Now what?

It's been a day now since Doug Russell submitted his resignation as City Manager to our City Commission. He resigned after only a year and a half in Arkansas City.

I'm a bit puzzled about Russell's resignation, after only being in Arkansas City a year and a half. Not that I expected him to remain here forever, but maybe long enough to beef up his resume with achievements -- maybe three to five years.

In his early days in his position here, Doug talked enthusiastically about wanting to bring people of the community together to accomplish things. Communication would be his tool.

Remember when he first took the job how everyone seemed to praise his qualifications and express high hopes about what he might accomplish here?

He looked good at the start of his tenure. With the city commission's blessing, he had a city-wide survey conducted to determine what the community wanted: economic growth, infrastructure improvements, and better quality of life.

It seemed we might be coming up with a vision for a better future, but then things started to change.

What happened? Could it be that since Doug came here we've lost the forest for the trees? Are we so entangled in details and petty disagreements that we've lost sight of the bigger picture?

Doug is too professional to talk about his reasons for leaving, and I'm not sure I want to speculate. But I know a lot of people are speculating and talking about his depature.

Just seems to me we lost a valuable, talented person. And the city commission -- Doug's boss -- even admits that.

Where do we go from here?