FINGERS CROSSED FOR THESE IN 2018
As one year closes and another dawns, it’s a popular pastime to compose lists — lists of notable people and events from the past 12 months as well as crystal ball-gazing into what might be coming after the calendar flips.
It’s a time for reflection and recalibration. It’s also a time for hope. Humans tend to like the idea of rebirth, or at least a redo. On that second chance (or third or ninth), we like to believe that a better effort will be made and new results achieved.
That’s where the hope comes in. And as we plow into a New Year, here are three Chattanooga-area things I’m hopeful for in 2018:
› Bryan Johnson’s HCDE moves yield successes
Last week was a busy week over on Bonny Oaks. While students and teachers were well into their holiday break, the central office announced three new initiatives: a systemwide schools rebranding, the unveiling of high school “Future Ready Institutes,” and a substantial administrative shakeup.
A contrarian might question the real value of these maneuvers — and I put myself squarely in the contrarian camp — but I’ve resolved to try and be as supportive as possible of the new superintendent. Not an unquestioning support, but at the end of the day we should all wish wild successes on the man, his new initiatives and the team he leads. After all, his success means the success of Hamilton County students. That’s something we can, and should, all get behind.
› A new headline-grabbing startup In case you’ve been exiled for the past few years, you’re aware that Chattanooga fashions itself as a tech hub of sorts. Not so much a Silicon Valley in miniature, but a noticeable anomaly among our regional peer cities. We sell this town as an innovative one where new ideas are tested and old problems are smartly solved. For this, we’ve attracted national (sometimes international) attention.
But if you follow innovation/tech reporting, you’ll notice a theme: an obsession with “new.” Though it’s true that for every Bellhops or Skuid — Chattanooga startups whose names have travelled far and wide — there are 20 lesser known fledgling companies doing wonderful work, our city’s innovative reputation needs another marquee name to emerge. Who will the next game-changer be? Hopefully we find out next year.
› Safer streets
Since Mayor Andy Berke was mayoral candidate Berke, Chattanoogans have heard quite a bit about “safer streets,” something he promised to achieve if elected. For much of his tenure that’s been a squirmy result to pin down. Well, here’s some good news: According to preliminary numbers, though homicide totals seem to have flatlined, there appears to have been a noticeable dip in shootings between 2016 and 2017.
That, however, doesn’t translate into a safer feel in certain parts of town — mainly downtown. In addition to a shooting death at a Southside bar and a carjacking not far from that, the close of 2017 witnessed an armed robbery at Coolidge Park, one at a downtown bank, and another at a popular burger joint in the middle of the city’s tourist district.
While it’s encouraging that some area crime statistics are trending in the right direction, it’s a solid bet that many residents don’t feel we’ve achieved safer streets. Here’s hoping that changes over the next 12 months.
2018 should be a doozy of a year, especially in the political realm. It will be loud, it will be obnoxious and it will be polarizing. Yet while all that is going on, it’s my hope that the city I call home will grow smarter, more prosperous and safer.
Happy New Year.
Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.