Councilwoman calls for cooperation
2/18/98
To the Editor,
I feel compelled to respond to your recent editorial (Animosities Run Deep Locally, 2/4/9) and the follow-up letter by Mary Hoff (Public Officials Should End Pettiness, 2/11/98).
I must agree with Englewood resident Mary Hoff when she chastises her elected officials for failing to cooperate with their neighbors in the Northmont area, but I would like to set the record straight regarding your statement "it would have been nice to see Clayton send personal invitations to the leaders of Englewood and Union, which they did not." As a Clayton Councilmember I personally hand addressed and mailed invitations to various individual citizens and officials of Englewood and Union. Of course, as you stated, the "celebration" was open to the public and a personal invitation was not required. While some of the citizens attended, unfortunately none of the officials did.
I also find it interesting that the citizens of Englewood and Union complain that certain areas of the community could best be served by fire stations which are no longer in their district. Certainly all would agree that a cooperative approach where the equipment and personnel of each fire station is used to its maximum effectiveness despite arbitrarily drawn "district" lines is best. This is why I strongly favored retaining one fire department.
Finally, the mayors can compete with their "prayer" and "unity" breakfasts, however, as Representative Gingrich said recently, it appears that the citizens of the community are "hungry for a patriotic, positive problem solving system that doesn't spend its time griping and back-biting and being negative."
Steps have been taken to remove the old antagonism which interfered with Northmont unity - the status of the fire department has changed, the Village of Clayton and Randolph Township have merged and elected a new local government - the only personalities that haven't changed from the old peevish group is the elected officials and hired staff from Englewood and Union. The citizens of Northmont demand that we must all join and work together to achieve unity for our area.
We have two excellent opportunities before us right now to work together to prove our commitment to the area despite individual differences: 1) Revision of water and sewer facilities to the Northmont High School and Junior High campus in the quickest and most economical manner (most logically to be provided by Englewood) and 2) Study the feasibility of a joint recreation center.
Let's lay a foundation of cooperation by working together on these quality of life issues and then move on to the more challenging economic development issues. Lets give up the "childish behavior" and commit to working together on these and other issues to show the local citizens and the regional community that "Northmont" will be the premier area in Montgomery County in the next millennium.

Joyce Deitering
Clayton Council