SINN-CLARK: Winder needs new leadership for downtown

Good things: Mayor David Maynard has brought a new, more constructive tone to the city council. Meredith Cameron seems like a good choice as director of Downtown Development Authority (DDA.) She has the potential to get some things downtown moving and shaking again. The streetscape project, as disruptive as it is will be traffic-wise, should net some fine results. And, I’m glad the powers that be opted to turn the Granite Hotel site into a park, rather than a parking lot. All of these things seem like improvements that will have a positive impact on downtown.

An example of “broke-minded” happened at a recent DDA meeting. When the topic of the Granite Hotel park was being discussed, the owner of a new business in Winder suggested that some garden beds be offered to local landscapers to fill however they wished. The idea was to give the landscapers an opportunity to showcase their work, while also making the park look nice. This has been done in other cities and it fosters a friendly competition among landscapers that results in beautiful flowers and garden beds without city money being spent.

Instead of welcoming this idea and discussing it, the DDA allowed the city councilman on the DDA to go on a rant about the importance of naming the park after the late Sen. Richard Russell. The rant took a turn, if what I heard was correct, into pretty much insulting the business owner’s knowledge of and loyalty to the state of Georgia. Really, Mr. Dixon? Is this the way to welcome new business owners to Winder?

In the interest of fostering good business relations, the other DDA members should’ve shut Mr. Dixon down and turned the discussion back to the garden beds. That didn’t happen, though and so, at least at that meeting, a good idea was allowed to die.

That’s a shame because not only was it a good idea, it is also the kind of circle-the-wagons and make new people feel unwelcome that has hurt Winder for years. If you’re not from here, you probably don’t have much to offer, is all too often the message that gets communicated - usually subtly, but sometimes, as in Mr. Dixon’s case, loud and clear.

Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” It’s going to take new thinking to solve Winder’s old problems and I do not see new thinking taking place. I see the same people, recirculating on the same committees, authorities, council and boards, year after year, scratching their heads wondering why things stay the same.

With all due respect to those people and with sincere thanks for the years of service they’ve given, it’s time for some new faces, new ideas and different plans. New ideas of all types should be welcomed and considered. New people should be welcomed and respected; their willingness to spend time and money investing in Winder should be enough to earn them that. Things like where are you from, who are you married to and where did you go to school should not matter. And, as long as these kinds of things continue to be part of the how-welcome-you-feel-in-Winder equation, our town will remain stagnant.

There is no reason Winder can’t have the same kind of resurgence Monroe has had over the past few years. The downtown is appealing, offers a variety of businesses and appears to be thriving.

The arts council has done a good job of creating events that pull people downtown, like a weekly farmers market, free concerts on the courthouse lawn and various art events. The warehouse district is rapidly becoming a destination for antiquers, as more and more vendors fill the space in those pretty old mill buildings. Monroe is becoming a destination, rather than a location. That could happen in Winder, too.

But will it? That is the challenge people who care about our city’s future will either rise to or not. It’s clear downtown Winder is broke. It isn’t clear why “broke-minded” thinking continues to be used to try and fix that.

It’s time for some different folks to run for city council and for some new faces to be appointed to those boards, authorities and committees. A new mayor, one new councilman and a new DDA director are steps in the right direction; they are also only a start.

Lorin Sinn-Clark is a writer for the Barrow Journal. She can be reached at lorin@barrowjournal.com