 HOME | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | PAST ISSUES | ADVERTISING RATES | RACK LOCATIONS Randy Voller’s address to Chatham leaders Chatham County is a unique and wonderful place. Our citizens care about their neighbors and their homes. If Chatham County were utopia we’d pay no taxes, have an abundance of resources, everyone would be above average, and we’d never grow old or obsolete because tomorrow would never arrive. We don’t live in that world. We have budget problems, infrastructure issues, joblessness, demographic shifts and substantial challenges with education and training all while yesterday recedes quickly into memory and tomorrow bears down on us with the full force of a Category 5 hurricane named “Destiny.” We simply can’t play the same old music expecting Mozart to emerge from discord and disharmony. History can be our guide and our lodestar. To quote others we must acknowledge that it is not enough to “sit on the old three-legged stool of low wages, low educational values and low expectations.” We must rise, lead, perspire and inspire. Let’s climb and “stand on the shoulders of giants” and look to a better tomorrow. Like Moses, we may not get to the promised land which is our future, but we can see it and guide our citizens to it. We can start today and unite and pull together to build a present and future that is the envy of the Southeast. What can we do? Take stock of our assets and liabilities and resolve to work and plan together. Our towns, county, school system, community college system, and non-profit sector can apply for grants together, communicate together, work together and recreate together in a show of strength instead of individually wandering off in inept weakness. We do not need to be friends nor family, but like any good team when it is time to play the game, we can play to win. Chatham needs to be a place where people want to live, not have to live and that’s an important distinction. Ultimately, it’s not a question of if we grow but how we grow. Our choices and investments today will be the living template for our children’s children. Let’s give them a future where we would want to live, too. The last time we met as a group we discussed the possibility of placing mixed beverages or liquor by the drink on the ballot. As we all know, it is now on the ballot. This is a clear economic issue for our future. A friend who knows Birmingham and Atlanta well told me that both cities were leaders of the Southeast in the 1950’s with perhaps Birmingham being more well-known than Atlanta. Today Atlanta is an acknowledged world leader while Birmingham is essentially a regional city of the Southeast. The one major difference in their fortunes was that Atlanta endorsed mixed beverages early on and Birmingham did not. Again, look at where these cities are today. Atlanta is a global city that hosted the Olympics and Birmingham is known mainly in its region and not on the world stage. In conclusion, what can we all do together as leaders? • Promote universal water, sewer, and reuse water for our county and towns. • Promote “Main Street” programs for Siler City, Pittsboro, and Goldston which are supported by vigorous “buy local” campaigns. • Promote regional transit for Pittsboro and Siler City, which will link our towns to Chapel Hill, UNC, Sanford, and Raleigh. • Promote countywide wireless and/or broadband connectivity. • Promote the connection between the Port of Wilmington and Siler City. As the port is improved Chatham will have great opportunities for intermodal freight in Siler City. • Promote the preservation of our rural buffers and farms. • Promote and facilitate contracting with local businesses. • Promote the breakdown of the silo mentality and encourage mutual goal setting. It is not enough to promote workforce housing -- we must consider transit, energy, and sustainability. We must set up our citizens for success. Let’s work together to climb to the top instead of racing to the bottom. |