Good News
Weekly Update 8/13/2023 to 8/19/2023 #186
Several years ago, I had a conversation with a Louisville news anchor about sharing good news. They shared with me that the majority of viewers didn’t prefer it. Before I venture down this path though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
During the most recent Common Council meeting, we heard from Steve Sharer as he reported on his work from the last 14 months. He shared a brief overview of the “Recovery in Jackson County Assessment Report.” This work was from a grant we were able to secure in early 2022 to help determine what tools we already had in place and identify what gaps we have in the world of recovery. The first two of his recommendations after a year of research were that we need to utilize our faith-based organizations more in recovery efforts, and the second was to bring recovery housing to our community. Both could have huge impacts on helping members of our community get their lives back and make the future of our community brighter than ever imagined. I believe Seymour could one day become known as a community where recovery is possible. Read the full report by following the link https://seymourin.org/images/2023/pdf/Council_8-14_Recovery_Report.pdf and then let’s talk about where you fit in for the future.
This week, I presented for the final time on the almost year-long Burkart Opportunity Zone study with the Brookings Institution. We worked with several other organizations like Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking as well as consultant Anderson Bohlander during the process. Watch the next few days for the 60+ page report to be released by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. One of the lines that stuck with me from the report was “This is a CCEI Agenda– not a plan. This agenda represents a commitment to action by a group of local stakeholders.” With the core team and advisory council of 25 local stakeholders along with the numerous focus groups and one-on-one interviews, I believe we accomplished our goal of getting a good cross section of the community at the table to build this agenda. I guess I misspoke in the first sentence of this paragraph, though, as I will be presenting again in October at an event that includes possible investors and partners to help get our agenda off the ground. Thank you to everyone involved for all of your hard work to date, and I look forward to seeing how we go forward from here.
What a weekend! Thursday, we had City Jam from Seymour Main Street. Friday, we had the Fraternal Order of Police Tom Gray Memorial Car Show and the season opener for Seymour Varsity Football. Saturday, we had Pig in the Park, Cruise with the Son Car Show, and Scoop the Loop. On Sunday, we have AutoCross coming up with the Sports Car Club of America at the airport. This doesn’t include every event going on but gives you a good idea that when someone says we don’t have anything to do in Seymour, they aren’t watching for all the promotional items that are out there. It was also great seeing many of our area teens out at the different events this weekend. Thank you to all the groups who made their part of the weekend a possibility.
Well, back to that opening thought about sharing the good news. While the majority of the viewers may not prefer it, I feel it is a major part of my job to share the good news that is Seymour. We have so much going on that many don’t notice or don’t want to notice that it is amazing to me when someone wants to dwell on the bad. Yes, we have problems as any community does, but as I am often reminded from visitors, we have so many great things to be excited about compared to other towns our size. I will leave you with this quote from Walt Whitman and hope you can find it in this place and hour, "Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour."