Get Busy
Weekly Update #207 1/7/2024 to 1/13/2024
Do you have one of those movies that you can’t scroll past when you see it? Shawshank Redemption is one for me. Today, as I sat down to put my thoughts down from the past week, a line that both Red and Andy said in the movie, “Get busy living or get busy dying,” stuck in my head. Before I see where this heads, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
As READI 2.0 comes along, I had a few meetings this week connected to putting the final preparations on a regional site visit from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Coordinating a presentation that travels over three different communities and involves a dozen or so presenters is a challenging task. I believe next week we will put our best foot forward and, hopefully, set ourselves apart as the next step in the process comes along in February when we submit our formal application. One of the great parts of the region is that we have worked together off and on for many years in various ways. Thank you to everyone involved in the process.
The Mayor’s Youth Council met this week to learn about the Seymour Fire Department. B Shift did an excellent job of showing them around Station 2 and diving deeper into what they do for Seymour and beyond. I say beyond because Seymour Fire Department recently assisted the Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department and several others, including Seymour Water Pollution Control, that helped save someone's life. B Shift explained equipment on the truck and how it was used as well as giving some hands-on examples of how heavy their turnout gear can be when they are on the scene. I will say it again: excellent job, team, on showing the next generation what you do for our community.
This week, I gave a not-so-short presentation to the Plan Commission on a resolution they have before them from the Redevelopment Commission. The resolution asks the question: does purchasing a downtown building fit into their plan of supporting downtown Seymour? When RDC was established in 2008, they had three areas of focus: industrial, education, and downtown. In 2020/2021, they updated their plan to dedicate a small portion to quality of life with the majority still going to the original three areas. On these and other updates over the years, the Plan Commission has agreed that downtown was still a part of RDC’s priorities. While there are a lot of conversations that venture deep into the weeds, the question still remains: does RDC’s plan still show supporting downtown in many different ways as being important?
The full line from Shawshank Redemption is “It comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.” Oftentimes, and especially in government, we get bogged down as we work on projects. If you need an example, I encourage you to take a look at the number of bills signed into law at the federal level last year. I believe I heard it was the lowest since the Great Depression. While the causes of our slow downs are many, we really should take Andy and Red’s advice from the movie. Make the choice to get busy living, or if you will to keep moving forward for a better tomorrow, or we can get busy dying by giving up, or even just standing still while the world moves on past us.