January 1, 2018
Greetings FOCUS friends,
FOCUS was established 20 years ago under the leadership of founding Executive Director Chuckie Holstein. As a visionary leader in community and civic engagement Chuckie established a reputation and a culture of engaging FOCUS participants in the topics and issues of vital interest to our community. Over these 20 years FOCUS has taken a leadership role in bringing forward the ideas, hopes and desires of our citizens, informing our elected officials about their interests; and providing the community with a non-partisan vehicle for stimulating and fostering needed discussions about the challenges and opportunities in our community.
The staff and Board of Directors are committed to continuing to fulfill the goals and objectives of FOCUS established two decades ago. In today’s world, achieving those goals and objectives will require us to find opportunities to work with other local agencies and organizations that are committed to fostering community and economic development via citizen engagement and constructive dialogue.
To reach a larger community audience, we will need to expand our means and methods for delivering important and timely information to our community, and we will need to dig deeper into the reasons why various parts of our community are unable, or disinterested in participating in the public forum. At the same time, we will increase our efforts to celebrate and remind our fellow citizens of the good work and exciting accomplishments that are happening every day in our city, our towns and our villages.
FOCUS is ready to take on the challenge of promoting productive dialogue in an era when contentious or controversial issues and long-standing problems have the potential to hold back our community from fulfilling our potential. Our past record of success via a non-political, citizen-centered approach has positioned us for just such a challenge.
So as FOCUS moves ahead I look forward to meeting you and I encourage you to send me your thoughts and suggestions on how we can continue to be a positive and productive force in Central New York. Our community needs good volunteers who are willing to put their experience to work in making this an even better place to live, work and play; and FOCUS can use all the help we can get. You can contact me directly at (315) 448-8732 or jkeib@syrgov.net
Sincerely,
Jim Keib
Executive Director
FOCUS Greater Syracuse Inc.
