Harry Hipps for Council -- Augmenting My Platform

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Augmenting my platform. My platform is a general overview of what I think and what I want to focus on when elected. Of course, I can’t explain every nuance in such a document so I will be doing a series of articles here to go into more depth.

Clique politicians and a disengaged public. No politician in their right mind would come out and say that they don’t want the media, the public, or anyone else kept out of the loop of information. Open government is like Mom and apple pie, no one can argue against it. But extolling the virtues of open government and actually practicing it are two different things. Having asked questions and observed what is going on in Hickory for a while now, I can tell you that the attitude of many, if not most of our elected officials in Hickory is hostile towards information being widely known and too many people in the know. The dominant attitude is a patronizing one. They want to make the decisions behind closed doors, coming to a consensus among the clique of insiders and a small group of cronies. Council meetings draw almost no one and in some ways I can understand why.

Most people nowdays are very busy, working, dealing with kids, school, doctors, church, and many other demands on our time. Council meetings are not televised or put on the internet, except in text form some time after the meeting has occurred. This is a shame in the age of the internet. I would guarantee that if the public could see who asks questions, who seems disengaged, who is too meek to speak up, who gets a little testy at times, etc. there would be a very different perception of our City government.

The few members of the public that do attend Council meetings get a few pages summarizing what business will be conducted that evening while Council members get a booklet with much more background and detail. Well, why is this information not available online before the meeting so people can be well informed before decisions are made? Obviously, the public’s knowledge or input is not wanted. Plus, it’s clear that because information is so hard to come by it gives City leaders an edge to stifle debate. On First Talk with Hal Row on WHKY radio, Jill Patton said she wanted to be reelected (and the Mayor has stated this as well) because the Mayor and Council “are of one mind”. This is extremely scary to me. Clearly, new ideas and approaches, diversity of opinion, making connections to the whole public, embracing the transformation of Hickory in our rapidly changing world by making connections to the larger community (and indeed globally) is not what the incumbents want and I believe this is one reason Hickory has been in a malaise since Rudy Wright took office.

Fortress Hickory. The level of anxiety, worry, and fear in Hickory is palpable. I have spoken to many people who are struggling now and are very fearful of the future. My heart sinks when a hard working dad or single mom tells me they are having trouble sleeping at night because of the worries they have. In the midst of this we have heard for years now that “things are turning around in Hickory”, “I believe this will be Hickory’s year”, and “it can’t last forever” . A “Fortress Hickory” mentality has taken hold among many of our City leaders. Their attitude is to downplay the problems and act like it’s not as bad as it seems, blame the US and Raleigh and not accept any responsibility locally, and tell folks there are secret deals being cooked up in the back room that can’t be discussed publicly now, but when they come through we will be flying high again. Well, there’s an old saying: fool me once, shame on you fool me twice, shame on me. These arguments have been made for years now and people have been patient with our leadership. Rather than trying to excel, we have lowered our expectations and accept anything out of fear that things could get worse.

The facts are that Hickory’s economy was fundamentally, structurally changed by globalization. This is not a temporary slowdown, it is irreversible change. Our City was very slow to recognize this and has still not adequately responded to it. When the National economy was good and growing, Hickory’s growth has been below par. When we have been in slow growth or recessionary times, Hickory has plunged much more than most. We are almost at the bottom of all MSA’s in the entire country. And it took the whole country pointing this out in national newspapers before our Mayor and City leaders would finally admit it.

Business as usual. During the last few years, even with the poor growth and malaise that we are experiencing, it has been business as usual in Fortress Hickory. We have developed a reputation for being inconsistent, nitpicky, and a hard place to set up a business. My opponent in this election has sided with the micromanagers and has not helped to make Hickory a business friendly community. Hickory has had a high and mighty attitude that has turned off business and community leaders around us. We need to ask why Newton got Target, Lenoir got Google, Maiden got Apple, and Hickory got a couple of call centers one of which is a startup. I appreciated these business locating in Hickory but we have to ask why the biggest names went around Hickory and not in Hickory. Why are we acting like we have all the cards when our relevance to the surrounding area is diminishing?

What do we do now? How can we start to transform and revitalize Hickory? First, we need to look honestly at where we are. Let’s look at our assets and weaknesses – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need honesty and openness. The truth will set you free. Then we need to unlock the creativity and energy of our people. This area used to be a hotbed of innovation. Entrepreneurs, like Marshall Digh made Mom and Pops, Art Viles made Superior Cable, Joe Long, Adrian Shuford and many more stepped up and made things happen. Let’s get this culture back. I saw a business on NC Now not long ago about a guy that built a building of wind tunnels and you can simulate what it’s like to parachute even though you’re only about five feet off the ground. People who want to try out parachuting but are scared can try it out safely. Military guys from Eastern Europe and other parts of the world can train quicker and cheaper here than by doing it all from planes. This business is in Pantego. Why not Hickory? Where are our creative ideas? Let’s try to inspire and unlock the drive of our citizens and not retreat into Fortress Hickory. Now is not the time to hide under a rock and come out when the sun is shining. Now is the time to reach out worldwide and make connections.

In the Future Economy Council there has been much discussion about our rapidly changing world and economy. One thing is clear: the pace of change is fast and unpredictable. We can’t always predict what events and changes are going to come at us. So we have to develop capacities to adapt to a fast, mobile world. Over a century ago, textile mills and furniture factories set up shop and provided Hickory with good jobs, an inflow of money, and stability for over a century. It is doubtful that anything will be as dominant or last as long in the future so we have to embrace the facts of the new world. We can’t do this in Fortress Hickory in a back room filled with a few chosen, anointed insiders. It’s going to take all of us.

We also have to realize that we can’t always micromanage everything in Hickory. While I don’t advocate a totally hands off, let the market do what it will approach, we can’t treat interested corporations and individuals as lackeys and expect them to want to do business here.

So what can I, Harry Hipps, as a Council member bring to the table? First, I am honest, a clear thinker and not concerned for my status or ego. My desire is for us to rebuild our economy and change the way we govern.

I will fight to make more information available online so people can see more of what is going on. We need to have this available to the public as fast as possible. I will email, to anyone who is interested, a link to Council agendas. You can see what will be discussed and voted on. You can email me back with your thoughts and concerns and I would welcome your input before the vote is taken. The internet should be used to bring more people into the process.

I will be diligent in making sure that “closed door” meetings aren’t being abused. Hickory WILL follow the spirit and letter of the law and we even need to look at the State law to tighten the rules.

My firm belief is that openness and light is sorely needed in Hickory. There are too many questionable things being done out of sight and not surprisingly this is where some of the dirtiest deeds get done. If we allow Fortress Hickory to continue, and most of the public remains in the dark we are never going to reach our potential. I ask for your help in transforming and revitalizing Hickory. I ask for you support and your vote. God Bless you and our City.