Greenfield 'experiment' has run its course

To the editor:

Roughly 20 years ago Greenfield stepped out to do something that very few communities have ever done, change their form of government a mayor form of government to a city manager form of government. 

We saw that we had options and decided to try out a new direction. Our founding fathers and Lincoln would be proud. They envisioned a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” They wanted us to have options and the freedom to exercise them. In most countries in the world, a community wouldn’t have had the power to do what we did. No single person or committee made this change.  It was the community that worked hard to get that move on the ballot, and it was the community that voted on it.

 Twenty years later, we have tried, tested, and tweaked this form of government. Many in our community feel now that this experiment has been educational and profitable, but it has run its course, and it is just not a good fit for our community. Once again there is a community movement to place this issue on the ballot. It’s not one person or even one committee, but the people of the community who want this move. 

  Personally, I have no regrets. It was a wise decision twenty years ago to make a move that would show our community that it’s okay to think outside of the box. It’s okay to take risks. It’s how we become a nation to begin with. It’s not at all a failed experiment, it’s simply an experiment that has run its course.  

Now, armed with new knowledge, we can take what we have learned from that experience and apply it to a new government that will serve us better than anything we have yet seen. It's going to be an exciting year.

Sincerely,
Todd Ernst
Greenfield