Looking up

Things are going pretty well here in Jefferson Davis County.

The boss that was supposed to head the team, the one that pissed off the CRC, was placed in charge of a different project, and a new person was put in charge of the team.

It is such an improvement from the old micromanaging boss. There are a couple of key differences.

Now, we are no longer forbidden from talking with the county government and other key stakeholders. The old boss was so afraid of politics that he would not let us interact with government officials. We also could not talk to members of the Foundation, the largest land owner in the county.

Let me explain why this is so important. The entire housing stock of the county was trashed and much of it will not be rebuilt. In fact, much of it is below sea level, so it does not make sense to build it back. The only way to get people back in the county in a logical way is to build a new neighborhood in some of the Foundation’s land. They own thousands of vacant acres so there is plenty of space for a new neighborhood. We even wrote up a bunch of recovery projects that assumed the Foundation would sell land, but we never talked to them. We don’t even now if they are willing to sell.

So now, we are able to talk to them and everyone else we want!

Also, when people bring up ideas in staff meetings, they are not rejected automatically.

Finally, the new boss can think strategically. The old boss just missed the big picture so often, went off on tangents, missed opportunities, etc.

In any case, hopefully things will continue this well.