The Future is Right Now

By Rusty Fleming

Over the years, first as the owner and publisher of this fine publication and now as a guest columnist from time to time, I’ve written about my views on many topics. I’d hate to guess at how many columns there were, and how many different topics.

A lot of water has passed through the turbines since my first visit to Grand Lake thirty-seven years ago this spring. Many people who claim the title of Grand Laker will come and go. They may make a big splash as in their choice of boat, home or lifestyle… good or bad. As the old cliché says, “Good or bad, just so they’re talkin’ about you.” Although the majority of the players in the lineup change from year-to-year, the game, or in this case the issues, remain constant.

The comments are many — lake levels are too low, too many rules, too much or too little enforcement, permitting to do anything is too complex, there’s too much development, not enough amenities and the Grand River Dam Authority is public enemy number one.

Grand Lakers United Enterprise was formed a year ago to represent the views of what we describe as moderate thinking Grand Lakers and, perhaps more importantly, to keep them abreast of what’s going on that might affect their Grand Lifestyle. We’ve been very involved in the ongoing development of the Shoreline Management Plan and in negotiating to restore a minimum lake level of 742’. It’s been a year dominated by board meetings, informational exchanges with the GRDA staff, public hearings, long hours at many of the stakeholder working group committee meetings, interaction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, meetings with federal and state legislators, presentation of alternative proposals for portions of the SMP and dissemination of reports to keep our members informed.

After having been involved in Grand Lake issues for so many years, I thought I had a handle on most of them. But in the past year, I’ve been stimulated by our well over 200 members with their views on those same issues I had previously thought were clear as a bell. I’ve learned more than I ever imagined about upstream flooding, compliments of Karl Blade, wildlife issues from people like Barry Bolton, Cliff Sager and Kevin Stubbs and even more... I learned a lot about fear, perceived threats, passions and concerns.

But one thing remained almost as constant as our fears about the Russians throughout the Cold War, and that was the Grand River Dam Authority. You can’t imagine the horror stories I’ve heard, some real and some imagined or magnified through poor communications, about dealings with the Authority. I found that most could be resolved, had an explanation or, in some cases, were just things fouled up due to the weakest link of all….the human factor.

I’ve long been accused of being a GRDA homer and, as I write this column, I’m less than a stone’s throw from Grand Lake. That’s all it takes for me to know I prefer the authority as my lake’s landlord over the Corps of Engineers. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. Are they more focused on generating electricity than lake management? No contest. Do they receive one appropriated dollar from the state of Oklahoma or a taxpayer to fund their much criticized operation? Not one red cent! Do some of their patrolman suffer from a “This is my town” cop mentality? In a word, “yes”. Did the authority invent the “red” in red tape? Maybe not, but they had to be a close second.

Some years back when I was publishing this very publication, our weekly issue date fell on April Fool’s Day. It seemed natural that we should take advantage of a promotional opportunity. When The Chronicle hit the streets, its headline boldly proclaimed, “Chronicle Goes Daily!” The associated story was totally ludicrous, with yours truly being quoted at a news conference staged at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. announcing regional offices in St. Louis, Atlanta and San Francisco. What I thought

was a humorous April Fool’s spoof turned out to be a total disaster. I was amazed by the number of people who never read beyond the headline.

The current owners of The Chronicle weren’t around Grand Lake in those days to observe the chaos we managed to create. I couldn’t help but ponder what might happen if I were to convince them to run a similarly stunning, but inaccurate headline like “Corps of Engineers To Take Over Grand Lake.” I can only think of a handful of people who wouldn’t be in absolute panic mode. Brian and Sue Ruth aren’t that stupid, though, so you’ll just have to visualize that headline for effect.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing some thoughts in this space on ideas to enhance the future of Grand Lake. We’ll look at things like a meaningful Shoreline Management Plan, how to better work with and perhaps streamline some of our interactions with the GRDA, what we can expect the future to look like and the development of a plan for representation to the GRDA’s lake management team -- and what role you might play in the process. We’ll also examine what can be impacted and what can’t.

One thing hasn’t changed over the past year. I still believe we enjoy a user friendly lake because of the Authority, not in spite of it. As CEO Kevin Easley recently told me, “It’s not that you don’t point out our shortcomings, but you certainly present it in a different manner than some of our other critics.”

Long ago when I was toiling away at Southwestern Bell, John Parsons was the vice president and general manager for Oklahoma. He was not an MBA guy, but he learned his lessons well along the way. One lesson he learned was “you attract more flies with sugar than with vinegar.”

I firmly believe we can impact more change for Grand Lake by working with the Authority than we can by striving daily to find ways to publicly humiliate one of the true success stories in Oklahoma.

That’s our story and we’re stickin’ to it. Kind of like GLUE, if you get my drift. See Ya’ Around the Pond!

(As published in the Chronicle of Grand Lake May, 2007)