Keith Covey, Mayor, Northfield
Interview - May 9, 2003.
Community Identity
- Mr. Covey thinks that "Northfield has been too timid about trying
to express a community identity." There is a need to be "more deliberate
about pursuing this identity."
- Development and land use provide topics around which identity is formed.
The city's comprehensive plan, for example, addresses issues of sprawl versus
compact expansion.
- Education is a key element of identity. In addition to having a "strong
school district," says Mr. Covey, "Northfield is what it is in many ways because
the colleges have been here for so long."
Grassroots Activism in Northfield
- Asked about activism in Northfield, Mr. Covey pointed out Northfield's
origins as a saw and grain mill town. He characterizes the city's genesis
as an "active, entrepreneurial approach to founding a town."
- Mr. Covey thinks that, based on the past 40 or 50 years, one can say
that Northfield is "a step ahead in environmental advocacy and activism."
- Mr. Covey feels that "community activism is dependent upon people
who don't feel threatened personally or financially in getting involved in
controversial issues."
The Project's Importance to Northfield
- The grassroots nature of the project gives it credibility and the
opportunity to become a source of community pride. Mr. Covey expects the
project will elicit "levels of loyalty that Target won't generate."
- "RENew Northfield is a great example of an effort capable of attracting
a range of people and capabilities."
- Mr. Covey believes the project will increase a sense of local control
moderating the influence of large corporations such as Xcel Energy. In addition,
he expects the project to contribute to local economic development. Mr. Covey
sees the project as a "win-win" for everybody.
- A key aspect of the project is its newness. Mr. Covey explains that
the project's importance is "not so much the fact that it is a new technology
but that it is an idea that has a lot of credibility with people
on other grounds."
- Mr. Covey feels that the project can be a springboard both to other
renewable energy efforts and to meaningful development of community identity.
He sees the project as something "for Northfield to claim as grounds for its
uniqueness."
- The project is an example of a largely "untapped" potential for "using
the qualities of Northfield to build a sense of community."