Have your smile on | As I See It

I have only had one gripe in my life that just bugs me to no end.

Have you ever had one of those? Of course, you have. Most of us have at least one. Mine for the last 22 years has been the homeowners association.

Here is a group of very nice people who have purchased their homes, moved in and said, “I want to be a part of my community. I think that I will get on the board.” Somewhere between the homeowners association and the board a chemical imbalance takes place and they inwardly travel from a happy new homeowner to power like they have never experienced in their everyday employment.

I must admit, I joined, not just once, but three times over the years. They got pretty tired of me because I brought out my one-string guitar and plucked that one string every meeting.

The words to the song went like this, “The president of the board is not the warden, the members are not the guards and the homeowners are not the inmates. The infamous CC and R’s are guidelines to help everyone live comfortably together, not laws to inflict pain and discomfort. People are the important issue, not power.”

Well, this is what was going through my mind as I recently entered the Kent City Council Chambers. I had never been there before and when the councilmembers filed in to their positions around the mayor, my thoughts immediately went back to my infamous visits to the neighborhood association. The “Dragnet” theme of years gone by rang in my brain.

Then something interesting happened that took me far from my “Dragnet” thoughts and brought me to the reality of the moment. Someone spoke. They were words of intelligence, and it was immediately obvious that these people really cared. They really cared about Kent and the citizens, outside these walls, that surrounded them as they met in these chambers.

They talked about issues that I have heard discussed, or rather heard complained about on the streets, in the newspapers, in businesses and the Internet and in coffee shops.

The conditions of streets and the livelihood of our ShoWare Center were presented. Kent’s Animal Control and Parks and Recreation also were on the agenda, with people responsible for each subject giving facts and ideas. Programs were voted on, bringing to a conclusion some long thought and action items that are very important to every area concerning individuals of our Kent.

So traveling through my mind was one overwhelming thought, “Where are these people who complained?” They are missing it. A fly ball right to them in center field, and they dropped it.

I was overwhelmed with the organization and the intelligence, but more then that, was the absolute caring for the people they served. Each councilmember’s attitude showed in their mostly serious, but sometime smiling faces.

The presentations from the public are three minutes. I can’t say my own name in that short of time, so I typed it and practiced ahead. It was exactly three minutes and 33 seconds long, to get all the information it contained. They kept me on point, with a smile, and listened intently and heard my every word. They were definitely and genuinely interested in my input as a lone citizen of Kent.

No wardens in those chambers, no guards, no big shots and no intimidation going on, just Kent people who care for the welfare of all of us. And guess what, we voted for them and we can be proud that we did, we picked some good ones.

See you down there Tuesday night. Have your smile on. They certainly are intent on making this the best place to live, at least they are really trying awfully doggone hard.

“Kent the city that smiles.”

Don Dinsmore regularly contributes to the Kent Reporter.