Soliciting ideas for a better Clinton

By Scott T. Holland
Associate Editor

July 19, 2006 11:44 am

— One of the sheer joys of my job (note: sarcasm) is the opportunity to wade through literally hundreds of e-mailed press releases from attention-seeking politicians and political candidates.
Many of them deal with things that do not greatly concern our readers — federal grant allocations to the University of Northern Iowa, Patti Blagojevich’s July selections for the Illinois Children’s Reading Club and, my personal favorite, Bruce Braley’s campaign manager firing a response to allegations made by Mike Whalen’s campaign manager.
Once in a while the e-mails actually contain something relevant that develops into a story. Even more rare, though, is the political e-mail that catches my attention long enough to be placed in my “Misc. Old” Outlook Express folder for later review and consideration as column fodder.
So today, dear readers, I bring you Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle and his June 9 release “Jim Nussle Unveils 99 Ideas to Energize Iowa’s Future.”
What Nussle calls a “bold and innovative plan to involve Iowans in the state’s future,” may be just that, but there’s no need to promote the plan or Nussle’s candidacy any further in this space. I’ll gladly forward a copy of this note to anyone who wants it, but this doesn’t need to descend into a Nussle or Chet Culver debate.
What I’d really like to focus on is the concept — getting people to share earnest ideas about a better future. A similar effort is ongoing in Florida, only that team is working on “100 Innovative Ideas” and plans to write a book.
My ideas for Florida? 1. Stop shooting all the tourists. 2. Implode Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 3. Change the state’s name to “Florida, presented by Walt Disney Co.,” as it would be more honest and could generate some real revenue.
What both projects have in common is a Web site fostering discussion on the ideas and prominent involvement of Republicans. The other thing they have in common is that if some columnist from a Florida paper got ahold of this column or Nussle’s press release, he or she would very likely offer up smart-aleck suggestions for Iowa (1. Less corn. 2. No more tractors on the Interstate. 3. Outright ban on bib overalls.).
The problem is that we as Iowans can criticize Iowa, but heaven forbid we let someone else criticize Iowa. The same principle works on a smaller scale. If I asked Clinton residents to come up with 28 ideas for a better Clinton (one idea for every 1,000 people), many of the responses I‘d get would be rude, crude and, in some cases, personally insulting. I’d print them in the paper and we’d all have a good laugh.
But if I asked my college roommate, a Monticello native who lives with his wife in North Liberty, for 28 ways to make Clinton better, I couldn’t put it in print without changing his name for his own safety. No one wants to hear an outsider complain about this town (and remember, unless you were born here or at least attended Clinton High, some folks will always consider you an outsider).
The Iowa and Florida “good idea” projects also share an inherent problem. You ask people for ideas for a better future, you inevitably get complaints about the present. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
It’s not what the politicians are looking for, because today’s politicians can have either a rear view mirror or a conscience, but not both (and often neither). But it is what the people have. Joe Citizen doesn’t want ideas about tomorrow, he wants answers today. He wants a frank discussion about a real problem, not an adjective-laden vision about anything more in the future than his next paycheck.
So let’s test this idea out. What are your ideas for Clinton? What are 28 things that ought to happen? Don’t be fluid (“More frank discussion from our public officials”); be concrete (“Monthly meetings with my councilmen and a school board representative”). Don’t be wishy-washy (“I wish we had better roads”); be demanding (“Every residential street should have curb and gutter no matter the cost”).
You’ve got about two weeks. Anything I get from e-mail, real mail or otherwise by 5 p.m. July 31 will be compiled for my Aug. 2 column. If I don’t get 28 ideas from you, then you get 28 of my ideas, simple as that.
Based on previous pleas for public response, I don’t really believe I’ll get all that many responses, of course, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Hopefully now is the time.
Scott T. Holland’s column appears every Wednesday in the Clinton Herald. His e-mail address is scottholland@clintonherald.com.

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