Thursday, June 21, 2007
"Regardless who gets elected ... Lakewood will advance"
Lakewood City Councilman John Arbeeny chose not to run for re-election this year, and has been relatively quiet about the topic. The Lakewood CARES email list sent out a message from him Wednesday that is well worth reading. John has told a number of folks that his brush with death changed some priorities. That certainly shows in his latest statement. I thought I would reproduce the letter as a PDF here since I think that will read better than trying to paste the letter into a blog file. But this excerpt is the shortest explanation of his reasoning:
"I guess I always had the idea in the back of my head of running for just
one term as an object lesson to Lakewood and its City Council. However
it really hit home to me when I was badly injured last year in a
motorcycle accident. What if I had been killed? Council would have said
some nice things about me, held a moment of silence and then opened
nominations for my replacement and a new deputy mayor! So it was time
for me to set an example, to open up an opportunity for others, to again
push Lakewood politics in the right direction.
"No one is indispensable, something I learned in the Army and 2 years of
combat in Viet Nam. Regardless of who gets elected to what position, the
sun will still rise, the seasons change and Lakewood will advance
because ultimately our future resides in the hands of its 60,000
citizens, not just those 7 who sit on Council. I think this is the kind
of government our country's founders envisioned. They trusted the wisdom
of our people both as voters and as elected officials."
I could quibble with parts of his letter that may be read as discouraging experienced people in running for office. But there is one thing John does not mention in his letter that should be noted in any discussion of his legacy thus far: John's deep commitment to trying to develop leaders in Lakewood. Nearly every time we have talked, I have heard him agonize that the community has not done enough to give its potential leaders enough experiences to develop and grow. There's no doubt that one of his hopes for Lakewood CARES was that it would be a growing place for new leaders.
His repeated comments have had an impact on me, and it's one reason I am a strong believer that the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce needs to develop a leadership program. Lakewood CARES created a citizens' academy two years ago that was meant to be such a boot camp in running for office. It was a worthy effort. But other cities have tended to find success when leadership programs are held over a period of many months and with a large group of organizers. It will take a huge amount of work, but it is worth doing.
There's no one solution to the challenge of developing future leaders. Chamber programs certainly help. In some cases, the "graduates" of such programs do run for office, as John would passionately expect. In other cases, graduates of these programs join the boards of nonprofit organizations or other groups and work to improve the community. Either way, the community is stronger.
There are many local examples of leadership programs that have done enormous good for their communities, such as the chamber leadership programs in Auburn and in Federal Way. If you just open Google or another search engine and look up 'chamber leadership program' you will learn of diverse programs enriching cities throughout the nation.
I hope that when John goes 'off duty' from council at the end of the year, he will consider joining with those of us who will be working to put such a leadership program together that is right for our area. I will certainly extend the invitation.
Forward this post
"I guess I always had the idea in the back of my head of running for just
one term as an object lesson to Lakewood and its City Council. However
it really hit home to me when I was badly injured last year in a
motorcycle accident. What if I had been killed? Council would have said
some nice things about me, held a moment of silence and then opened
nominations for my replacement and a new deputy mayor! So it was time
for me to set an example, to open up an opportunity for others, to again
push Lakewood politics in the right direction.
"No one is indispensable, something I learned in the Army and 2 years of
combat in Viet Nam. Regardless of who gets elected to what position, the
sun will still rise, the seasons change and Lakewood will advance
because ultimately our future resides in the hands of its 60,000
citizens, not just those 7 who sit on Council. I think this is the kind
of government our country's founders envisioned. They trusted the wisdom
of our people both as voters and as elected officials."
I could quibble with parts of his letter that may be read as discouraging experienced people in running for office. But there is one thing John does not mention in his letter that should be noted in any discussion of his legacy thus far: John's deep commitment to trying to develop leaders in Lakewood. Nearly every time we have talked, I have heard him agonize that the community has not done enough to give its potential leaders enough experiences to develop and grow. There's no doubt that one of his hopes for Lakewood CARES was that it would be a growing place for new leaders.
His repeated comments have had an impact on me, and it's one reason I am a strong believer that the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce needs to develop a leadership program. Lakewood CARES created a citizens' academy two years ago that was meant to be such a boot camp in running for office. It was a worthy effort. But other cities have tended to find success when leadership programs are held over a period of many months and with a large group of organizers. It will take a huge amount of work, but it is worth doing.
There's no one solution to the challenge of developing future leaders. Chamber programs certainly help. In some cases, the "graduates" of such programs do run for office, as John would passionately expect. In other cases, graduates of these programs join the boards of nonprofit organizations or other groups and work to improve the community. Either way, the community is stronger.
There are many local examples of leadership programs that have done enormous good for their communities, such as the chamber leadership programs in Auburn and in Federal Way. If you just open Google or another search engine and look up 'chamber leadership program' you will learn of diverse programs enriching cities throughout the nation.
I hope that when John goes 'off duty' from council at the end of the year, he will consider joining with those of us who will be working to put such a leadership program together that is right for our area. I will certainly extend the invitation.
