Kalamazoo County's New Year's Resolve

It’s that time of year.

If hearing about New Year’s resolutions isn’t fun enough, you can always find your
fill of New Year’s predictions. I’ve always enjoyed the intersection of the two, as I’m a believer in self-fulfilling prophecies.

As a community guy myself, I believe that our economic development guru, Ron Kitchens, had it right when he said the other day (as quoted in The Gazette) that you
can’t let someone speak negatively about your community. I would only add that it’s also important to invite them to join you in doing something positive.

I’m positive about what 2010 has in store for Kalamazoo County. I’m positive for several reasons. First, we’ve got some excellent leaders, starting with Ron Kitchens. Second, tough times produce winners and losers, and we have what it takes to be a winner -- civic infrastructure, social capital, human talent and resources galore. I would add ingenuity, the legacy left to us by W.E. Upjohn, Homer Stryker and others.

Dropping in, then, on that intersection of resolution and prediction, here are three things in my crystal ball for 2010.

1. Kalamazoo County is more likely to have an airport than an arena.

Very funny, you say. Kalamazoo County already has an airport. Exactly. Thank heavens. I’ve said for a quarter century that a great community needs three things: a strong downtown, good schools and an airport. In no particular order. Picking one over the other is like saying you have a favorite child.

But wait, you say. Ron Kitchens, CEO of Southwest Michigan First said, “an arena downtown is more important to the community than that airport is. Absolutely more important.” The sense here is Kitchens is sacrificing logic to prove passion.

Keep in mind that the ink’s not that dry on the W.E. Upjohn Institute report that shows that the airport contributes 484 jobs and more than $175 million in sales to the area. Plus the next $45 million of public investment in the airport is coming from outside of Kalamazoo County, money that otherwise would land elsewhere. I think we have to be careful not to inflict “death by 1,000 cuts” to our airport.

The operative concept in the arena discussion, of course, is downtown development. What the community chooses to build downtown includes the “do-nothing” option, so I’m solidly with those who believe we need something bold, creative, strategic, sustainable and inclusive to drive the type of activity Kitchens and others are talking about. An arena could fill that bill.

2. Food is going to be big.

Don’t ask me how I know. I’m not even sure myself. But this childhood obesity thing has gone on too long. I happen to think food will cut across sector and issue
boundaries. The view from here is that food somehow is going to play more prominently -- possibly dramatically -- into education, health care (duh) and yes, possibly even downtown development. And don’t forget neighborhood development. We still need a replacement to the North Side grocery store.

3. Collaboration will count.

The true definition of collaboration is “working with the enemy.” The major
community dynamic facing us is our vulnerability to divisiveness. Young vs. old, black
vs. white, rich vs. poor, urban core vs. suburbs, liberal vs. conservative. We all know the dividing lines. The question is how we will work together across those lines on the Big Three -- downtown development, schools and the airport -- and other issues that face us.

Community politics -- or what I call “open system politics” -- have little resemblance to “closed system politics” -- the kind you are seeing in Lansing and Washington, D.C. Community politics demand a greater level of understanding of those things which directly touch our lives.

I predict that what we will accomplish will depend on how well we work together, and that starts with listening. We need to resolve, as a community, to reach out to those we purport to help, and create a bigger “we.”