That New Year’s Day blanket of snow we got is a pretty good analogy for our thoughts at this time of year.
As the calendar’s odometer flips over yet again we convince ourselves once more that this is as good a time as any for a clean slate, a new start, a brand new fresh white sheet of paper for the doodlings of our lives.
Just as the light bounces from that cold sparkling cover, we too reflect, on our wins and losses, the time invested wisely and that misspent and the paths traveled as well as the inevitable roads not taken.
For some, simple survival is its own reward.
Whatever your journey, I hope that the regrets are few.
Of course, for those fixated on the empty half of the glass, turning the page does not turn the disposition.
Those disgruntled with what was around them in 2007 will find little to anticipate in 2008.
They will still see a stagnant city, an inept political system and dwindling opportunity.
And there will be facts abundant to back them up as 2008 will see sharp decreases in construction permits and new jobs from that new activity.
But you know what?
Don’t buy it.
It would be hard for any year to top one that saw the construction of a new casino and racetrack, a Bayfront Convention Center and a high tech biofuels plant.
The nay sayers can go on about how much of the money was public and may of the jobs low paying, but that’s still some 350 million dollars in construction on basically three projects.
And don’t forget the change to the city’s LERTA tax breaks in November, which caused many developers with 2008 projects to file for their forms in 2007 to meet the deadline.
So things may look worse than they really are.
To some that seems always the way.
The Sinnott administration has been criticized by the newspaper and others for not having a bold enough agenda in leading the city and that’s a fair point but it’s also fair to remember this:
When you’re on a slippery slope and close to falling, the best way out is with small steps.
Another year of solid fiscal oversight and modest footholds will go a long way towards Erie’s long term financial stability.
As for manufacturing jobs the big losses will always out shout the small gains but it’s important to remember that the successes are out there.
Whether it’s a logistics firm or a bar code company or a plant that makes computer brains for diesel engines, there is water in Erie’s business glass.
But at 20 or 40 or 50 employees, there’s also no question that we need more of them.
Maybe it’s what left of the holiday cheer or the pristine snow-white silence that the dawn of this new year brings, but in this moment there is hope in the months ahead.
A clean slate allows for both the keeping of what is right and the fixing of what isn’t.
A not-so-great 2008?
I wouldn’t count on it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!