While following the discussion surrounding the warehouse moratorium and the LPC proposal, and I keep coming back to the same question:
How are we measuring progress toward the future we say we want for Centralia? How are we planning for economic sustainability?
This isn’t really about being pro-warehouse or anti-warehouse. Reasonable people can disagree on specific projects. What concerns me is that we spend a lot of time debating what we don’t want, while spending far less time discussing what we do want and how we plan to get there.
Centralia already has a strategic plan. It talks about growing our economic base, increasing development capacity, creating jobs, supporting housing growth, strengthening our ability to provide municipal services, and promoting tourism, commercial development, and industrial development.
Those are good goals.
The question is: how are we doing?What goals have been achieved? Which ones have not? What metrics are we using to measure success? What adjustments are needed?
Tuesday night’s council discussion left me with more questions than answers. If the moratorium remains in place, what is the next step? If a proposal is not the right fit, what opportunity are we pursuing instead? What industries are we actively recruiting? What investments are we seeking? What is the timeline? Can any resident find answers to these questions?
These aren’t trick questions. They’re accountability questions.
At some point, fiscal stewardship means looking not only at the risks of development but also at the costs of inaction. Vacant land has a cost. Delayed investment has a cost. Uncertainty has a cost.
The Fox Theatre is one example. Most residents support restoring it. I certainly do. But after more than a decade of ownership and planning, residents should be able to easily see the roadmap: funding secured, funding still needed, milestones completed, milestones remaining, and a realistic timeline to completion.
The same standard should apply to every major community priority, including economic development efforts, infrastructure projects, housing initiatives, and the warehouse moratorium itself.
For years, I have asked for public project dashboards on the city’s website so residents can easily track major initiatives and be informed. Residents should not have to piece together years of council meetings, staff reports, budgets and newspaper articles just to understand where projects stand, why decisions are being made and how we’re still perusing sustainability.
Transparency is more than allowing public comment. It requires providing clear information about goals, timelines, progress and outcomes.
What I struggle with is that I hear a lot about what Centralia shouldn’t become, but far less about what Centralia should become and the specific steps required to get there.
I’d like to hear more of those conversations from the dais. Accessible on the website. Press from City of Centralia. Not just the hopes and vision of individuals but measurable goals, implementation strategies, timelines, and public accountability.
Leah Sisemore
Centralia
