While Jason Bobst, Pottstown Borough Manger, was talking about PAID and the future of Pottstown he mentioned two words – cooperation and coordination. I have pondered the importance of these two words in relationship to Pottstown since Thursday’s meeting. If I am being honest, we need to work harder at cooperation and coordination if we want Pottstown to “be all it can be’. It is a big job and will need the hard work of many people to make sure it happens.
No one group can successfully turn Pottstown around. It will take coordination and cooperation from elected leaders, citizens, the Pottstown School District, Montgomery County, business, industry, bloggers, print and online media and entities like PAID. We can not expect the new Executive Director to come in and wave his or her magic wand and fix 40 years worth of problems (unless we hire Merlin).
The new structure of PAID should be the model we use moving forward. We need a good cross-section of people, possessing a variety of skill sets and talents, working together for the betterment of our community. The coordination of efforts, a unified voice, mutual respect/cooperation, a positive attitude and the sincere belief that Pottstown can be transformed into something even better than it was during its industrial heyday are essential if we expect to be successful.
I leave you with the definition of cooperation and coordination for your consideration. Going forward, we should ask ourselves if our efforts are coordinated with the efforts of others and if we are working in the spirit of cooperation for Pottstown’s greater good.
co·op·er·a·tion
1. an act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit; joint action.
2. more or less active assistance from a person, organization, etc.: We sought the cooperation of various civic leaders.
3. willingness to cooperate: to indicate cooperation.
4. Economics. the combination of persons for purposes of production, purchase, or distribution for their joint benefit: producers’ cooperation; consumers’ cooperation.
5. Sociology. activity shared for mutual benefit.
co·or·di·na·tion
1. the act or state of coordinating or of being coordinated.
2. proper order or relationship.
3. harmonious combination or interaction, as of functions or parts.
Definitions from: Dictionary.com
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