I’ve heard about the vision three or four times now.
You know’the one about the Lake Orion High School grad who, while sitting in some California coffee shop sipping a latte, opens a magazine and finds a feature from back home.
‘Orion Township, one of the coolest places on earth to live, to work, to do business.?
It’s Orion Township Supervisor Matt Gibb’s vision, or so he says, one he talks about when speaking to students at LOHS. One he tells the rest of Orion, too, explaining he hopes the kids will graduate from college and bring their highly-educated heads back home to further enhance the community.
Gibb has big dreams for this town and its future. But maybe’when it means he can’t take five minutes to return a phone call from Orion’s future’those dreams are a little too big.
Here’s an illustration: Here at The Lake Orion Review, we’ve got a bright young intern. Leah Yanuszeski is an LOHS senior, and a few weeks back she began working on a story about SCATE Technology, an Orion Township-based company.
When Leah came back from the interview, she mentioned the SCATE people told her they’d done some work with Gibb.
Great, I said. Give Matt a call.
It wasn’t imperative she talk to him for the story, but more sources make a better story, and it’s good for a young journalist to cover all the bases.
He didn’t her call back. I wasn’t particularly surprised. Now, to give the supervisor his due, I’ll say this: Matt Gibb has spent a fair amount of time talking with me, both in person and on the phone since I’ve been in Orion.
Then again, he’s also left many phone calls unreturned, even when I’ve said ‘It’s important. It’ll only take a second.?
it’s irritating, but unreturned phone calls are part of my job, and I expect I’ll have to chase some people.
But come on. Don’t don’t blow off the 17-year-old honor student intern from right here in Orion.
So I called the supervisor, left a message on his cell.
‘Call my intern back, would you?? Probably a little snippy, but come on.
Still, nothing. So I sent him a note on Facebook.
‘My intern has the potential to be one of those kids sitting in the coffee shop four years from now. Can you please give her five minutes of your time?
Crickets. Nothing.
So tell me, Mr. Gibb: What’s the message?