“We Can Do Better” is an upbeat and encouraging feel-good song written by Matt Simons in 2018. The song addresses being better human beings as individuals and working together. I have stood before the Kingman City Council more than a few times, saying and expressing those exact words and sentiments.
THE CITY CAN DO BETTER
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By NOT making the concept of Economic
Development a sole myopic priority in the making and shaping of Kingman’s
Future.
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By respectfully listening to the people of
Kingman, the average citizens, not just the special Interests population.
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By talking directly to the people rather than
stifling their voices at every junction. One example is the City Council’s
“Call to the Public,” which is a one-way conversation. You, the citizen, have
three minutes to speak about your concerns, and the council (by law) says
nothing. Despite many efforts to persuade the city to conduct a Town Hall
Meeting (where a two-way conversation could transpire), the people only got
runarounds, excuses, misinformation, and phony decoys.
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By striving to have local government “for the
people and by the people,” but instead, all we have gotten is uppity,
unilateral policy and action.
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By not continuing to sweep city funds
designated for existing infrastructure repair and maintenance to cover cost
overruns on new infrastructure years down the road for completion.
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By addressing the critical needs of the people
at the critical time they need it, such as adequate and sustainable medical
services and providers, and embracing that urgent need as a city
responsibility.
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By replacing the propensity to use high-cost public surveys
with limited distribution rather than allowing the people’s concerns to be
placed on City Council Meeting Agendas. Those formal surveys can be designed to
garner specific conclusions by clever wording and format. The Mayor must open
up a citizen-generated agenda.
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By drafting a proposition going back to
two-year terms of office for the Mayor and City Council, allowing the voting
public to decide who is and who is not performing in their best interests.
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By providing more information to the public
with a wider, more diverse information platform online and in print.
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By hiring from outside the community to bring
in fresh new leadership that is not part of the existing biased Kingman
Establishment.
THE PEOPLE CAN DO BETTER
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By understanding this is their government,
which was originally designed to be directed by the rank and file voter, not
the special interest groups that control almost everything in the city.
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By being respectful to our leaders but never
giving up or giving in to the status quo.
- By always demanding equal respect and demanding clear and concise performance from the City Government, not indoctrination or accepting being told what is good for us. City leaders serve the people; the people do not serve them.
I think it is important to embrace the fact that teamwork is truly always the best asset to achieve success. One major component of teamwork is two-way communication because that creates understanding. Two-way denotes the concept of give-and-take, seeking a happy medium and a convergence of ideas and approaches with the motive of mutual well-being. Two-way means both sides listen closely as well as speak. That has not happened in Kingman.
What one man may see as a truth may be perceived by another as a lie. That is the type of negative polarity that seems to be sweeping and destroying the world, so each of us must take every caution to examine our true motives and who or what may be at the center. Kingman is a small town, which makes the process of communication much easier if we try. Authentic truth is something that resides in the middle of the emotion, belief, and action cycle. Together, we can bridge the gaps, not with a bridge across an interstate, but by focusing on the basic roads and pathways, each of us staying in our own lanes but understanding it is a two-way street that gets us to a successful journey.
2025 is a new year where we must all strive to do better in Kingman. We need to work together to be better human beings, understanding one another, our needs, our mutual goals, and which road we take to get there. We need to be proactive on our journey so we can all sing the same song, “We Can Do Better.”