Fairfield is an unusual town. As a traditional Midwest rural community it has a long and historically significant legacy. But as an oasis of progressive-thought and green design, the town has risen to be one of the most exciting, noteworthy cities in Iowa – if not America. As you can imagine, the clash of these two things can give rise to troubles.

As the creator of the Fairfield, Iowa Fanpage on Facebook, I’ve been blessed with a certain insight into the structures and communication problems of the town. It’s become apparent to me that the town these days no longer divides along the traditional “’roo (meditators) vs. townie” lines it once did (or even “town” and “gown” as it had during the Parson’s College era). Rather, you could say the town now splits between what I’d call traditionalists and progressives. The overlap between roos/progressives and traditionalists/townies is certainly large, but no longer accurate – there are now quite a few people in Fairfield who have no interest in meditation, but do want to see the town progress and change.

The traditionalists believe that Fairfield is – or more accurately was – a fine town, the pride of Iowa, and is being degraded by the restless, crazy influence of the progressives.

The progressives believe that Fairfield was some small, unremarkable town, but can be made into a utopia, a green mecca for social and environment causes, a future slowed or outright opposed by the traditionalists.

I believe that, for the most part, what causes friction between these two groups is a lack of understanding and communication skills. I’ll show you what I mean by the debate over the Quiet Zone.

Train traffic has increased significantly over the past few years (on average, 15 trains a day in 2001 to 58 in 2006). In addition to this, train whistle technology has made it more effective (louder). More trains, each one being louder than the ones of ten, twenty, thirty years ago. Some progressives got quite fed up with it, and checked into things. As it turns out, you can make the train whistles stop – by making train track crossings safer than they are now.

I want to stress this point: If we upgrade the safety of track crossings, then whistles are no longer necessary. If you approached the traditionalists and said: Will you donate to increase safety at railroad crossings? I feel very certain they would donate and/or pass along that information to everyone they knew. Who would be opposed to increasing safety? A minor point (less train noise) would have been virtually unopposed.

But progressives think like progressives, and the increased safety was good bonus, but not the point. The point was being able to sleep at night, to rid the community of the annoyance. The sale of this idea to the community, then, was in a progressive vocabulary of increasing quality of life (putting the safety issue as a side point) – even to the extent of the project being named the Quiet Zone (as opposed to “The Safety Zone” or other titles).

This was a failure to understand traditionalists. They tend to be older, having lived here longer, and some of them know someone who was killed on the tracks, or was almost hit when the guards did not drop before the train came through, but was saved due to the horn.

On the posters promoting the Quiet Zone initiative, it reads “STOP THE TRAIN WHISTLE!”

To the surprise of progressives, quite a lot of people did not want to see a vital safety measure disappear, and certainly not to accommodate relative newcomers who just don’t like noise.  The issue quickly boiled down to a perception that progressives are trying to warp the town to their bizarre needs, to the detriment of everyone else.  The progressives are left repeating themselves over and over – things would be safer, the whistles are louder and more frequent than before, other towns are doing it, etc – but the damage is done.

I’m writing this post in hopes of bringing these two groups together in a mutual understanding of the key point: Both groups want what is best for the town. Both groups want this town to be the best around, to have everyone be happy and healthy.

We may disagree on how to do that, but the desire is the same. Traditionalists may want to bring in another factory like Dexter to increase employment and support the local economy. Progressives may want to create an edible forest/orchard for the community to use. Rather than dismiss one group or the other as unrealistic or ignorant, we should take the time to understand how the other side thinks and sees the world, and speak to them in that language.

Progressives respond well to words like: sustainable, green, off-grid, spiritual, giving, Earth, heart, body, soul, growing, intensive, intuitive, love, holy, saints, new, human, gardens, environment, peace, and so on.

Traditionalists respond well to words like: safety, tax-breaks/incentives, local government, democracy, industry, employment, maintenance, historical, trade, rural, agriculture, traditional values, religion, and so on.

As a progressive, it’s my duty to re-define what I see in terms that the entire community – including traditionalists – can understand.

An example: Let’s say I want to start a program that takes food wastes from restaurants and grocery stores and brings it to a city-run central composting area.

For progressives, I should talk about reduced landfill wastes, the increased abundance of local compost, and how it is a step towards self-sufficiency (now all we need is to grow the food locally, and we’ll be set!)

For traditionalists, I should talk about increased revenue for the city via sale of compost, the creation of new jobs, increased tourism (helping local businesses) and possible grant money coming in.

If something is a benefit to the community, it can definitely be shown as a boon in all different lights – a tight-rope to walk, perhaps in this community more than others, but well worth the effort up front. Without due consideration for both sides, it seems inevitable that tempers will flare and misunderstanding will occur… and that bickering helps no one.

So please remember, Fairfielders: when you present an idea for the benefit of the community (and you want it to succeed), be sure to take the balanced approach and include benefits to both progressives and traditionalists.

Yes, it’s been a while since our last Fairfield Story, but I’m back to tell you about Rustin Lippincott.

Recruited to Fairfield to be the Executive Director of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Rustin was soon asked to become the Executive Director of the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center as well.

A single dad, who recently became engaged to Lindsay Haskins of Cedar Falls, Rustin is a native Iowan having grown up in Ft. Madison where he competed in wrestling, football, and baseball.

After college, Rustin worked in an ad agency in Cedar Falls which tapped his innate talent to promote. After the agency, he worked for the Cedar Valley Catholic school district, where he marketed the value and benefits of a religious education and the student athletes – whom he was integrally involved with as their football and wrestling coach. Not only did he hone his promotional skills there, but he also learned a lesson about how the decisions not-for-profit boards make for the good of the organization are not always the most popular in the community.

He was soon recruited by the city of  Nauvoo to lead efforts to promote their unique community as the director of their Convention and Visitors Bureau. In Nauvoo, Rustin had the opportunity to promote a piece of American history, and became as passionate about promoting Nauvoo and its history to prospective visitors as the residents were about their community.  Ironically, Nauvoo had a unique set of challenges, as the people who had lived there for generations were initially at odds with newcomers. Those newcomers were the Mormons who regard Nauvoo as a major part of their religious history. As a result, many have chosen to reside there and many Mormon visitors from around the world are drawn there – sound somewhat familiar?

Rustin has gleaned a lot from each of these experiences. Most notably, his ability to find the balance between unique groups and to galvanize their individual passions to become one that  promotes the economic values of tourism. Which, as Rustin aptly puts it “gets each group to where they want to go.”

This is not only true of the City of Fairfield, but in his role at the FACC where he seeks to mend fences and to bring everyone in town with a stake in the future of Fairfield to join together to support the Center for the betterment of the entire community.

Rustin resides in town with his daughter Jada, and when asked what he loves most about Fairfield, he sincerely had trouble keeping his response to less than 20 minutes. So when pressed, he summed it up as being with Jada and to attend events as a regular guy having fun with family and friends – to not be “on the job.” He loves to eat out in town and while doing so, to people watch,  thoroughly enjoying Fairfield’s diversity.

In addition to running the CVB and the FACC, Rustin serves on the boards of the Fairfield Beautification Commission, FPAC, The Volunteer Center and Rotary. He is also Iowa’s representative on the Tri-State Development and Tourism Taskforce as well as the VP of Marketing for the Eastern Iowa Tourism Association.

Rustin believes that Fairfield’s  unique selling proposition is that we are like a big city in small town Iowa. We’re heavily influenced by arts and culture and a strong manufacturing community, yet supported by Midwestern values. He believes we have the “best of both worlds” right here in our backyard. And he wants residents to come out and experience everything that visitors are coming to Fairfield to do and to enjoy our community as much as they do.

His role with the FACC is a natural, as it is one of the many assets we have that draw meetings and visitors to town. What he loves about it, is that the FACC provides residents with a great venue to host activities and to feature the community’s talents. He also loves that it’s a gathering place for all generations -  kids, adults, and seniors. Rustin is working hard for it to become the entertainment hub in Fairfield doing everything from hosting weddings and the high school prom, to trade shows, and featuring performers of all kinds. With all that the Center provides the community, he just wants it  to be on peoples’ minds when they are looking for something to do to have fun. To be in the mix and to be known as a place where there is always something to do for practically everyone in town…

Rustin clearly loves both of his jobs. He is passionate about promoting the unique community that Fairfield has become. For as he likes to say “Fairfield offers something for everyone, and you don’t have to look very far for something that will make you smile.”

And smiles are something that Rustin Lippincott always seems to have something to do with…

The short ‘n’ sweet: There’s a new Facebook Fan Page for Fairfield – Fairfield, Iowa – run by yours truly.

The longer story:

I’ve spend an ungodly amount of time on Facebook since it became the replacement for MySpace… way back in the early 2000’s. Back then there was no such thing as a “Page” we had groups. My enthusiasm for Fairfield was strong then, too, and I created the group “I Grew Up in Fairfield, Iowa” which slowly grew to the current size of 1,058 members.

But it didn’t quite fit. A group devoted to people who grew up in Fairfield was quite limiting (even with a very open interpretation of “growing up”) and missed the mark. As time went on the implementation of “Pages” became better and more popular. So I watched and waited for someone, anyone, to make a fan page for it. Time went on, with every business and organization in town creating a Page of their own…. but Fairfield itself was left alone.

So I took it.

My plan for it is the same plan I’ve run the group by for the past several years: Let’s celebrate our town together. All issues are up for debate in a civilized and adult manner – I won’t hesitate to kick or delete vulgar posts or people. I am neutral on all issues – you’ll never see me posting for or against something. Instead of giving an opinion I will ask for yours. Beyond provoking dialog and editing out obscenities I have a hands-off approach… I enjoy watching a group grow on it’s own.

The success of the Page can speak for itself. In the week it’s been up we’re up to 1,646 fans – we gained almost a hundred more just today. The Mayor has posted his approval, and there’s been no shortage of people posting their favorite memories of the town or voicing their opinions. I’ve added every other Fairfield area business’ Page, along with posting links to other Fairfield websites. So if you’ve missed it, become a fan of our awesome town!

(By the way, if you’re interested in becoming an admin for the Page let me know. I may be leaving town again for a good long while, so I need another neutral person to manage the page while I’m gone.)

It was standing room only at tonight’s Fairfield City Council meeting as over eighty residents packed City Hall. The council opened up the meeting to hear public comments on the proposed vote to shift 12.5% of the local option sales tax (LOST) to create a public-private partnership between the City of Fairfield and the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center.

Mayor Ed Malloy opened the public hearing explaining that the question before the council tonight was whether to put the issue to a public vote, which would probably take place on May 4th. Getting ahead of perhaps the biggest criticism of the proposed funding of the FACC, Mayor Malloy explained that the FACC grows the revenue for LOST and therefore will contribute to sewers and streets (which currently receive 75% of LOST funds). Furthermore the Mayor assured that the re-allocation of LOST funds to the FACC, would not take away any current allocation of LOST funds to sewers and streets.

In a lighter moment from the meeting, residents were asked to limit their comments to two and a half minutes, with a thirty second warning given by City Clerk Joy Messer.

Over a dozen residents addressed the council and nearly all of them told the Mayor the issue should be put to a public vote (no matter whether or not they supported the re-allocation of funding).

Public comments opened with several FACC supporters speaking, including Dave Neff, Ken Ross, Fred Swartz and Pat McMahon (Fred and Pat are both members of the FACC board of directors). They were all well spoken and represented different perspectives on why the FACC is an asset to the community and therefore important to support with public funding.

Ken Ross, who has run several companies in Fairfield, provided a business perspective on one of the biggest criticisms of the FACC – a poor business plan that had to be redone. He explained that it’s common for a business plan to be re-written once a venture is launched in order to adapt to new information and unforeseen challenges.

Ray Griffin was the first resident to speak in opposition to the proposed funding of the FACC. Ray Griffin is also the author of a recent ad in the Fairfield Ledger where he argued that “bailing out the Civic Center” may jeopardize other programs like Little League, Police Department, Jefferson County Trails, Green Strategic Plan, and Parks Department. He addressed the council with concerns over lack of education over the proposed partnership and potential increase of property taxes. Mr. Griffin argued that if the FACC were to take LOST funds, then other entities would be underfunded, which would then force an increase in property taxes to cover the difference.

Another resident who addressed the council agreed to hold the vote, although she was opposed to the proposition of funding FACC. She expressed her opposition by questioning priorities. “What would happen if the public voted on more funds for our streets?”

The most unique comment of the evening came from resident Denyce Rusch, who spoke not of business plans, costs, or tax priorities, but of taking a sick relative to a musical at the FACC, and the emotional value of having access to the arts in our community.

After hearing everyone in the crowd who wished to speak, the council spoke briefly about the proposal, including a short thank you from councilwoman Susan Silvers who thanked the residents in attendance for voicing their different opinions “in a professional manner” (unlike some of the more heated hearings this council has witnessed in the past).

The council voted unanimously to put the proposition to a public vote this Spring. The next immediate step for the FACC board is to find residents of Jefferson County to convince their officials this coming Thursday to approve a similar vote for county residents.

Our first annual Best Of Fairfield poll ended at midnight on New Year’s Eve.  Over 6,000 votes were cast by our readers and we are happy to announce the following winners.

Best Coffee – Cafe Paradiso

Java artisan Cafe Paradiso won our poll with 48% of the votes. In second place was Revelations with 24% and apparently a fair amount of our readers perform their morning coffee ritual at McDonalds, which received 7% of the votes. Check out Cafe Paradiso’s new location on the square, just west of George’s.

Best Musical Act – Porno Galactica

For two months The Jefferson County Green Band was running away with Best Musical Act in Fairfield Iowa. But a few days before polls closed on New Year’s Eve, brothers Philip Rabalais and Dominic Rabalais, also know as local electronic band Porno Galactica, launched a campaign on Facebook to get enough votes (35%) to take the lead from The Jefferson County Green Band (25%). If you don’t start dancing by the time Porno Galactica’s song Sea Best Released is over; then you just might be dead.

Best Restaurant – Revelations

How far they have come! Revelations, once a tiny book store serving coffee, is now considered by 39% of voters in our poll to be the best restaurant in Fairfield. In second place was Top of the Rock Grill with 20% of the vote.  Did you know you can order online at Revelations?

Best Civic Leader – Ed Malloy

Ed Malloy handily won our reader’s choice for Best Civic Leader with 52% of the vote. Those are some shoes to fill! Dave Neff came in second with 20% of the vote.

Best Entrepeneur – Francis Thicke

Francis Thicke of Radiance Dairy and candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, narrowly won with 35% of the votes, over Eric Schwartz of Cambridge (33%). Francis Thicke shows through the power of example how to build and operate a successful, sustainable agriculture business and his next step is to take that example to the capitol of Iowa.

Best Lunchtime Buffet – Noodle House

More votes were cast for this category than any other. With the lead changing daily between Noodle House (25%) and Arandas Mexican Buffet (23%). It makes sense to me – if I were to look back at the hundreds of buffet lunches I’ve eaten out since moving to Fairfield it would probably come down to a toss up between the Coconut Chicken at Noodle House and the Taco bar at Arandas. FYI – you can get Noodle House’s coconut chicken on Thursday’s.

Best Teacher – Kevin Hosbond

Fairfield High School’s English teacher Kevin Hosbond received 30% of the votes in this category. I don’t have the pleasure of knowing Kevin personally, but I’ve seen him recently dressed as the Mad Hatter and have had the pleasure of working with former students of his who give him the highest praise.

Best Art Gallery – Icon Gallery

The Icon Gallery ran away with this award by receiving 55% of the votes. The Icon Gallery continues to bring the quality and presentation of a big city art gallery to Fairfield. I often feel like I am transported to a space in Chicago or New York when I walk through their doors.

Best Spot for a Playdate – Chautauqua Park

My daughter agrees with the our readers response (31%) that Chautauqua Park is the best spot for a playdate. With multiple playgrounds, lots of room to run and trees to climb; it’s hard to beat Chautauqua Park whether your 4 or 40 years old.

Most notable “other” vote – Pizza Ranch

Pizza Ranch received several hundred votes between several categories, including Best Spot for Playdate, Best Lunchtime Buffet, Best Restaurant and Best Art Gallery.

Congratulations to the winners of our Best of Fairfield 2009 awards.  We’ll be featuring each of the winners on Fairfield Voice and providing them with plaques or store window stickers to show off their award.  If you have any feedback on how we can run our 2010 awards, please let us know.

Fairfield Voice launched on March 19th of 2009 with a story covering the controversy around the construction of a new cell phone tower on Depot Ave. Since that story was published there have been over 200 more stories and opinions posted on Fairfield Voice by a diverse group of local writers. Over 1400 comments have been posted to those stories; offering a variety of opinions, feedback and ideas from people all around town.

Looking back on the news and opinion around town we had:

Controversy over cell towers and bike lanes . . .

The completion of the highway 34 bypass which meant a summer of road construction through the middle of town and a significant change to how we drive through town . . .

Together as an community we experienced the troubled economy first hand, with many businesses closed and jobs lost, but also saw residents turn lemons to lemonade by creating new opportunities . . .

Two local stories from this year will carry us into 2010. First the controversy around the FACCs request for public financing, which is sure to be a tough sell to tax payers who are sensitive to anything that looks like another bailout.

Second we have one of our very own, Francis Thicke, running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Looking forward to 2010, I asked the writers of Fairfield Voice what stories they hope to cover in the coming year:

• The Quiet Zone funded, approved and implemented.
• Noise ordinance enforced (specifically loud motorcycles & Jake brakes).
• How the community took serious steps to reducing townie and roo divisiveness, and found understanding and acceptance.
• Plans in place for program to install sidewalks in the places that don’t have them.
• The election of Francis Thicke to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and the potential national impact on how we grow food.
• Retail vacancies on the Square filled with new businesses.

What stories would you like to see covered in 2010? Was there a under-reported story from 2009 that deserves mention?

Happy New Year Fairfield!