EDA Leadership Non-Crisis: The Mystery Revealed
It’s a pretty sorry day when what were perhaps the dullest five minutes of EDA meeting history become the portion of the meeting commented and speculated on so widely—and so wildly.
In case anyone missed the Northfield News story, or the Editor’s comments on the subject, or any of the discussion on Northfield.org’s “Issues” list, here’s what happened:
On January 12, the EDA held its first meeting of the year, at which we are expected to elect a new slate of officers. Due to the way the calendar days fell, the last meeting of 2005 took place three days before Christmas and we had an unusual three-week gap between meetings. The issue is not that no one is willing to serve in officer capacity; the issue is that in order to do a conscientious job, the position of President requires a fair amount of time and energy, even with the stellar City staff we have (thank you, Brian and Deanna). Everyone serving on the EDA has a multitude of other commitments, and before last Thursday we simply hadn’t discussed who wanted the position and/or who had the available time and necessary vision.
Call it an administrative oversight, maybe, but it was no big mystery, and unfortunately detracted from the actual issues that were discussed at the meeting (Q-block, economic development plan context mapping, business assistance, the YMCA, the relocation needs of College City Beverage). Oh, wait, no one reported anything about those. I guess I'll have to do it myself.
But that report will have to wait for another day. I have a manufacturing business in a critical stage of growth, plus a retail operation to manage, another civic board to serve on, three school-age children, and a new radio show. Gee, now I remember why I didn't raise my hand at last week's meeting and say, "Hey, no problem, I'll be President this year."