By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
The first order of business when Mayor Ronnie came in was to talk about the up-and-coming softball game. On Saturday, August 16, the annual First Responder Softball Game between members of the Athens Police Department and the Athens Fire Department will be held at the Sportsplex at 8 a.m. While events like this often are connected with a fundraiser that has a worthy ending to the phrase “all proceeds go to…,” this game is just a pure slice of small-town Americana that signals the end of summer, amongst other things. One of the things is that this game is open to church teams, but the majority of the players need to be from either department. Several businesses in the area sponsoring the event are doing so just to bless our first responders.
Another aspect of this game is that it builds community. There is nothing like friendly competition and smack-talking. Baseball, or in this case softball, is the perfect opportunity for the teams (who are teams on the job day in and day out) to show their team spirit when the stakes are not nearly as high. Talking about the fun of the game served as a perfect segue to Chapter 4 of Crucial Accountability, the book that we as well as many members of the Athens City “team” have been reading.
Chapter 4 is called “Make It Motivating” and it underscores what every leader from Mayor Ronnie on down to someone in the classroom or running a home knows: you have to have the team buy-in, and you have to have things in place that serve to provide consequences. He read to me about the three things that don’t work—leaning on charisma, power, or the wrong kind of fear. In the short term, up front they might seem to solve problems, but not in the long run. And, you will never build a true team that has each other’s backs.
Seeing as public safety is always the number one concern for a mayor, and the thing that makes all the rest of a city flow and go, the analogy of an inter-department softball game really can translate over to the idea of public safety. What if first responders weren’t aware of the need to be a team, and what if their leaders weren’t committed to leading, or as Crucial Accountability asks, How to Help Others Want to Take Action?
It’s not that there is never a place for charisma, power, or fear, it is that most of us are not trained as to when and how to use them equitably. “You have to do your job,” Mayor Ronnie said simply. Back to the softball analogy, he added, “The shortstop has a job to do, and it is no one else’s job.” He told me that the City of Athens has a system of consequences in place when people don’t do their job. He also added that there is a merit system. “Consistency is the key,” he said, and that is certainly something about which we prayed. We also asked God to bless our teachers, students, and first responders so they can do their job. Then, once again, it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
June 20, 2025
