By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
Every year, mayors of cities from fifteen S.E. states get together for a couple of days to talk shop, exchange ideas, find out what’s working and what’s not, and ask for ideas. Mayor Ronnie was just back from the League of Municipalities’ annual meeting, and this year it was held in Greenville, South Carolina. He described the city as “gorgeous,” and in fact, provided the title for this installment: “A bucket list city.”
The first thing that stood out to Mayor Ronnie was that there was no trash anywhere to be seen in Greenville, at least anywhere he walked. Anyone who knows the mayor knows that trash drives him wild, and cleaning up Athens is a high priority, always.
“Everyone’s concerns were the same,” said the mayor. He went on to say that topics were as varied as IT and cyber-security to drugs and trafficking. As always, public safety was at the very top of the list, and a city in West Virginia brought some hope to the issue of police dealing with incidents connected to citizens afflicted with mental illness. They have specially trained social workers that go on ride-alongs with police officers, and they work in tandem to diffuse situations where mental health is a factor. The mayor mentioned that at first the patrol officers were completely opposed to the idea, and for good reason. People who are untrained could certainly complicate already complicated situations that might involve drugs, mental illness, or both. However, over time it became apparent that this was a good idea, and now the officers are solidly behind it. We are looking into this,” said the mayor, and went on to describe how helpful this program had been.
Another topic was dealing well with town hall meetings that had the potential to become uncivil without much provocation. This presentation was entitled, “Taming the Town Hall: Simple Strategics for Productive Public Discourse.” We talked at length about the need in our culture for the restoration of civility, and the fact that civility is powerful. Seeing as the South is well known for hospitality and good manners, that restoration would be more than welcome. The subject might be a topic for a future installment, and there’s much to be said on it.
One of the things that Greenville has done beautifully is clear up its waterways. There were blighted buildings, dirty water, broken streets and roads, and with persistence, that area now is one of the crown jewels of Greenville. There is a road that has been converted into a suspended bridge walkway, where before it had become “the road to nowhere.”
The mayor mentioned the fact that everyone present felt energized by the fact that they were all facing the same concerns, and troubleshooting together was encouraging. The mayor came home with ideas that can help make Athens a “bucket list city.” “We have to be ‘we’ and we have to have a vision to keep moving no matter what,” said the mayor.
So we prayed to that end, and once again it was time for Ronnie to roll.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
November 1, 2024
