Norfolk Daily News

Wednesday – April 2, 2008

Your View

About the city offices

NORFOLK — Rome, they say, wasn’t built in a day.

The citizens of Norfolk are at present exploring ideas, partnerships and costs, etc., in their own effort to address the needs and space requirements of agencies and governmental bodies charged with the responsibility of providing for the safety, administration and growth of our city.

Before this effort is bogged down or sidetracked by the predictable territorial in-fighting, political posturing and the oft-incanted specter of increased taxes, I think it is important to first assess just what it is that we hope, ultimately, to accomplish. Do we, as citizens, see as desirable the need, in an increasingly disposable and transient society, to reach down into ourselves and do all that is required to construct our own symbol?

Our personal lives are necessarily filled with concerns for compromise, economy and sometimes makeshift solutions. These are appropriate reactions for any endeavor. But, collectively, wouldn’t it be nice to aspire beyond our personal limitations? In the company of others, shouldn’t we be allowed to choose to make those same individual sacrifices the ancients made for the common good of all and spin our own small thread to add to the fabric of civilization’s refinement?

There will be plenty of time to tailor and temper this civic project to reflect the reality of present circumstance. But, let’s first imagine a fitting public garment suitable for alterations.

LONN ATWOOD