Volume # 2, Edition # 1 "Starting the New Year off Right" January 16, 2002
This is my first edition of these notes for the year 2002 as the Volume # 2 above denotes.
There were a total of 29 issues during 2001 (Volume # 1, Editions # 1-29)) for those who maintain a complete collection.
We can expect more and a priority plan is in place for snow and ice removal although situations do no always allow its exact implementation. First priority is always Hospital/Nursing Home Road. Then comes Sunset Trail/Florence Avenue (hospital access); main thoroughfares South Main, Fifth Street, North Main, Highway 25-W, Highway 297-W, Logan Street/Hill Street (hospital access), Indian Mountain Road; major usage areas including Ky. Street/Cumberland Avenue/Siler Street, Douglas Lane/Crouches Creek, Branam Hill, etc. followed by residential areas/secondary streets and roads.
Our city crews fought a losing battle as long as the snow was coming down like it did on that Sunday and
and part of Monday. And as stated above, some of the equipment would not function properly. But our city employees always do a good job in weather that sometimes is fit for neither man nor beast and I cannot over state my appreciation for them. (I still recall seeing some Jellico Utilities workers several years ago
working to thaw a water main with the temperature hovering in single digits. And I later learned that they
worked virtually throughout the entire night when the thermometer dropped even lower. I don't know how they endured the cold!)
Believe it or not, some of us even look forward to December 21st although that is the first official day of winter and it generally means that we can expect several weeks of very cold and sometimes snowy weather like we have just experienced. However it also means that the days start getting longer by a minute or so every day and they continue to grow longer until June 21st. And we get to set the clocks up one hour in late March. I love it when we arrive home from work well before dark and have time to do things in the evening. With plenty of daylight we get to pull out the mowers and start that constant cutting of the grass. (I had to bring that up!) Oh well! Life can't be completely perfect all the time and mowing grass beats shoveling snow - at least in my opinion.
And we have other good things to look forward to this spring. The signs that Indian Mountain State Park may reopen are even more encouraging. In a recent statement attributed to our governor, he has become very aware of all the complaints concerning the closing of state parks and those complaints are coming from all around Tennessee. He has indicated that he may make recommendations to the state legislature to reopen the affected parks. (As was previously stated, he had earlier said that he was considering utilizing the state reserve "rainy day" funs for that purpose.)
It will only be a very few days now until we know who will be running for mayor and members of council in the upcoming city election scheduled for early April. Those desiring to be candidates for office must submit their petitions to the Campbell County Election Commission no later than 12:00 noon this Thursday, January 17, 2002. They will then have until noon, Thursday, January 24th to withdraw from the race before having their names placed on the official ballot.
I announced several weeks ago that I plan to be a candidate for reelection only because some of the projects that I had hoped to accomplish have not been completed during the past four years. If I am reelected, I plan to resume my efforts to bring those projects to completion. If another individual is chosen
by our citizens to fill the mayor's chair, I will congratulate him or her and offer my services in the future if requested. We must all place our entire focus on bringing Jellico back if we are to succeed.
As I did during the campaign four years ago, I will refuse to promise to hire, fire or politically harass anyone. We simply do not need that! My commitment to our citizens -if reelected - will be
to work for the benefit of our town and to do what I believe will be in the best interests of Jellico.
The big question circulating around town even before the election heats up concerns the future of the position of city administrator (CA). I certainly have no quarrel with our present city administrator and I did not have any personal animosity whatsoever toward our previous city administrators. I have just become more and more convinced that the position is not needed in our small town.
Apparently even some of the former very strong supporters of a CA have now come to that same conclusion. In the words of someone, "If you are riding a dead horse, get off! You are not going anywhere!" It appears that some of those who formerly rode the CA horse have come to that same conclusion. It's going to be interesting to see what happens now and during the election when the CA will certainly be the number one issue - even if some action concerning our present charter is taken prior to the election. And some folks seem to think that there is strong indication that that too could happen.
Although a recent editorial in the Lafollette Press did not refer to Jellico, it did emphasize that public business under the Open Meetings Law, must be announced and carried out entirely in the open and that failure to do so is a violation of the law. That is exactly what the citizens of Jellico who have taken legal action are maintaining in their suit alleging violation of the "Sunshine" Law by four members of council.
The suit brought by the same four members of the City Council (Neal, Vann, Barton and Violet) challenging my authority as mayor to make the appointment of a council member as the required council representative to the Jellico Utilities Board grows more interesting all of the time. When the legal papers were served on me and others, it was evident that the City of Jellico had been sued to include the mayor, Councilman Dobson, Councilman Evans, and the Jellico Utilities Department. And to beat it all, the four councilmen bringing the action are themselves named as defendents (which may have been a requirement under the law). As I have stated several times in the past, it’s the strangest legal action of which I have ever been involved or of which I am even aware.
I along with others, have warned that the suit will cost the city several hundred dollars and probably more. And that warning has proven to be correct. The taxpayers must pay the attorney who brought the suit on behalf of the four councilmen. And since the Jellico Utilities Board was named in the suit, that body feels that it must have legal representation and I understand that they too have obtained an attorney to represent their interests - although they have not been involved in any way in any appointments made by me or any previous mayor(s) since that board was constituted over 60 years ago.
The suit makes no sense at all. But in an effort that I hope will cut the city's losses in the proceedings, I have personally filed a motion before the court asking that the suit be dismissed. If it is not dismissed, I will then file an answer to the allegations that I acted outside my authority.
As everyone knows by now, I don't like to ever write a column without mentioning renovation and revitalization of our downtown. As I have cited over and over, that has been one of my main objectives since I took office four years ago and it remains one of my goals. And as I have also stated repeatedly, I have had my critics for trying to restore the downtown area. But I believe that the vast majority of our citizens support what I have been attempting to accomplish. And now Jellico renovation and revitalization seems to be the "in" thing in town.
A committee called the "Jellico Downtown Revitalization Task Force" has recently been established and is conducting meetings. I attended the initial meeting when the committee was formed but subsequent meetings have been held during working hours and I have been unable to attend due to my work schedule. I have been furnished minutes of the meetings and the last set of minutes dated December 19th lists six areas of importance developed by the committee to bring about the renovation and revitalization of our downtown. Those six areas are (1) Where do we revitalize? (2) What are the elements? Do we purchase property? (3) Will private participation be involved? (4) Do we need to improve the city's infrastructure? (5) Can we enhance the city's greenspace? (6) Do we establish parameters regarding city revitalization?
If reelected mayor I will certainly work in full cooperation with any individuals and/or groups interested in restoring our town. But I had worked for three years on downtown renovation before there was any organized effort to accomplish that task. And I do have some personal ideas on which I have worked for my entire four years and I intend to continue to work to carry them out if I hold the mayor's office and have a supportive council. And the greatly increased interest in renovating and revitalizing our downtown by some who may have even opposed it earlier - in my mind - vindicates me in spite of the criticism I received for making effort to improve the area. You don't get criticized if you don't ever attempt to do anything!
And what I started here four years ago is also a national trend. One of the great things about the Internet is the fact that we can read newspapers everyday from all over the country and most of them now regularly run articles on downtown renovation and revitalization. Last week the news services were all commenting on the fact that the Detroit Lions will return from Pontiac to Detroit's downtown to play their home games
and draw people back to the downtown area. Developers in Knoxville recently announced plans to restore more buildings along once thriving Gay Street (including the old Sterchi Brothers building familiar to all of us old timers). And of course there will be the new convention center and the planetarium to go along with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, new restaurants, etc.. (Why in the world Knoxville allowed the Smokies to move to Sevierville is beyond me.) Countless other towns and cities could be similarly cited.
I talked again last week with Mr. Mike Ross, developer of Rarity Mountain, and he indicated that some work is being accomplished toward that project. He is also optimistic that the grant application currently being prepared for the purpose of restoring downtown Jellico buildings will receive approval.
I continue to believe that if towns and cities are going to revive to the way that we once knew them, then they are going to have to renovate and do what is required to attract people back to their downtown areas.
I am an avid reader of newspapers and one of the great things about the Internet is that, as I mentioned above, we do have the capacity to now daily call up almost every newspaper in the country and including the newspapers from all over the entire state of Tennessee. It's easy to keep up with everything going on in our state from Mountain City to Jellico to Memphis. And the incredible number newspapers as well as the websites themselves, have enormous amounts of information.
And our Jellico website has a lot of information available to prospective businesses, families and individuals located throughout the United States (and outside the U.S.) who may be looking for an area in which to relocate. Featured are our beautiful mountain scenery; Interstate-75; our industrial park; our low tax rate; electric power provided through a dual feed sub-station; a modern water purification plant in operation; a new waste water treatment facility under construction; 300 motel rooms; and hopefully the restoration of camping sites in our state park. Anyone knowing of individuals and/or businesses who might have any interest at all in looking for an attractive town and area in which to relocate should call their attention to website www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm. And of course they can call up this column for information at www.jellico.com/mayor.
"Hometown Printing" is currently planning to establish a weekly "hometown" newspaper - written and published in Jellico about Jellico area people and events. The papers will utilize advertising and be made available free of charge. Hometown Printing is conveniently located in the center of town and our citizens can drop of any items of local news for inclusion. (I will contribute these articles.) More details later!
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