By The Hutchinson Tribune Editorial Board
The marathon 5-hour City Council meeting Tuesday Aug. 5 showed how being there in-person can have a big impact.
It is worth noting the tenacity of Reno County Crimestoppers Chairperson Jackie Ashcraft, who waited until after 10 p.m. for agenda item 9.F. to come up.
Her patience and good humor resulted in approval of her request to place signs on city property if her group secures a grant to fund them.
There can be meaningful impacts from advocacy by local residents on behalf of issues they care deeply about.
A significant portion of the meeting was spent on public hearings and resolutions regarding 10 commercial properties up for consideration to condemn. Of those properties, six got at least a temporary reprieve, and four moved forward on the path toward demolition.
The property owners who showed up at the meeting were less likely to have their properties condemned.
There are many factors at play, but surely one is the human truth that it is harder to order someone’s building torn down when they are looking you in the face asking you to give them more time.
Unfortunately, no one showed up this time to advocate for sidewalks on both sides of the street.
We say “this time” because people did show up back when the subdivision regulations were last amended.
During last week’s City Council meeting, developer Jim Strawn referenced the group of Young Professionals whose letter we highlighted in last week’s Editorial. He even cited their advocacy as the reason why the rules were changed in 2015.
At that time, the local residents who cared about having an attractive, walkable community were able to overcome the influence of developers, including the one who just obtained permission not to follow those rules 10 years later.
The arguments are fundamentally the same, but the community was not as well-organized to defend the subdivision regulations as they were to amend them 10 years ago.
Many showed their support online – the Mayor made a Facebook post asking for feedback on the matter that received a strong response in favor of sidewalks on both sides of the street. Social media engagement with The Hutchinson Tribune was similar.
Because we can connect so easily online, often people miss out on the value of being present in-person. The advocacy of the local newspaper and dozens of online comments were not enough to overcome the developer standing in front of City Council – this time.
You win some and you lose some. We will keep playing our part to report on what is happening in the community, and we look forward to more robust community dialogue about local issues in the future.
And speaking of being there in-person, we are looking forward to you being able to hold a physical version of The Hutchinson Tribune in your hands in a few short weeks. If you haven’t already, there is still time to subscribe before we release our first edition.
Meanwhile, we appreciate your patience, and remind you that being there in-person can make all the difference.