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Volume # 2, Edition # 8                                                                             April 17, 2002

 

April 17

 

    Now that the dust is beginning to clear from our April 6th election, it is time to get back down to business.  We are scheduled this Thursday night, April 18th for our final meeting of the outgoing council.   At the time this article was written, I did not know everything that will be on the agenda (or even if we will have a quorum for the meeting).  But one thing we must discuss is the city's budget for 2002-2003 which becomes effective on July 1st.   Budget development is generally a three months or so process and we are behind in this year preparation due to the missed meetings when we did not have a quorum - plus the fact that it was an election year that had everybody's attention.

   I am going to issue a call for a special call organizational meeting of the new council for Saturday,

April 20th (7:00 PM).    Following the swearing in and welcoming of our new members of council, I hope to make assignments of all members of council to work with the city departments.  (I will only do so if I have had opportunity to talk with the new members prior to that special call meeting.  But as one of the newly elected councilmen remarked to me following the election, the vote totals posted by incumbent Councilmen Alvin Evans and Jim Dobson clearly indicated that a large majority of our citizens are satisfied with the jobs that they have been doing in all of their assignments.  I tend to agree and they will remain in their present assignments if they choose to do so.  Evans will additionally serve as vice-mayor under the provisions of the city charter.  Regardless of all the differing stories that were told prior to the election, the Chancellor ruled in the recent court case concerning Jimmy Dobson's appointment to the utilities board that the appointment was entirely legal and that Dobson would remain in the position until the election; that the mayor can clearly make that appointment; and the mayor can appoint for any length of time he chooses.  But the Chancellor did recommend that the mayor ask for council confirmation of appointments to that board and I will honor his recommendation.  But I again want to emphasize that to my understanding - and the understanding of those in the audience - he only made a recommendation and not a ruling.  

    (If our present charter is changed to eliminate the position of city administrator, councilmen will again assume the responsibilities of Commissioners of the assigned departments.)

   There are rumors of all kinds circulating of what may happen and I have already had to snuff out several of them that I know to be completely untrue.  And several rumors have impending resignations of city employees and even members of appointed boards and commissions.  But I do not know which of those rumors - if any - are accurate.

   I sincerely appreciate all of those who have unselfishly donated their time and efforts for the good of our town and I realize that we are just dealing with rumors.  But I certainly hope that our citizen volunteers will continue to consider the best interests of Jellico as they make any decisions as to their future service.   We will just have to wait and see what exactly does take place at - and after -the April 20th meeting.  But my main concern that I have stated so many times during the campaign is to "restart the progress" and that is going to be my main goal regardless of what happens.

    Note:   If the charter is to be changed, the council majority (minimum of four votes) must act quickly to complete the process of resolutions, readings, etc. and to get the finished document to the legislature so that it can enact a private act for Jellico in the present session.   The state budget crisis threatens to require an extra long session of the legislature so there may be sufficient time to accomplish the change this spring.

 

   The current situation involving City Administrator Tom Barclay's suspension of Police Chief Ned Smiddy also needs badly to be resolved quickly as it relates to our town.  And it seems to be the feeling of most that have talked with me that he should be fully reinstated.   However I doubt that any action taken now is likely to have any effect upon the eventual outcome of Smiddy's suit against the city of Jellico.

 

   The Tourism Director's position is one that is clearly within the sole appointive power of the mayor and it is crucial that we hire the best available person for that task that is so important to our town.  And I will immediately post the position with a list of qualifications and call for applicants to be interviewed.   The salary for our Director of Tourism is approximately $ 1,450.00 monthly ($ 17,440.00 annually).

 

    The car show in Veterans Park last summer was a great success and a second show is scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd.  Sponsors anticipate even greater participation this year.  And we now have the area in front of the stage black topped which should correct the problem that upset some owners of very valuable vintage vehicles in that first event when they had to park them in mud and gravels.

 

   Everyone is now commenting on the increased traffic (vehicle and pedestrian) in our downtown.  And we have the possibility of even more activity as potential businesses are being considered.  As I told someone during the election campaign, I hope that we continue to develop in the downtown area to the point where we must seriously consider a second street running parallel to South Main Street to carry the growing volume of traffic.  (We already have nearly enough city owned property to accomplish that if downtown business ever develops to the point that an additional street should be needed.)

   I am extremely happy to write about any and all new businesses in town and to give details about each.  And I have several such articles in mind for my future columns.   But I recently talked briefly with the operators of the new enterprise in the former McComb Supply Company and I was extremely impressed with both the variety of products that will be available to customers and the organization and arrangement of the store. 

   As I have stated many times in the past, we are going to need that downtown restaurant more and more as time goes by!    

 

     Those who are interested in genealogy and tracing of their family tree will be pleased to learn that the United States government has recently released the Census Report for 1930.  I hope that Netlink will include the report for our area on the Jellico Internet page if that can be arranged.  It would really be an interesting piece of data to look over.  One of the questions asked was, "Does your family possess a radio?"   That was a good question for that year since an awful lot of homes in the U. S. did not yet have electricity and battery powered radios were large, cumbersome and heavy.  Not many folks could afford a radio of any kind.  Those who could were generally considered to be in the more "affluent" population.

 

    Most of us are interested in people and events that have a Jellico connection.   And I hope that everyone had a chance to see the photo and news article dealing with the 1927 New York Yankees team that has been labeled by many baseball "experts" as the greatest hitting team -if not the greatest team - in the history of baseball.  It had several future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame including Earl Combs, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and others.  Many of the reserve members of that team would have been stars on a lot of other teams.

   Although Ruth and Gehrig got the press coverage and are still remembered today due to so many books and movies concerning their lives and careers, knowledgeable baseball people called lead-off hitter Combs (who along with teammate Bob Muesel were Ruth's best friends) the very heart and soul of that great Yankee team.  (And Combs was also one of the first players ever voted into Cooperstown).  He along with Mark Koenig, Ruth, Gehrig, Muesel and Tony Lazzeri have gone down in history as "murders row" since the "murdered" whatever pitching that was offered up to them.

   Combs was from Richmond, Kentucky and began playing amateur baseball for the Gatliff Coal Company team (near Williamsburg) as a young boy.  But many of his games were played at our old Jellico baseball field that was located at that time just across the railroad tracks below our former city hall.  And he never forgot his playing days here in Jellico and reportedly talked about them in his declining years.

   (Upon leaving our area, he signed a professional baseball contract and became one of the last minor leaguers to ever hit over .400 while assigned to AAA Louisville, Kentucky.  From there he joined the parent Yankee team on his way to stardom.)

    The tragedy of the great amateur baseball that was played here for so many years is the fact that several other players were considered to be as good or nearly as good as Combs but never had the opportunity to display their skills on that level.  (We did have Earl Webb who played at Newcomb and went on to become the leading hitter of doubles in the major leagues - a record that he established with the Boston Red Sox and one that has stood for decades.  We also had Lawrence Douglas from Crouches Creek who pitched several seasons for the Baltimore Orioles.)      

    But I have always heard that Gatewood Turner, who I believe lived on Hill Street, may have been better than most major league players of his day.  According to Garland Newell, Turner played in the old Negro Major Leagues that had players that the legendary hall-of-famer Ted Williams called some of the greatest players that he had ever seen.   And our former teacher and coach at Jellico High School, Mr. Charley Lindsay, once told me that Matt Marion of Tannery Hollow was called by many, "the best player to ever come out of the mountains".  And there were numerous other great players here.  

    As I wrote earlier I miss the great amateur baseball that we had in this area when I was growing up but that has now completely disappeared from the scene.  And that is why every time that I see one of the "old timer" baseball games that we have here each summer, I long for that great baseball of yesterday that was still around until the closing of our deep mines in the mid 1950's.             

 

   Would you believe that there is a roller coaster on someone's front lawn in Jellico?  Yep!  A roller coaster!  Mr. Bill Kellogg at 777 Cherry Street has made one for the neighborhood kids from electrical conduit, hard plastic pipe, lawnmower wheels and gosh knows what else.  As I stated, it is for the kids.   But occasionally an adult gets on one of the carts and takes a ride too.

   But before you get on, you had better watch one of the kids make the trip down the hill.  After you see the speed and the turn, you may quickly decide that you had rather watch than ride.  I did!   


JOHN CLIFTON, Mayor, City of Jellico
P.O. Box 533
E-mail: jclifton@whitley.kl2.ky.us

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