It’s a Wonderful Life
At last evening’s City Council meeting, we learned that Harbor Springs will lose another excellent public servant. Rachel, our cheerful, kind, dedicated and determined Parks Director, will leave our city to take a much-deserved job at the County Parks Department. Our loss is their gain. Rachel will be missed, and I hope the best for her and her amazing family.
To review, this month we will lose our City Manager and our Parks Director. Earlier this year we lost our school Superintendent. Each of these losses were influenced by the climate of grievance that has maligned both City and School District staff. Contributing to these decisions has been an environment where working for Harbor Springs is full of too much uncertainty and unpleasantness.
I am confident some will claim this isn’t the case. Those people are not being honest. Our loss of valued and talented city staff is absolutely a reflection on us and a culture that seems to value personal interest over collective concern. It is exhausting and the damage will be felt for years to come.
Before the Council meeting, I was handed an article that appeared in the Opinion section of the Detroit Free Press this weekend. The piece raises similar concerns and connects them to the classic holiday tale, "It's a Wonderful Life."
The columnist writes about the end of the movie, where the guardian angel, Clarence, shows George Baily what life in Bedford Falls would have been like without him. In a double meaning for us, George is shown a town that is no longer Bedford Falls but is now named Potterville after the town’s malevolent wealthy banker. The author puts the scene in the context of the destruction of so many of our national norms symbolized by the destruction of the East Wing of the White House. He writes, "We are all living in Potterville now."
It is heartbreaking. Much like I feel about the hollowing out of our little town's professional staff. I have heard that some will gather later this month in the back of Pierson's to toast and cheer the departure of our City Manager. Something they actively worked to make happen. As the great poet Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them." (A copy of the email invitation to this “celebration” can be found by clicking here.)
We have had so much to be proud of as a community, and yet there are a handful who continue to work in the shadows to offer secret deals and raise ridiculous amounts of dark money to shape our town. Despite so much time, agreement and compromise, there are still more demands and more delay. Maya Angelou was on to something.
Our reality is, soon our City Clerk and Police Chief will retire and our Public Works Director continues to heroically battle cancer. City Hall will change drastically in the very near term. There is both opportunity and danger ahead of us. Today, I acutely feel the danger.
So, on this "Giving Tuesday," I am going to take heart in another lesson from "It's a Wonderful Life.” To welcome a new family to the neighborhood, Mary Baily didn't call them names or discount their opinions. She didn't dig for dirt in their past or scour their Venmo payment history. No, Mrs. Baily brought three gifts. A loaf of bread with wishes that the new neighbors never go hungry. Salt so that their lives may be full of flavor. And a bottle of wine for a life full of joy.
Today, we need more Mary Bailys.
If you haven't already, on this "Giving Tuesday," please:
Contribute to the Harbor Springs Food Pantry so fewer of our neighbors will know hunger.
Give to the Friendship Center. Afterall, friends are the flavor of life: https://thefriendshipcenterofharborsprings.weebly.com/.
And please contribute to Lucas' family's Go Fund me so that they can know more joy and less burden at: https://www.gofundme.com/.../please-help-lucas-beat...
As always, I am grateful to you and all you do to help move Harbor Springs forward. Tomorrow, I will write up a summary of last night's excellent zoning update presentation. Until then, take care of one another.