Passing the Torch
by Helen D. Gunderson, Gazette editorOctober 29, 2005
It is finally time to write this column. On
November 1, 2005, I will end my term as the owner, publisher, and
chief cook and bottle-washer of the Gilbert Gazette. |
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Lauris Olson, the editor of the Ames Life and
Times Section of the Des Moines Register until October 2005, will
become the publisher, operating the Gazette as part of a small
network of web sites dedicated to providing community-based news.
Lauris will start her new venture with two sites for Ames,
ames365.com and
amesnewsonline.com (to be created) as
well as the Gazette for the Gilbert community. |
| Seldom has it been easy for me to write
succinctly, and in regard to this transition, the same is true.
However, I would like to provide some context for my departure. So
without further apology, I will forge ahead with a little history
of my involvement with the Gazette and my feelings now as I wave
good-bye. |
Founding the Gazette
I moved to Gilbert in 1993, but I did not become active in local
government until 1998 when a friend asked me to serve on the
Gilbert Parks and Recreation Commission. In the fall of 1999, I
was elected to the Gilbert City Council, but I resigned that
position in April of 2002 to protest the mayor's leadership style.
I first published the Gazette in June of that year.
I probably would never have started the Gazette if I had not been
so frustrated with the way city hall was run and with the lack of
media coverage about what was happening. A lot of small towns have
their own newspaper, or perhaps a radio station; but here, the
news of happenings at city hall, with a few exceptions, has pretty
much flown under the radar of the news media in the Ames area. |
| Back in the fall of 2001, several months before I first published the
Gazette, I was practicing Qi Gong at an hour well past midnight under
the large maple tree near the big white house just north of my
apartment. In the stillness of the cold night air, the idea to
do a web site wafted into my consciousness. My first impulse was
to say, “No, I am not going to do that.” Although I had already
created two web sites, the idea of doing one to provide news and
commentary for the community seemed daunting and risky. |
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| However, I intuited there was a need to utilize
the Internet to improve communication for the Gilbert community.
I believed that it was essential for the citizenry to have
access to information — not only for better government, but for
a healthier community in general. I also felt that I had
insights about city government that needed to be heard.
I was wise enough to know that when an idea wafts up from the depths of
a person's consciousness, it is not good to repress it immediately. The
spirit could be at work. Within a few days after that late night session
of Qi Gong, I registered the Gilbert Gazette name — just in case I would
ever actually create a web site — but I let the idea lie dormant. When I
resigned as a council member in April of 2002, there was a paucity of
public discussion about my leaving the council, and my replacement was
appointed in a stealthy manner. If I had not been so angry about how the
matter was handled, I would simply have walked into the sunset and not
revisited the council chambers. But my anger created a tipping point for
the creation of the Gazette.
Fortunately, I had the financial resources, time, and skills to create a
web site. (For the record, the Gazette has been a not-for-profit
endeavor.) For a couple of years, I felt consumed with the need to work
on the site, not only to voice my perspectives but also to post
photographs and other items of interest in an attempt to balance my
criticism of city hall with positive postings. Eventually, I began to
invest fewer hours in the project.
Making the Transition
All along, even though I had occasional doubts, I sensed that the
Gazette could be a valuable resource. The statistics show that there
have been plenty of visitors; but, the greatest honor is to be able to
pass the torch to someone who values the Gazette as part of a movement
to use the Internet for community-based news. Lauris seems like kin in
her concern for making information available and creating healthy
communities. It is a win-win situation to hand her the torch. She is a
veteran journalist with great vision and energy, and I believe she will
take the Gazette to the next level of effectiveness. There are many
possibilities. I am genuinely happy that I am the founder of the
Gazette, that there is value and a future for the web site beyond what I
could make happen, and that my slate is clean to refocus on other
priorities. Eventually, I may join the network of volunteers that Lauris
is recruiting to help her achieve her vision for community-based news in
central Iowa. But for now, detachment is the order of the day.
I am currently doing yoga and meditating a lot. These practices are
helping me be at peace with the process of letting go. The project has
consumed much of my time and energy and has sometimes eaten at my
spirit; yet, I have derived great satisfaction and meaning from the
work. The Gazette does need to be taken to the next level. With new
leadership, and with new ways for members of the Gilbert community to be
a part of the support network, I am convinced it will continue to be a
success.
It is no secret that I have been frustrated with Gilbert's government.
Yes, there are things that I believe could be done better. Yes, I have
my opinions about the leaders of the town and how they conduct business.
But this is not a time to be resentful or to focus on those elements of
Gilbert life that continue to frustrate me. Instead, it is a time to
celebrate the fact that the Gazette has taken root, that it has a good
following, and that a new publisher wants to adopt the site and make it
part of something bigger. The Gazette has a future, and I don't have to
worry about making it happen. That’s awesome. On the other hand,
publishing the Gazette has provided me an avenue for service and given
me a sense of purpose in the community. I will miss that. I will also
miss the occasional related e-mail message or phone call.
Thanks and Best Wishes
One of the difficult things about running a web site is that the
publisher, regardless of what the statistics say, really has no idea who
the visitors are and how they use the site or what they think of it. So
in my last words, I want to thank my friends and acquaintances who have
supported my work. I also want to thank the vast majority of you, who
are anonymous, for being part of the Gazette audience.
There is not much more that I can say except thanks to all of you. My
best wishes go to Lauris as the new publisher in her service to the
Gilbert community and in achieving her vision of providing
community-based news via the Internet.
The hour is again well past midnight on a quiet, cold autumn night.
Perhaps I should visit that maple tree across the street and do a little
Qi Gong.
Helen D. Gunderson
Editor of the Gilbert Gazette
June 2002 through October 2005 |
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