Heartland Visioning revises “harsh” language in the Draft Plan

Today, the Heartland Visioning Steering Committee revised the “Call to Action” section of the Heartland Visioning Draft Plan due to remarks made by some elected officials that the language was too harsh and too negative (see CJOnline Article for further details).  I am personally saddened by this move because I feel that it to truly fix a problem; you have to come to terms with the problem itself.  It is like an addict admitting they have an addiction, and only then rehabilitation can begin.  Yes, the tone in that section was harsh, but that is what is needed in a “Call to Action”.  When writing any paper or presentation, you need to make a statement that grabs attention.  With a “Call to Action” you must take it a few steps further: you have to convince people that there is a problem, persuade them that you can provide a solution to the problem, and compel them to take action to help solve the problem.  If you weaken the language, you loose the ability to persuade and compel.

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Heartland Visioning – Government

To continue our series of entries on the Hearland Visioning draft plan, here is my brief descripiton and take on the Government section.

First of all, I was very surprised to find that this section is only one short page. Maybe that is good thing, because the key to this Vision becoming a reality is the people in the community and private investment, not relying on the government to make it happen.  We do however need their support and some items in the Vision do & will fall in the public realm of government responsibilities.

The Vision for Governement is: Shawnee County will have streamlined, efficient governments that work with state and federal governments to create a better quality of life for all Shawnee County. I think the important words to note in this are efficient and streamlined. I don’t know if there are many people that would describe our local government with quite those words currently, but to move forward & grow, we do a an efficient & streamlined government. Read the rest of this entry »

Heartland Visioning – Quality of Life

The Quality of Life section of the Heartland Visioning draft plan starts with the following vision:
Shawnee County will be a safe and caring community with vibrant arts, cultural entertainment and recreational activity and caring for all.
Who can argue with that? I mean, I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to raise their family in a safe, caring community that has access to entertainment and recreational activities of all types. It provides options for a wide range of experiences without having to travel out of town, and allows opportunities to get involved in teams/clubs/groups that support these activities.

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