So when you mention regional planning initiatives, like Agenda 360, you are often greeted with a “Here We Go Again.”  In fact, some would contend that our region is suffering from “Here We Go Again Syndrome.” 

Frankly, you’ll find a lot of skeptics in our community.  The nice part about being a skeptic is that you are constantly being proven right or pleasantly surprised.  It’s easy to be a skeptic because it’s easier to be against something than for it. 

Now, as it applies to regional planning efforts, the skepticism in our community is not altogether unwarranted.  From what I’ve been able to figure out, the skeptics are good people who are reacting to a noble legacy of predecessor attempts and promising past efforts at regional planning and reform that have, for one reason or another, not gone as intended.

Unfortunately, sometimes people become so jaded that they reject all participatory processes as a waste of time.  You’ll hear statements like “we don’t need any more meetings” or “we don’t need another plan” or “involving the public just slows things down.”

Yet, if you research these types of initiatives or ask any community that’s done it successfully – they will tell you that the process and the meetings and the planning really does matter.

The bottom line is that getting people involved and asking them to take personal responsibility for finding solutions to their own problems is, and always has been, the best answer to those problems.

For this very reason, a critical component of Agenda 360 is public input.  Enlisting the help of Citizens for Civic Renewal, we conducted over 30 community engagement sessions with a second round of public engagement still to come.  Of all these sessions, one in particular stands out to me.  It was in Over the Rhine.

Now, many of my friends and many of the Agenda 360 volunteers have heard this before, so if you have, please bear with me.  It’s just such a fantastic story and worth repeating. 

At the OTR session, I spoke at length after the meeting with a proud grandmother named Mary.  She said she had lived in OTR for most of her life and that she has seven grandchildren that lived in and around OTR too.  Mary had very specific concerns about our community and spoke passionately about them.  At the end of our talk, I gave her my card and urged her to get in touch with me if she had any additional input.

Well, a few weeks later, I received a letter from Mary.  In the letter she expressed thanks for the work we’re doing on Agenda 360.  She thanked us for coming to see her on her “own turf,” as she called it, and she went on to provide some very pointed comments on the challenges we face in Cincinnati as well as specific recommendations on how Agenda 360 could help address them. 

Now what was great about Mary’s letter was first, that she actually took the time to write it and send it to me; second, that she was taking ownership of the process by suggesting her own solutions; and third, that, despite the challenges we face, Mary said she was hopeful.  She said she had hope for our community because of the work we are doing and hope for her grandchildren specifically.  In fact, Mary referenced the following quote:

“Hope is like a bird that senses the dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark.”

Now what was even better than the quote, which I found inspiring, was the way in which Mary signed her letter.

Tweet tweet.

Mary

It is my hope that the work that we’re doing in our community through efforts like Vision 2015 and Agenda 360 will have us all singing along with Mary.  Please visit www.cincinnati360.com to learn more and get involved.