Come & Take It Live
If You Don't Participate, Don't Complain
RECEIVED Thu., June 3, 2004
Dear Editor:
I am writing about J.P. Lund's comment ["Postmarks," May 28] that Envision Central Texas appointed itself as regional caretaker. ECT was invited by numerous civic leaders (the true regional caretakers) to survey the citizenry and then compile that information. It is a reasonable step in the usual legislative process for leaders to ask their constituents what they want. And while it is true that low voter turnout can demonstrate the public's lack of support or interest, change and new ideas are rarely wholeheartedly accepted in the beginning, so it's not surprising. It's so much easier to imagine an invisible process that just evolves naturally, but strong communities don't just happen – it takes good leadership and hard work. Just as importantly it takes participation from all of us to create a plan that truly represents all of us. In a community with diverse interests and concerns, collaboration and cooperation are valuable tools, and that is the role that ECT played. It is now up to our community leaders, not ECT, to take that information and use it to shape and then implement a collective vision of our area's future. If facilitating communication and consensus are activist qualities, then count me among them.
I am writing about J.P. Lund's comment ["Postmarks," May 28] that Envision Central Texas appointed itself as regional caretaker. ECT was invited by numerous civic leaders (the true regional caretakers) to survey the citizenry and then compile that information. It is a reasonable step in the usual legislative process for leaders to ask their constituents what they want. And while it is true that low voter turnout can demonstrate the public's lack of support or interest, change and new ideas are rarely wholeheartedly accepted in the beginning, so it's not surprising. It's so much easier to imagine an invisible process that just evolves naturally, but strong communities don't just happen – it takes good leadership and hard work. Just as importantly it takes participation from all of us to create a plan that truly represents all of us. In a community with diverse interests and concerns, collaboration and cooperation are valuable tools, and that is the role that ECT played. It is now up to our community leaders, not ECT, to take that information and use it to shape and then implement a collective vision of our area's future. If facilitating communication and consensus are activist qualities, then count me among them.
Vicki Flaugher
