GETTING PEOPLE INVOLVED

About five years ago, then-Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Tom
Blaine, who was nothing if not candid, talked about appearing before the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee to make his pitch for cash.

"I can see it in their eyes," Col. Blaine said. "They think the war on
drugs is one that can't be won."

Lawmakers, he said, would ask a few questions, bump his allocation up a bit
to guard against being accused of going soft on crime - but they didn't
expect his agency to do more than traipse along. They didn't expect "success."

The space shuttle program has been on people's minds. The Columbia disaster
has deluged us with data that we may not have thought about, or at least
not for a long time.

Imagine attending an engineering conference 30 or so years ago when the
notion of a reusable orbiter was discussed. "Well, we'll have to slow the
craft from 30,000 miles per hour or so to about 200 miles per hour and, in
about 20 minutes drop it from 300,000 feet to sea level," the top dog in
the room would say. "The glide path will be about 4,000 miles long to hit a
three-mile runway with pinpoint precision. With no power at all, the margin
for error will be zero. And, of course, the outer layer must withstand heat
of more than 3,000 degrees."

Now, who, after hearing that, wouldn't just ease out of the room and start
sending some resumes out to other prospective employers? Clearly, most
people would assume - as lawmakers apparently do about illegal drugs - that
there are problems too tough to unravel.

In communities, as a rule, most people also accept the common wisdom that
squabbles and conflicts and feuds and disagreements will carry the day.

In addition to viewing school administration and city and county
governments as a spectator sport (or something to be ignored altogether),
most seem to believe that answers to issues just aren't available, that
squabbling will always carry the day.

Well, into this fray is stepping the Pew Partnership along with the
Mississippi Center for Community and Civic Engagement, based at the
University of Southern Mississippi. These folks will be cranking up their
statewide mission shortly. Under the somewhat goofy name LeadershipPlenty
Mississippi they will be pursuing the notion that the status quo doesn't
have to be the status quo.

In short, they will be telling people (1) problems in their towns can be
solved, and (2) offering to teach skills needed to openly explore
challenges, define a course of action and take it. The first seminars are
in April. The Web site with applications for the program is
www.pew-partnership.org.

If all this gets some people off the sidelines and engaged in
self-government, it will be nothing short of revolutionary.

Not trying to hurt anyone's feelings or anything, but the reality is that
all across this state and probably in others, too, "courthouse crowds"
develop. At city halls, too, the same people attend public hearings, show
up for protests and such. As often as not, these folks are on the fringes
or at the extremes of an issue.

There's nothing wrong with that, but what the LeadershipPlenty people say
is middle-of-the-road people who are hanging back, reading the headlines or
watching council meetings on public access TV, might yearn to be involved -
but lack confidence in their skills to mediate or suggest alternatives.

Make no mistake, problem-solving is an art, and it can be taught and, in
many cases, learned and put into action.

"Strengthening leadership is about establishing new ways of thinking and
new patterns of behavior, said Suzanne Morse, executive director of the
Virginia-based Pew Partnership. "This program is a practical and accessible
training program to help citizens think and act in new ways to better their
communities - together."

Somehow, the doubters have to be overcome. Somehow, those who think it's
funny to see local schools and city and county officials flounder and
bicker and waste have to hear a call to action.

Mississippi is the first state where the community leadership program,
funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, is being offered.

If it fails, we won't hear much more about it. But to the extent it
succeeds, we'll all be a lot better off.

Charlie Mitchell is managing editor of The Vicksburg Post