One of my former students told me last week that he enjoys these articles and plans to save every issue. That was a great compliment and l appreciate his taking the time to inform me of that fact. The manager of one business place said that as a matter of company policy, she is not allowed to display any type of written non-business material in the store. But she asked me to save her enough copies of every issue so that she can give one to each employee since they all enjoy reading the Jellico news. For the first time, I had someone to come to my home and request copies of previous articles. That made my day!
And some members of the Boston community continue to thank me for my comments conceming their area. One lady told me that they make folks in that area feel much more a part of the Jellico area. (They do indeed make up a very important part as I am sure most local businesses would readily agree.)
Those are just some examples (I could relate many others) of why I think we so badly need a local paper written and published in Jellico. Our people are hungry for Jellico news.
I missed attending several activities this past Memorial Day weekend including the Jellico High School Commencement that I had not missed for many, many years. But I was "on pins and needles" awaiting a call that my granddaughter was ready to make her appearance into our world. And she did just that! (Georgia Ann Laster arrived a little bit late for "pap paw's nerves" after a long drive. But she certainly made it well worth the wait.)
But l do want to congratulate our graduates 2001 and wish them the very best. And I also want to congratulate those students completing work at the Seventh Day Adventist School. They paid me the high honor of inviting me to present their diplomas but I was afraid that I would be out of town at the scheduled time for their graduation. And as fate had it, I was in Ohio for the birth of Georgia Ann. Memorial Day and the release of the new epic movie "Pearl Harbor" served to remind us that we had some Jellico and some Jellico area servicemen at Pearl Harbor on that fateful Sunday morning of Dec. 7, 1941 (described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the "Day that will live in infamy!") Our Jellico Veterans Monument and the "Arizona Monument" listing those killed in the attack on the battleship U. S. S. Arizona (still lying in that now peaceful harbor) bear the name of Charles Echols of the Pruden/Clairfield communities. Bothers Milford Bryant and Ben Bryant were both there and Milford was injured - possibly by machine gun fire fiom the Japanese Zeros as they roared in to drop their bombs and torpedos on "battleship row". Johnny Lambdin was suddenly awakened in his bunk in Schofield Barracks that was being bullet riddled on either side. Unbelievably, he was unharmed.
And I know that there were otbers there from our area. I just do not have their names. But we owe them and every man and woman who has ever served in the armed forces a debt of our deepest gratitude.
Lest we forget: I appreciate the Jellico Electric System placing the American flags on utility poles in the downtown for each holiday. It bad been my original intention to eventually purchase enough flags to cover all poles on our main routes leading in and out of town (along with planting Dogwood trees and placing waste receptacles).
I came through the towns of Montgomery, Silverton and Kenwood (northern Cincinnati) over the Memorial Day weekend. Flags had already been placed on all utility poles in that area and there was a long stretch of something like two or three miles with flags waving in the breeze on either side of busy Montgomery Road. They were impressive to those who love to see our flags so prominently displayed. (That is exactly the effect that I had hoped to have with my plans for a lot more flags for Jellico.)
And to also insure that we do not forget: The seventy-five years plus tradition started by Clarence Lay sometime following the close of World War I, and continued for many years by Frank and Rita Zecchini, is still alive and well in Jellico. There have been very few times in all those years that anyone has ever gone to local cemeteries and failed to find American flags on tbe graves of departed veterans. The flags were right in place again this year thanks to the efforts of J.L. "Sarge" Collins, Gary "Boo" Leach, Ed Leach, Major (Ret) Gene Owens and a great group of his JROTC students at Jellico High School (Tia Hernandez, Chris Pennington, Josh Hicks, Jonathan King, Kim Ivey, A.J. Gipson, Charles Kidd, and Anthony "Goldberg" Anderson).
Two of those flags were placed on the graves of my late brother Clarence (Korean War era) and my deceased brother-in-law, James Elswick, who was a veteran of D-Day and holder of several battle stars. We can all cite deceased relatives and friends who have honorably served our country and our families could certainly purchase and place the flags. But it is just so much more meaningful for a "grateful nation" to still remember them in such a way and I greatly appreciate everyone who helps with that project. (When I mentioned the work done by Helen Ruth Sharp with the Jellico Cemetery in the last edition, I inadvertently left off the name of Faye Lewis. Faye has been equally faithful to volunteer her time and efforts to maintain our cemetery in such good condition. And others have certainly contributed as well.) And while I am on the subject, I hope that everyone will contribute to the local Boy Scouts who are working to place a plaque along with signs marking the spot (Haystack Rock on Highway 25 -W) where the greatest non-combat tragedy occurred during World War II -the troop train wreck that killed and injured so many of our young servicemen. Contact Leann Mozingo or any boyscout. (More concerning the history of that event and the scout drive in my next edition.)
As I stated earlier, we got involved in the "Jellico/Great American Cleanup" too late to have maximum effectiveness. But several have told me that they did make effort to clean up and improve the looks of their property. One of those efforts was made by Mr. Johnny Mays, CEO of Barton-Carey Medical Products, who has been busily working on his property along Fifth Street.
And I want to thank Mr Jim Phillips and the Tennessee Department of Transportation for working overtime to mow in our four-lane just before Memorial Day. It did improve the looks tremendously. But at the time this article was written, the now infamous traffic island still needed mowing.
There were not as many Jeeps (The Trail Keepers Foundation) in town over the holiday weekend as were expected. But from all reports, thosie who were here enjoyed themselves and will consider returning here for the Labor Day weekend. Events that bring people to Jellico are good for the economy and they are good public relations as well.
I always try to mention any new businesses that open in Jellico and I am a little late in mentioning Douglas Oil Shop located at 1510 Lindsey Lane behind the Best Western Motel. (That business had its Grand opening several wee;ks ago and I was invited. However I was unable to attend due to a bout with old man "flu" that I was experiencing at the time.) The shop gives "quick service oil changes" along with tire changes and other similar work. Here's welcoming them "on line" as a new business in town!
The United States Census Bureau has furnished us with some interesting demographics from Census 2000. Our population is now officially 2,448 including 1,109 males and 1,339 females. (Us males knew that we were outnumbered.) Our median age is now 41.7 years and we have 817 who are 55 years and older including 77 individuals who are 85 and older. Our largest age groups are 25-34 and 45-54 (both with 312 individuals). We have 1,022 households. The average household size is 2.29 and our average family size is 2.90. Dependent children and young adults (under 19) in Jellico total 577. Our populations' racial and ethnic makeup is still predominately white (2,379) but we are racially diverse. We have 54 African-Americans; 19 Native Americans; 17 who identify themselves as Asian, and 9 are listed as Hispanic. We also have one or more representatives of several other races and ethnic origins. (And we are all one people!)
During a recent council meeting, a statement was made by a councilman that "we" have compiled a list of streets and roads to be repaired. I bad never seen the list nor had at least one or two other members of the council.
The list that "we" had prepared was published in the Jellico Advance-Sentinel bearing the names of Councilman Lonnie Vann and myself. Reading it in that paper was the first time to my knowledge that I had ever seen the list. Apparently my name was listed simply due to the fact that I am mayor and represent the city of Jellico - because I had neither helped to develop the list nor had any idea of what streets and roads were named until that newspaper came out.
Several residents along Douglas Lane became upset when they read the list in the paper and I can certainly understand their reaction. Douglas Lane should definitely be one of our priorities when doing any street repairs. You only have to drive that road once to become convinced of that fact And the argument that it wont do any good to do repair work on that road due to heavy trucks and other traffic is not a valid one. If we followed that line of thinking all over this country, the Interstate highways would never be touched again.
From the calls and contacts that I have received from citizens in that area, I am sure that the issue will be brought before the council at some point in the future. And I will favor placing Douglas Lane at the top of the priority list. As those residents have reminded me, that is where I had it on my proposed list from better than two years ago.
I have been asked my feelings concerning the lawsuits that have been filed against the city of Jellico and I have clearly stated my opinion publicly on numerous occasions. When I was elected mayor, I was elected to represent all of our citizens. And it is one of my responsibilities to see that no one is denied access to our city government and due process - whether I agree with them or not.
No official(s) should ever attempt to keep our citizens totally in the dark by literally going around town in the dark and calling a meeting at 9:45 PM on a Sunday night and further failing to inform the public or even other city officials and personnel of that very important meeting until just a few hours prior to its starting time - especially a meeting dealing with such an important issue as hiring a city administrator. (Some who were greatly interested never even knew of the meeting until much later.) We just don't do things like that in this country.
The individuals that brought about that meeting that has been labeled by many as "secret" had every opportunity to correct what they had done but failed to do so. That fact apparently frustrated some of our citizens to the point that they felt they had no other recourse than through the courts. That is their right as American citizens and as citizens of Jellico and I support their rights just as I support the legal rights of those who brought about that meeting conducted in such a manner. And as I have stated repeatedly, it will be a positive thing for our town if it prevents anything like that from ever happening again.
We have procedures that are clearly spelled out in the charter and in state laws that we are to follow. And if we ignore those procedures and laws, then we invite protests - legal and otherwise - from our citizens. And in a lot of opinions, that is exactly what brought on the lawsuit.
The present vacancy in the position of city administrator (CA) is to be re-advertised to exactly coincide with the qualifications listed in the city charter. Qualifications have made up one of the main issues in dealing with the hiring of a CA in the past and they will most definitely be an issue if another CA is hired prior to our city election in early April.
It makes no sense to spend hours and hours in meeting after meeting drawing up the educational and/or experience requirements for a CA, placing them in the charter, and then failing to require an applicant to possess those qualifications. To do so will only defeat the purpose of having qualifications in the first place and certainly invite furthur controversy. But it is still my recommendation that we hire no one until April and then allow our citizens to decide then if they want to continue with a city administrator.
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Mail any comments or suggestions, etc. to:
John Clifton
P.O. Box 533
Jellico, TN 37762
E-mail: jclifton@whitley.kl2.ky.us
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