Where am I? What am I doing?
Both are questions I would really love to know. I am back in the town I grew in of Clinton, IL. I came here to make a difference. I have hundreds of plans and ideas. So why question it?
We took a trip to Chicago. I work in Bloomington. I live in Clinton (population 7300, and often referred to as Clintucky by others). But it doesn't have to be this way. Clinton could easily turn itself around if only the people in town cared.
We moved here for community...which except for the very few, we have been ignored and shunned most of the time. So...community, the one thing I was looking forward to and expected in a small town really doesn't exist. At least not a welcoming community.
I figured by bringing a lucrative career and setting up a business (or 2) that people would want to find out what we do. But, nobody cares. I know how to make the changes that need to be made to put this town back in the right direction...but nobody wants to hear it.
Wake up Clinton! You are centrally located half way between Bloomington and Decatur, Champaign and Springfield. It is a service company's wet dream! One office feeding 4 cities within an hour each way. In Washington DC, a 1 hour commute is "living downtown".
Your buildings are falling apart and nobody is willing to tell the schmuck destroying them to leave town with all of his junk he has stored in the buildings and never turn back. He has quite the racket...buy a building for real cheap (because it is Clinton), fill it full of crap, let it fall into disrepair and become a fire hazard, and then when the city finally has enough, sell it to the city for a profit. After all, the city IS in the real estate destruction business isn't it? No wait...don't destroy the building...don't even fix it back to usable condition. Let's instead...give it away. Yes...this is a WISE use of funds.
The schools...wow...OK, they are trying. Sometimes they are very trying. But since when does the entire focus of my kid's attention go to a test? Never. The ISAT tests are to test the TEACHERS not the students...so quit stressing out my kid. Also, does it really need an entire week? 4 days of testing? and let's follow this up with an entire day lost on "movie day" which is the "reward" for doing so well on the test. My kid was SCARED of this test. This test is about how well they are teaching my kid wrote memorization, not teaching my kid how to think for herself and utilize the tools and information around her. Where did that go?
Continuing on with the schools...we are in the computer age people. Maybe we should buy one or two. I went through Lincoln school when Avery first went to school. They have CRTs. For those who can remember, CRTs are the large tube monitors that were bad for your eyes even then. I am told the PC has been updated, but the monitors are still "good". No they aren't. You are suppose to roll out educational technology every 3 years. The last time I have a CRT was 10 years ago. The school system BUYS their computers instead of leasing them. I am not sure why still. It doesn't make any sense financially to buy a computer that is out of date after 3 years when you can lease them for LESS and just upgrade after 3 years.
Still on schools...come out of Groupwise. Groupwise was an email application used in the 90s when Novell was still around. In fact, Novell used to own Groupwise. Clinton schools still has it. They don't even MAKE Groupwise anymore. The entire school system could not only move everything to the cloud, but it would be FREE. AND...it would be FREE for students as well. That is a whole different blog entry though.
I knew Lenna Rowe. She was a lovely woman and she marketed the city of Clinton OUTSIDE the city when she was in charge of the Chamber of Commerce. What does Clinton do to market outside the town? "There is a billboard in Maroa and one in Wapella." Why would I join the Chamber to market inside the community? I can do that myself. Market Clinton as a town to bring in Commerce. Isn't that your purpose? It is a perfect location for service companies.
Lastly, what am I doing? Is this a futile attempt to change a town or am I really going to make a difference. Is this the constant resistance my Sister felt all those years before her death? Should I just cut bait and take it to Bloomington? For now...I am steadfast. We will see how far that goes.
This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one), watch the video below called "Code for a better government."
We took a trip to Chicago. I work in Bloomington. I live in Clinton (population 7300, and often referred to as Clintucky by others). But it doesn't have to be this way. Clinton could easily turn itself around if only the people in town cared.
We moved here for community...which except for the very few, we have been ignored and shunned most of the time. So...community, the one thing I was looking forward to and expected in a small town really doesn't exist. At least not a welcoming community.
I figured by bringing a lucrative career and setting up a business (or 2) that people would want to find out what we do. But, nobody cares. I know how to make the changes that need to be made to put this town back in the right direction...but nobody wants to hear it.
Wake up Clinton! You are centrally located half way between Bloomington and Decatur, Champaign and Springfield. It is a service company's wet dream! One office feeding 4 cities within an hour each way. In Washington DC, a 1 hour commute is "living downtown".
Your buildings are falling apart and nobody is willing to tell the schmuck destroying them to leave town with all of his junk he has stored in the buildings and never turn back. He has quite the racket...buy a building for real cheap (because it is Clinton), fill it full of crap, let it fall into disrepair and become a fire hazard, and then when the city finally has enough, sell it to the city for a profit. After all, the city IS in the real estate destruction business isn't it? No wait...don't destroy the building...don't even fix it back to usable condition. Let's instead...give it away. Yes...this is a WISE use of funds.
The schools...wow...OK, they are trying. Sometimes they are very trying. But since when does the entire focus of my kid's attention go to a test? Never. The ISAT tests are to test the TEACHERS not the students...so quit stressing out my kid. Also, does it really need an entire week? 4 days of testing? and let's follow this up with an entire day lost on "movie day" which is the "reward" for doing so well on the test. My kid was SCARED of this test. This test is about how well they are teaching my kid wrote memorization, not teaching my kid how to think for herself and utilize the tools and information around her. Where did that go?
Continuing on with the schools...we are in the computer age people. Maybe we should buy one or two. I went through Lincoln school when Avery first went to school. They have CRTs. For those who can remember, CRTs are the large tube monitors that were bad for your eyes even then. I am told the PC has been updated, but the monitors are still "good". No they aren't. You are suppose to roll out educational technology every 3 years. The last time I have a CRT was 10 years ago. The school system BUYS their computers instead of leasing them. I am not sure why still. It doesn't make any sense financially to buy a computer that is out of date after 3 years when you can lease them for LESS and just upgrade after 3 years.
Still on schools...come out of Groupwise. Groupwise was an email application used in the 90s when Novell was still around. In fact, Novell used to own Groupwise. Clinton schools still has it. They don't even MAKE Groupwise anymore. The entire school system could not only move everything to the cloud, but it would be FREE. AND...it would be FREE for students as well. That is a whole different blog entry though.
I knew Lenna Rowe. She was a lovely woman and she marketed the city of Clinton OUTSIDE the city when she was in charge of the Chamber of Commerce. What does Clinton do to market outside the town? "There is a billboard in Maroa and one in Wapella." Why would I join the Chamber to market inside the community? I can do that myself. Market Clinton as a town to bring in Commerce. Isn't that your purpose? It is a perfect location for service companies.
Lastly, what am I doing? Is this a futile attempt to change a town or am I really going to make a difference. Is this the constant resistance my Sister felt all those years before her death? Should I just cut bait and take it to Bloomington? For now...I am steadfast. We will see how far that goes.
This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one), watch the video below called "Code for a better government."
Comments
If you can make a difference, good luck. If you can't... there's always St. Louis! (That's where we ended up!)