Dear River Country Journal readers,
Thanks to a combination of e-mail communications from Three Rivers City Manager Joe Bippus and Larry Nielsen, a longtime acquaintance who is now the village manager in Paw Paw, I’ve been made aware of an article from Time magazine on the topic of ‘Saving Michigan.’
Those of us who reside in Michigan certainly have an interest in the subject and this article, featuring a ‘Q & A’ with Sean Mann, offers some interesting insights. He is the founder of ‘Let’s Save Michigan,’ which is described as “a website, a blog and much more.”
To access the article, click on the link that follows – and please feel free to share YOUR thoughts after reading the article by using the “Leave a Reply” box at the bottom of this page.
Here’s the link: Q & A: Sean Mann on Saving Michigan
Bruce Snook
River Country Journal
Sean Mann definitely has a passion for Michigan, and that’s good. But a review of his website reveals his strategy is singularly focused on cities, i.e., our primary investment focus should be on cities. Yet the ‘fast facts’ section of the webpage would indicate MI cities are doing pretty well! Cities are important, but MI needs a much broader strategy to turn around our difficult situation. A singular strategy focusing on cities negates the fact that people are much more diverse in their lifestyles. I don’t think people living in small towns or rural Michigan really want the majority of our resources focused only on cities. One of my favorite questions for city managers is…”If the theory of ‘Economies of Scale’ worked for cities, then why aren’t taxes in cities lower than small towns and townships?” I’m just say’in!
Thanks to BarelyVisual for some excellent comments in response to the article about Sean Mann! Let me use them to put in a plug for an upcoming event, the 6th annual Small Town and Rural Development Conference that will take place April 20-22 at Crystal Mountain Resort. The lineup for this year’s conference – sponsored by Rural Partners of Michigan – is still taking shape, but the gathering promises to provide a valuable forum to learn about and discuss a variety of topics relative to “Saving Michigan” – from the perspective of “small towns or rural Michigan.” I’ve attended nearly all of the previous conferences and, based on what I’ve experienced at them, I encourage River Country Journal readers to consider attending this one. I am looking forward to being there.
For more information, visit the Rural Partners website at http://www.ruralmich.org.
Bruce Snook
River Country