Published: February 07, 2007 09:15 am            

Welcome to Clinton, Mr. Campbell

Dear Kent Campbell,

Welcome to Clinton. We’re sure you’re excited to be hired as the new president of the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce and, although you don’t officially start work until Monday, assume you’re anxious to hit the ground running.

It wasn’t too long ago that we used pretty much the same salutation to greet Gary Boden, the new city administrator. After the resignations of your predecessors were announced this summer, we’d hoped to get two people in these key positions at roughly the same time. The relationship between the city and the chamber is a significant one, and having qualified people in these positions is very important for our community.

You come highly recommended by Steve Thacker, chairman of the chamber board, who spoke about your “experience in board facilitation, membership drives, economic development (and) strategic planning in addition to budget and resource development,” all things that certainly will come into play in your new job.

There are more than a few irons in the fire here, with Vision Iowa wrapping up, Great Places projects at the brink of reality and many, many city endeavors that hinge on state and federal funding, which often hinges on a community’s ability to demonstrate necessity.

Given your experience with various chambers of commerce, it seems you’re well suited for this task. We’ve been told you are outgoing and a good communicator, which should endear you to the chamber members and the community at large. We have good faith in the people of the chamber board — one of whom is publisher of this paper — and know that they will be committed to a good working relationship.

Now that the chamber and the Clinton Regional Development Corp. are more closely connected, good working relationships will be key. The same goes for your ability to work with Mr. Boden and the City Council.

We understand that as chamber president, you work at the pleasure of the chamber board and, by extension, its membership at large. The chamber president is expected to lead, to possess a vision for the future and inspire others to join in the journey. These things will not always be in line with what every taxpayer thinks is best, but your obligation is to your membership and fostering a sense of pride in the community.

As we said to Mr. Boden, Clinton is a wonderful place. No one is forcing nearly 28,000 people to live here. But, of course, it could be even more wonderful. There’s room for a lot more than 28,000, and anything that would address that concern would be welcome.

Clinton is not without its problems, and we hope your outside perspective will help us see some of them in a new light. Not only are you new to Clinton, but you have experience with many other municipalities, which should rob you of the “but we’ve never done it that way before” mentality.

Welcome to town, Mr. Campbell. We hope Clinton quickly feels like home for you and your family. We love this town, warts and all, and we’re sure you will as well.

        

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