Over 175 Chestertown residents gathered in the Chestertown Fire Hall on Tuesday night to begin discussions about the direction of their community in a changing world.
Issues ranged from the state of the public school system to sustainable development and the lack of opportunities for youth. Another concern was the racial and socioeconomic divide within the community.
Many participants felt the town was still racially and economically segregated.
“It seemed like many of the discussions focused on the benefits of Chestertown’s small town atmosphere but at the same time, many lamented the lack of racial and cultural understanding and interaction. Many participants noted that many groups like farmers, racial minorities and young people were not well represented at [the] meeting,” said Mike Hardesty, a co-organizer of the event.
Janice Dickson agreed.
“I am shocked to see only a few black people here. They’re an important part of our community,” she said.
Others felt that recent decisions, such as taking away the county’s recycling program and closing Upper Shore Mental Health Center, were losing sight of what was good for the quality of life within the town.
“Somehow, it’s gotten lost, what’s in the community’s best interest,” said Judy Crow.
But co-sponsor of the event John Seidel, Director of the Center for Environment and Society at Washington College, stressed that it’s not enough to just talk about these issues, there needs to be someone willing to take action.
“It’s going to require the community to create a shared vision for where we want to go, and someone’s going to need to grab the bull by the horns and go with it,” he said.
Mayor Margo Bailey believes that this collaboration is an important first step to creating a unified community.
“I looked around and I found these people who didn’t know each other so engaged in conversation. Tonight they got to meet someone a little bit different, and they cross-pollinated ideas,” said Bailey.
According to Bailey, the idea for a World Café was first proposed by Chestertown consultant Jennifer Hicks two years ago.
“One day, I was thinking and I realized, everything we were doing was sight-specific, working on the inanimate. But I really [didn’t] know what the community felt about the direction Chestertown needs to take,” Bailey said.
Already, plans are being made for another World Café. While no concrete decisions were made at last night’s meeting, many felt a strong sense of progress.
“The beauty of the community is what you see happening here tonight. I grew up in Boston. You wouldn’t see this kind of meeting happening in Boston,” said Jim Barry.
Notes from last night’s meeting will be emailed out to everyone who attended and will be available at Town Hall.
Spy intern Natalie Butz is co-author of this article.
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Jenn Hicks says
Thanks to all who attended. Updates, reports, and pictures will be posted on Sustainable Delmarva’s project webpage: https://www.sustainabledelmarva.net/current_delmarva_projects.html. Thoughts and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
Curious-in-Kent says
I’ve been following these stories with interest, but I’m a bit confused. Can someone please clarify for me how this whole thing is different from the comprehensive plan?
Jenn Hicks says
Just created…a Chestertown World Cafe Blog to keep the conversation going: https://ctownworldcafe.blogspot.com/2010/06/great-world-cafe.html
Jenn Hicks says
I see an event like the World Cafe as a complementary process to the comprehensive plan. Processes like World Cafe (www.theworldcafe.com) and a 2.5 day indepth visioning program called Future Search (www.futuresearch.net) aims to open up lines of communication and build relationships among those who otherwise wouldn’t cross paths. This type of activity increases what is called “social capital” – a measurement of social connections an an indicator of how well a community is doing. It also allows for creative thinking and idea generation around tough issues like economic development, quality education, environmental protection, and crime prevention. It’s a community check-in and provides a sense of direction because processes like World Cafe and Future Search focuses in on our common ground, not on our conflicts.
Next week a summary report will be out on Sustainable Delmarva’s website (https://www.sustainabledelmarva.net/current_delmarva_projects.html) which will list the common ground themes that emerged from the evening’s conversations. The themes can be used as a “finger in the wind” to determine what is on the minds of community members who attended Tuesday’s event. It’s good information for elected officials as they make their tough decisions and it’s good information for us as a community to figure out what steps to take to increase quality of life in our area and ultimately become a more sustainable community.
The hope is that we can use one of the themes from the World Cafe as a focus for a Future Search and begin to clarify the future we want as a community around that issue and begin to make plans to make what we want possible.
Jay Yerkes says
I was not in attendance due to a dinner party i was invited to share wiht friends. I understand it was quite the impressive crowd!
I will read the minutes and comment then.
Jay Yerkes
JIM GATTO says
The role of the World Cafe as it relates to the local ComPlan is two fold. [ good question BTW]
1 The discussions held should be the basis for the decisions made in the comprehensive plan and;
2. The discussions [conclusions?] should be the continuance of support of the ComPlan or the catalyst to change the plan.
PLEASE NOTE
The ComPlan is directive document targeting BOTH development [ and by inclusion developers] AND local government to implement the public segment of the comprehensive plan–environment; public facilities. roads.
Which ultimately gets translated to quality of life issues under the broadest definition.
Jenn Hicks says
Thanks Jay – you’re now on my e-mail list!! Thanks Jim for further clarification!!