EDITORIAL: We can make our future

Written by by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 04 January 2000 18:00

Growing a city isn’t getting any easier, as Mayor Delores Dalke explains in our in-depth interview with Growing a city isn’t getting any easier, as Mayor Delores Dalke explains in our in-depth interview with her on Page 1. Be assured, change will be the primary constant as we try to find our way through the coming decade. Trying to react to—much less anticipate—those changes sometimes seems foreboding. We can take some comfort in the assurance that Hillsboro is ahead of the pack when we compare what we’ve done to prepare for future to the challenge facing many other rural communities across the state. Dalke is right when she says our greatest asset as we enter a new era is the people who live here. Whatever projects and achievements Hillsboro has accomplished didn’t happen by luck or accident. It took the initiative and sacrifice of visionary leaders to pave the way for positive change. Alongside those leaders are a host of volunteers and service-minded neighbors who haven’t been afraid to roll up their sleeves and make those visions become reality. Our track record for bold initiatives in the past won’t help us much as we cope with the challenges of the future. Our best hope for growth and prosperity will be—and has always been—in the determination of the people who live here. We shouldn’t underestimate what we can accomplish if we set our minds to it—or what we can fail to accomplish if we choose to disengage ourselves from the process.