From the Mayor's Desk....

(NASHVILLE), March 16, 2000 -- State Representative William Baird (R-Jacksboro) announced today he is co-sponsoring legislation to reallocate the first $1.3 million of funds received from transfer of real estate fees to go into a reserve for the operation of state parks. The fee is already in place; however, the money received is currently being placed into a "state lands acquistion fund".

"Under this bill, the fund would only be used to keep state parks from being closed and services from being reduced." said Rep. Baird. "We should first maintain our present state parks and lands before moving to acquire more land."

The bill co-sponsored by Baird was approved this week by the House Environment and Conservation Conmmittee. It now moves to the House Finance Committee.

"Certainly this bill will impact positively our own Indian Mountain State Park in Jellico." Baird added. "I will continue to look at every and all avenues to save this park which is an important part of our community."

For more information on the status of Indian Mountain State Park Click here .

I had not intended to write a column this week but the resignation of Councilman Allen McClary prompted me to do so.

During last Thursday night's meeting of the City Council, a motion was made by Councilman Jim Dobson to accept bids for blacktopping of the Veterans Park Annex that was filled in by Morgan Brothers Construction Company and where a stage was constructed by the W.H. Bowlin family - both at no cost to the city of Jellico. (The Council had voted to call for bids during a previous meeting). A second was received from Councilman McClary. The idea was to provide more parking for our downtown businesses, provide a solid surface for our activities, provide a solid base for the nice park benches to be donated by Robbie Woodson; provide parking for the proposed farmers/citizens market and to keep our people out of the mud such as we experienced during our last Fourth of July celebration. However the motion to accept the low bid of $13,600 was defeated by "no" votes from Councilmen Jerry Neal, Lonnie Vann and Bill Barton. (Councilman Alvin Evans was absent). The motion was defeated in spite of the fact that we now have over $600,000 in reserve funds.

That action was followed immediately by a refusal to approve requests for Council approval from Mrs. Betty Douglas and Mr. Ronald Dabney to again sponsor the Friday night gospel singings and "Saturday Nights in the Park". Those activities attracted large crowds and promised to become even more popular with each passing season. They were initiated with the goal in mind of providing entertainment for our citizens but to also attract more people to the downtown and hopefully provide potential customers for our downtown businesses. That motion to grant Council approval was also made by Dobson and seconded by McClary. It too was defeated by opposition from Neal, Vann and Barton. The Douglas's announced following the refusal that they would no longer participate in the activities and would now cancel all of the gospel singings that they had scheduled for this summer including several well known gospel groups from out of state. However Mrs. Douglas later informed me that the radio station will still consider all options open to them since they feel that the opinions of three people (two of whom have never attended even a single activitiy in the park) should refuse permission for the enjoyment of so many people including the numerous senior citizens who look forward to the weekly event. As she pointed out, the park is city property, belongs to our citizens and should be available to our citizens for use.

Upon hearing the news of the refusal of Council permission, Dabney and his "Twin Rivers Band" said that they would try to relocate to another suitable site since so many people have requested continuation of the music and have been questioning when the "Saturday Nights in the Park" would resume for this season. Dabney says that anyone having a potential suitable site and who would be willing to make it available for that purpose, should please contact him.

I sincerely regret the resignation of Allen McClary and I want to thank him and commend him for support on the above issues during Thursday night's meeting.

As everyone knows, Allen and I have differed greatly on some of the issues that have arisen during the past two years including the issue of the City Administrator. But there was nothing personal on my part and I know that the same is true of Allen.

He was willing to put aside any personal considerations and to vote to do what was best for our people and our town when the above two issues were brought to a vote. No more can be expected of an elected official and I and a lot of our citizens appreciate his willingness to do that. I admire his courage in taking the position that he took and I also respect his decision to resign from the Council.

Both personally and on behalf of the citizens of Jellico, I want to publicly thank him for all of his years of public service and for enduring all of the frustrations that went with that service.

I know that some sincerely believe that a CA is in the best interest of Jellico and I know that Allen McClary advocated hiring a CA because he truly felt that it would be good for our town. I also know that a very few simply want to capitalize on the situation for the sake of petty small town politics.

As I have stated several times, it no longer matters to me if the Council hires a City Administrator or returns to the old Mayor/Council form of government. Our town will go on with or without a City Administrator and it will go on with or without me serving as Mayor. But something needs to be done one way or another.

During my last two radio programs I called upon Council to make a final decision; to follow through with whatever they decide and to let a new CA or someone else get on with the business of our town. It is clear that the Mayor no longer has the authority to do very much since the new charter plainly states in section 3.02 that "The City Administrator shall be the Chief Administrative Officer of the city, responsible to the Board for the administration of all city affairs placed in his or her charge by or under this charter." The charter is equally clear in stating that "The Mayor shall be recognized as the Ceremonial Head of the city". The charter does have the effect of state law since it was passed by the Tennessee State Legislature as a private act. And I intend to abide by the restrictions placed upon me by the charter since it does have the power of law. As I have stated several times in the past, I can not and will not any longer risk personal liability in attempting to do things intended solely to benefit our town.

The same is actually true of members of Council. I appointed them two years ago to oversee the departments only until a City Administrator was put in place. The new charter does not authorize such department heads and I will not reappoint them once the terms expire in April. I have no legal authority to do so. Those already in place in positions authorized for appointment by the Mayor including Jim Dobson on the Utilities Board will remain in place indefinitely. We must absolutely now have a City Administrator or a Mayor under the old form of city government to be in compliance with the law.

The events of the past several months have had the effect of basically killing some of the projects that I had planned for renovating the downtown and working in other areas. But even more damaging has been the effects upon the attitude of our citizens. As one told me recently, "The worst thing about all of this is the fact that our people were actually beginning to believe that we could turn things around in Jellico." One citizen arose from the audience at a recent Council meeting to express the fear of that very thing happening.

A few days ago I met with a public official in his office in another town and he stated that he and a lot of other people around our area cannot understand what is taking place in Jellico. According to that official, we had made such great progress in the two years period that it is hard to understand what has motivated some of the things presently taking place here. He stated that the progress has been very evident to him everytime that he has had an opportunity to come to Jellico.

Our town can still be turned around with someone in a position of leadership who has our best interest at heart and who can receive the crucial cooperation of the Council. And since I am definitely not the person some of the Councilmen want in that position, they need to put someone else there. We are already half-way through our four years terms and we appear no closer to settling the situation than we were when we assumed office. It is past time to do something and the Council is the authorized entity to take action. It is up to them.

In my opinion it would be good if we still had city elections every two years as we once did. Had the charter not been changed a few years ago to extend terms to four years, we would be looking at an election during the first week of April. And I really believe that our town has never needed an election as badly as we need one at the present time. Our people need an opportunity to express their approval or disapproval of the events of the past few months. I doubt seriously that I would ever be a candidate again for any office after these four years but I too would welcome the opportunity to register my feelings at the polls.

I have heard rumors that there was talk developing around town over the weekend concerning the possibility of a recall election. I am certainly not any part of such a movement and I will not participate in any way if indeed there is a move to have a recall.

But the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that a recall election might not be a bad idea and I would certainly want my name on the ballott if one should be held. It would be very good if a recall election could be worked out to serve as a "special" election and allow our citizens to decide for themselves who is and who is not working for the advancement of our town; fill any vacancy(s) on the Council; and decide once and for all if we are to hire a City Administrator or return to the old Mayor/Council form of government by choosing candidates for the Council who favor one or the other of the two options.

During my military training I was taught to "Lead, follow or get out of the way." I tried leading because I felt that was what I was elected to do. But some Councilmen resented me for that approach. I offered to follow but no one led. And now I am trying the last option. I have simply gotten out of their way.

A lot of people tell me that I am still their elected Mayor and that they want me to continue with what I was doing until a few weeks ago. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to express their feelings to me. But as long as the present charter is in place, I have no authority to do very much and I certainly cannot assume responsibility. And even if the charter is changed back now to the Mayor/Council form, it would certainly be hard for me to ever again regain the same level of enthusiasm that I once had for what could be accomplished. A lot of others who were helping me feel the same way.

I sincerely hope that the Council will soon come to what they consider is the right decision, hire the right person and that he will get on with what ever needs to be accomplished. And I wish him nothing but the greatest success for the good of our town.

One of the main objectives that I had when I first assumed the position of Mayor was to renovate and revitalize the downtown. And we were among the first to start such a project that I had hoped to basically complete by the end of this summer. We were out in front at least in that area. Now most area small towns as well as cities are involved in trying to bring their downtown areas back to some of their former prominence. The city of Maryville is currently undergoing downtown renovation as is the city of Middlesboro. And anyone who has been downtown and along the water front in Knoxville during the past few months can clearly see what is taking place there. Numerous other examples can be found all around us.

I have received notification from Jellico Home Builders that that business will close due to "Our inability to purchase the land from the railroad where our store is located".

Jellico Home Builders is a long established business and it will certainly take some "getting used to" for a lot of us who have traded there down through the years.

Final note:

I am presently working with the Campbell County Chief Executive's Office, an out-of-town organization and the building owner concerning the possibility of occupying the vacant building in the Oswego Industrial Park. The potential labor force would be in excess of 120 including sewing machine operators and skilled laborers. But many details are still to be worked out. Hopefully those details can be worked out and we can obtain several jobs for Jellico and Jellico area people. I want to emphasize that absolutely nothing was definite at the time this article was written but that we will continue working toward obtaining the potential employer.

And Jamie Dugger has informed me that her work force has increased by three employees since I last talked with her. She is still in the process of installing new machines and expects to hire more local people as soon as the installation is complete. As I stated in my last article, we currently have a larger percentage of employed workers in our area at the present time than we have had in many years. And hopefully those numbers will increase even more within the next two years.

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