Student thanks Mayor Zink for his example of public service
By
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To the editor:
Growing up in Hillsboro, I quickly learned a great secret to small-town conversation.
The trick is to talk about local government, pointing out all the funny mistakes of any (especially liberal) politician. Do this and you’ll get both a warm acceptance and small-town credit to your name. This still works today!
Around Hillsboro, Democrat Dick Zink was the common target – both for the everlasting potholes and the relentless noise-pollution of construction were probably his doing – or so the story goes.
But he never went away. In fact, for as long as I can remember talking politics, he was out there.
So in the 11th grade at Hillsboro High School, I decided to counter such bad governance with a plan of my own. After brainstorming with a handful of other students, I approached Mayor Zink with an idea to redeem Hillsboro’s City Park on Railroad Street, the last city park in town. I was awash in ambition, but trusted the government to handily deflate my lofty dreams.
However, I was completely mistaken about the mayor; and only six months later, my entire perception of our “do-nothing” government whipped around. While I’d previously dreaded his office, Mr. Zink became my unexpected hero, and, in our Podunk little town, I encountered something terribly hopeful that grips my heart to this day.
When I first sat down in front of his desk with a one-sheet proposal, Mayor Zink did not look down on my youthful ambition with a gravelly, disapproving stare. He did not tell me how things were "under control" or how I should get back to school-work so he could run our complicated city.
Rather, the mayor took to me with respect, boldly filling me with hope and invigorating my ambition. I cannot remember exactly what he said, but I remember precisely that he saw something valuable and urged me to carry on.
The mayor was hoping for people like me, he suggested, and I’ll say that this is not what a “do-nothing” mayor should hope for. In six months, the 17 youths of Students With A Purpose (SWAP) had united more than 100 citizens and 30 different organizations to renovate that city park. We appeared in the paper more than a dozen times, were the first youths to participate in the Appalachian Community Learning Project, and garnered the attention of Ted Strickland, Ohio’s governor at that time.
These were no short six months – they were the longest I’ve encountered – and they contained the most life-changing moments I have had, they made me who I am. We raised $17,570.45 to resurface tennis courts, re-paint rusted fence, install drainage systems, and to prove what a small group of children could do for this world. But the city of Hillsboro funded the largest chunk of these expenses, and nothing would have happened without the support of Mayor Zink and his entire office uptown.
When on July 4 2008, we re-dedicated the City Park, Mayor Zink told me something that solidified my budding perception of “change.”
He said that he’d been waiting for someone in Hillsboro to step up – that he wished more people would take responsibility for the change they wanted to see. And it was then that I finally understood the secret to a vibrant community and learned that terribly hopeful truth driving me still today.
What I learned is that the jokes I mentioned before, the way to strike up good small-town conversation, they are not also a good way to make progress. Mayor Zink has served our city for nearly 30 years, in city council and as mayor. He is one of the few that offer their lives to civic duty – functionally preserving our liberty as do our God-blessed veterans – and that is no laughing matter. Yet I did laugh and I did grumble, as though complaint has a magical power to effect change.
What I learned is that instead of bantering politicians that seem ineffective, we ought to respect their service enough, and view our own critiques with sufficient dignity, to take concise and constructive action. A leader’s vision can become crusty and their potency obsolete, but that is not the time for armchair governance, it is rather an opportunity for us to grow new eyes and to assist in the creation and realization of a better, bolder vision.
In Students With A Purpose, our mission was to “inspire community service in others,” because the mayor showed us that service is a welcome virtue in our community. That fact is what grips me still today, the reality that nobody is stopping any of us from changing this world, from making our community a better place. In fact, there are millions of brilliant people and able bodies waiting to lend their hands, who are excited to build a better future.
My point is that Mayor Zink – though government in general – is too often criticized for failure and has not been praised enough for his service. I wrote this letter to offer him my most sincere gratitude. Mayor Zink helped me to see that community change starts with community action; and he set a great example.
Mayor Zink has served our city for 27 years of his life, and if only 1 percent of our population would continually step up as he did, this would be a far better community. Thank you, Mr. Zink, for your years of committed service and your support for SWAP. I have learned from your example and hope that someday I might also be an encouragement to youths and young idealists as you were to me.
Thank you, also, to the other outstanding individuals who helped with SWAP’s City Park Renovation. You are that hope I discovered, the reality that so many are willing to help out – thank you for giving me belief in the power of community, and for giving 17 students the opportunity to feel your strength.
Sincerely,
Owen Raisch
Hillsboro[[In-content Ad]]
Growing up in Hillsboro, I quickly learned a great secret to small-town conversation.
The trick is to talk about local government, pointing out all the funny mistakes of any (especially liberal) politician. Do this and you’ll get both a warm acceptance and small-town credit to your name. This still works today!
Around Hillsboro, Democrat Dick Zink was the common target – both for the everlasting potholes and the relentless noise-pollution of construction were probably his doing – or so the story goes.
But he never went away. In fact, for as long as I can remember talking politics, he was out there.
So in the 11th grade at Hillsboro High School, I decided to counter such bad governance with a plan of my own. After brainstorming with a handful of other students, I approached Mayor Zink with an idea to redeem Hillsboro’s City Park on Railroad Street, the last city park in town. I was awash in ambition, but trusted the government to handily deflate my lofty dreams.
However, I was completely mistaken about the mayor; and only six months later, my entire perception of our “do-nothing” government whipped around. While I’d previously dreaded his office, Mr. Zink became my unexpected hero, and, in our Podunk little town, I encountered something terribly hopeful that grips my heart to this day.
When I first sat down in front of his desk with a one-sheet proposal, Mayor Zink did not look down on my youthful ambition with a gravelly, disapproving stare. He did not tell me how things were "under control" or how I should get back to school-work so he could run our complicated city.
Rather, the mayor took to me with respect, boldly filling me with hope and invigorating my ambition. I cannot remember exactly what he said, but I remember precisely that he saw something valuable and urged me to carry on.
The mayor was hoping for people like me, he suggested, and I’ll say that this is not what a “do-nothing” mayor should hope for. In six months, the 17 youths of Students With A Purpose (SWAP) had united more than 100 citizens and 30 different organizations to renovate that city park. We appeared in the paper more than a dozen times, were the first youths to participate in the Appalachian Community Learning Project, and garnered the attention of Ted Strickland, Ohio’s governor at that time.
These were no short six months – they were the longest I’ve encountered – and they contained the most life-changing moments I have had, they made me who I am. We raised $17,570.45 to resurface tennis courts, re-paint rusted fence, install drainage systems, and to prove what a small group of children could do for this world. But the city of Hillsboro funded the largest chunk of these expenses, and nothing would have happened without the support of Mayor Zink and his entire office uptown.
When on July 4 2008, we re-dedicated the City Park, Mayor Zink told me something that solidified my budding perception of “change.”
He said that he’d been waiting for someone in Hillsboro to step up – that he wished more people would take responsibility for the change they wanted to see. And it was then that I finally understood the secret to a vibrant community and learned that terribly hopeful truth driving me still today.
What I learned is that the jokes I mentioned before, the way to strike up good small-town conversation, they are not also a good way to make progress. Mayor Zink has served our city for nearly 30 years, in city council and as mayor. He is one of the few that offer their lives to civic duty – functionally preserving our liberty as do our God-blessed veterans – and that is no laughing matter. Yet I did laugh and I did grumble, as though complaint has a magical power to effect change.
What I learned is that instead of bantering politicians that seem ineffective, we ought to respect their service enough, and view our own critiques with sufficient dignity, to take concise and constructive action. A leader’s vision can become crusty and their potency obsolete, but that is not the time for armchair governance, it is rather an opportunity for us to grow new eyes and to assist in the creation and realization of a better, bolder vision.
In Students With A Purpose, our mission was to “inspire community service in others,” because the mayor showed us that service is a welcome virtue in our community. That fact is what grips me still today, the reality that nobody is stopping any of us from changing this world, from making our community a better place. In fact, there are millions of brilliant people and able bodies waiting to lend their hands, who are excited to build a better future.
My point is that Mayor Zink – though government in general – is too often criticized for failure and has not been praised enough for his service. I wrote this letter to offer him my most sincere gratitude. Mayor Zink helped me to see that community change starts with community action; and he set a great example.
Mayor Zink has served our city for 27 years of his life, and if only 1 percent of our population would continually step up as he did, this would be a far better community. Thank you, Mr. Zink, for your years of committed service and your support for SWAP. I have learned from your example and hope that someday I might also be an encouragement to youths and young idealists as you were to me.
Thank you, also, to the other outstanding individuals who helped with SWAP’s City Park Renovation. You are that hope I discovered, the reality that so many are willing to help out – thank you for giving me belief in the power of community, and for giving 17 students the opportunity to feel your strength.
Sincerely,
Owen Raisch
Hillsboro[[In-content Ad]]