Four-thousand, nine hundred, forty-four.

During last Thursday’s Fairfield Rotary meeting, there was a very poignant moment during Angel Maguire’s presentation on adult literacy. She was quoting stats about our community. Here’s the one that caught almost everyone by surprise…

She quoted an estimate of Fairfield’s population. We all contently drive by the green signs coming into town and see the stated number of 5200. But Angel accurately quoted Data America’s number. That number is 4,944.

When she said it, you could almost hear a gasp in the room. In fact, one Rotarian asked her if he had heard the number correctly. Yes, Fairfield, the town that once boasted 6400 citizens back in 1960, had fallen below 5000 residents.

And I don’t understand why this was so earth shattering. It only makes sense.

Gone are hundreds of manufacturing jobs. The oil industry has been thwarted at every turn by the Democrats in Springfield. Only the hearty and nimble merchants in downtown are still around…

I try not to be redundant….but the number one concern of our elected leaders must be the creation and attraction of new jobs. Without new jobs, the stated poverty rate of 17-percent in our city will be the only number going up.

I understand and tolerate those among us that want better roads and improved water lines. I think the water tower is kind of a rusty mess....those are all worthy projects. And I am not foolish enough to think a new plant is going to plop itself on the abandoned grounds of Airtex anytime soon….but we must find ways to make Fairfield employer-friendly in a state that is the antithesis of the thought.

Four-thousand, nine hundred, forty-four. 

We need a plan for addition…not continued subtraction.