And the fantasy continues…
It seemed about time to check back with John Shannon to find out what the Action Central Director has been up to the last several weeks. When we showed up for our appointment, we learned that he’d just returned from Houston.
“A.J. (remember, he likes to be called Action Jack or A.J.), what in the world were you doing in Houston with so much to do here?” I asked.
“Well, remember when Jack Kennedy gave his famous speech to Congress on May 25, 1961 about committing the nation to the goal of landing a man on the moon,” he replied.
“Yes, I remember that, but I’d forgotten that it was on my 24th birthday,” I quipped. “What about it?”
“What do you think was the first thing NASA did?” he asked.
“You got me,” I replied.
“They began planning Mission Control from Day One. It was clear that a project so complex and demanding the presence of such a range of decision makers mandated a single center where all the key players could be present and make instantaneous decisions. That seems like a no-brainer now, but it was a leading-edge concept at the time,” he explained.
“Sounds to me that it’s the same kind of situation you face in getting Action Central off the ground,” I said.
“Precisely, and to be honest, I’m running into a lot more problems than I had anticipated,” A.J. confessed. “One thing that’s clear is that we need a public/private partnership to get behind the effort. The mayor’s office alone won’t cut it, because there are too many interests involved. It will take the likes of a Bill Gates or a Jeff Bezos or a Howard Schultz to get behind the effort, as well.”
I told him that visitors our site are solidly behind the idea, according to our first poll, and that there was a promising contact with a well-connected West Seattle citizen whose idea for identifying the homeless population was discussed in last week’s post.
“He’s also a big proponent of a public/private partnership and, in fact, doesn’t feel that the project will get anywhere without one,” I said.
“Sounds promising. Hey, I gotta run,” A.J. said. “Keep my posted on your progress with that fellow.”
P.S. Here are links to prior posts in the fantastical Action Central series: Mayor Durkan’s Address; Homeless Central, a First Step; background on Action (nee Homeless) Central director John Shannon; his distinction between Homelessness and Lawlessness, The Stakeholders; The Perfect Site! The ‘Jigsaw Puzzle’, Reaching For Reality, Town Hall Takeaways, Eric’s National Exposure and the ‘Head Chef.’
Below is Poll No. 2, with the same question as in Poll No. 1, but at a later stage of the discussion. Those who think Action Central is an Excellent/Much Needed Idea continue to hover on either side of the 70% range. If you haven’t voted in Poll No. 2, please do so below.
[polldaddy poll=10341497]