(March 24, 2016) Berlin Mayor Gee Williams remains, unquestionably, bullish on the future of Berlin.
During an interview last week, Williams said the number of new developments in town were complimentary to both “the Berlin we had been, and the Berlin we’re trying to become.” That includes, he said, more than just the opportunity for economic growth, but also for the growth of a unique community of shared values.
As he sees it, the town, while still largely working class, is also becoming “a community of small business owners.”
“My personal perception is, I’m not looking for some big industry to come in here and set up a plant, and then 20 years from now they all pick up and go to China, or to hell, or wherever,” he said. “When you have smaller businesses of 50 employees, 30 employees, 15 employees, 12 employees, 5 employees, those people take root; they put roots in their community, and that’s why they succeed.
“That is how you build a stable community that is interconnected and interdependent, and that’s the direction I see Berlin going for a long, long time,” he added. “I think that growth is inevitable – anybody who thinks you can control growth is fooling themselves – but it is our responsibility, as a community, to manage growth.”
He said he sees the downtown area filling out the gaps along its borders, but largely staying within its existing footprint.
“We have this beautiful, residential neighborhood downtown. We have a fairly revitalized downtown commercial area, with apartments above, and because it’s all so new, there’s a little scab around the edges,” Williams said. “It’s not bad – it’s part of the healing – but that’s the next thing we need to fix that’s appropriate for both the neighborhood that will be on one side, and for the commercial entities on the inside.”
Ideally, the area would have a common link between arts and entertainment and commercial development, potentially including more public art.
“There are so many empty palettes, begging [for it],” Williams said. “They should each address a different interest, a different style, express the diversity of our community and the diversity of our nation, and sort of have a ‘Berlin’ feel to it.”
Williams said he was an early adopter, during the early 1990s, of what state planners called “smart growth.” He uses that approach now in helping to map Berlin’s future.
“I learned a lot about it. It’s like going to college all over again,” he said. “Smart growth, some people think, is no growth. Nope. Not at all. Smart growth is making decisions for the community you are, and for the community you want to be.”
Key ingredients in Berlin that allow for smart growth, according to Williams, are a demographic that is getting younger, and one that is “centered around families,” as opposed to big business or any single industry.
It is also one with a diverse number of backgrounds that, at its best, comes together for a single, beneficial purpose.
“Our values are based on tolerance, they’re based on opportunity, they’re based on mutual support and cooperation, and they’re based on the fact that we don’t care where you come from and we don’t care what your religion is. As long as you have some sort of belief in God, that’s between you and God,” he said.
“I think Berlin is trying, in our own little way, to send out a message that, if you share our values of mutual respect and tolerance and cooperation and support – in good times and bad – please help us become a better Berlin,” Williams continued. “These attributes took generations to evolve. To think that we started as a plantation and now we are a community of opportunity? That makes me so proud. It’s not about what job we have, it’s about what kind of community we have – where we came from, where we are, and what we have the potential for.”
Williams said a watershed moment for him came in 1976, when he was still working as a journalist. The United States Bicentennial was being celebrated, both nationally and locally, and he was one of many volunteers helping in his hometown.
“It brought people together,” he said. “That was the first time I could remember when we literally had East Berlin and West Berlin come together. And guess what? We were all Americans, and it never went back to the way it was.
“It’s all very doable, and that’s why I refuse to be discouraged by what I see in the, what I call, the ‘reality TV excuse for an election,’” he continued. “Despite what’s going on in the national political realm, I’m more optimistic about Berlin’s future than ever.”
Williams added, “only in half jest,” that Berlin was not interested in building walls as was suggested by a certain presidential candidate.
“I believe in building bridges – bridges of understanding, bridges of cooperation, bridges or tolerance,” he said. “We would not be the Berlin we are today if that decision had not been made long ago. If anybody wants to build a wall in this country, they need to built it around Washington, D.C. Get all of them in there, and don’t let them out for four years and let the rest of us fix everything.
“There is nothing happening in this community and nothing that I can see potentially happening that scares me at all,” Williams added. “We’ve got some challenges. We’ve got some hard decisions to make here and there, but they’re not make-or-break decisions. It’s about, do we reach our destination by going a little this way, or do we go back a little this way, or do we go straight down the middle and, in reality, do a little of both.
“The key is for the destination of this community [to remain], which is, to be truly 21st century small-town America, reflecting all the best characteristics of this country. That is where we’re at and where we’re going to continue to go,” Williams said. “We’ve worked too long for too many generations to get where we are, and we know it doesn’t happen magically.”
During an interview last week, Williams said the number of new developments in town were complimentary to both “the Berlin we had been, and the Berlin we’re trying to become.” That includes, he said, more than just the opportunity for economic growth, but also for the growth of a unique community of shared values.
As he sees it, the town, while still largely working class, is also becoming “a community of small business owners.”
“My personal perception is, I’m not looking for some big industry to come in here and set up a plant, and then 20 years from now they all pick up and go to China, or to hell, or wherever,” he said. “When you have smaller businesses of 50 employees, 30 employees, 15 employees, 12 employees, 5 employees, those people take root; they put roots in their community, and that’s why they succeed.
“That is how you build a stable community that is interconnected and interdependent, and that’s the direction I see Berlin going for a long, long time,” he added. “I think that growth is inevitable – anybody who thinks you can control growth is fooling themselves – but it is our responsibility, as a community, to manage growth.”
He said he sees the downtown area filling out the gaps along its borders, but largely staying within its existing footprint.
“We have this beautiful, residential neighborhood downtown. We have a fairly revitalized downtown commercial area, with apartments above, and because it’s all so new, there’s a little scab around the edges,” Williams said. “It’s not bad – it’s part of the healing – but that’s the next thing we need to fix that’s appropriate for both the neighborhood that will be on one side, and for the commercial entities on the inside.”
Ideally, the area would have a common link between arts and entertainment and commercial development, potentially including more public art.
“There are so many empty palettes, begging [for it],” Williams said. “They should each address a different interest, a different style, express the diversity of our community and the diversity of our nation, and sort of have a ‘Berlin’ feel to it.”
Williams said he was an early adopter, during the early 1990s, of what state planners called “smart growth.” He uses that approach now in helping to map Berlin’s future.
“I learned a lot about it. It’s like going to college all over again,” he said. “Smart growth, some people think, is no growth. Nope. Not at all. Smart growth is making decisions for the community you are, and for the community you want to be.”
Key ingredients in Berlin that allow for smart growth, according to Williams, are a demographic that is getting younger, and one that is “centered around families,” as opposed to big business or any single industry.
It is also one with a diverse number of backgrounds that, at its best, comes together for a single, beneficial purpose.
“Our values are based on tolerance, they’re based on opportunity, they’re based on mutual support and cooperation, and they’re based on the fact that we don’t care where you come from and we don’t care what your religion is. As long as you have some sort of belief in God, that’s between you and God,” he said.
“I think Berlin is trying, in our own little way, to send out a message that, if you share our values of mutual respect and tolerance and cooperation and support – in good times and bad – please help us become a better Berlin,” Williams continued. “These attributes took generations to evolve. To think that we started as a plantation and now we are a community of opportunity? That makes me so proud. It’s not about what job we have, it’s about what kind of community we have – where we came from, where we are, and what we have the potential for.”
Williams said a watershed moment for him came in 1976, when he was still working as a journalist. The United States Bicentennial was being celebrated, both nationally and locally, and he was one of many volunteers helping in his hometown.
“It brought people together,” he said. “That was the first time I could remember when we literally had East Berlin and West Berlin come together. And guess what? We were all Americans, and it never went back to the way it was.
“It’s all very doable, and that’s why I refuse to be discouraged by what I see in the, what I call, the ‘reality TV excuse for an election,’” he continued. “Despite what’s going on in the national political realm, I’m more optimistic about Berlin’s future than ever.”
Williams added, “only in half jest,” that Berlin was not interested in building walls as was suggested by a certain presidential candidate.
“I believe in building bridges – bridges of understanding, bridges of cooperation, bridges or tolerance,” he said. “We would not be the Berlin we are today if that decision had not been made long ago. If anybody wants to build a wall in this country, they need to built it around Washington, D.C. Get all of them in there, and don’t let them out for four years and let the rest of us fix everything.
“There is nothing happening in this community and nothing that I can see potentially happening that scares me at all,” Williams added. “We’ve got some challenges. We’ve got some hard decisions to make here and there, but they’re not make-or-break decisions. It’s about, do we reach our destination by going a little this way, or do we go back a little this way, or do we go straight down the middle and, in reality, do a little of both.
“The key is for the destination of this community [to remain], which is, to be truly 21st century small-town America, reflecting all the best characteristics of this country. That is where we’re at and where we’re going to continue to go,” Williams said. “We’ve worked too long for too many generations to get where we are, and we know it doesn’t happen magically.”