Published: April 29, 2008 11:37 am            

Lunch with Don Cope

To the editor:

Don Cope, CEO of Dalton Utilities, spoke at a United Way Young Leaders Society luncheon on Monday. Prior to the luncheon I was aware of Don Cope and his role in the community, but I do not know him personally, had never met his acquaintance, and had never heard him speak.

Mr. Cope spoke of too many topics to mention individually, ranging from our region’s current drought conditions to the structure of our local school systems, but there was a recurrent theme throughout: leadership and a unified voice of change in our community are necessary not only to see our children’s lives better than our own, but to make up for a deficit of infrastructure left by previous generations. Mr. Cope specifically cited his own generation of “Baby Boomers” as the culprits who began this deficit.

Where to point the finger is a moot point; the question now is where to go from here. I am a native Daltonian who is nearly 30 and has grown up, earned a bachelor degree, and now works professionally all in the City of Dalton. My parents instilled in me the importance of education and the freedom to vote and the responsibility to question all things political and/or fiscal. I do practice these principles, but feel like I am somewhat alone among the ranks of others my age.

Speaking in generalities, my generation tends to be reactive or even inactive regarding all things political. Instead of a search for information as a basis of opinion and decision making, there are scowls over media coverage of elections followed by lack of participation in a process that seems too abstract and corrupt to truly impact.

I say shame on us. We are no better than the “Baby Boomers” if we choose to do nothing.

Mr. Cope used the example of healthcare. I’m sure that if I polled my colleagues and friends who are close to my age, we would nearly unanimously agree that we are unhappy with our current state of healthcare and feel that it is headed in a far worse direction. Mr. Cope identified that we are in a unique position of control when it comes to healthcare, yet still we do nothing. This unique position comes from being a relatively small community with very large employers. This allows us to dictate how our healthcare is managed instead of being at the mercy of a system we cannot access.

The solution is as simple as tackling one issue at a time. What pains you the most? What is at the top of your list of complaints about this intangible system that you feel you have no control over? As Mr. Cope suggested, start asking questions. Take this most painful issue and ask your local leaders what they are doing about it. There are countless venues for your voice to be heard such as City Council meetings, special Public Meetings, emails to local authorities, or even your Human Resources Manager. These people are surprisingly accessible and are grateful for your inquiries and input.



Carmen Cavanaugh

        

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