The Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council was the first order of business by the newly elected mayor, Lioneld Jordan. Fayetteville Forward started off with an invitation from the city to its citizens to participate in a collaborative workshop facilitated by an expert in community building, Bliss Brown.
About 400 people collaborated for twodays, and out of this eft ort was born the Fayetteville Forward Action Groups: Historic and Heritage, Transportation, Health, Green Infrastructure, Green Economy, Creative Economy, Local Foods, Inclusion, and Labor. The Fayetteville Chamber, the University of Arkansas Research Park and Fayetteville Public Schools were also represented.
The first year was exhilarating. The FayettevilleForward Council introduced the new tools of appreciative inquiry and collaboration, and provided the forum for the cross fertilization and integration to occur. Goal: Cultivate more inclusive, holistic, and therefore elegant solutions toward community building and economic development. Wow!
Mayor Jordan was hands-oft that fi rst year, but by the second year, perhaps a little too handsoft. We began to witness the Fayetteville Forward experiment fl ounder. Several groups simply withered on the vine. Several groups left frustrated, ironically, by the lack of “accountability.” Accountability was assumed as pre-determined by our namesake (in which) A (stands) for accountability.
By the end of the third year, only half of the original action groups remained.
Three members, concerned that FFEAC might not survive, took this concerndirectly to Mayor Jordan. In that meeting, Mayor Jordan was nonchalant about the fate of Fayetteville Forward, and content to let it have its brief season, and fade away.
“Let it go,” as he pointed to a Taoist proverb taped to his bookshelf.
Bewildered, I ask you: Why would we let a considerable investment made by the city and its volunteer community be discounted and allowed to simply fade away?
Was FFEAC ever really about community building?
In hindsight, the FFEAC experiment appears to be nothing more than a self-promotional, political stunt by the current city administration for recognition and awards.
Many volunteers donated thousands of dollars, and literally hundreds of hours to support the city in its eft orts to grow FFEAC for what we thought was a genuine community-building exercise.Were we foolish investors?
Perhaps.
Regardless, I want to see Fayetteville’s next mayor take my investment in Fayetteville Forward, and with accountability, earnest leadership, and vision, take appreciative inquiry and collaboration to the next level, and leverage the investments made by the city and so many volunteers like me.
I pin my highest hopes on Fayetteville realizing the full potential and promise as expressed by the facilitator, Ms. Bliss Brown, and certainly more than some self-promotional, political stunt. Let us move Fayetteville Forward forward, and realize the potential of this tool to create a more engaged, vibrant, and inclusive community for all citizens, and certainly not at the expense of its volunteers.
MIKEL C. LOLLEY
Fayetteville
Opinion, Pages 5 on 09/19/2012