It was not surprising that the Council voted during the regular September meeting to again advertise the position of City Administrator (C.A.) and to call for applicants.
But it was shocking that the deciding vote in favor of taking that action was cast by Councilman Bill Barton (Councilmen Evans and Dobson voted no).
Barton ran for Council on a platform strongly opposed to the position of C.A. and has consistently voiced his opposition to hiring one during Council meetings. In fact he has always insisted that he would oppose the hiring of another C.A. without a public referendum endorsing the position.
The vote came after City Attorney Jeff Hall made it clear to the Council that the office of Mayor and City Administrator can be combined under the provisions of the City Charter and that bringing in an outside person is not required under the law. And to further emphasize the point, he read the applicable sections from the City Charter to the entire Council.
But we will apparently now have a second City Administrator. It would be hard to imagine the majority of the Council voting to undergo the expense and effort required to advertise the position and then have one or more members of that majority refuse to hire someone from the outside. In fact it would be downright ridiculous.
The salary and benefits for the C.A. for the next two years will total $75,000.00 - $80,000.00 depending upon the date of hiring. But I cannot foresee any possible way that he can perform at a level to justify that expense. In fact the Council has never even yet been able to define exactly what the job is that he is to perform.
I would have been willing to work full time (actually far more than full time) for half that amount and saved the city $40,000.00. The savings of $40,000.00 could have been applied to a badly needed retirement fund for our employees. It seems grossly unfair that dedicated city employees can work for many years and yet have no retirement in their advancing age. Yet a complete stranger who may never have even heard of Jellico will receive retirement from his first day on the job. The $40,000.00 would have made a good start toward establishing a retirement fund for our employees and their families.
But now that the decision has been made that we will again bring in a City Administrator, I plan to help him in every possible way. But I still plan to continue to head up the downtown renovation and revitalization program that is showing such great progress.
The new C.A. by charter will have complete control of all city departments and the day-to-day operations. And that is the way it must be if he is to succeed. He doesn't need to spend long hours either debating a 75-watt light bulb.
I will insist that we follow the charter to the letter. We cannot do things half way and expect to accomplish anything.
To help him gain the control that he must have, I plan to change most, if not all, Department Chairman assignments in May (end of our second year in office). That will have no actual effect and will be symbolic since the City Administrator will assume their total responsibilities anyway. The only real effect will be in changing the Council's representative to the Utilities Board since that appointment will remain under the authority of the Mayor.
But the changes will give the Council as well as the C.A. a new start in adjusting to the required way of doing things. The hired individual deserves a chance to succeed.
My thanks to Joann Watts, the Tourism Commission and all those who originated and sponsor the "Swift Silver Mine Weekend" and carry out the planning and hard work required to have such a popular event in our town.
The Swift Silver Mine activity brings a lot of people from several states to Jellico for a weekend and benefits our local economy. It also focuses positive attention upon our town and our surrounding area.
The special night for getting folks back downtown (Sept. 11th) was successful in almost every aspect. But we did have a problem with getting some of our senior and handicapped citizens parked close to the center of town because most of the available parking spaces were occupied very early in the evening. We did not have parking for some of the old and antique vehicles. And there were a few other snafus that reasonably could be expected for our first attempt to have such an activity.
Nothing that occured during the evening of the 11th pleased me more than the number of citizens who visited the library. Someone told me recently that the new building housing the library might be one of the best investments our town has ever made in our childrens' future. And as I have said many times in the past, a good library is one of any town's most valuable assests.
There was extensive reminiscing during the "Old Fashioned Night" and one of the things that a lot of us could still remember was the popcorn stand in front of the old Central Drug Store that was operated for many years by Mr. Estil Roundtree. Mr. Roundtree was handicapped and supported himself financially with his popcorn sales of 5-cent and 10-cent bags - always loaded with butter. (We did not worry, or even know, about cholesterol away back then. We just enjoyed!) Some of us were wondering what would happen if the Jellico Rescue Squad placed its popcorn machine on one end of the caboose and let the aroma circulate throughout the area. Could they meet the demand? (But its for sure that the price per bag would have to be increased).
The squad is hoping to soon start work on converting the caboose into a concession stand.
A question was also raised as to the location of the "raincoat factory" that operated in Jellico for many years. The factory was located above the Llewellyn Furniture Store building. The fading lettering marking that site is still barely visible if one looks closely.
There was a lot of skepticism the year at Jellico High when I decided to have a real "homecoming" for our alumni. Few if any thought it would be successful.
The initial attempt included three or four members of each class and was presented as a "parade of classes" before the homecoming football game. It received an overwhelming approval and the idea grew so rapidly that only the advent of the computer allowed the storage and processing of data required to reach and maintain it's current level of popularity and participation.
As I reported a few weeks ago, Wayne and Deana Barton have purchased the old Begliutti/Firestone property and plan to eventually erect a new structure there.
But in the meantime, I asked them to do something to brighten the front of the remaining building. And brighten it they did! The painting certainly changed the appearnce of what was a very drab facade.
And on the subject of brightening up an area, Tom Barclay's building (Old Family Drug) is beginning to look like a completely different structure.
At the time we assumed the duties of our offices, some of us hoped to see our town renovated and revitalized during our four-years terms. That was one of our four major goals. But if the progress continues at its present rate, that objective may be reached well before our terms expire.
We will not have our Fall Tree Planting Week this year due to the drought conditions. But the week of May 21-27, 2000 has been tentatively scheduled for our secound annual "Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Week". Our first such week was very successful and got a lot of our citizens involved. And we expect even greater participation next Spring.
Our major community project for that week will be the painting of the metal awning on North Main Street. Hopefully all buildings along that street will be renovated and/or painted, etc. by that time.
We plan to use some soft color that will blend with all shades of paint. But we have not yet decided upon the definite color of the paint to be used.
Several have asked what progress we are making toward establishing the Citizens/Farmers Market in Veterans Park Annex (tract II).
Our goal in preparing for that activity is to be ready sometime around April or May of next year. The open ditch dividing the two tracts has already been lined with white stone and the Council has approved the small amount of funds required to construct two bridges across the stream with rails (one for vehicles and one for pedestrians).
I am also talking with a possible donor about funding for the construction of a decorative fence. An appealing fence with small gates could conceal the area from the streets and Veterans Park, yet provide easy access to the property while adding even more to the appearance of the downtown. A fence already exists between the affected area and the Rite Aid Pharmacy.
We have had questions as to when we plan to resume work on the Old Presbyterian Church on Kentucky Street that was donated to the city. Some work has already been completed but more is badly needed - including a thorough cleaning of the interior.
But we have so much activity going on at the present time that we simply do not have the time to work on the church right now.
Our best time will probably come after the first of the year when there is a break in the activities and the weather is too cold to accomplish much outside.
I constantly get inquiries concerning our public water supply due to the drought and I continue to check on that situation with the Water Department.
Although the tile carrying water from the "Indian Mountain" pond to the old "Airplane Field" pond is now completely above the water level, I am assured that we still have ample water. And if need be, water might be pumped across the road from one pond to another. And Elk Creek can always be dammed and the water diverted to the large pond which supplies our water.
But when one looks at some of our creeks and rivers, it is easy to see why there would be concern. Some have dried up completely and others have turned into nothing but potholes.
I attended the recent ribbon cutting that officially opened the new Rocky Top/Wendy's along with Council members Jerry Neal, James Dobson, Allen McClary and Bill Barton. That business seems to be doing very well.
And the new Ambassador Thrift Shop downtown reports better than expected sales for its first few days of operation. That store sells clothes, collectables and other items.
This column was written prior to our regular monthly Council meeting last Thursday. The Council was scheduled to consider approving the purchase of the badly needed tables, chairs, etc for the Community Conference Room in our new building. As I stated earlier, we constantly get requests to use that facility but have to turn them down due to the absence of any furniture. And once the furniture is in place, we will have to adopt some rules concerning it's usage.
One class has requested the use of the building for a reunion during the Jellico High School homecoming and would bring in furniture for that purpose if none is available by that time.
Veterans Day is fast approaching and I have asked some of our local veterans and Jellico High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) to conduct some type of observance in Veterans Park.
I realize that Veterans Day will fall on Thursday this year (11th Hour, 11th day, 11th month) and a lot of our area veterans will be working that day including myself. But I hope that our town can have some show of appreciation for all veterans - living and dead - on November 11th.
Our weekend activities in the park will probably end by November. And if so, we will place some type of Thanksgiving decoration on the stage and light it at night during that holiday.
I earlier stated that I have simply run out of hours in the day and cannot oversee "Christmas in the Park" at Indian Mountian State Park this year. But I sure hope that someone else will. It definitely adds a lot to the Christmas holidays and it brings a lot of people to Jellico.
But if no one does assume that responsibility, we will consider having the live nativity scenes, caroling by churches, etc. on the stage. The Mountain Womens' Exhange has already informed me that they plan to move their extremely popular "Toyland" to that facility this year. Moving the Christmas activities to Veterans Park would mean even more activity in the downtown and require far less preparation.
I often mention the fact that Jellico and the Jellico area at one time had some of the best amateur baseball played anywhere in the United States. Every community, mining company and large business hereabouts fielded a team. Interest in the local teams was great and rivalries between communities often were intense as anyone who remembers a Pruden vs. Eagen game or a Jellico vs. Gatliff game can attest. Some players who competed in this area later went on to outstanding professional careers including hall-of-famers Earl Combs with the New York Yankees and Judy Johnson with the Pittsburg Crawfords of the old Black Major League; record holder Earl Webb with the Boston Red Sox and Lawrence Douglas with the Baltimore Orioles.
A lot of us miss those days of Saturday and Sunday afternoon baseball games at the city park. We wish they would return although we doubt that they ever will. But a few years ago, Bob Daniel started a series of "Old Timers" games that have really caught on with the "Over the Hill" gang. Every game attracts more participants and the great fun makes up for the considerable loss of skills that comes with the passage of time.
Daniel himself no longer demonstrates the slick fielding at shortstop that he displayed during his younger days. And Carlos "Carbide" Warming doesn't make the long throw from third to first the way he did years ago at Eagan. Everybody involved has lost a step (or many steps) in speed.
But the desire to compete is still there as are the memories. And little else matters!!!
The next "Old Timers Game" is scheduled for the Jellico High School homecoming weekend of October 15-17. (Exact date and time to be announced).
Final note:
I continue to receive compliments and expressions of appreciation from our citizens who attended the "Old Fashioned Night".
One gentleman stopped me along the road to tell me that he enjoyed that event more than any other activity that has been held in Jellico in many years.
Some residents of Scott County, working in Jellico that night could not believe the size of the crowd. One of those visitors questioned if it is that way every Saturday night. Carl Ivey, tongue in cheek, quickly replied "Yes!" For the sake of honesty, Carl retracted that response but pointed out that we have recently begun having very good attendance for our regular weekend activities.
When informed of that exchange, Ted Alsip commented, "A few weeks ago a cannon ball could have been fired from the center of town down North Main Street at 9:00 PM on any given Friday or Saturday night that probably would not have hit anyone or any vehicle. But it's sure not that way now!"
Our town is definitely coming back to life and we all need to continue to work together to maintain the momentum that is now clearly evident to everyone.
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