Since last week's article, one slightly irate individual has told me that he had been badly misled into believing that the positions of Mayor and City Administrator could not be combined. Others have said that they too had been similiarly misinformed. Setting the record straight is one of the great benefits of this column.
Tennessee Private Act no. 101, February 18, 1998 amending our charter and establishing the postion of Jellico City Administrator is quoted verbatim:
Quote: Section 3.01 Organization of City Government. The Board by ordinance may establish, abolish, merge or consolidate offices, positions of employment, departments, and agencies of the city; may provide that the same person shall fill any number of offices and positions of employment.
Secion 3.02. City Administrator - Appointment and Duties. The Board shall appoint a City Administrator, who shall be bonded in an amount set by the Board, to serve at the will of the Board. The City Administrator shall be appointed on the basis of his or her executive and administrative qualifications, which shall include, but not be limited to a college degree preferably with an emphasis in Public Administration or Management and/or at least five (5) years experience in a responsible, professional local government or related position. End quote.
As clearly pointed out by the charter, any city employee or any non-city employee can be hired as City Administrator as long as the individual meets the specified requirements for the position. And the words "merge" and "consolidate" are very conspicious (the city of Williamsburg used similiar provisions to combine the offices of Mayor and City Administrator.)
I have no illusions that the majority of the Council would hire me for City Administrator because I fully realize and understand the politics of the situation. But I have been told time and time again that although the majority of the Council and a relatively few individuals oppose me, that the vast majority of our citizens appreciate the things I am working to accomplish and are supportive.
If that assessment is correct, then I can certainly live with that!!! It is for our citizens and our town that I work so hard and it is for our citizens and our town that will keep me working regardless of the Council's action.
I am sure that some wonder why I would not offer to accept the second job of City Administrator for no salary and there are some very good reasons. As stated above, I believe that there are three or four Councilmen that would oppose me under any circumstances for whatever reasons.
But in any case, I simply do not have the time and cannot afford to do the job free of charge. And the Council is apparently willing to pay some non-citizen of our town twice what I asked in the way of salary. I am retired but like all retired working people, I can always use extra income. I formerly turned down compensated work to perform city business for no pay. But I now work virtually full time on my "part time" job. A person performing the combined job of Mayor and City Administrator would have to be full time.
On my present schedule, I work all day and then report to the Mayor's office at approximately 3:15 PM. I work at that job the remainder of the day and often into the evening. I also work some nights and go to the office on weekends and during holiday periods if the situation requires me to be there.
I attend most of our city sponsored activities and all public functions that I possibly can. I attend meetings on behalf of the city. I have addressed several groups/organizations upon request during the months I have been in office and I have tried to present a positive image for our town.
I do a weekly radio program and write this weekly column to keep our citizens informed as to what is taking place in the operation of their town.
I write correspondence, proclamations and resolutions. I meet and take phone calls from our citizens at the office and at home concerning a multitude of comments and complaints.
I try to return all phone calls that leave me a number and I follow through on as many requests as I can although some are out of the realm of possibility.
I have worked hard to get our town renovated and revitalized. I have obtained numerous contributions and I have donated my very small Mayor's salary. I have participated with physical labor when and where I could. I have taken very little time for a private life and I have become both physically and mentally exhausted.
But none of that has had any effect upon the attitude of the majority of the Council. And I think a person attending our "Old Fashioned Night" put his finger on the reason. According to that individual, "The members of the City Council need to come to town to see what is going on. Some of them are completely out of touch and out of step with what is going on right now in Jellico". He may well be right.
Several weeks ago the Council appropriated $59,000.00 capital outlay funds for street repairs/paving plus whatever amount happens to be left in the street budget.
At the direction of the Council, I had the Street Department personnel to establish priorities for repairs and I obtained a cost estimate for those priorities.
I also wrote the Tennessee State Highway Department and the Campbell County Road Department and asked for their help. (They have already placed a guard rail along Highway 297 and resurfaced the access road to the industrial park).
And we need to get on with the placement of street signs, yellow stripes for parking spots and placement of crosswalks.
But there is no more that I can do and the City Council will need to take action before the work is accomplished.
Mrs. Peggy Dotson appeared before the August Council meeting and requested a clean up of East Davis Lane that had been a garbage deposit area for a long period of time.
I contacted Campbell County Litter Control Officer Glennis Monday and he and a county crew spent several hours cleaning the area. I sincerely appreciate Officer Monday's help.
The Tennessee State Highway Department has started planting flowers in the median area of highways and some access roads leading into towns.
I earlier asked for permission to plant low growing flowering plants in our four-lane median but was refused permission. I now plan to ask the state to plant the flowers there that they plant along our highways.
Several weeks ago I requested community improvement funds from the Tennessee Valley Authority for the placement of a combination clock/miners monument to be erected in Veterans Park.
I have received preliminary word that a small grant will be made available to me to apply to that project. But I have not received official notification and I do not know what amount would be involved.
I recently commented on the renewed interest in scouting in our area. Scouting is great training for girls and boys and deserves our community support.
I have learned that Brent Mozingo and Thomas Collins are moving up the ladder of scout ranks and both are now within two levels of scouting's highest honor - eagle scout.
I cannot personally remember a local scout achieving that honor although some might have done so during past years. I hope that both Brent and Thomas will continue to work until they receive the top award. It is an honor worth the effort. Eagle scout!!!
I have received a draft proposal for a badly needed Campbell County animal control and protection resolution. Although lengthy, I took the time to copy the entire document and placed a copy in the mailbox for each City Councilman for information and study.
When I was first sworn in as Mayor, I informed our citizens of the very serious problem that we face with waste water treatment and that our town could face serious consequences if we did not immediately begin corrective action.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported on Monday, August 20th that the city of Nashville has just been fined $600,000.00 for raw sewage that has entered the Cumberland River over the last two years. And the fine was assessed in spite of the corrective action that is already underway in that city. That is almost identical to the situation in which we are currently involved. However we have polluted Elk Creek for far longer than two years but it does take our raw sewage a little longer to reach the Cumberland River.
We have been very fortunate that the state has been tolerant of the actions that we are taking to correct our problem. But it could at any time assess fines upon our town of $10,000.00 per day if we fail to continue the aggressive approach that we are presently taking to solve the problem.
If anyone doubts that this column is widely read both locally and out of town, then they should talk to some of the people who have called me and come to see me about last week's article. I was amazed at the number of people who contacted me to say that they enjoyed the comments about the Estil Roundtree popcorn stand on North Main Street.
And several have corrected me on the site of the old Jellico Raincoat Factory. Those who worked there say that the factory was located above the old Union Bank Building. But the lettering above Llewellyns Furniture Store definetly indicates the presence of a raincoat factory there also and I seem to recall one operating there for a short time when I was a small boy.
And Mrs. Lisa Casey of Interstate 2000 now reports a total of 8,600 hits on our web page. Usage is certainly growing and I have recently had reports from users in states that I have not listed previously. And to continue to publish the site: www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm (for all previous articles just click on "archives").
I had a call from Ms. Vicki Smith, Representative of Norfolk Southern Railway with whom I have worked extensively to obtain the property from NSR. The legal details are being wrapped up by the NSR Legal Department and we should close the transaction very shortly.
And the survey revealed that the tract is slightly larger than we originally thought. It is 1.4 acres rather than 1.3 acres.
According to Robbie Rutherford at Cloverleaf Exxon, Mr. Robbie Woodson has agreed to purchase benches for Veterans Park Annex and will have them made. That will sure be a great addition to the park since our crowd continued to grow until cool weather. And it should be even larger next Spring. There are a lot of requests for some benches.
And it is just another clear indication that members of our community are willing to help with a project that will benefit all of our citizens.
My next project in that area is to locate a donor to erect the decorative fence in the area where we hope to place the Citizens Market/Farmers Market.
Final Note:
I want to thank Mrs. Betty Hurst for her efforts in dealing with the property sale. She put in hours and hours organizing all the information, answering the phone, working the counter, answering countless questions while carrying on her normal duties, meeting with the auditors, preparing for the regular Council meeting and working with representatives putting in the new phones for the old library while somehow still maintaining her composure. It was an extremely stressful time.
Lora Marples also helped with collecting and processing the data and I certainly appreciate her help also.
And I want to be sure to sincerely thank Councilman Jim Dobson for his help. He has supported me on the Council on several issues - alone on more than one occasion. Every time I look around at a public function, he seems to be there. And he looks after crowd and traffic control and other problems. But more importantly he represents the city of Jellico and demonstrates interest in what is taking place, especially during our weekend evening activities.
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