Jonathan Meyer.

Community is defined as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” In this edition of Just Jonathan I would like to dive into my feelings on this sense of community as well as sharing my views for the future of these beautiful towns. Please take my thoughts for what they are worth, at the end of the day I believe we all want the same thing, here we go!

A number of years ago I made a stop in the lovely little town of Elkader, Iowa. I have a relative that lives in Northeast Iowa and found an opportunity to run a 5k that coincides with a local festival. My racing wasn’t great but the experience afterwards was eye opening.

As I walked through the streets of Elkader I felt a civic minded group of people who across the board cared about their community. Not to say Tama-Toledo doesn’t have those elements, but this was the next level. I found so many downtown murals and opportunities for art. I was greeted by plenty of public seating and beautiful uses of nature. Above all, every person I talked to wanted me to enjoy my visit and come back to visit. Things felt so purposeful and prideful, I was so genuinely excited to bring these experiences back with me.

In the ensuing years I have been delighted with some of the additions to our towns, the mural painted by the Rosarios being the first that comes to mind. We have opportunities to do more great things as well. Keeping in mind all ideas comes with pros and cons here is what I have.

Starting with a staple of every small town, the downtown experience. What can we do to use our history and bring people in to experience the best of what we have to offer? Supporting the small business we do have downtown and encouraging more ambitious individuals to fill up storefronts and pursue their dreams. A challenge I see facing downtowns in Iowa is being able to preserve parts of history while still growing and developing a sense of identity. I don’t have the answers but downtown is a place for us to rally.

Another item I would like to address is transparency in our local governments. I would like to preface that I do not usually attend city council meetings with my busy schedule (along with being in college most months of the year) I do not see everything that happens, I read Mike’s excellent articles and peek through minutes.

Something I firmly believe is in this day and age of technology city councils need to start adapting and record meetings to the internet. Whether it be a YouTube video or a Facebook livestream, all these local governments need to do is purchase an iPad with a decent microphone, problem solved. Access to what your town is doing seems like common sense to me.

No more complaining about decisions online, read our articles or watch the livestream. Everyone deserves access to things said in public meetings, regardless of what time they work. Lets live in the 21st century, if you don’t change with the times young people will continue to leave small town Iowa at astronomical rates.

The last thing I would like to touch on is maybe the thing I am most passionate about, connecting local young people to our community. Why do you live in Tama-Toledo? Think through that question, and I encourage you to respond in the facebook comments or to those who are particularly motivated send in a letter to the editor. My point with that exercise is to think through what draws us to our community, think deeper than just work! I’ll even list mine: I live in Tama-Toledo because of our diversity, potential, and our ability to step up when someone or something needs help.

My idea to keep our community thriving for years to come is by helping our youth find that sense of purpose and as Mrs. Chyma at the high school always said “How can we find our why?” Doing those two things at a young age not only benefits us, but raises better people.

Pairing young people with entrepreneurs, offering more opportunities to volunteer, learning our history, sharing our talents, celebrating our accomplishments, working towards better. All these things may seem high in the sky, but I assure you everything on that list can be done if passionate people step up to the plate and take this on. Our future is our responsibility.

I love this community with all of my heart. When I come home from college I am proud of where I live. I am proud of growing up in a diverse town with opportunities for everyone. If only five people read this little opinion piece on page four of the newspaper or see it by chance in their Facebook feed, I hope it inspires them to take a step up and be proud of us.

Together we can achieve great things.

With my utmost respect and admiration,

Jonathan Meyer