Feb. 25, 2003
In which our candidate introduces himself ... again ...
Dan and Danielle are sitting in their Lakewood kitchen, sipping coffee.
You can tell this guy has not written his column for a while. Kitchens don’t sip coffee.
Dan and Danielle are sipping coffee as they sit in their Lakewood kitchen. It is Thursday. Like all Thursday mornings for the last couple years, Dan and Danielle sit staring at an empty table. This was where they used to read the Lakewood Journal. Now, today, their lives filled with emptiness, they sit pondering the fate of their beautiful city ...
OK, this might be a bit of an overstatement. Let’s try this again.
Dan and Danielle are sipping coffee as they sit in their Lakewood kitchen. It is Thursday. Like they all Thursday mornings for the last couple years, Dan and Danielle are staring at an empty table.
"I miss the Journal," Danielle says.
"I miss it too," Dan says. "I used to love to catch all those typographic errors. Remember the time that dang fool editor had the entirely wrong date for …"
Whoa, hold on. That’s not the legacy I want to be remembered for. The Journal won a bunch of statewide awards for excellence in writing and journalism.
"Well, I ran into Walter today. He says he is running for the City Council. He was telling me that he plans to write a weekly column about the city, and put it on the Web – just like the old days, except there’s no weekly Journal anymore."
"I figured he always enjoyed giving advice. You mean he also wants some responsibility?"
"Oh, Dan, working at a community newspaper is a responsibility. It’s a public trust. You owe it to listen to the community, and then do your best to represent the community. You ask everyone you see for ideas, and then you write stories and editorials about the search for solutions that help the most people."
"That sounds a lot like being on a City Council."
"Walter figures that after he wrote that column for two and-a-half years, people got to know him pretty well. Maybe too well. If you knew him any better, you'd be obliged to feed him Thanksgiving dinner."
Dan failed to laugh, a typical response to a Neary column.
Danielle continued. "The difference, of course, is that you can't just write about problems and opportunities if you are on the Council. You have to do something about them. Walter has been a manager in both the private and public sectors. He loves bringing people together to solve problems."
"That sounds a lot like being on a City Council."
"I think that's the idea, dear."
In the future, I'll be writing columns with city news and observations. I admire the work of The News Tribune to fill the gap, but there is no substitute for a community weekly newspaper. I also admire the work of Ed Kane, who is almost single-handedly putting out the weekly American Community Journal with the help of a few of us volunteers. And of course there are other ways to keep track of Lakewood news: this column will simply be my contribution. If you have an idea or suggestion, please send it along to wtneary@hotmail.com.
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