Ramon Presson: Guest Author on Regionalism

My friend Ramon Presson, Author and Counselor always tells it like it is.  For those of you who attended the Mayoral Summit last Thursday and thought it "The Best Ever", I'd like to suggest that credit goes to Ramon for the power of his intense community-minded invocation.  The harmony in the room came from a higher power. And we made the most of it, shameless opportunists that we are...in a Good Way, of course!
Ramon's reflections of the day are the perfect guest post for the Cool Springs Scoop.
Regionalism: Together We’re Better

Men would have never come up with the concept of regionalism unless they understood it as my region is better than your region.  By nature men are territorial. In the animal kingdom males urinate a property line to form something of a wall or invisible electric fence that warns other males that this hunting and mating plot is not a tourist destination. There is an implied No Trespassing sign on the gate and intruders will be chased, head-butted, clawed, gored, bitten, or all the above. 

The human male is more refined and sophisticated.  Men urinate on their car bumpers. If you don’t believe me watch how we men react when someone, especially another man, is crowding the chrome fence of our Honda Accord.  Women don’t seem to understand this need for spacing. A female driver seeing the nose of the car behind her almost in her Camry’s back seat thinks, “Oh, they must want to be friends.”

It is the territorial instincts and competitive nature of the male species that makes the growing spirit of regionalism in middle Tennessee all the more remarkable and admirable.  I recently attended and gave the invocation at the Mayoral Summit sponsored by the Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, and the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce.  The summit featured a panel of the city mayors of Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, and the county mayor of Williamson who fielded questions from a moderator regarding present and future issues facing particularly the Davidson-Williamson county region.

It should be noted that this was not the first of such displays of solidarity among the mayors. Inspired by a model of regional cooperation he observed in the metro Denver area, in 2009 Mayor Karl Dean launched the Middle Tennessee Mayors Caucus which now includes 40 city and county mayors from ten Middle Tennessee counties.  The purpose of the mayors caucus is clearly stated on their website (www.middletnmayors.com): “The purpose of the Mayors Caucus is to foster communication and coordination among cities and counties across Middle Tennessee; advocate public policies beneficial to cities and counties, and the region as a whole; promote a positive image of the region as a place to live, work, and play; cultivate and maintain a strong and engaged civic culture; and strengthen vital partnerships with the business community to ensure economic prosperity.”

The mayors realize our communities are not a series of walled off compartments but are a complex and connected system. Middle Tennessee is a large spider’s web with many lines of connection. Unlike compartments, when you touch any part of a spider web the entire structure moves.  Transportation issues in Nashville affect Franklin businesses and Spring Hill homebuyers.  The impact of the new convention center in downtown Nashville will be felt economically throughout our entire region. Education issues in one county spill over into job placement issues in another.

It is that same spirit of regionalism that has led the three area chambers of commerce in Williamson County to move toward unification in the coming year. Any chamber of commerce must understand that it exists for the sake of and the development of the businesses in the community and for the community’s welfare as a whole. Businesses don’t exist to create and support chambers of commerce. But a great synergy happens when both sides realize they need each other and seize the benefits of mutual support and service.  Williamson County is an extraordinary place to live and with the collaboration seen in the Mayors Caucus and the Chambers of Commerce unification, our leaders are working with foresight to assure that it will continue to be a highly desirable place to make our homes and plant our lives. 

Author and therapist, Ramon Presson, is the founder of LifeChange Counseling and the Marriage Center of Franklin, TN.   www.LifeChangeCS.org