Parameters

At some risk of redundancy, what follows is a repeat of points made in a past essay. The 10 items are a broad set of parameters intended to guide yours truly when analyzing events/issues of potential importance to Kind Readers — a checklist, if you will, to ensure the musings in this space contain some measure of consistency and, dare I say, objectivity.

The hope (and/or minor arrogance) in the reposting of these 10 items is that they may offer some similar baseline of constructive consideration to Kind Readers of The City Wire.

The 10 points, in no particular order:
• Smart people can have valid differences of opinion, and members of the majority opinion are not necessarily the smartest people in the room. Arenas and fields are wonderful places for team players. In our legislative bodies (city, county, state & federal), however, we should prefer independent thinkers who strive for selfless objectives through professional political discourse.

• Let’s keep our focus sharp and our whining to a low-decibel whimper. And more importantly, each of us needs to encourage our public and private regional leaders to squash provincialism and seek partnership.

• Finding good leaders isn’t easy. It’s important, however, to know with certainty that leaders don’t appear in systems and/or cultures unable or unwilling to demand results. President Lincoln fired more than a handful of properly credentialed generals until he stumbled upon a former Illinois storekeeper who had a drinking problem. The military establishment laughed at Lincoln’s choice, but Grant wasted no time in splitting the Confederacy geographically into thirds and ending the war.

• Our existence as one people is now as it was that first July 4 — tenuous. This country is held together by words on paper and by our faith. External enemies have and will continue to blatantly attack our physical mettle and subtly attack our basic faith in God, government and each other. They underestimate our resilience. We should not underestimate theirs.

• The marketplace of ideas and commerce should be more sacred to us than that of the various crusades of organized religion and/or zealous liberals. A faith in God and set of values does not require the approval and/or subjugation of any individual, group or government. And our property, whether real estate or intellectual, should not be beholden to the whims of developers, do-gooders or dogma.

• Perhaps it is time as a community/region we begin talking about professional economic development attainment and how we find and enable passionate leaders who possess and can communicate a bold vision that in turn raises our collective socio-economic expectations for the Greater Fort Smith Region. That’s what a can-do community/region might do.

• Leadership sincerely interested in results doesn’t fear the creative fury that can accompany an all-ideas-on-deck process. Leadership interested in positive change creates an atmosphere in which everyone understands that results matter more than personality, politics or past prejudices.

• We as a region (community leaders in Fort Smith, Greenwood and Van Buren, for starters) must actively pursue open, non-partisan and proactive relationships with political and bureaucratic (agency and organizational) leaders in Little Rock, Washington and Northwest Arkansas. If we don’t learn to play the game, we’ll never be in the game.

• Being active in your community often results in serious headaches and/or setbacks. But don’t take it too serious. Let a few suns set before any direct response, because this too shall pass.

• Let’s be clear: What’s wrong with the Fort Smith regional economy is no match for what’s right with the Fort Smith area. Within our people and within our many public and private entities, we have the potential for great things; we have the potential — through better leadership — to direct overwhelming people-power on whatever problems and obstacles we face. We are a great people, in a great place, and we are capable of great progress.