Expressing Gratitude This Thanksgiving

A personal note for this special holiday

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s a day when we can spend time with our loved ones and simply enjoy each other’s company and reflect on the blessings that we have enjoyed. And yes, watch a football game or two. It’s truly a time of gratitude and grace.

And as I reflect on the past eighteen months of Civic Capacity, I perhaps more than most, have many reasons to be grateful. This project has taken off in ways that I could not imagine, and today I want to express my deep gratitude not for this newsletter, but for all the things that make this newsletter possible.

This newsletter is all about Civic Capacity, which is a short, but fancy way of saying, giving the residents of all our local hometowns the opportunity to better understand the decisions of local leadership and why those decisions matter. The whole mission and vision of this project was to inform, involve and inspire. On all three accounts, this project has been a success.

One of the most important things I am grateful for is the ability to live in a country where a publication like “Civic Capacity” can exist. There are quite a few countries in our world where a publication like this would not be welcome. It’s not a stretch to say that if this publication were based somewhere else, this publication would be shut down in a heartbeat. It could be shut down by authorities or worse, I could be arrested for some of the things I have written about.

This is not to say that I have gone out of my way to cast dispersions on local government. Rather, it is to say that a thoughtful and careful analysis of those making decisions is not always a welcome part of community life in other parts of the world.

And if I had to guess, there are many even in our own community that wish this project would simply go away.

A few weeks ago, in response to information that this publication put forward, a local elected official shared this remarkable quote on social media:

Please understand that your elected officials are "hired" by you to attend meetings, review documents, engage in discussions, to participate in the processes that are in place to make our city work efficiently and successfully, acting on behalf of the city as a whole.

I am sorry, but this explanation is too simplistic not to comment.

When we participate in elections and individuals are elected to office, we inherently give those elected officials the opportunity to be make decisions for our community. We give these democratically chosen officials the opportunity to vote on decisions.

But, we do not give these elected officials our voice or our minds.

As citizens, we have the right, and some might even say the obligation, to critically think about issues facing our community, to discuss those issues with our friends and neighbors and to voice our concerns to our elected officials. A thriving community and a strong democracy depends on active participation of not only elected officials, but of citizens as well.

And that point leads into the second blessing I am grateful for.

I am grateful for our citizens.

Selfishly, I could rattle off statistics about Civic Capacity to prove how it’s grown over the last eighteen months. Impressive numbers that show that this publication, perhaps more than any other in our local communities, is becoming a strong and trusted source of local news and information.

But that is not where the success of this publication lies.

The success of this publication lies in the fact that there was a recent meeting of the Piqua City Commission that had every seat filled. The success lies in the fact that no fewer than five people have expressed interest to me in running for seats on City Council or the Board of Education here in Troy next year. The success lies in the fact that when the Troy City Council At-Large Quarterly meetings take place, more and more people are showing up and asking questions. The success lies in the fact that when families sit at the dinner table, or friends gather at the coffee shop, the issues this publication talks about becomes a topic of discussion.

Our readers, our subscribers and our communities are what makes Civic Capacity work. Residents are understanding their community better, and they are taking responsibility for the place they call home. Our friends and neighbors are learning, are talking, and are standing up for their hometowns. And it is awesome to see.

Thank you. I am grateful for all of you that has allowed this amazing project to proceed and to be a stronger part of our community. I am grateful for those subscribers that have made a generous financial commitment to this effort. Likewise, I am especially grateful for those neighbors that have taken the time to reach out and talk about the important work being done here.

You all inspire me to keep this project a thriving part of our local communities.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What Are You Grateful For?

This Thanksgiving, tell us what you are thankful for! Be a part of our discussion! Our paid subscribers are more than welcome to leave their ideas and insights in the comment thread!

Tell Us How You Feel About Your Community!

Our reader survey for November is looking for responses! Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas on your hometown! You can access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PF6SPPN

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