There is a theory in psychology about first impressions that has been popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking. It is a little bit misleading because this process does involve thinking, just not the way we generally think about thinking. This theory postulates that our initial impressions are often very good indicators of reality. So, for example, if I initially meet someone and have a ‘gut feeling’ that I should not trust them, there is a very good chance that this person is fundamentally untrustworthy. In general, men do not trust these impressions, given that they do not rest on logic, which is why the phenomenon has traditionally been called “women’s intuition.”

All of this flashed across my brain as I attended the first regular public session of the new County Commissioners board on Thursday, January 9th. Two of the members were familiar; the incumbent commissioners Tony Mussare and Rick Mirabito. The chairman was the newly elected county commissioner, Scott Metzger. The men arrived at the front of the room and Commissioner Metzger immediately asked all to stand for the opening prayer.

It was then and there that my intuition kicked in. This was not a formality that tradition had been forced upon these elected officials. Scott Metzger prayed a prayer that was directed at God and not the audience. His prayer had specific requests and took much longer than the few moments that had previously been the norm. When he finished, Scott turned and led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.

There was something about these moments that seemed to set a tone. The room was the same, the format and agenda followed the same pattern of the past four years, but there was definitely ‘something’ different that I could not put my finger on. The meeting started at 10:00 and I looked with great apprehension at the six-page agenda. Given that a normal 2-3-page agenda generally took an hour or more to get through in the past, I was already thinking about cancelling my noon appointment.

But, with amazing efficiency, the agenda was addressed and covered in record time. They were not skipping over items, but rather referring to work that had already been conducted and was now being presented for approval. In little more than a half an hour, the agenda was completed, and Chairman Metzger announced it was time for “Commissioner Comments.”

He then pulled out a sheet of paper and announced that the commissioners had already been working hard and had hammered out some objectives to meet the challenges of the coming year. It was not clear if the eleven items Commissioner Metzger listed were in any particular order but beginning the list with the need to find a new Director of Public Safety to replace director John Yingling certainly seemed significant. Other items included the often-discussed golf course and sale of land surrounding the course, the need to expand broadband in the county, as well as the sale of Executive Plaza.

But what was most intriguing was the number of items that represented new projects that the commissioners intended to tackle. These included reviewing all county leases, updating county policies and procedures (with the notation that some had not been reviewed for two decades), working with the Chamber of Commerce, small businesses, developers, entrepreneurs and the County Planning Department to promote economic growth, and improving communication with the commissioners, the public, the courts, county employees, and all stakeholders.

These items represented more than just a needs list, but a new agenda for the future. Whatever represented “business as usual” in the past was not to be the pattern for the Lycoming County Commissioners for the upcoming year. When I shared these impressions to one of the observers at the meeting, he looked at me skeptically with a “we’ll see” look. My instincts tell me that this board is going to be very, very different than the one that preceded it. I might be wrong, but something is telling me I am not.

Larry Stout welcomes your comments or input. He can be reached by email: lionwebbweekly@gmail.com.