. Sicard even felt it was necessary to write his own article that added to the list of Fort Smith’s great attributes. He did a great job adding to the list of what is good about Fort Smith. I don’t know Sicard personally, but I’ve been able to observe part of his public life and hear people comment on his character and based on what I see and what I hear, I wish Fort Smith could clone a thousand Sicards.

In spite of how much I love Fort Smith and as much as Sam T. obviously loves Fort Smith and in spite of how much you might love Fort Smith, Fort Smith with the surrounding communities have the beginning of a nasty cancer that might cause serious health problems.

Our cancer is small right now, just a few angry cells. But the nature of cancer is that if it is not dealt with early, it will grow until it disables or kills the host. The cancer has been identified and diagnosed by the U.S. Census Department and reported to us by The City Wire.

In a March 26, 2015 article “NWA population rises above 500,000, Fort Smith metro census declines,” The City Wire reported: “Fort Smith metro population was an estimated 279,592 as of July 1, 2014, down 0.31% from the 280,467 in April 2010. The metro area hit a high estimate of 281,012 in the July 1, 2011 estimate, but has declined each year since.”

A decrease of 1,420 people from our market area doesn’t seem significant to many residents. When I wrote last Sept. 22 about our population problem based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s prior year’s population estimate, we were only down 494 people. This year’s pace, a loss of an additional 926 people is twice the rate as the previous two years combined.

So let me make a statement that I believe to be accurate and true. People are leaving the Greater Fort Smith Region not because of their quality of life. They are leaving to seek economic opportunity that our area hasn’t provided. This exodus may be slow, but it has momentum. It’s a trend. Lifers, has there ever been a period of time in Fort Smith’s history that our population shrunk?

I’m a member of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce and a fan of Chamber CEO Tim Allen. But his explanation of our population reduction in the same March 26 article is interesting. Here is the excerpt: “I think there is a direct correlation between that (population decline) and the loss of manufacturing jobs.”

Allen also provided this statement: “It’s important to note that, while this population change is not positive, Fort Smith has made huge positive gains in jobs and capital investment over the past two years. These investments take time to come to fruition and we hope to see a rebound as those projects become a reality. The flat growth we are currently experiencing is a direct result of the loss of manufacturing jobs in our area. As the ArcBest expansion, Shared Services Center, the Osteopathic School of Medicine, and several other projects in our area flourish we believe Fort Smith’s population will bounce back accordingly.”

I hope Tim’s statement is accurate, but the statement’s tone could be read with the same tone of a parent encouraging their son or daughter after they experienced a big loss on the summer league baseball fields. Worrying that their child’s self-image will be that of a loser, they tell their child that it will be better next week, next year. It’s a parent’s statement of hope for their child, not necessarily a guarantee of future events.

We need to quit talking to ourselves in an attempt to sooth our losses and to make ourselves feel better. We need to start looking at the scoreboard and face reality. Working on our self-image won’t change the future. Only finding a way to change negative trends and achieve positive results matter.

People of the greater Fort Smith area, we do live in a great place, with great people, great organizations, and a great history. But we have some cancer cells that need to be examined. Research shows that cancer is primarily due to exposure to environmental factors, not our genetics. We’ve got good genes. I have 57 years of observation and interaction with great people to know our genes are sound. I wonder what is in our environment that isn’t healthy. What is causing our cancer?

Stay tuned. I’m going speculate on the environmental causes in the few upcoming articles. The speculation may anger some people, step on some toes, but it won’t be personal toward anybody – Mr. Mayor. It will only be for the greater good of our great city.

For now I will pocket my motion to promote Fort Smith as a great place to die. But if nothing changes soon, it’s all we will have to promote.

Anyway, I plan to die here.