New Visioning Group searches for identity
Published on October 14th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The Town of Stoneham has gone approximately 275 years without a formal game plan as to what the future will bring within its confines, so it is not altogether unexpected that the firsts steps of the Stoneham Visioning Group have been slow and deliberate.
The committee, formed about a month ago with the blessings of the Board of Selectmen, met last Wednesday night to discuss, among other items, a new working name for the group and for the project that could change the face of Stoneham for the next 275 years.
Many ideas, ranging from Stoneham Strides with Pride, Millennium Outreach and Generations in Action to a mixture of ideas like Millennium Outreach: Stride with Pride, caused lengthy debate amongst group members.
At first, these discussions and disagreements may seem trivial, but, as the group explained, this name needs to relay a message to residents and must stand the test of time. Group members hope that, once the initial faze of the project is complete, the outreach body will live on and make further improvements in the town.
Director of Community Development Steve Sadwick came to the town in January with a purpose.
Having been involved in a similar project in Syracuse and having seen first hand the grand results that cities like Atlanta and Chattanooga have accomplished, Sadwick brought a message of future planning to the town and hopes to get resident to come forth with ideas.
Sadwick began the meeting by showing the group a video on the Chattanooga visioning project. Group members were impressed with the tactics that the city's visioning group used to elicit response from its residents and were also impressed to see the results of that effort.
"Obviously Chattanooga's a little bit bigger community," Sadwick said. "It's got different views and different needs, but there was really a mission put forth by this group.
"This is what we're trying to achieve."
Sadwick explained local communities like Arlington have also seen the result of similar visioning projects. Group members will likely invite members of visioning groups from area towns to their meeting in the future to ask for their input.
The group also decided to have Sadwick address residents at the upcoming Special Town Meeting to brief them on the agenda of the group and to stress the importance of community interaction with that group. This is of the utmost importance, Sadwick explained, since the duty of the visioning group is to elicit response from residents, not to decide their future for them.
Group member Cameron Bain explained that the people who attend town meetings regularly may be the ones who help the visioning group the most due to their obvious passion for the town.
"The people who care enough about town meetings are the ones that are going to care enough to give their input," another group member agreed.
The October 26 Special Town Meeting may also be a good forum to increase the group in number. The larger the body, the more chance for outreach, Sadwick explained.
The group will meet again on October 21 to finalize discussion on the project name.
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