“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I
see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful,
prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and
in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far
better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better
rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
~ A Tale of Two Cities ~
About four-and-a-half years ago, I was out joyriding with my brother and noticed a phone booth nestled along the main street of a town I'd never heard of, and clearly had never taken notice of. As we cruised by, I shouted at him to stop, because frankly, I hadn't seen a phone booth in over 30 years. As it turns out, the phone booth actually worked! And as I stood there in shock at the dial tone coming through the headset (you youngsters will have to ask a grownup about "dial tones"), I noticed a "For Sale" sign in the yard of a house down the street.
And that is the ultra-short version of how I came to be a resident of the town where I now live. Having retired from the Dallas Fire Department, I resigned myself to a life of solitude, living in my camper, traveling the country, and occasionally the globe. It was exciting. Putting down roots has always been frightening to me, but this tiny town of 100 people (or less) simply called to me.
I bought the house, sold the camper, met the love of my life, bought a couple old buildings in the crumbling downtown (one side houses the post office, the other now offers storage units). It was blissful, actually. Peace, quiet, friends, and fresh, clean air were mine for the taking. What a wonderful little place! Roots, at last! The water ran, the toilet flushed, and the lights came on. Hakuna Matata.
Then, ever so slowly, I made a grave mistake. I got involved. Little by little, I eased in to a couple board meetings. Then, the village treasurer resigned and they needed someone "just 6 hours per week" while they looked for someone. Then the village clerk resigned, and well, as long as I was already there, why not do the clerk job temporarily, as well? And that's how I became the permanent village clerk/treasurer. It didn't really take much time and I only did it for a couple years, but it opened my eyes to things I now can't unsee. I came to know some things I can't unknow.
It opened my eyes to why small towns are disappearing, or at a minimum, falling into disrepair. I came to know how leaders can become power-hungry, and how they stay that way because people hate change and are downright apathetic. Small town people especially hate change. "Stop messing with our little farm town!" "We like things the way they are!" "Why do we need to spend all this money?"And when people, who for years didn't give two shits about the happenings in their town, suddenly begin to care, they seem to do it with a total lack of understanding about the process. Why? Because, they don't want to get involved. They just like to complain. But many, if not most, small towns do need to make some changes. Here's why.
In our small town, my wife and I are two of the youngest residents. There are some younger, but not many. With an aging population, you have to find ways to attract young people with families, or sometime in the next 25 years or so, the last person alive can turn out the lights before they die. So, how does a town with no school, virtually no small businesses, and seeming lack of caring attract young people?
You start with infrastructure. You have to improve your water, sewer, and electric systems to meet reasonable standards. And you have to think futuristically. You have to maintain and upgrade your streets, clean up your downtown, and basically improve the curb appeal of your entire town. And then you have to make an attempt to attract small business. I'm not talking about bringing in a Walmart, but you need the tax base of small business that pay property and sales tax.
Why do all this? Because you need to attract people to keep the houses and lots full. Full houses mean a stronger tax base. A stronger overall tax base means we individually pay lower taxes to maintain the same budget. But you can't get people to move in or build if you have nuisance properties all over town. So, as difficult as it is (even if some of the crap properties are owned by board members), you have to make a plan to clean up, restore, or condemn properties that make living in your community unappealing.
While many scream such a plan will make their small town too large, keep in mind the geographical limits are set and no one is going to put up a 5-story condo. But, if you want your taxes to stay low while your property values go up, you have to invest financially and emotionally in your community.
Now, let's fast-forward to another small town my wife and I visited for an auction just over a month ago. This little Nebraska town has fewer people than where we presently live. In the entire town, we saw one property that needed some clean-up and repair. They had a small grocery store, a bar/grill, and a gorgeous, brick community center and library. The streets were clean and, based on a sign we saw, the town even has a plan in place to sell land cheap (perhaps even give it away) to people willing to build. Why are the two towns so different?
Well, to be fair, many retired farmers with large bankrolls live in this small town. But the bigger picture is (and you could just tell by how things looked), the community has bought in to the notion of making their town a great place to live.......for everyone, not just for the handful that want tings this way or that. They've bought in to the notion of community. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure their little town has their share of bickering, and ours is probably a nicer picture than I paint, but the differences in attitude are clearly different.
Here's all I'm proposing:
1) Our village leadership needs to remember that, despite their best intentions, they're there to serve at the will of their small constituency. Find out what they want, and get them on board with what they need. That'll improve the collective attitude.
2) Our village leadership needs to set the standard for community improvement by cleaning they're own backyard before they condemn another. Be the example. This also improves buy-in.
3) Village leadership needs to find a way to stop leaving a wake of pissed off residents, vendors, and newspapers. You can be effective without being a dick. And you'll NEVER win a battle of whits with a newspaper, no matter how incompetent their editor/reporter is.
4) By-and-large, the board needs to be more informed before issues come to a vote on meeting night. And for god's sake, vote "nay" now and then. (I know. It happens, but still.)
There is much more, but it really boils down to the overall attitude of the village, and there's a world of difference between the two villages I described. And by the way, if you're a resident, don't complain about your village board's transparency if you aren't involved. Transparency is a two-way street and your elected board is under no obligation to spoon-feed you information if you won't seek it out yourself. It goes both ways. And please, please, educate yourself before you bitch. It's embarrassing.
And just one more thing, lest you think I'm not willing to put my money where my mouth is......
Matthew Leatherwood for Village Board of Trustees 2022. I'd love to have your vote.
