Out With the Old, and In With the New

Happy New Year

At this writing, it is still 2012, but by the time you read this it will be 2013.

I pity those people who suffer from triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13. It may be a hard year for those people. As for me, I have no such fear.

I’ve become an old fogey, I think, and don’t think of the passing of one year to another as a thing of major significance; it happens every 365 days, which by my age is pretty frequently.

But, I wanted to write a column, and have been thinking about “out with the old, and in with the new.”

And, as we enter 2013, I see many reasons to be utterly optimistic.

Good things are happening in Monticello and Jasper County.

The announcement last year (2012) that Baxter International will locate at Stanton Springs, an investment by the Four County Industrial Authority, has brought positive energy to our area.

Baxter will bring good jobs, good people, and satellite industries.

There are few empty storefronts on the Monticello Square…that is encouraging. There are several new businesses, and we welcome them to our community. They are mostly opened by people who have been in our community for a long time, which is also good. Some are operated by newcomers, and we welcome them.

The News will be featuring businesses—old and new—over the next several months, putting a spotlight on what we have here in our little town.

The News will also continue to report on the activities of our governing officials, and the Jasper County commission has four new faces. Since I cover the county commission, I suspect I will see a great difference between the old and the new.

I have covered County Commission meetings for more than 30 years…I remember when there were just three county commissioners. And, before the elections over those years, I remember often thinking it can’t get any worse. And, I remember thinking later how wrong I was. Suffice it to say, the county commissioners and I haven’t seen eye to eye very often.

I recognize that the county commissioners have a thankless job. They have to figure out how to use our few resources to run the county. They have to determine how to use too few funds to finance so many needs. The budget itself is enough to dishearten the most optimistic.

But, they should go beyond that. Our top elected officials should have a vision and a goal. I think this new county commission will. It’s downright exciting. Not only am I saying it can’t get worse, I’m saying it’s going to be better.

I think our new elected officials have a vision for the greater good, and (hopefully) won’t get bogged down in the minutiae of day to day operations, but will lead the staff, and the populace, to do great things.

I ran into one of the incoming commissioners in Ingles the other day. We briefly chatted…about growth, a word that has too often been a bad word among our elected officials.

If we do not grow, we die. None of us wants rampant, unchanneled growth, but we must move forward. We all fuss about our property taxes; business and industry help offset homeowners’ property taxes.

It’s time to allow growth to be a good word rather than a bad word.

The commissioner-elect and I mentioned another word—water. Since the Jasper County Water & Sewer Authority was formed, there has been controversy…most of it undeserved. As anyone knows, water is the most basic element of growth.

I suspect the new commission will not find growth or water to be bad words. I suspect the group will have not just a mission statement, but a mission.

I don’t know how they will do it, and I’m sure they will be criticized. But, I think it’s time Monticello and Jasper County embraced the future, and decide to live.

We have a great little town, a caring community, a wonderful county. But, we don’t keep it by putting up a fence and keeping others out. We keep it by letting those who want to come in know what we expect, and joining with them to better this place we call home.

My parents bought The Monticello News in 1975. They were told, and believed by their research, that Monticello and Jasper County were poised for growth. We were at the pinnacle about to take off and fly into a great future.

That prediction never took off. We have grown, but never like they anticipated. It was probably a blessing. We want to maintain our small town atmosphere and our sense of community. Now, we have zoning in place, leadership in place, and perhaps it’s time.

We are again at the apex…poised for growth…good, positive growth that maintains our sense of community while inviting business and industry to offset residential property taxes and allow our small businesses to prosper.

As we enter 2013, join me in embracing the future. Let’s emit positive energy to offset the negativity that has permeated our community for too long. It’s time we said, “we can” and “we will.”

Welcome 2013; happy new year!