Letter to the Editor: We've been selling. People aren't buying.

Below is my Letter to the Editor that was in Tuesday's (August 1, 2017) Hickory Daily Record - My mother encapsulated the thought about Hickory's 2017 Mayoral election when she told me, 'I read all of those press releases. It's like the same person wrote them.' I'm not here to cast aspersions about this issue. You can go read articles and threads from this website. It is all about the true, real Economic Development plan that this community has been in desperate need of for a long, long time.

• *Hickory - The Fixing Hickory Series
• *Hickory - Time to put the Puzzle together
• *Problems and Solutions 2012
• HoundVision on YouTube
• New Media Bibliography
• Platform for a 21st Century Hickory
• References to where we are today
• The Reaffirmation of Independence

At tonight's City Council meeting City Manager Warren Wood talked about the creation of a plan for Long Term Economic Development. Essentially, there is going to be a new chain of command and accountability. God, I hope so, but this is about the people we elect more than the paid professionals. I'm on board with Warren, because I think he is open-minded about possibilities. 

For far too long, we've put the cart before the horse. Somebody in a position of authority would get a wild hair up their (#youknowwhere) and decide to run with it. That's the absolutely 100% wrong way to do things. Democracy can be uncomfortable, but when you get people of diverse circumstances to come together and hash out issues, then you come up with the best ideas, you get everyone to buy-in and pull in the same direction. It makes for a happier community even when circumstances are less than ideal. When you dictate policy through a top-down authoritative chain of command, then people feel #miserable.

Like Warren pointed out tonight, we have some real opportunities and possibilities for Economic Development. This will not happen unless the elected leadership and the people who vote for them understand that we can't afford to continue with the S.O.S.O. (Same Ole Same Ole)... and folks we are still on the path of the same ole same ole, no matter what they say.

Like I've said, I don't pretend to have all the answers. I don't think any one person does. I am willing to listen and I hope others will afford an open mind. If anyone wants to send me an e-mail about what they think would be a good idea, then please do so -- hickoryhound@gmail.com 

I had another good friend pass away this week. Richard Garrison, a news reporter with WMNC in Morganton passed away due to complications from Diabetes. Richard would sit beside me at Council meetings and he was one of the people I spent hours speaking with. I will miss him greatly. He actually worked with my grandmother at WIRC radio back in the 1980s. She ran the swap shop at that time and it was one of Richard's first jobs in radio. We had a special bond because of that. Richard loved politics and he knew all kinds of stuff and he loved informing me about happenings around the area, the State, and basically everywhere. I called him Rickee, he'd laugh cause no one else called him that. Peace Be With You Rickee. You are now immortal.

Below is my letter.

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Election season is upon us and in Hickory we see four contenders for Mayor. We've read press releases in this paper about why they are running, those reasons sound as if the same person wrote the summaries. They all tell us about job creation, attracting population, and building out infrastructure.

These candidates tell us that our economic problems have been related to issues with "Branding", our "Message", Marketing and "Selling" our community. Personally. I don't think our issues relate to all of that as much as what is the Substance of our message.

This community deserves specifics about each candidate's "Economic Development Plans" and their "Vision" moving forward. What are the objectives of their plan? How would they strategically implement it? Will they pledge to transparency and accountability measures? How will they work towards community buy-in? What will they define as success?

I believe that the candidate that can articulate the above is the person who could help bring businesses here.

Honestly, we don't have a sales problem in our community. Look at the decision makers in our community. They are all salespeople. They sell Insurance, Financial Services, Real Estate, Furniture, Hotel Rooms, etc. I'm not here to dismiss the capabilities of a good salesperson, but maybe we need to take a look at the other side of the Economic Equation.

In economics, the other side of the sales equation is demand. We live in a growing State. Since 2000, Charlotte's population has grown by more than 50%, Raleigh up 65%,  Asheville up 30%, Wilmington up 55%.

In that time, Hickory's population is up by 8% and virtually nothing since 2010. For more than a decade, we've been working on branding, messages, and marketing. We've been spending a lot of public money on such initiatives. We've been selling. People aren't buying.

I understand that people want a positive message, but I think we really need a serious message. We don't need a "Me Too" message. We need a Mayor who understands the demand side of the equation. What do people and businesses want?

Catch Phrases and Buzzwords might make for comfort, but it isn't going to bring in big business or the masses. The future Mayor will have a choice to make. Is he going to go along for the ride or is he going to drive. I'm interested to find out.