Date: 3/31/2022
Tags: Community
“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” -Sydney J. Harris
“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” - Arnold Bennett
Several weeks ago, I wrote a Mayor’s Message that began with a quote regarding “comfort” and “truth” and how one affects the other. This week, I want to talk a bit about comfort and change, and how they interact in our lives. I have known quite a few individuals throughout my career who shun change due to their belief that change will require them to give up ways that they are used to, which fit their routine. Then, there are others that I know that welcome change, feeling that it brings a completely new perspective for looking at their lives.
In my role as a public official, I have encountered more resistance to change than acceptance, especially when it deals with an issue affecting a resident’s day-to-day life. Darien elected officials, when faced with resistance to change from residents, have to weigh what is good for the city as a whole versus how a change might affect a small group or even one individual. In almost all cases, we usually select that which has the greatest positive impact on the majority of our residents. One such program is our new waste collection and recycling program. We sought and negotiated a program that we felt would best serve the majority, if not all of our residents. We believe we have such a program, and we heard from and responded to a very small segment who are upset regarding this change due to its impact on their daily and or weekly routine. As the quote above states, “any change for the better is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts,” and we are now going through a transition, where there might be some “discomforts” until we complete that transition and our new service becomes the norm. I thank so many of you who are looking positively at this change and have welcomed it, and I assure all of you dealing with some anxiety regarding this change that in several months you will understand why we chose this path of change.