Reaching out to both sides

As many of you know, I have been named “Citizen of the Year” by the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce. With this in mind, I am going to take that to mean that, for a short time at least, I have a small platform to talk about our city. In fact, I believe Dr. Shaver used the word “ambassador” in his presentation which announced the honor I was given.

As “citizen” and “ambassador,” I am going to speak up.

First, my sincere thanks to the chamber as an institution and to each individual member. I offer them my humble thanks for even taking my name into consideration for what I think it is fine title to cast on anyone. As someone who loves this town and wants only the best for its citizens, I am proud of the award.

But these are very difficult times for my beloved city. There is turmoil, distrust, and a huge divide. All this must come to an end for the sake of our town as an entity, for the sake of our children’s future, and for the sake of every soul in this town regardless of their current feelings.

Charges of every sort have been thrown about in this town. People have made many mistakes and we now find ourselves in a deep dark valley. People have said and done things that were self-serving, that were vicious toward others, that may have even been illegal.

This all must stop. We all must find it in our hearts to stop this. We must find people with the right skills, the right attitude, and the willingness to work out these problems. The longer this discontent drags on, the more some will be in denial and the more we widen the gap. This will make it more difficult for those who are able and willing to make the tough choices and take the heat for doing so. We are going to get through this, but our actions will dictate how long it will take.

There are “sides” which have been taken in this community. Someone must be able to bring those sides together and bury the hatchets. Someone must step up and get everyone pulling on the same rope. This town can have a wonderful future. While there are no angels at work here, there are people on these different “sides” who are doing really fine and positive things. We must get both sides to see the good, and we must get both sides to help the other achieve the good things. Each side must recognize its problems and shortcomings and vow to do better.

Feelings run deep because our problems reach back into several years. Shady deals that may have been struck, promises may have been broken and perhaps, even lies that have been told must be made right.

If news reports are correct, our city is broke. We have a cute little roundabout, we have a fancy city hall and auditorium, we have utility lines running hither and yon like the tentacles of an octopus, we tend to favor some parts of town over others, we have fancy new street lamps, we have a large church building that site hollow-eyed and forlorn, but unfortunately, we also have an empty treasury. We have been the drunken sailor in economic times that required sobriety.

On the other hand, we have many good people who work hard. We have hundreds of volunteers making things happen. We have merchants who want you in their stores, shopping at home. We have doctors and nurses to care for us when we are sick. We have many teachers who love our children. We have a ballot box where change, for good or bad, really takes place.

It’s a special time of year for Americans. We need to put the facts into reality and not paint groups or institutions with a broad brush. One bad teacher, one poor doctor, one grouchy old man, one bad banker or one bad preacher should not reflect on the good ones. We need to root out the bad and encourage the good. We all need to ‘fess up to our mistakes and our bad attitudes.

I am willing to do whatever is needed to bring back the spirit of Neosho that prevailed for so many decades. We don’t need to become Mayberry — but it sure wouldn’t hurt if we did so. I ask you to join me as we make our way through these problems. Pulling together is the only way we can make it.

I can reach out to both sides. Are you willing to do the same?

Kay Hively is editor of the Neosho Post and writes a weekly column for the Neosho Daily News.