Make haste ... slowly

City leadership has learned something valuable in recent months: Sometimes you have to slow down to move fast.

Enthusiastic, entrepreneurial leadership at City Hall is a good thing. But in their zeal to "get things done," the City leadership has several times gotten crossways with the public they serve. Instituting new procedures to allow for broad input will benefit everyone.

Creating new citizen committees or actively involving existing advisory boards will help ensure that potential land mines are identified and avoided before plans are rolled out, and that projects and policies are aligned with community values.

It may seem like adding extra layers of input will slow things down, but it will actually help the city avoid costly, time-consuming and energy-draining public battles. Not that everyone will ever agree with any particular idea or direction, but at least it will be clear that there was a legitimate public process involved and that nothing is being "imposed" or rolled out as a "done deal."

If City leadership can demonstrate that they have broad buy-in to a project or an idea, they will have greater public trust and they will be able to move quickly to execute a plan and "get things done."

City officials should treat dissenting opinions with respect and give them a full and engaged hearing.

By the same token, public criticism that questions the good faith and personal integrity of public officials and staff does nothing to advance positive outcomes.

Sisters can ill afford to fall to the level of public discourse that characterizes the national "conversation." We are at a watershed moment. What we do as a community right now will have great bearing on our prosperity and quality of life five, 10, 20 years from now. The City's commitment to broader public input is a step in the right direction.

Jim Cornelius, Editor