Marci Penner challenged the audience Thursday to be more receptive to change and to break away from being “a culture of ‘no.’”
Sometimes what’s needed is to “break up the power paradigm of the older generations,” who tend to have a negative knee jerk reaction to change. “We must have a culture of ‘yes,’ or at the very least not saying no.”
Penner is the executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a nonprofit that works to promote small towns across the state. She was one of several presenters participating in the program, “Resources for Revitalizing Southeast Kansas Communities,” sponsored by Kansas State University, Thrive Allen County and the KDHE Brownfields Program.
Her comments resonated with me because in the Register’s recent reporting on city and county affairs, we are sensing retrenchment by area leaders, a pulling up of the drawbridge, as opposed to envisioning more expansive cooperation.
The most recent example is the hesitancy of county commissioners to tap into Iola’s sewer system in its goal to upgrade the county airport’s infrastructure capabilities, as recommended by BG Consultants.
The sticking point appears to be allowing Iola to annex the airport property. Iola’s request is standard practice for anyone tapping into its utilities. A subsequent perk is that Iola would be able to levy property and sales taxes.
Instead, county officials agreed to pay an additional $12,000 for BG Consultants to study alternative sewer systems.
AFTER PENNER’S presentation I asked her if small towns present unique challenges because of their innate competitiveness for what they feel are limited pieces of a pie.
“We feel it’s a zero sum game,” I told her. “If one town wins, it’s viewed as a disadvantage to another. It’s never seen as a win-win.”
She flashed her big smile.
Penner is effective as a consultant in part because she is a former athlete, lettering in basketball and softball at the University of Kansas. She knows teamwork is essential to winning.
As such, I shared with her how the Iola AA Indians baseball team captured my heart Wednesday night when Coach John Taylor talked about his boys.
Taylor said, “What makes this team special is they want to play for each other and they want to be successful for their hometown and that’s why they have so much fun.”
According to Taylor, the boys “want to be successful for each other, which is a big thing.”
Over the past few days I’ve dissected Taylor’s remarks.
