EDITORIAL
Later this week Valley Sentinel will be sending out short questionnaires to the villages and their elected officials in the River Valley area. These questions will seek to inspire forward-thinking actions that can be taken to help our area not only thrive, but survive. We would encourage the surrounding municipalities, townships and even residents to engage as well.
It is perhaps most important, this year more than ever, to first identify the challenges facing each community and the area in general, now and those that are anticipated into the next year. This continuing pandemic and the social, medical and economic problems — among others — are creating obstacles and adversity that are unparalleled in living memory and it is important to be cognizant of those challenges, while also facing solidly towards the future .
Thus, the first question might be, what are three major obstacles facing your community that will need to be acted on in this next year? What actions are needed to resolve them? This year has exposed cracks and weaknesses in our institutions that our local communities are not immune to, it’s important that we address them so that we can indeed look forward.
The second question might be, what are three projects that are feasible that could be started, or even completed, in the next year that would better your community? Even better if they involve cooperation and coordination between our greater community.
The hope is that these questions, and others, might spur on some community discussion and unite disparate groups to come together to achieve common goals.
For our general community members, let’s find ways to get involved and help further those conversations along. Write letters to the editor and community columns, speak during public comment at meetings, run for office. Let’s start thinking of our resolutions for the next year, it’s that time and it’s been a year.
We’ll put something more formal together next week, but starting thinking of ideas to better our greater community. Ideas that could be implemented in 1, 3 or 10 years. Do you have an idea that you’ve told no one else? An idea or two that’s been bouncing around in your head for awhile? An idea that might seem preposterous, but it just might work if someone knew? Think on that, we want to gather ideas that will bring our community together and build it up, ideas that start those conversations towards something bigger — you never know what might happen.