Bickering and intractable grudges are an element of public life in most places. A departing reporter of the Seaside Signal has acknowledged that phenomenon in his farewell column of Sept. 28. Wrote John Yoakum, “People everywhere enjoy grumbling more than doing the hard work it would take to set things right.” Yoakum’s larger discussion was about how a self-limiting attitude affects a place.

Clatsop County has made great strides in the past two decades because a sufficient number of people quit grumbling and did the hard work that would improve things.

We now approach another key moment in the choice between grumbling and progress. It is the bond measure that will enable Clatsop Community College to build a new campus. Years of hard work by the CCC board and administration – aided by volunteer citizens and college alumni – have yielded the best opportunity we’ve seen to build new physical infrastructure for post-high school instruction and learning.

Many good citizens are raising questions about the college’s plan. The college and the volunteers who support the bond measure campaign are answering those questions.

Financial leverage and partnerships are at the heart of the CCC bond measure proposal. Those two elements – leveraging money and building partnerships – are the only way that large public works projects happen in rural America these days.

The college board and administration have put together a smart and resourceful proposal. Their concept is credible and it is doable.

Beyond rendering a judgment on the essence of the bond measure proposal, Clatsop County voters are also summoned to make a statement about whether we will move forward or hang back.

If you look around Oregon, there is a split between the cities and counties that are putting on a new face, finding resources and updating their infrastructure and those that can’t get past the old unproductive and unwinnable arguments.

That is very much what this CCC bond measure is about.