“Everything old is new again” – An opinion

Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter-News Analyst
January 23, 2017 6:40 p.m.

When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills. ~Chinese Proverb

Back in the days before Spell-check, did you ever find yourself getting lost in a book-form dictionary on your way to look up something specific? I know I did. I’d be on my way to find one word and get distracted by other terms that caught my eye. The same thing happened to me recently when I started researching city archives to find information on the city’s dealings with the railroad over time. I began in the late 1970’s and am currently up to the mid-1980’s. This exercise has given me a new appreciation for the phrase, “Everything old is new again.”

Here are some of the issues that our city commissions were trying to solve:

· Kids skateboarding on Centre Street;

· Dealing with airport problems and leases;

· Building a clubhouse at the golf course;

· Horses on South Fletcher;

· Beach driving;

· Sewer connection fees;

· Stormwater and drainage problems;

· Whether to maintain or cancel city bus service into Jacksonville;

· Getting the county to pay its fair share for public safety services and recreation services provided by the city;

· July 4th fireworks;

· Maintenance issues on city facilities and Centre Street;

· Adequate street lighting;

· Franchise fees and arrangements for utilities and Fernandina Cablevision;

· Helping indigent citizens pay water, sewer and electric bills;

· Downtown and beach parking.

Did you know that at one time the Police Department had a K-9 unit? And that the airport FBO operator had a felony conviction for drugs? The City Commission briefly considered requests to authorize a Christian Parachute Jumping business at the airport and to accept the gift of a statue of Christ carved into a log for displaying on public property.

In the mid 1970’s there was a lot of controversy over a proposed library and where it should be sited. The 4th Street site eventually won out, but not before lots of folks lobbied hard for a site at Central Park. The museum was apparently financed by the city at one time, and there was talk about combining the museum and the library in one building.

Commissioner Ron Sapp tried early unsuccessful island incorporation. He also suggested a voter referendum that would limit the population of the city to 12,000. He failed to get a second from another commissioner.

Fascinating stuff for the nostalgia buffs. An opinion writer in a recent Times Union editorial wrote, “Remembering the good old days is a harmless pastime for people in their golden years. But when it becomes the dominant force in politics, like any positive quality taken to an extreme, then it becomes a problem.”

Citing conservative movement Yuval Levin’s thoughts from his book entitled “The Fractured Republic: Renewing America’s Social Contract in the Age of Individualism,” the author says that one of the problems with nostalgia is that we forget the difficulties of the past.

“Nostalgia—pining for the past—is dominating political thought and blocking progress,” he writes. “What’s worse, most people aren’t even aware of it. … The obvious problem is that you can’t go back without a time machine. We must deal with the issues of the modern day and an economy that is more decentralized, more individualized, more flexible, more global and less predictable. Life in America is always getting better and worse at the same time. Progress comes at a cost, even if it is often worth that cost.”

Levin worries that solutions to problems at all levels must focus on realities. The alternative is to run around in circles looking for easy answers. He expressed fears that the nostalgia of the boomer generation has taken over the storyline to the extent that our country “increasingly behaves like a retiree.” This leads to a national sense of fatigue and unwillingness to accept change.

The author makes many more points that focus on the national economic scene. You may read the entire article entitled “Nostalgia can block nation’s progress” on page A-6 of the January 20, 2017 TU editorial page. Or you can read Levin’s book.

From my perspective, many of Levin’s concerns at the national level apply equally to local government and politics. Fernandina Beach must respect its past but not hide its head in the sand when it comes to taking steps to ensure a positive, economically healthy future. Our city should not become the senior citizen equivalent of Disney’s Main Street—an artificial construct that portrays life back in the day that was probably never as good for any of us as the Disney scene would suggest.

Should fond memories of “making the loop” drive modern discussions of traffic flow? Do we value beach driving more than protecting our fellow residents’ quiet enjoyment of beach life and the future of our sea turtles? Are we willing to pay more in taxes just so that people can park free downtown and at the beach?

Tonight – January 24, 6 pm at City Hall –the city holds its second of two meetings to take public input on downtown issues. I hope that the dialog at this meeting is more calm and constructive than it was at the last. Insulting public officials, prioritizing Facebook over facts, refusing to consider any change—these are not actions of a citizenry truly committed to solving some of these problems that have been with us for 40 years or more.

None of us has all the answers, or probably even all the questions. But committing to work together and to listen to opposing points of view will lead to a better understanding of the problems we all face and finding their solutions.

And can we at least commit to solving some of these problems, not just talking about them for another 40 years?

Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. ~John Kenneth Galbraith

Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.