North Ridgeville Review The Community That Cares
By Dr. Ron Arndt
I’ve been an active resident and small business entrepreneur in our town for nearly fifty years. I’ve been involved in Kiwanis; Chamber of Commerce; President of City Council; participated in advancing the treasure of our city schools; served on boards and committees dedicated to the betterment of our community; bla, bla, bla.
FEEL: However, when I look back over all these years, I feel like my contribution to my community has been inadequate. I feel like I should be doing even more to make North Ridgeville more appealing and purposeful to all of us who live, recreate, and have retired here. I feel there is more to do to make our city an enviable standout City, but to do so will involve spending a lot of money. I know many others feel the same because I have heard for nearly five decades the clamor for the best schools; clamor for a recreation facility; clamoring for a safe, active, and functional senior center; and facilities that can be multi-use for both young and old.
I have also come to feel that stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation that no longer fits, or no longer serves us well.
I was recently invited, along with probably forty other North Ridgeville residents, school and city government officials, including our Mayor and school Superintendent, to be a part of a group that traveled to investigate the Willoughby-Eastlake city/school partnership project that has the potential to address all the years of clamoring for more in our city. This approach to coordinating a massive community project that integrates schools; government; community-shared conveniences; senior center activities; recreational facilities for all ages piqued not only my interest but all the others on this journey out east. Both our school Superintendent, Mrs. Roxanne Ramsey-Caserio and Mayor Kevin Corcoran, in their remarkably visionary approach to leading our community, wanted feedback from all of us as to how such an undertaking might work in North Ridgeville. They realize that to be a good leader you must be a great listener. They know that no one has a monopoly on good ideas or good advice. I believe they recognize that to approach a project like this they must start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
FELT: I, like many others in this group, felt uncertain; unclear; and unable to grasp the importance of a project so imaginative and future-focused in our community. I also felt concerned about the investment to make this a reality. Because leadership is not only about bringing out and mobilizing the best in the people around you, but also about engaging others to work towards a shared goal. Superintendent Caserio and Mayor Corcoran engaged us all, with no bias, but with an open heart and clear details while on the tour of this amazing facility. I wanted to see, with my own eyes and in person, how a project like this would benefit my city. Every person on this group tour told me they felt exactly as I did…unclear, yet eager to learn more. Leaders Corcoran and Caserio informed us that the City of North Ridgeville and the North Ridgeville City Schools are now in a unique position to create a partnership of collaboration for the construction of new educational and recreational facilities that will touch all of us for generations to come. By creating this cooperative coalition, we can reduce costs substantially; meet our ever-growing school population requirements while supporting our continuingly increasing city’s facility needs. They also educated us that the successful outcome of this partnership will require the passage of two tax levies that will appear on the ballot this November. However, opportunity is not a lengthy visitor and if you believe you can then you’re halfway there.
FOUND: What we all witnessed was astounding! The campus we saw and walked through would answer all the needs, all the clamoring for adequate space to house our 4,000 plus school population with a contemporary, leading-edge learning complex; a highly versatile senior complex; year-round recreational facility; performing arts center; and multi-use buildings that can be enjoyed by our entire community for both young and old. What we found was WOW! This, designed for North Ridgeville’s specific requirements, could be something magnetic; something to appeal to all needs and desires in our community; something to be proud of for decades. What I found was amazement, delight, and excitement in every person in our traveling group of investigators. The excitement among this curious group of engaged citizens and officials was palpable. I wish every resident could have experienced what we all experienced.
If you’re like me and you FEEL like: What is this crazy idea? I’d love to have all these things for my kids or for my senior parents but how much is it going to cost? Do we really need this? C’mon, you’re asking me to support this at this time with our lousy economy. How long will this take to plan and build? I FELT the same way. And so did everyone in this exploratory group. But what I and the others FOUND was a way to appeal to all groups of our rapidly growing city and to do it with community engagement and pride. We found ourselves energized; wanting to share this goal with family and neighbors. Clearly there was an optimistic sense of pride for the remarkableness of our City of North Ridgeville. I realize that staying the course, avoiding the inevitable feels comfortable but this feeling of comfortableness can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. It is my hope that we can energize our residents along with our city and school employees to join in solidarity to positively consider implementing the vision of our Mayor and Superintendent. It is also my hope that we can turn to each other and not on each other. Once we replace negative thoughts with positive ones, we’ll start having positive results. Finally, I believe exceptional communities and people do things before they feel they are ‘perfectly’ ready. Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. Apathy is not becoming of North Ridgeville. “One vision, one North Ridgeville.”
(Dr. Arndt is a long-time North Ridgeville resident, dentist and community activist in support of the coming Bond Issue to improve the city’s educational facilities, add a performing arts center and a community center to be funded under a separate ballot question).
