David Karr for Selectman
Statement by David Karr
The Big Picture
One of the things that drew me to live in Concord was the extraordinary sense of civic spirit in this town. I have long thought of Concord as the town where drivers stop to let pedestrians cross and to wave other drivers ahead. I also think of Concord as a place of great traditions whose citizens take an extraordinarily active role in civic matters. While some changes are good (I’m glad we have public restrooms on the Milldam now!), Concord has a fundamental character that I feel is worth preserving.
For example, in this information age in which many young people get their information by computer and often don’t consider something worth looking up if they don’t find it on line, it is highly desirable to have Town Meeting articles posted on the Web. On the other hand, many people still rely on the printed warrant, and we would risk the loss of essential citizen engagement if this document did not contain the complete warrant in full detail. The key thing is to take advantage of what today’s technology offers us without losing traditions that are still necessary. Sometimes we have to offer both options.
In my professional life, I have observed that an action that seemed expedient to someone in one part of an organization can have far-reaching consequences. In my experience, transparency, integrity, ethical practices beyond the requirements of the law, and continuous oversight do not get in the way of doing the job; they are the only way to get the job done right. We can apply this lesson in the Town of Concord as well: not only can we afford to maintain the highest possible levels of communication among the committees and interested citizens and the maximum transparency of government operation, we cannot afford not to. We have a tremendous resource in this town of people with expertise in many fields, such as environmental science, architecture, and medicine. The easier it is for citizens to know the details of the town’s business, the sooner these experts can see when they can help us overcome difficulties and avoid errors; and the sooner this occurs, the easier and less expensive it will be to achieve the end result. An open, reasoned discussion also promotes trust in government and can turn resistance into cooperation. At the very least, the sincere and hard-working efforts that so many people have put into maintaining and improving the town should not go unappreciated, as they do in an atmosphere of mistrust.
The Details
I have been discussing town issues with my fellow citizens on the Yahoo! email list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/concord/ since 1999. You can view all my messages to that list by visiting this Web search page at the Yahoo! website. (Be aware that not every message on that mailing list is a topic for town government!)
Over the next several weeks I will add thoughts here on more specific challenges that face us, such as the global financial crisis (from which we are not entirely immune) and the long-term development of our infrastructure. I also look forward to many discussions with people from all parts of town regarding the issues that matter to you.