Benefits of shared stewardship

My small, rural community has benefited enormously from what those wiser than I call “shared stewardship.”

When people of different backgrounds - be that political, religious, personal - serve on boards together, special stuff happens.

Here’s something worth remembering - in local races, party affiliation doesn’t even appear on the ballot. So if you’re voting strictly by party, you’re bringing a filter to a race that wasn’t designed to have one, and your community - the place you call home - may pay the price.

In the time I’ve lived in Maryville, I’ve had the privilege of watching people from different political parties come together on our city council and other leadership boards to accomplish truly remarkable things. Setting aside political preferences, they focused on what mattered most - the people they served.

Going back to the 1990s when I first arrived in Maryville, this community has achieved big projects like Mozingo Lake and Golf Course, Maryville Downtown renewal, a citywide biking/walking trail system, the Main Street renovation, an aquatic center, Donaldson Westside Park, the Splash Park, the Dog Park, the rec center, the Watson 9 Golf Course, the new Public Safety center, and Northwest’s Hughes Fieldhouse.

Same with our school board. People of different backgrounds working together with a common goal: doing what’s best for kids. This included a new middle school, a beautiful performing arts center, a renovated preK-elementary school, turf football and baseball fields, a large greenhouse for the tech school and surviving a pandemic. (Yes, COVID. It wasn’t pretty, but we got through it.)

That’s the power of collaborative balance. When different perspectives sit at the same table, you don’t get gridlock - you get better decisions, broader solutions and a stronger community. Our Maryville community is proof that when people with different perspectives, different life experiences and, yes, different political views work together, they create something stronger than any one side could on its own.

A room full of people on the same wavelength might feel comfortable with each other, but it’s the friction of different ideas that lights the spark. Vote for the people who will work as a partner, and your community will be better for it.