Brewed Fresh Daily

BFD reader Lisa Kious kindly pointed me to the letters to the editor regarding the recently announced poverty summit. I love what Gary Zwick of Solon is saying:

Congratulations to The Plain Dealer and other me dia outlets in Cleveland. After several years of regurgitating various lists detailing what a bad place Cleveland is to live, they've finally convinced me. I give up. While it's too late for me and my wife (we're here for the duration), we are counseling both of our children, both of whom are attending schools outside of Ohio, not to come back. Apparently, this is not a good place to be, for any reason. And even if this is counterintuitive, perception is reality... And now we learn that Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell is calling on a group of 40 community leaders to address the poverty issue. While the makeup of the group is as yet unknown, I suspect that we all know most of the people who will be on the list: the usual suspects... This town has a vibrant small business community and a first- class middle-market professional community. Many of these people are ready, willing and able to be part of the solution, without any personal or monetary agendas other than to make Cleveland a better place to work and live. But there will not be, nor has there ever been, a place at the table for us.

How can we stop parents from telling their children to move away and not come back? How can we engage the Mayor to invite unusual suspects to participate? If the table is too small, can we loose the table and bring more chairs? That got me thinking about Open Space Technology. Remember Canadian Tables? I think it's time to turn the tables on edge and use them for something other than to keep people apart.