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Too much talk, too little action
Maybe it’s the weekly deadline pressure that clouds our thinking. After all, we can’t just talk about publishing a newspaper. Every Tuesday afternoon we have to cut off debate and find a way to get the job done.
As we prepare each week’s edition, we often find ourselves writing about the same things we wrote about months, years and even decades ago.
Like the library. More specifically, the need for a new one in Sylva. We were writing about that at least two sets of commissioners ago. And then we wrote about it again around 1999 when the decision was made to “Save the Hooper House” rather than tear it down and expand the library in its current location.
While we don’t regret the decision to renovate the Hooper House and keep its charming face on Main Street, if anyone had told us then that the calendar would turn to 2006 without a new library in sight, we would not have believed it.
Another example: The great school system/Southwestern Community College/Jackson County land swap. That idea’s been around in one form or another for close to 10 years. Here’s the old scenario: The Central Office moves to the old Scotts Creek School as does the school bus garage. Then SCC gets the present bus garage and the county gets the existing Central Office for the Health Department. Now we have an altered vision (see commissioners’ story, page 1A); five years from now we’ll likely be writing about another.
We understand Commissioner Conrad Burrell’s concern that a new Health Department might take precedence over a new library. We also understand Commissioners Brian McMahan’s and Roberta Crawford’s desire to fulfill promises already made before making new ones.
But here’s the thing. Times change, and priorities shift. If elected officials spend all their time talking and planning rather than acting, then needs that were less pressing when the dialogue began will grow in importance and eclipse earlier decisions. If the talk goes on long enough, officials may never have to do anything.
Having a referendum is not the answer; we’ve already voted on officials, thus authorizing them to make the hard decisions about what is best for our county and towns. If we have to resort to a referendum before every capital improvement project, what do we need commissioners and town board members for?
Another barrier to getting things done is a recent trend that elevates planning to an end rather than a means. It’s such a buzzword these days, but from where we sit it looks like “planning” has become a synonym for “procrastination.”
Stalling in the guise of planning is not confined to local leaders – it’s everywhere. One example is N.C. 107. Everyone knows there’s worsening traffic congestion. Energized citizens begging for a solution succeeded in getting commissioners to appoint a task force to discuss immediate improvement options with the Department of Transportation. Then came the catch: Jackson County didn’t have a long-range land-use plan, so DOT was able to postpone working with Jackson County.
Planning 20 years ahead is fine, but sometimes we need to move forward on solutions for now instead of spending years on a plan for later.
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