From various perspectives, they all "get" the First
Ward
Wow! What a great group of 1st Ward Columbia City Council
candidates voters have to choose from April 5. George Kennedy was right: They
are more impressive than the new parking garage -- a lot more impressive.
Accountant Fred Schmidt -- whose
mother Liz is a local legend among Columbia's active politicos -- used a deft,
self-deprecating sense of humor to answer questions and explain his positions on
everything from the city budget to the "snowmageddon" crisis that caught City
Hall short-plowed.
With an outstanding educational pedigree that includes
both East Coast (Vassar) and West Coast (Berkeley) credentials, Schmidt came
across as a gentle soul who cares deeply about the future of his town and his
ward. His many local activities in support of a better Columbia speak to his
engaged and pro-active demeanor.
First Ward Ambassadors member Darrell Foster used both
humor and charm to make a number of salient, important points, including the
notion that patience is a virtue. About this winter's snowplow-palooza, Foster
advocated spending cold winter downtime with God and family, while borrowing a
page from a Saturday Night Live skit to illustrate.
You'll shovel snow from your driveway to the yard, from
the street to the driveway, from the yard to the walkway, he explained. But no
matter where you put it, you'll be moving over and around it until Mother
Nature melts it away.
A commanding presence in both voice and gesture, Foster
expressed ambiguity about government tax incentives; firm resolve to improve the
lives of black residents, many of whom live in the First Ward; and a marvelous
illustration of what it takes to reach consensus, literally molding resolution
with his hands from the top down, the bottom up, and all sides in
between.
Grass Roots Organizing (GRO) member Pam
Forbes - a toolmaker by trade -- was calm,
measured, and smart, hitting all the right notes on a list of First Ward
priorities topped by long-neglected infrastructure, from sagging streets and
sidewalks to overwhelmed sewers and stormwater drains.
Forbes pointed out that she bought a home in the heart of
the First Ward, and as an invested person therein, observed that Ward residents
lag the rest of the community "economically, infrastructurally, and
opportunistically" -- the latter word meant to reference opportunity lost.
Forbes struck this observer -- who sat in the front row --
as nobody's fool, a no-nonsense presence who would represent her constituents
well.
Mitch Richards -- whom this
observer recently termed a "young lion of liberty" for his
staunch support of Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms -- made the night's most
resounding point, noting that fear and desperation have inched their ugly ways
into too many local leadership decisions, with freedom-depriving
effects.
Fear of crime merits downtown surveillance cameras; fear
of economic decline yields property-stealing blight declarations; fear of
revenues lost means higher parking rates, more and bigger garages, and higher
taxes, both hidden and overt.
Richards urged pro-active, constituent-based solutions
that both acknowledge and support private sector contributions.
Between the parking garage behemoth and the Boone building
expansion, he saw irony in the considerable growth of local government as the
private sector considerably shrinks -- almost as though you could put the sights
and sounds of City Hall to the music
and lyrics of Peter Gabriel.
Without naming names, I've seen many decisions of late
that seem fear- or desperation-driven. Richards was suggesting Columbians
return to a simple yet powerful adage: Fear nothing but fear itself.
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