But it was at least a thorough and earnest effort by city government that hopefully will have long-range impact on the community's future. Now, it's Franklin's turn, though in this case city government has handed over the reins of an important planning tool to a private organization established by the Franklin Business Leadership Council. The wisdom of that decision remains to be seen. Julian Bibb, co-chair of Franklin Tomorrow's board of directors, says absolutely not. The goal is to make things happen.
Implementation is the key.
You have to figure out what the community wants and then do it. It's an ambitious goal. And to accomplish it, Franklin Tomorrow's leaders need to keep a few things in mind. First, no vision worth its salt will emerge from this process unless the process is widely inclusive. The current steering committee is a group of nice, civic-minded folks, but it includes way too many of the usual suspects, those stalwarts of local advisory boards, steering committees and church vestries.