The emergency here is that Trenton is on the verge of going bankrupt. I’m sure its nice to sit around talking but we need the people in that room talking to get more aggressive with turning the city around.

None, not one, of the people running for Mayor has a real plan to turn the city around. It’s important that the leaders in Trenton (which includes most of the 150 people who showed up for the Beautiful Trenton meeting) to lead us and our politicians out of this mess.

We don’t have the luxury of waiting around for “positive thought” to fix Trenton.

Political parties interest me much less because they do not allow for the yeasty chaos that a grassroots effort tolerates and grows. All creative endeavors start with chaos and while leadership is needed there is also a need in Trenton for people to feel hope. Hope comes first and it is usually followed by caring.

Traveling around Trenton I get the impression that it’s a city that lost its way because of a lack of caring. Yet one of the most effective ways to lead is to ‘model’ leadership–eg to show you care–and that can take many forms including showing up at a meeting and brainstorming. It may be New Age and it certainly may not be the manly thing to to but its subtlety can have a greater effect than you are seeing.

I am only speaking from my own experience but sometimes by demonstrating that something is possible (a discussion, a way of organizing a neighborhood, asking questions, etc) you empower other people tremendously. They may not want to ‘follow’ you or do what you are doing but they have been motivated to take some sort of action.

The famous Demosthenes said it best: “All speech is vain and empty if unaccompanied by action.”

Methinks Trenton has had enough talk. It is time to act. But what is needed the most is that most elusive of elements: the leader with a vision to greatness for the city.

In spite of its challenges, I miss Trenton. I miss the walks by the river, the changes in the weather, the oldness of the buildings and the historical places. Most of all I miss those of you I would meet and greet on the streets and in the eateries. A city is its citizens.

Best of everything to all of you in 2010.

Laura

In short, Beautiful Trenton seems to me to be much like “dancing about architecture,” when what we need is an actual building wherein we can dance, to extend the metaphor. They’re great ideas that are doomed to failure unless they can harness and channel them into a positive contribution.

Ultimately, the quickest way to get what Trenton needs is to take an abandoned factory, or convert the Aleta building, into a destination entertainment center/hotel. Google the “Hotel Congress Tucson” to see a prime example of what I mean, and what we need. Of course, once we get that, it’ll still take time . . .