Editorial: Making Resolutions Early

RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Opinion

Sun, Dec 05, 2010

Somehow it got to be December. It seems to have arrived while some of us were cleaning up after the July Fourth softball game, and others were creating the kids' Halloween costumes.

Now comes the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and before you know it we're scrambling to find what to wear to a New Year's Eve party. So before we get caught up in the details of the holidays, let's get serious about meaningful resolutions.

Not so much for ourselves but for the community. Yes, we need to eat less and exercise more, stop ______________ (fill in your favorite vice) and be better to _____________________ (fill in the name of that special person in your life). But, we need to make some resolutions as a community.

The Greater Hamilton Metroplex is a fine place to live; better than most. But we have to polish the brass, clean the dust out of the corners and fix a few cracks. Certainly the wherewithal exists. All we need is the will; some social, some political, some physical.

So these don't get lost in the holiday hubbub, let's get a head-start on resolutions for the year ahead. In 2011, let's, as a community resolve to:

Make the elimination of local hunger the top priority. Few things -- if any -- are as important as ensuring that all of this community's children receive proper nutrition. Many don't. Twenty-six and a half percent of the kids at HCS qualify for free or reduced priced lunches. In Hamilton in 2011, that is not only unacceptable, it is obscene. Before we erect any more playground equipment or brass plaques to an old baseball player, we need to make sure our children eat. Period. When folks say they see children going through their trash for food, then something must be done. Must.

Do less but do better. Sometimes Hamilton is like the parents who send their kids to dance class, soccer, karate, yoga and piano lessons while tutoring them at home in watercolor painting and the social graces and sending them to camp for the summer. We do not need to have something going on every day and night to make the community vibrant. There is more to do here than any reasonable person can expect. As a result, we have a few people at many things, and many people at a very few events. We also have concerts in competition with art shows in competition with lectures on politics in competition with classes on making felt purses. And, in most instances, organizing groups are asking for donations to fund these events. Let's do less and do it better, and create things that are sustainable. And, let's coordinate efforts so three charities are not holding bottle and can drives at the same time.

Find a suitable new home for the Food Cupboard. The need for this service is growing -- and will continue to grow -- but it operates out of an over-sized phonebooth. Sometimes it cannot even take major donations of food because there is not enough room. This may not be more important than a new police station, but it as as important as anythign ese that needs doing.

Tear down the wall the doesn't exist between the community and Colgate. Too often we hear that people won't go to an event because it is on the Colgate campus. It may be free and open to the public. And it may be of interest and importance, and still certain among us will not attend. Sad or stupid? Yes. There has never been a clearer signal than the one that Colgate's new President Jeffrey Herbst sent at his inauguration: Colgate wants to be an even better neighbor. It is important to Colgate that Hamilton and the rest of the region thrive. It also is important to Hamilton that the university prosper. Never before has closer cooperation been more important or more possible, and each of us has a role to play in that. And, part of this also means stop viewing students and their parents as walking, breathing economic transactions waiting to happen.

Stay charming but become high tech. Hamilton is as beautiful as any other Upstate New York community; more so than most. The perfect complement to that is to also make it the most technologically attractive as well. High speed Internet service is no longer a luxury, it's a requirement. The Town of Hamilton could distinguish itself by becoming one big wifi hotspot ... and providing the service for an affordable price.This is not an expensive proposition. It is one that could save many people lots of money and become a selling point for anyone -- including businesses -- looking to relocate. Hmmmm, where might thw town find that sort of money?

Develop the leaders of the future. With the exception of the HCS Board of Education, Hamilton's governing bodies and committees and commissions and boards are not overrun by those born after Woodstock -- the real one in 1969. We do not have a sufeit of young leaders waiting in the wings. We have bright young people in the community; we need to get them more involved in the process. It is not enough to say, "Come join us ..." They need to be actively courted, encouraged, developed, mentored, tutored and recruited ... and then given the opportunity to lead, not fetch coffee for the graybeards on election night.

Understand that Hamilton does not have a shortage of parking; just a problem with the way people park. Scott Truett moved Adventure Bikes & Boards out of the downtown -- at least in part -- because of parking issues. Not the lack of parking, but because parking laws were not enforced. Hamilton's new police chief ought to make enforcing those laws a resolution for his department. When one vehicle straddles two spaces, write a ticket. Period. That is as common an occurrence as the sunrise. No community can have sufficient parking if half of its parking spaces are eliminated by a bad habit. Ending that behavior -- driven by laziness or selfishness -- ought to be a priority in 2011.

And, make good on our collective wish for a Happy New Year. Few places offer the benefits of this community we call home. We need to enjoy that, and enjoy our work to make it even better. The coming year is the right time to appreciate that and for each of us to find one thing -- just one -- that we can do to make an even better place. Include a resolution for your hometown in your "to do" list for 2011.

What do you plan to do to make this a better place to live?

Let us be the first to wish you a Happy New Year, Hamilton!

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