20/20 Cold Spring Vision Team

“Living democracy” in this world still has a beating heart. This democracy does not need votes and partisan politics; it has collective strength in a vision. This vision is a dedication to the dignity, land, and people of a region. Community leaders in Cold Spring, Wakefield Township, and Stearns County dedicated themselves to meeting last on April 20th to this idea of “living democracy.”
Cooperation and innovative ideas will protect the future livelihoods of community and are vital to living democracy. The meeting on April 20th was directed to bring members of the community to discuss with Stearns Country road engineers about potential road corridors through Wakefield Township and Cold Spring. Cooperation was displayed when various members of the community looked beyond personal ideologies and more toward the needs of the region. The conversation was directed specifically at protecting citizens, road use, and area growth. Innovative ideas tried to imagine plans that incorporated all three.
The safety of citizens was in the forefront of the discussion. Living democracy means that citizens can meet their officials face-to-face and inform them of the insecurities of the region. The meeting addressed the issue of who would be affected by the development of roads. There was concern about traffic growth on roads that the public uses for pedestrian travel. Traffic can dangerous to the point where “sometimes you have to carry a duck to cross the road.” Public safety was evident at this meeting and city officials addressed potential ways to accommodate traffic and pedestrian movement.
The question of where development will take place is similar to the metaphor of the chicken or the egg. Will the development come first or the road? Officials and tax payers do not want to spend money on a road to nowhere. But information about where developments will occur is random. Developments and road creation are investments that look toward future growth. Living democracy meetings between various stakeholders help to promote honest communication about future growth. The solution is to ask public officials to regularly meet each other on informal occasions to try to work together to address the future. The meeting adjourned by recommending a meeting with landowners should be organized to study a corridor that will accommodate growth. This means the inclusion of the public is vital to future growth.
Living democracy needs active citizens to inform their public officials about the needs of the community. The meeting that took place on April 20th displayed the real power of inclusiveness. The conversations encouraged practical thinking and varying perspectives. As a member of Cold Spring, Wakefield Township and Stearns County everyone should understand that they are all experts to contributing to the solution.


Mike Scharenbroich
20/20 Spring 2006 Intern
St. John's University

# posted by Duane Kuss @ 11:05 AM