Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a four-part series about actions needed to address challenges pertaining to the future of the Warren community.

Through the first two installments of this four-part series, I stated that the Warren Community is a group of interconnected municipalities, consisting of the City of Warren and the boroughs and townships throughout Warren County — 27 in total. It was stated that the city is the principal municipality driving the success or failure of the entire community. It was also stated that the population losses in Warren, and across the county, coupled with other demographic trends are very disturbing. These trends must be reversed through intentional actions.

This writing is a continued call to action for the governments in partnership with the entire community to address the challenges. A central premise is that vitality is everyone’s responsibility and that the citizens, public officials, and all those with a stake here, will be much better off if they are “on the same team” and view the entirety as one community and act accordingly. General goals, objectives, and actions to address the needs were also proposed. This writing will add more about the means to bolster the city of Warren and support the entire Warren County-wide community.

We need an existing civic-based organization, teamed with a consortium of organizations, to lead, in partnership with the governments and citizens, a large-scale program of community engagement.

The near-term activities for this effort should include, among others:

¯ Articulation and acceptance of overarching goals and objectives.

¯ A full defining of community assets, resources. and opportunities for economic development and community growth.

¯ Production of reports to document and produce empirical data about baselines, trends, and conditions.

¯ Expressions of common core values.

¯ Creation, administration, management, and facilitation of broadly inclusive committees comprised of individuals from all walks of life.

¯ Coordination of specific actions with defined points of responsibility and accountability.

¯ Extensive public participation, presentations, and education.

¯ Measures of change going forward.

¯ Actions, outcomes, and more.

This is not a one-time initiative; the intention is to transform the community in new ways, through ongoing activities that will be institutionalized and playout for many years.

This is not a political process; it must not be political. This is about local community governance and civic engagement, and how we interact with one another, and define and present ourselves to the world. The need includes building consensus for substantial actions around shared core values that will retain and attract people to our community as valuable contributors.

This effort will, by necessity, require funding, but it need not be expensive. High priced outside consultants are unnecessary. We can know ourselves, what we want to achieve, and how to get there. There is the means in the community today, supported with appropriate outside resources, to define and pursue the necessary changes. If we make excuses — by saying for example that we do not have the money, or time, or capacity — we will undercut the entire future of the community and drive continuing decline.

I also want to be clear that this is not a call for large scale structural consolidations or mergers of the city, boroughs, and townships. No existing governmental entity or organization need be threatened by the changes that could take place. The changes would serve to put everyone on the same team and enable the Warren Community to have the best chance to be truly special.

The Warren Community has the great advantage of being just the right size, geographic location, and makeup of citizenry to undertake this effort.

The next, and final installment of this series will address broader concepts about what we control and do not control, and about the profound need to act while there is still time to do so.

Alan Kugler helps citizens, public officials, and civic leaders to improve community vitality and quality of life through collaboration backed by sound information for policy decision-making.