Residents kick off vision for Columbia

As Emily Malloy walked into the Imagine Columbia’s Future citizen topic groups kickoff at West Junior High School on Wednesday night, she was excited to put her faith into action by fighting to find homes for the homeless living on Columbia’s streets.

“That is what Jesus would do, so that is what my faith lived out looks like,” said Malloy, who is a member of the health, social services and affordable housing topic group. “The humanity I’ve seen in (the homeless) makes me want to do anything I can to help them.”

Along with Malloy, more than 200 people showed up to participate in one of 13 topic groups dealing with issues such as economic development, environmental conservation, transportation and social services. The meeting was the first of six planned monthly meetings aimed at giving citizens a chance to picture what Columbia could look like in the next 25 years.

After a brief welcome from co-chairman Jeffrey Williams and an overview of what was to be accomplished in this meeting by ACP consultant Jennifer Lindbom, the attendees were separated into the 13 citizen topic groups.

As a member of the transportation topic group, Rosemary Stevens, said she would like to see the kind of development that would make it easier for people to get to their jobs and that would cut down on traffic.

“I’d like to see them do a lot of visioning for the next 15 to 20 years,” Stevens said. “I want comprehensive transportation development, particularly in industrial areas so that they are more accessible.”

The development group was the largest group with approximately 50 members. In its session, the group discussed such subtopics as infrastructure, land preservation, neighborhoods, plan and manage growth and redevelopment.

Development group member Celeste Mazzacano said her interests lie in the environment and city growth.

“I live in a really old part of town,” Mazzacano said. “I’d rather see people living in established parts of the city instead of newer areas.”

Vision Committee co-chairwoman Dianne Drainer said she felt the kickoff was a successful one.

“There was positive energy from everyone as they came out of the sessions,” she said.

Upon arriving at the meeting, Scott Cristal was unsure as to what group he wanted to belong. Eventually, he settled on the economic development group.

“I came to find out what exciting things we’re going to do in the future,” said Cristal, who mentioned he wants economic development to “keep Columbia really vibrant.”

According to the meeting’s agenda, the purpose of this first meeting was “to review all the ideas generated during the Big Idea Gathering Meetings conducted in fall 2006 and to begin developing goals that represent the community’s aspirations for the future.”

Steve Smith, president of Premier Bank and a member of the development group, said he has no agenda for what he would like to see come out of the visioning meetings. He just hopes that it is balanced and a practical plan.

“If it is balanced, it is most likely to succeed,” he said.