Community Leadership Awards

Community Leaders: The ACE Awards

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I always like to see the different awards that are handed out each year by different organizations locally. Rotary International has theirs as does Leadership Southern Indiana. I'm sure there are countless other groups that name leaders as well from their point of view.

I find it interesting to see who they are and how they are contributing to make our community a better place. I will say though, the ACE Awards from One Southern Indiana are always my favorite. This is because One Southern Indiana, being the chamber and economic development group, has the widest reach and broadest base of people within Southern Indiana of all the local organizations. 

As I understand it, there are open nominations that are then narrowed down to three in each award group. A small part of judging is then done based on an online voting system while most of the scores are based on the merit of the applicant's application. 

Here is an explanation of the Ace Awards from One Southern Indiana's Facebook page:

"The ACE Awards celebrates remarkable individuals who exemplify the character and acumen of exceptional leadership, making them outstanding citizens in the business and regional community. This signature event aims to celebrate the accomplishments of individual business leaders who are members of One Southern Indiana.

The categories for the awards are:

Axiom Financial Strategies Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC James W. Robinson Young Professional of the Year ACE Award

Duke Energy Kevin Hammersmith Community Leader ACE Award

Kightlinger & Gray, LLP Sam Day Professional of the Year ACE Award."

So many times we hear about awards named after people. I thought it was important to give a snapshot of who these awards are named after and why they are named after them.

• James W. Robinson: Jim was firm believer of the free enterprise system and a strong advocate for young people in the community, and his words of wisdom over the years will be remembered by many. A dedicated family man, Jim leaves a legacy of faith, integrity, hard work, generosity, and loyalty. He was co-founder of Robinson-Nugent, Inc., and past chairman of the board of Caldwell Tanks, Inc., Stemwood, Inc., and Niemco, Inc. Jim was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana Hall of Fame in 1998, earning the distinction of being the first father-son duo of inductees (his late father having been inducted in 1984). Jim was a S.C.O.R.E. Counselor, an investor in Rocket Man, Inc. and a past board member of Your Community Bank. He also served on the board of Kentuckiana Junior Achievement, Cedar Lake Foundation, and New Albany/Floyd County School Board. Jim was a Kentucky Colonel, an Indiana University Southeast Medallion recipient, a member of the Windsor Society, a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow, and was toasted at the 15th annual benefit of the Rotary Club of New Albany.

• Kevin Hammersmith: Killed by a drunk driver in 2011, Kevin was the director of government and community relations for Duke Energy in Southern Indiana. Kevin was instrumental in shaping the Southern Indiana community through his involvement and contributions to many local organizations. He was a member of the New Albany-Floyd County Parks Board, former president of Harvest Homecoming, a Past Chairman of One Southern Indiana, and a board member of the IUS Board of Advisors and the Carnegie Center for Art and History.

• Samuel Day: Sam was treasurer and chairman-elect for the Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, on the advisory board of Indiana University Southeast, past president of the Floyd County Bar Association, a member of the Board of Governors and past secretary for the Indiana State Bar Association. He was a member of Leadership Southern Indiana, past president of the Kiwanis Club of Historic New Albany and he was the Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce Professional of the Year in 2002. He devoted over 500 hours per year to volunteer work with many organizations, including the New Albany Floyd County School Corp., Project Peace, Highlander Youth Recreation and the Ogle Center.

For a list of this year's ACE Award Finalists, click the link below. There are videos for each person and you can vote for your favorite.

1si 2017 ACE Award Finalists

What are your thoughts?

Do you have the scoop?

Let us all know in the comments below.

WCCS Referendum

What will WCCS Look Like in 10 Years?

So the efforts to support WCCS November Referendum are in full swing. And apparently so is the opposition. Over the last few months, there have been some interesting items come up via news coverage and Facebook posts.

It's no secret, WCCS has had a long and divisive history of internal conflict between communities. Most of it appears to be based on hate/jealously of another community because of fond memories of a mascot instead of what type of education the kids currently have Vs. what the kids COULD have. 

http://www.walb.com/story/35729069/west-clark-schools-moves-towards-95m-improvement-expansion-plan

http://www.whas11.com/news/local/indiana/west-clark-schools-pushing-for-95m-renovations/473182347

http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/west-clark-board-to-seek-million-referendum/article_523fea20-4d19-11e7-891d-0f4e02825450.html

http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/clark_county/political-action-committee-forms-in-favor-of-west-clark-schools/article_b9f92d68-9731-11e7-a228-4ff7d39c28c9.html

http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/clark_county/henryville-meeting-on-west-clark-referendum-reveals-distrust/article_8c59324e-99b7-11e7-8571-b76a7cbfc3fb.html

http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/clark_county/study-reveals-more-than-k-students-may-flock-to-west/article_28d0aca6-86c1-11e7-932f-dbf7cd256f01.html

Facebook.com/ray.dreyer.1

(Above is some reading if you are interested.)

A couple points of concern. The story second from the bottom address future students to the district. While it is a good report, it's unfortunate the BDASI did not break it out to a per school impact instead of the total number for the school corp. If you look at where things are moving to and consider what was said in the story 3rd from the bottom, it appears WCCS needs to look at making more investment in the Memphis/Henryville area.

The last link is the one that concerns me the most. According to the author, who owns the farm next to Silver Creek, the leaders at WCCS are looking at taking that property via eminent domain. If this proves to be true: THAT IS NOT GOOD. OUCH! Just his whole statement about conversations behind close doors is enough for someone who is So IN Open Minded to pause and question if the Board is being completely upfront with their intentions.

Everyone knows there are needs at WCCS. There is no doubt the basic needs of AC and stories of mold issues need to be addresses. That is a health and safety issue for goodness sakes.

But is this referendum the right thing for the school district? 

Yes AND No. It's an loaded question to be sure. That is why I encourage anyone living in the WCCS district to really, and I mean REALLY, think long and hard about how you will vote. I warn you to be cautious of what the Board and Administration are telling you because they are all in on this passing regardless. I also warn you to be cautious of those opposing because they are all in on this failing regardless. I urge you to pay attention to your neighbors based on its' tax impact. I urge you to pay attention to the Dryer Family who may or may not be faced with the school corporation forcefully taking away their family's identity.

A Cherokee tribe of Native Americans, warned: “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes”

Here is my opinion

CONSOLIDATE CONSOLIDATE CONSOLIDATE should have been the go to plan here. Not sure why it was not other than political pressure on the school board.

It is easy for me to say because I have ZERO ties to any of these schools. Therefore I have no heartfelt memories to cloud my thoughts. My emotions are in check.

For a school corp of this size, there is no reason to have 3 high schools. Either combine SC and Henryville or Borden and Henryville. Memphis is the perfect location for a new HS. That would then leave 3 elementary and middle schools with plenty of room for future enrollment. Plus, a brand new HS is very appealing to people looking to move to the area. If it was Borden HS and Henryville HS being consolidated into a new school, it could also be planned to redraw the HS boundaries to move students from SC to a new school.

At the end of the day commonsense needs to prevail here. This $95M is a very expensive kick of the can. Everyone agrees something needs to be done. After reading between the lines on this, growing SC but not looking north is a short term fix. After a little research, my best guess is that WCCS will be back to full capacity within 10 years and not the 20 years some leaders are making this plan to be. Then the residents of this school district will be back at each others throats about what to do next. Unfortunately by then it will be too late because WCCS will already have the highest tax rate in the area with very little to show for it.

I feel sorry for everyone involved because either way this cookie crumbles there are very defined winners and losers.

At some point emotions need to be put aside for clear thought to what is really needed; not for right now but for the future of this district. This referendum proves this community is not even close to being there and the whole community is going to suffer long term because of it.

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Another group with Best Intentions

Align Southern Indiana: ANOTHER Group

BEST OF LUCK!

Another community group. Working to pull leaders together. Interesting indeed. Maybe a little redundant but interesting nonetheless. 

Good Luck. I honestly hope it works. I really do. There is a major breakdown in a large vision for the benefit of all the communities for the items Align SI is working towards. And working to bring together all the community organizations with a common goal. Interesting. It could work, but baby steps is the way to go. 

LINK: Align SI working to unify organizations

But here is the problem. Without local elected leaders buying into this thing, it's success will be extremely limited.

Most of our city councilmen never leave their city nor care about what happens outside of it. County Council are too worried about money to have a vision. County Commissioners are either too beat down to continue or too busy trying to fix their county to pay attention. The Mayors are either too consumed with personal achievement trying to realize their vision or too proud (some would say stubborn) to work with neighbors.

The first time local community/organization leaders who are involved with this get threatened by those who are elected that don't like a plan, the organization/community leaders will back away. This is because they are scared of what might happen if they have a different opinion than their elected counterparts. They don't want to be on anyone's sh*tlist, so to speak. 

"What?!?" You say... "This really happens?"

Yes, this happens everyday. There is no healthy debate when it comes to local issues. If I'm wrong, please site an example...              Go ahead...               I'll wait...

There is no "I understand where you are coming from but... so let's move on and still be partners." Instead we have "I don't agree with you so I'm going to talk bad about you behind your back and never work with you again!  Until I need you."

A majority, not all, but a majority of our elected officials fit the description of what I stated above.

We are a small town area. Not as rural as we used to be but small town USA none the less. We are a people who are ruled by personal feelings that get them hurt when people don't agree with us. We inherently get our feelings hurt and struggle to separate personal feelings from non-personal decisions. We are afraid to say "Yes" in a tough situation or "No" in an even tougher one. But that's one of the reasons why "they" got elected from "we", to make the hard choices for us.

Disclaimer: ALL OF THE ABOVE STATEMENTS ARE SUBJECTIVE AND DO NOT APPLY TO EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL

Here's where I hope I'm wrong. If Align can pull this off, it will be a huge benefit to the community as a whole as long as they are inclusive to all and not exclusive to a few (which seems to be how they are starting out). Sincerely, congratulations on getting this off the ground and good luck!

To the elected officials in Southern Indiana:

Thank you putting for yourself out there to serve us. I challenge you to engage with Align Southern Indiana. I challenge you to have a positive impact on areas outside your district, town, city, or county. I challenge you openly debate and not get your feelings hurt when you are not agreed with. I challenge you to be humble when you are. I challenge you to be a team player. I challenge you to be OPEN MINDED.

To the local community/organization leaders in Southern Indiana:

Thank you for all you do for your cause. I challenge you to engage with Align Southern Indiana. I challenge you to have a positive impact on areas outside your scope of work. I challenge you openly debate and not get your feelings hurt when you are not agreed with. I challenge you to be humble when you are. I challenge you to be a team player. I challenge you to be OPEN MINDED.