Creating jobs for babies?

Here's a picture of our 16-month old grandson, Elliot, who visited about four weeks ago. (Elliot likes to whack things, and he's holding some pole or stick that was probably intercepted moments after the photo was taken.)

One of the reasons I decided to run for a seat on the Grand Rapids City Council was to help create jobs in our community. That campaign platform seemed to resonate with many people as I knocked on doors and introduced myself.

Since all politics is local, I was also thinking selfishly about the opportunity to create jobs for any of our three grown children, all of whom now live in fairly close proximity to one another in St. Paul. If they wanted to move to a good community to raise their families someday, the biggest challenge for most of them would be finding a job. Finding a meaningful, good job that offered competitive pay and benefits would be even better.

So while I am not a single-issue candidate, I will continue to champion investment in actions the City of Grand Rapids can take to increase the likelihood that good jobs can be created.

We also have to be a community that young families with babies like Elliot will want to live in. What makes our town a good place to live for young families? Probably more than anything else: other young families. And safe neighborhoods. Yards with trees. And interesting things to do. And people with shared interests. And amenities like the Reif Center, the YMCA, the sports complex, parks, biking trails, and much more.

Where is this going? I actually wanted to show a picture of the little person that reinforces our desire to have our children enjoy their lives in a community they love, just as we have. Of course it doesn't have to be Grand Rapids: it's their life. On the other hand, if it worked out that way, we'd be delighted.