Signal Mountain, Tennessee Issues and Happenings

Tarzan, the musical at CCA

2012-02-08T08:58:00.000-05:00

After you've planned on seeing "The Butler Did It , Again" at the MACC, don’t miss the premiere of Disney’s newest theatricalextravaganza, “Tarzan”, at the Center for Creative Arts. CCA is one of four high schools around thecountry chosen by Disney to premier this show. It is a Hamilton County magnet school for the arts and includes students from all over Hamilton County, including the Signal Mountain area. Disney officials will be onhand for opening night. The show isbased on Disney’s animated film of the same name.

The show stars senior, David Couter, as Tarzan. Couter recently won recognition as the besthigh school actor in Tennesseeat a competition held during the Tennessee State Theater Convention. Co-staring as Jane is Brittni Rhodes, who wona Chattanooga Theater Center Miss Annie award last year for her performance asPenny Pingleton in “Hairspray”. Inaddition to a dynamite cast and choreography by Lindsey Fussell, Tarzan willswing through the jungle with the help of the well know rigging company, Flyingby Foy.

The show opens Thursday, February 16^th and runsthrough Saturday the 18^th with shows at 7:00 PM each evening. Tickets at the door are $5 for students and$10 for adults. Reserve seats are $15each and can be obtained by calling 209-5942.

The Butler Did It Again - photo!

2012-02-07T09:21:00.003-05:00

As promised, here is a photo of the cast of "The Butler Did It Again":

Back row: Lee Abelson, Keith Colllins, Tim Forsythe, Don Strickland, Rob Inman, Eric Schubert

Front row: Kendra Gross, Shandra Burnett, Janet McInturff, Sandy McCrea, DeDe Young, Anne Roza.

to be presented February 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, and 25
at the Mountain Arts Community Center.
Tickets available at the door of each nights performance
or from the MACC office between the hours of 9-2 and 4-8 week days
at $12.00 per person. For group reservations call 886-5243.

"The Butler Did It Again" by Signal Mountain Playhouse at the MACC in February

2012-01-31T10:34:00.001-05:00

The Signal Mountain Playhouse will be presenting their winter play this February. Here is a synopsis:

The Butler Did It, Again! is a murder mystery spoof with thinly disguised characters from the classic murder mystery genre. There's Miss Maple, a faux Miss Marple; Mrs. Danvers, the despised housekeeper in Daphne du Maurie's Rebecca; Rick and Laura Carlyle, based on the charming Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man; Chandler Marlowe, a combination of the famous mystery writer, Raymond Chandler, and the detective he created, Philip Marlowe; Louie Fan, a knock-off Charlie Chan; Tony Tallchief, based on native-American novelist, Tony Hillerman; and Ruth Dice, loosely based on Anne Rice, the queen of the vampire tale. This group gathers for a weekend mystery party in an old Louisiana manse. Unexpected guests, petty jealousies, and an escaped sanatorium patient set the stage for comedic catastrophe.

Performances are at the
Mountain Arts Community Center,
809 Kentucky Ave.,
Signal Mountain

every Friday and Saturday night from February 10th through the 25th. Tickets are $12 at the door, which includes coffee and dessert prior to curtain. Dessert service begins at 6:45 PM with curtain at 8:00. For more information go onlline to www.smph.org or call 886-5243.

The cast consists of many of your local favorites:

Characters Actors
Jane Doe - Attractive young woman Shandra Burnett
Chips - Family servant Keith Collins
Miss Maple - Dowager Janet McInturff
Mrs. Danvers - Sinister housekeeper Anne Roza
Linda Hayes - Fashion model Kendra Gross
Chandler Marlowe - Tough private eye Rob Inman
Rick Carlyle - Debonair Don Strickland
Laura Carlyle - sophisticated Sandy McCrea
Tony Tallchief - Western writer Tim Forsythe
Louie Fan - ala Charlie Chan Eric Schubert
Father White - English Vicar Lee Abelson
Ruth Dice - Vampire writer DeDe Young

I've been promised a "sneak peek" of photos soon, so keep watching my blog for more!

The Future of Signal Mountain

2012-01-03T13:44:00.000-05:00

In spite of my affinity for Calvin and Hobbes, I would like to resolve to blog more. This being an election year, I expect I will venture forth into national issues, however for now I'd like to discuss a place near and dear to my heart... Signal Mountain. As I have said before, I wasn't born here, but my daughter was... I wasn't raised here but my son was. I have lived in this community for over 18 years, longer than I've lived any place before. I have a great desire to see Signal Mountain continue to be a great place to live.

Growth continues to be a major issue for Signal Mountain. However, in spite of those who still worry about "unbridled" growth in the area, the facts (based on census data) are that the town is not growing at all and is probably shrinking. While some may find this a good thing, the recent tax increase passed by the Town Council shows the downside of our town's current policy. I have used my experience as a biologist and physician to guide my approach to town policy. I have in the past compared town growth to human growth. When our children are young, we all want to see them grow to be big and strong, but once mature, future growth can manifest as obesity or cancer. Thus a town has to be careful not to grow in an uncontrolled manner, metastasizing all over the countryside and dying from the center out. However, like in all science one cannot oversimplify. The reality is that even in maturity we are not stagnant. We must continually grow just to replace our body's dead cells and we should be continually focusing on nutrition and exercise so we grow healthy and build muscle, not fat. So, now that I've beat this analogy to death, we cannot allow our town to stagnate.

When I joined the Town Council in 2006, we started on a growth plan that I thought we could complete in my four year term. First was to be a new Land Use Plan which we completed in my first year. We next planned to rewrite our town's zoning based on that Land Use Plan which was based on the progressive, environmentally responsible conservation development principles of Randall Arendt. We soon realized that we also need to rewrite our subdivision regulations as part of this process. We began this in early 2008 and have yet to finish. I have heard that the subdivision regulations are finished, after four years, but it is not clear if they have been formally adopted yet. They certainly aren't on the town's website and, if there have been major announcements of public hearings on these regs, I certainly haven't seen them and I do try to pay attention. At any rate, the truly "heavy lifting" of rewriting the zoning regulations has not even begun. I'm not optimistic about the outcome of this since the Planning Commission and Town Council's majority have long since rejected Mr. Arendt and his principles.

So, moving forward what is the vision for the town? This is a big year for our town. It is an election year and three positions (Lusk, Allen and Wallace) will be up for re-election. Also, at the end of the year we will grow through the process of annexation which was finalized a year ago. The neighborhoods of Fox Run and Windtree will both join our town. While this will bring some new income, it also brings expenses and the net effect is fairly minimal (about an extra $100,000 per year, if I recall, worth about 5 cents in property taxes). However, the true advantage of adding these neighborhoods is the addition of the intangible assets of these citizens, their talents and brain power. I find this most exciting of all.

This brings up an issue that I think needs discussion. I have heard discussed the idea of moving to having electoral districts in Signal Mountain. Red Bank and, I believe East Ridge (along with Chattanooga, of course) have district elections. As we expand not only in population, but more importantly in geography, it seems like a good time to start thinking about the idea of assuring representation of all areas of the town. I'd like to toss this out as a discussion point and hope to expand on it later. In all honesty, I don't know exactly what would be involved legally, but the first step is to decide if it is something to pursue. I would encourage my readers to consider commenting on this issue (or any issue) on this blog. If you prefer, you can email me (paulmhmd@comcast.net) and I will post your email as a comment if you give me permission.

Finally, I don't think it is premature to realize that our fair town will be 100 years old in 2019. That seems like a long time off, but it would be nice to consider starting some community based discussion on how we would like to celebrate our centennial.

So, our future can be bright, but we need to seize it and make positive decisions. We can determine what kind of future Signal Mountain will have. If you wonder if this is important, just go ask your kids!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:07:00.000-05:00

I want to wish all my friends and family a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Paul

Christmas greetings

2011-12-23T09:58:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy and Peace-filled New Year

from the Hendricks family

Community Service and Town Boards

2011-12-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

I need to return to the topic of town politics again. Our town is served by many voluntary advisory boards. These are all staffed by community volunteers and are all non-paid. This honorable service has been unfortunately turned into a cynical political process by the current Council majority. One of my goals when I was elected to the council was to improve the process of appointments to boards to increase participation. I originated a new board ordinance which put all boards into one place in the town code for easy reference and attempted to standardize the process of appointments and terms of service. I also initiated the concept of "council liaisons" which would be a point person on the council for each board to facilitate communication. I had hoped to make it much easier for citizens to participate in town government and to get a broader range of views represented.

I have recently been told that a council member (Annette Allen, who is the liaison to the Parks Board) has asked long time Parks Board member Jeff Duncan to remove himself from consideration for reappointment so she can put forth a favored candidate. I don't know that there has been any public discussion or vote on this, though confess I am not an attendee at council meetings and am still doing some research on this. Jeff is a PhD biologist who works for the National Park Service and has been a long time member of the Parks Board. His qualifications are without question ideal for that board. However, he has had the audacity to oppose Ms. Allen's pet project of turning over the rights to town park lands to a private non-profit land trust (on which Dr. Duncan sits as a board member) to prevent future Councils from having any say-so in their future use. He did this in a very well considered essay that I have published and which also appeared in the Community News. It should be noted that, while the goal of opening up a position for someone new was apparently used as an excuse, the Parks Board was recently expanded from 5 to 7 members and there is a consideration to expand the MACC Board from 7 to 11, so there are clearly other mechanisms to increase participation.

This is not an isolated or new occurence. After I was elected mayor, one of my first responsibilities was to appoint two members to the Planning Commission. At that time, the Planning Commission was the only board where the mayor had full authority to make appointments. This was based on a state law which was subsequently changed by the majority on the town council (a change that only applied to Signal Mountain) to eliminate any authority by the mayor to make any independent decisions. Nonetheless, all appointments that I made were made with the input and agreement of the council and all were confirmed by unanimous votes by the Council. My first appointment was an attempt to broaden the viewpoint and balance the involvement on the Planning Commission by using the two openings to both re-appoint a sitting member, Wells Blake and also to appoint a member of the "Recall" Faction to the commission to represent those views. I appointed Melissa Cantrell. This was an attempt at balance and fairness and seeking a diversity of opinions.

Since then, the appointment process has gradually evolved into a very political one. It rapidly became apparent to me that appointments to the boards would only pass if the appointees held views acceptable to the majority. There were many examples of this: Dan Saieed, former chairman of the Planning Commission requested to be re-appointed. Although I had full authority to do this on my own, Dan, being a man of honor, said he only wanted re-appointment if he had the support of the council. This was after a very successful process of developing a new land-use plan one year after we all were elected or appointed. I informed the council of his request and was met with a torrent of insults and attacks on Mr. Saieed. When I asked for substantiation accusations by the other four on the council of inappropriate conduct by Mr. Saieed, I was given none. When I reviewed his record and informed the council that I found no record of any wrong conduct, I was met with silence. Nonetheless, when I told Dan that he did not have the Council's support, he withdrew his name.

Later, Greg Goodgame asked for reappointment. Greg had served on the Design Review Commission for several years, was the Chair of the commission and had been a regular attendee of Council meetings. Unfortunately, he had also run for Town Council and opposed the recall. After initially agreeing to reappoint Mr. Goodgame, the Council tabled his application in a regular public Monday night meeting then later rejected his appointment at one of our weekday "agenda meetings" when no public was present. Again, accusations were made that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities in re-writing both design review regulations and a new sign ordinance in the previous year. I didn't know all the workings of the DRC for my first two years on the Council. Bill Lusk has served as liaison and had apparently never attended a meeting. I became liaison and forwarded a request from the DRC for help in drafting these new ordinances. This led to the hiring of an outside design firm (KRW) to help with the design ordinances. Now, two or more years later I don't believe either of these ordinances have been finalized. Nonetheless, Greg was booted out of his volunteer position for having had the temerity of opposing the majority of the council on the recall.

Another instance was the removal of Wells Blake from the Planning Commission. Susan Robertson accused him of using his position for personal gain (again, in an "agenda meeting" when Wells was not present to defend himself). The fact that the ethics and organization of his occupation as an appraiser prevented any such activity was apparently lost on her, but she attacked and removed him anyway. Mrs. Robertson was also found abusing her "liaison" role in picking and choosing which candidates to even present to the Council for consideration. At one meeting she announced that she and the Tree Board chair had decided which individuals to appoint to the Tree Board. When I asked her at which public meeting this decision had been made and by whom, Mr. Long, the Tree Board chair honorably acknowledged that they had essentially violated the Open Meetings Law by making these decisions in private and apologized (though Mrs. Robertson did not). She later told me in private that the other candidates were unacceptable to her and she had applied her own criteria to weed them out, though provided no specifics.

I find this effort of stuffing the various town boards with political supporters and friends of the majority on the council to be an unfortunate turn for the town. I think that increasing participation should involve adding alternative opinions to broaden the views of the council. These are supposed to be "advisory" councils, not rubber-stamps for the previously decided views of the council. I hope that, in this fall's election, the board selection process will be brought forward as an important issue for the town.

Serving your community

2011-11-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest strengths of the Signal Mountain community is the history of volunteerism of its citizens. Maybe that's why they call Tennessee "The Volunteer State"? Ya think? Anyway, I have been fortunate to learn of many of the great service organizations on "the mountain" and have even served with a few. I would like highlight some of them.

I recently joined the Signal Mountain Lion's Club. You may know them as those guys with the funny yellow vests who serve BBQ on Fourth of July and Labor Day. However, the Lion's Club is an international organization with a history of service dating to its founding in 1917. That was the year that Chicago businessman Melvin Jones formed the national Lion's Club, based on some local "Lion's clubs" already formed in 1916. In 1920, the Lion's Club went "international" with formation of the first Canadian club. In 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become her "knights of the blind in the crusade against blindness" which began the Lion's well known connection to sight-related services.Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization. We have 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs worldwide. Lions are everywhere. We're active in more than 206 countries and geographic areas.

The Signal Mountain Lion's Club is over 50 years old. We have a dinner meeting at 6:30pm every 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the dining room at the Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC). In addition to vision screening and other sight services, we are known for our BBQ picnics every July 4th and Labor Day and for sponsoring fireworks at the July 4th BBQ. We sponsor a Leo Club for youth at Signal Mountain High School. While our current membership leans towards the male persuasion, we are a "coed" organization and are actively recruiting ladies to join. So, if you're looking for a great opportunity for service and fellowship and some fine dining, give the Lion's Club a visit. You can find more information at the follow websites:

http://signalmountainlionsclub.com/

And here's a great presentation about the local club: http://signalmountainlionsclub.com/documents/lions-club-orientation.pdf.

Finally, Here is info on the international organization:

http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/about-lions/fast-facts.php

Stationery card

2011-11-29T12:18:00.001-05:00

Joyful Memories Christmas Card

Turn your favorite photos into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Jazz Champagne Brunch and Sunday on Signal

2011-11-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to give you one more chance to enjoy a great brunch at Sweet Gipsy on James Blvd. Jennifer Verville has provided a great dining experience serving her special Sweet Gipsy French Toast (you just have to taste it), Southern Breakfast Casserole, crispy bacon, ham biscuits, steamed asparagus, curried tomatoes, fresh cut fruit, hashbrown casserole and assorted breakfast breads (I can personally vouch for the scones and chocoloate croissants!). Adults can sample delicious Mimosa drinks with orange juice and champagne. All of this and great entertainment by Dana Rogers. What more can you ask for $20 ($10 for kids), all benefitting the MACC Foundation.

So come on over to Sweet Gipsy after church (from 10-2pm), then go do some local shopping for the last day of Sunday on Signal. The weather's beautiful, hope you'll be there!

Sunday on Signal and the Jazz Brunch

2011-11-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

As you should already know, this weekend is Sunday on Signal, both Saturday and Sunday! Details on the sales and events can be found at the Mountain Business Association's website: http://signalmba.com/. The MACC Foundation is hosting a Jazz Brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-2pm at Sweet Gypsie's on James Blvd. Price is $20 for adults and $10 for children. All proceeds will benefit the Mountain Arts Community Center. Dana Rogers will be providing the entertainment. You can find out more about Dana at her website: Dana Rogers music .

Monster Barn photos

2011-11-05T08:41:00.000-04:00

Bob Spalding, the owner and creator of the Monster Barn sent me a few photos from this year and I thought I'd share them:

Hendricks Halloween and the Boy's Next Door

2011-11-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

I want to let everyone know about an excellent theater experience this weekend, Nov. 3-6. SMMHS Theater Department will present "The Boys Next Door" Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7pm and a matinee on Sunday at 2pm. I was privileged to watch a rehearsal of a scene from this play and it is going to be great. This is a play about four mentally challenged adults and contains some material not appropriate for children younger than 6th grade. I strongly encourage you to go. SMMHS is showing it is not a "one-trick pony" and in addition to becoming a sports powerhouse is also developing an outstanding arts program.

Also, I thought I'd share a bit of "Hendricks Halloween". It ain't just for kids! My daughter, true to her love of history and her motto "well-behaved women rarely make history" went as the iconic "Rosie the Riveter":

Not to be outdone, Paul followed the trick-or-treaters at a discreet distance:

joined by his lovely wife as... umm... I'm not really sure:

and of course, how could I leave out the vegetables:

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Preserving town lands the right way

2011-10-19T21:36:00.000-04:00

In my last blog I mentioned briefly my concern about giving away town property in order to save it. I think we are capable of preserving our town's public lands ourselves without giving away our rights to this property to non-public entities as being proposed by some on our Town Council. In a recent Community News Wed. supplement, Jeff Duncan outlined his concerns in greater detail than I could even begin to approach. Jeff is not only a town resident and member of our Parks Board, but is a PhD biologist/ecologist, employee of the National Park Service (and he obviously expresses his own views and doesn't speak for the Park Service) and a member of the Tennessee River Gorge Trust Board. I don't think you can get much better credentials than that on this issue. I would like to repeat his admittedly long, but quite well considered essay here on my blog (with his permission). I urge you to take a few minutes to read it, then pass along your views to the Town Council. Thank you.

Signal Mountain Town Conservation Easements: Good Idea or Public Policy Gone Awry?

An Open Letter to the Signal Mountain Town Council

By Dr. Jeffrey R. Duncan

October, 2011

Dear Signal Mountain Town Council Members:

Recent interest in donating conservation easements to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust is an example of good intentions meeting unintended consequences, and is simply poor public policy. Although I’ll be the first to lead the charge when it comes to protecting the Commons—that which belongs to all of us—it is quite simply not the role of a town government to give away landownership rights to an outside entity. There are in fact other ways to achieve the same end, that of protecting our beloved parklands, without sacrificing the will of the citizenry now and in the future.

First, allow me to provide a little background on a concept that is often new to many, or otherwise not fully understood. Land ownership comes in different forms. The most common form is ”fee-simple.” In this case, the landowner owns all rights to the land and is free to do anything on the land he or she wishes, subject to zoning regulations and various other laws. But, land ownership can also be seen as layers, where different parties own different rights to the land. Mineral rights are a prime example where one party may own the rights to the surface of the land allowing them to build, live, farm, etc, while a second party owns the underlying mineral rights giving them the ability to extract various minerals out from under the primary land owner. Other entities can own water rights, timber rights, hunting rights, etc. You get the picture.

The concept of a conservation easement was devised to help landowners protect their private property from various forms of development in perpetuity. In essence, the creation of a conservation easement grants partial ownership (one of the layers) of a piece of land to an outside entity—typically a land trust or government entity—which is responsible for ensuring that certain activities do not occur on the property subject to terms of the easement. In other words, the holder of the easement treats the easement as their own property and is even obligated to defend any encroachments upon their interest in the land. The value of the development rights that are encumbered within a conservation easement varies based on the terms of the easement and other factors, but a good rule of thumb is that value given away by the primary landowner to the land trust is approximately 80% of the original value. The reason a private landowner would want to give a portion of their land rights to a land trust is typically to protect the land from development by future landowners, typically their heirs, and in some cases for tax benefits. The concept was established as a means of land protection for private landowners.

Few cases exist where a municipality donates its development rights (i.e., a conservation easement) to a third party. Where these cases do exist, typically the conservation easement was placed on the land prior to it being donated from a private owner to a municipality. This is the case with a town-owned parcel behind St. Timothy’s Episcopal, where a conservation easement was placed on the land prior to the land being donated to the town. Similarly, Stringers Ridge in Chattanooga was recently donated to the City of Chattanooga to create a park. A conservation easement was placed on the land prior to the tract being transferred into city ownership.

So what’s motivating the Town’s recent interest in handing over partial ownership of its parklands to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust? There are no tax advantages associated with the action since the town does not pay property tax (in fact there are potential disadvantages I will get to later), and the only heirs in this case are the future residents of the town. The motivation and sole benefit of the Town giving away the development rights for Town-owned lands is to protect them in perpetuity from development. A noble ambition, right? Not so fast.

As is all too often the case with actions taken by government, even a government with good intentions, there exist unintended consequences. Such is the case with the idea of giving a share of Town land rights to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust.

The first unintended consequence is the cost to taxpayers of Signal Mountain. While not hugely expensive on a government scale, entering into a conservation easement is not free. As with any real estate transaction, there’s the cost of due diligence, closing costs if you will. The Town is not exempt from these, and the River Gorge Trust has no interest in picking up the tab. My back of the envelope calculation, an educated guess really given that I have yet to see any hard figures from the Town, is that between title searches, land surveying, recording fees, legal prep fee, etc., the Town will need to lay out somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000 to close the deal. Of particular note is the survey that would be required to delineate parklands from the Signal Mountain Country Club (an ironic example of the Town sharing landownership, or more precisely land management with an outside entity). On one hand, $10-$25K may not seem like a lot of money. On the other, this is the same cash-strapped town that recently considered a wheel tax, garbage collection fees, and other assorted cutbacks just to make ends meet. Strictly within the Town’s Parks and Recreation Program is a unfunded backlog of maintenance and other projects that exceed well over $300,000, and this is just scratching the surface! I suspect $25K could go a long way toward these various unfunded Parks and Recreation needs, not least of which is replacing the Shoal Creek swinging bridge that was recently destroyed by severe weather and repairing the bridge on the Rainbow Lake Trail.

Another unintended consequence is litigation. Yes, litigation. By donating conservation easements to the Tennessee River Gorge Trust (or any outside party), the Town would essentially be entering into a partnership with a separate entity over which it has absolutely no control. The Town would have restricted abilities to make any land management decisions on its own lands other than those that would be stipulated in the easement. Even something as simple and relevant as a Management Plan for parklands would need to be reviewed by and agreed to by the River Gorge Trust. Conversely, the River Gorge Trust has a moral and legal obligation to protect the conservation easement against all threats, including potentially the Town. How might this occur?

Consider, for example, the rules that Town Council recently passed into law governing what types of activities are and are not allowed to occur within our parklands. One of these rules is “no camping.” Another is “no open fires.” Unfortunately, the Town has neither the will nor the resources to enforce its own park rules, evidenced by the frequently smoldering campfire rings, empty beer bottles, and of other signs of camping in the area below Rainbow Lake Dam. If the Town has rules on the books to prevent environmental degradation and/or natural resource management, but is complacent in enforcing the rules, we are arguably in violation of our obligation to manage the lands appropriately under the easement (before the easement even exists) and therefore at risk of litigation brought on by the holder of the easement. Another example is the recently expanded parking lot at the Rainbow Lake Trailhead. Had an easement been placed on this property prior to the project, the Town could have been liable for grading and paving the area. For the record, I could list other examples where litigation could be brought against the Town by an easement holder, but for the sake of brevity, I will resist.

A third unintended consequence is permanence in the face of an uncertain future. In the context of a conservation easement, the Devil’s always in the details. Because a conservation easement is intended to protect land, it must be restrictive enough to allow the easement holder the ability to protect the land (in court if necessary). Therefore, the language that makes up the easement, the terms of the easement, require placing bounds on any future use. While this may appear straight forward, it is implicitly complicated when it comes to allowing certain types of recreation and not others, especially for lands that are by definition public lands. For example, it was recently stated by a member of Council that zip lines might be a desirable use in some areas of Town-owned lands. While I’ll leave the merits of this idea for a separate discussion, it brings up the fact that we, today, cannot possibly comprehend what recreational desires may be in the future. Zip lines, as recreational activity, were virtually unheard of 10 years ago. Twenty years ago saw the advent of disk golf. Thirty years ago, mountain bikes had yet to be invented. Who knows what outdoor recreational pursuits future generations will conger up? Regardless, the establishment of conservation easements over Town parklands would leave future generations of Town citizens out in the cold when it comes to making decisions about what they can and cannot do with their public lands. Remember, we don’t own these lands; we’re simply borrowing them from future generations.

My final point, rather than being an example of an unintended consequence, is simply to point out that the use of conservation easements as a silver bullet, one-size-fits-all approach for land protection is a misguided concept. As a staunch advocate for conservation, and as a natural resource management professional, I applaud Town leaders for their willingness and desire to protect our collective park lands. But, there are more appropriate means of protecting our public lands from development. In a recent article in the Signal Mountain insert of the Times Free Press, the establishment of our National Park System was metaphorically referenced with respect to our Town parklands. It’s worth noting here that all of our National Parks were established through Congressional legislation as opposed to conservation easements (not withstanding some National Monuments that were created by Executive Order in accordance with the Antiquities Act). This is, in fact, the way public lands should be preserved—by law rather than by donating ownership rights to an outside entity over which we have no control.

To some extent, our parklands are already protected by local, state, and federal laws. The Town currently recognizes these areas as parks with the primary use as recreation (e.g., see Signal Mountain Town Charter, Signal Mountain Land Use Plan, Signal Mountain Park Rules and Regulations). This is arguably a pretty strong administrative record toward preserving and managing these areas as parks. Although I will admit that some future rogue Town Council could vote to change this designation, I must remind you that this is the same Town that just a few years ago recalled virtually an entire Council for not being restrictive enough on private lands! I have absolutely no doubt what the outcome would be if a Town Council of the future voted to develop all or part of our beloved parklands. Outrage! Please don’t let the pendulum swing too far, from not being environmentally protective enough on private lands, to being overly protective of public lands.

In addition to the Town’s existing regulations, our parks are already protected in perpetuity by virtue of the fact that state and federal funds have been spent to create and improve our trail system (e.g., a federal Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21) Recreational Trails Program grant provided to the Town in 2000). Along with this funding came the stipulation that the trails and their adjoining lands must remain intact as recreational resources forever. It’s called, “Notices of Limitation of Use,” and it offers yet another layer of protection, albeit a little-known layer. Specifically, the condition attached to this funding states that the “property may not be converted to other than public outdoor recreations uses…” (http://www.tn.gov/environment/recreation/pdf/2010/nlu.pdf).

Current protections aside, I believe there is room for improvement. In fact, there are a number of ways to protect land from development without donating a stake in the land’s ownership to a separate entity. For example, the Town could establish higher standards for protecting our parks, much like has been done through the establishment of our National Park System. This could be done at no cost to the taxpayers and without controversy, simply by revising and strengthening existing Town laws as they relate to parks. Some have suggested the creation of a Town Wilderness designation (Rainbow Lake Wilderness is currently wilderness in name only). Provisions could include explicit language relating to ground disturbance, removal of native vegetation, control of exotics species, protecting riparian corridors and aquatic habitats, restrictions of motorized vehicle assess, and by establishing the requirement for developing and periodically updated management plans. These are all things the Town should be doing anyway.

In summary, conservation easements were not designed to protect public lands. It is the role of government, that is “We, The People,” to protect what is ours, not a land trust. Further, in a democracy the rights of all should be preserved, including (some may argue especially) those of future generations. By donating land rights and the underlying value to create a set of conservation easements over Town-owned parklands, we would in essences be taking rights away from future generations of Signal Mountain residents and sending a message that we don’t trust them to appropriately manage that which we all value so highly. We would in essence be acting like parents who cannot trust their children—in perpetuity. I urge you not to relinquish ownership and control over Town-owned lands to any outside entity. Instead, let’s work creatively to develop mechanisms to better manage and protect our fabulous natural areas, on loan to use from future generations.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey R. Duncan, Ph.D.

Biographical Information: Jeff Duncan has a doctorate in Ecology from the University of Tennessee with a minor in Environmental Policy. In addition to serving on the Signal Mountain Park’s Board for the last 7 years, he is a former member of the Signal Mountain Town Planning Commission, a Board Member of the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, and is employed as an ecologist by a major federal land management agency. He resides with his wife Laura on Ravine Road, adjacent to Green Gorge Park where together they are raising their two children. He can be reached at drjefe@epbfi.com.

Preserve public lands the right way.

2011-10-09T11:22:00.000-04:00

I wanted to discuss briefly an issue coming to a head this week. This is difficult for me because it is an issue I feel passionately about, natural lands preservation. My concern is that it is so easy to misunderstand, or worse misconstrue my position. The issue is not about the fact of land preservation, it is about the means. I stand behind no one when it comes to my commitment to public lands. I was deeply involved in public lands issues when I lived in Virginia and was involved early on in the efforts that eventually led to the passage of the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act of 2009 (http://www.vawilderness.org/news/releases/virginia_ridge_and_valley_--_victory!). As a life member of the Sierra Club (and the only town council member I know of ever endorsed by the Sierra Club) I feel my environmental credentials are secure. So, why do I have concerns about the proposal to create conservation easements on Signal Mountain’s public lands? Basically, I do not think it is good public policy to give away rights to public lands to private entities. I think that public lands should be preserved through appropriate legislation and zoning. This has worked well in preserving our National Parks and national wilderness areas. The lands recommended for this proposal are currently protected as town public park lands. The basic assumption of this proposal is that a future town council would be willing to allow development in Green Gorge or Rainbow Lake or similar areas. I find this a bit cynical since the only proposal I have ever heard to sell town lands to private entities for development was the proposal by the majority on the current council to sell the town recreation lands around the town hall to a developer for a shopping center! Frankly, I can’t imagine a future town council allowing the sale of these town gems and can imagine even less the idea of the town not rising up in rage if such a proposal were presented, much as the town rose in rage over the previously mentioned proposal to sell off the town’s lands just a few years ago.

The town is holding a public hearing on this issue Tuesday night, Oct 11 at 6:30 at the town hall to discuss this issue (I tried hard to find info on this meeting on our town’s website, but unfortunately the only reference I found was buried in the “council notes” http://signalmountaintn.gov/assets/notes/2011/10052011.pdf, it is not even on the town’s calendar!). So, again to be clear I strongly support the desire to protect these lands, but feel the proposal to give away rights to our public lands, even to a superb organization such as the Tennessee River Gorge Trust is not the right way to do it. I hope that all of you will express your own views at the above meeting or the regular town council meeting tomorrow night, Oct. 10 at 6:30 at the town hall or through emails or calls to the town council. Thank you.

Hodge Podge musical performances

2011-10-03T11:04:00.000-04:00

Well, it's that time of year again. Hodge Podge is this weekend, Oct. 7 and 8 at Signal Mountain Town Hall. We've got shopping, kids events, art shows, music, etc etc. For all the details, please go to our website:

http://www.facebook.com/fallhodgepodge

or
http://fallhodgepodge.com/.

We even have a youtube page: youtube.com/fallhodgepodge !

As you may know, I am arranging the musical performances. Unfortunately, my usual "partners in musical crime", the Thatchers have a college trip they have to take with their daughter (I know, what a distorted sense of priorities...), so "The Orchard Band" can't be there, but I will be doing a solo performance, Saturday afternoon at 3pm.

Hodge Podge performers:
Friday:
12noon: Baxter Whittenburg

1pm: Jim Palmour
2pm: Dee Bass
3pm: John Harper
4pm: Mario Piccolo

Saturday:
11am: The Cumberland Band

12noon: Alexian group
Three gentleman from Alexian Village will be providing musical entertainment for the noon hour.
1pm: Bryce Cronan

2pm: Woodnote

3pm: Paul Hendricks

4pm: Blue Grass Pharoahs

So, we've got a great line-up. These are all local musicians with Signal Mountain roots. So come one out, shop and listen to some great music.

PS:
I am going to start experimenting with ads on this page. I'm not personally endorsing any products, but urge you to go to the websites and check them out and make your own decisions.

Capture flash video and audio from any website to your computer">

response to attack letter

2011-08-13T10:26:00.001-04:00

I thought I should briefly respond to the letter in the Community News from Charlie Poss attacking the "Paul Hendricks plan" as he called it.

http://media.timesfreepress.com/epaper/community/sm/08-03-2011/index.html.

I supposed I should be flattered, but his letter totally misrepresented my proposal. Obviously, it would be easier to respond if Mr. Poss had accurately reflected my "plan", but his letter totally ignores what I proposed and raises concerns about things I never proposed! I don't know Mr. Poss and he has never talked with me. I probably met him briefly when we appointed him to the Planning Commission, but he never contacted me with these concerns in the past when the Council dipped into our reserves (or "fund balance") in previous budgets when I was on the Council. I never mentioned anything about using our fund balance in the budget, although our balance has been quite healthy and is basically there as a "rainy day" fund. However, my proposal was to use taxes currently being use to make extra payments on a very low interest loan which we have already paid ahead considerably. He justifies a tax increase as a way to prevent a tax increase, which is an argument that I don't understand, but seems to follow Susan Robertson's logic of raising taxes now (during an economic downturn) rather than 10 years from now. Finally, I should note that the best way to prevent tax increases is through responsible, planned growth. Our Land Use Plan had anticipated commercial growth at our current commercial "hub", the shopping center. Unfortunately, when such growth was proposed, Mr. Poss voted against this proposal, which would have provided a new "anchor" store at Signal Plaza and potentially added up to $350,000 per year to Signal Mountain's coffers which would have more than offset the proposed tax increase. I hope in the future Mr. Poss will look more carefully at such proposals as mine and the one he turned down for the town before looking at tax increases as the solution to our fiscal problems.

Save TEAM Center

2011-07-30T10:58:00.003-04:00

While I have had my differences with Bill Lusk on town policies and issues, I have always respected his dedication to his son, who suffers with autism. He has an OpEd in the Times Free Press yesterday, July 29th which I feel is quite pertinent and I wanted to share it with my readers. I tried to post a link, but was unable so have taken the liberty of copying the article to my blog. Please read it.

TEAM too critical to lose

TEAM is a place of caring specialists who serve children and adults and their families. TEAM cannot be duplicated.

By Bill Lusk

After 47 years, Tennessee’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) has decided to withdraw grant funding for TEAM Center. This shocking surprise was immediately followed by news that TEAM would close its outpatient clinic. All this comes as a terrible blow to families trying to cope with developmental disabilities such as autism.

Unfortunately, many facts and important details have not been reported. After a concerted effort by many of the families affected by TEAM’s closing, we discovered that most of our lawmakers were unaware of the elimination of TEAM’s grant, because it was not mentioned in DIDD’s budget. Had DIDD’s budget report indicated this important grant would be eliminated, the public would have received notice, and I believe many of our legislators would have tried to prevent such an action. I trust that our legislative delegation is now working to rectify the problem.

TEAM Center provides unique services in this area. The clinic at TEAM specializes in evaluation, diagnostics, and treatment for people of all ages and incomes with developmental disabilities. Each member of the staff at TEAM is a highly trained disability specialist. One is a nationally recognized neuro-developmental pediatrician and professor at Emory University. Their knowledge make TEAM a valuable resource for our region and many families drive hours to receive treatment.

The cost to provide services for the developmentally disabled is significant because these conditions are lifelong and often accompanied by other disorders. Caring for a person with a developmental disability is a family experience. Whether for diagnosis or treatment, work by the family, patient and his/her clinician will far exceed typical insurance reimbursement and is much more time consuming.

TEAM provides highly trained staff within a flexible environment that is responsive to patients’ needs. The clinicians, the tools, and the environment are different based on the individual’s needs, and many of the ancillary services provided are not reimbursable. This is especially true of TennCare which reimburses about 30 cents on the dollar.

TEAM’s clinic is extremely efficient while providing positive outcomes for its patients. The following data highlights the impact that the state grant has vis-à-vis other services provided by DIDD: that TEAM’s services were easily obtained via TennCare or the Department of Education. This contradicts DIDD’s own assessment. In the 2011-2012 budget, the other three Resource Centers with a total budget of $13,852,800 are being built because, as DIDD states:

“The resource center serving persons with intellectual disabilities in East Tennessee will provide access to a variety of medical and health-related services that are difficult to obtain in the community due to the lack of available and willing providers. (Emphasis added.) These services will enable persons enrolled in the Medicaid waiver programs to successfully reside in community-based settings of their choice.”

But what about those in our area who cannot travel to Greeneville or patients who are not enrolled in Medicaid waiver programs? What will happen to them?

My family, for example, struggled through years of uncertainty, misdirection and misdiagnosis by the school system’s psychologists and other providers. That delay in receiving an accurate diagnosis may cost our son dearly in his years ahead because early intervention is paramount. It was not until we discovered TEAM that our son was properly diagnosed and an appropriate course of treatment was developed.

TEAM’s staff is world class, and there is no duplication of services in our area as claimed by DIDD, and certainly not under one roof. TEAM is a place of caring specialists who serve children and adults and their families. TEAM cannot be duplicated. Accordingly, it should retain the $286.67 in state funding per patient necessary to maintain the program and provide our region with an invaluable level of services for the least among us.

Bill Lusk is a resident of Signal Mountain, where he serves as mayor, and is the father of a child with autism.

Last time on tax increase

2011-07-15T11:08:00.001-04:00

I thought I would address the recent Signal Mountain property tax increase one more time, primarily as concerns the rhetoric. The original referendum passed in 2004 allowed a property tax increase "up to" 35 cents to pay for the school bond. This tax would go away when the bond was paid off. This amount was calculated based on a 20 year loan payoff at the maximum interest rate of 6% (we purchased a "cap" on the interest rate). Since then interest rates have run something less than 1% and we have greatly accelerated the pay-off on the loan.

My proposal, which Bill Wallace and Dick Gee agreed with and advanced so capably was to avoid a tax increase by lowering the amount of the "school tax" to offset any general tax increase. Susan Robertson called this a "back door tax". Well, back door or front door, a tax is a tax. My proposal would have kept money in people's pockets at a time when the economy is in significant pain and that was the goal. Her "front door" approach takes money away now and leaves a higher overall tax rate in effect when the "school tax" is eliminated, so is really both a front door and a back door tax!

The Council majority stated that lowering the bond payments to the minimum would cost an extra $150,000. This amount would be spread over the next 10 years or so. With approximately 7500 citizens and just under 3000 households, this amounts to approximately $20 per person or $50 per household. That's not per month or per year or per decade, but total. So, we could have assessed every household a one time fee of $50 (rhetorically speaking) instead of increasing taxes by $150 annually for every $100,000 of assessed value of your house. Frankly that doesn't make economic sense to me nor sound like much of a savings.

Finally, there is the "moral and ethical" charge. One or two years ago, after the county reassessed all county property, we lowered our overall tax rate by 15% to compensate for a 15% increase in property values. At that time, we lowered the "school tax" from $.35 to $.30 to keep it from biting into general revenues and to avoid a tax increase. This was non-controversial and I don't remember any discussion about the "moral and ethical" consequences. I also don't remember any consideration or discussion of how much tax would be rescinded when the loan was paid off. If the "school tax" is lowered, that is how much will be rescinded. It was not an issue then, so I don't know why it is an issue now. On this, as on so many issues, the principles of the majority on the council seem to bend to fit whatever their latest whim is, be it taxes or land use or money for education, etc.

I hope that the voters who promoted Ms. Robertson for her anti-tax stand during the campaign (see http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_186139.asp) will do a bit more research next time.

new taxes... express your opinion

2011-07-07T15:03:00.000-04:00

As you probably know, after initially voting to keep taxes level on June 20, Mayor Bill Lusk reversed himself and voted for a tax increase at the Monday morning June 27 "agenda" meeting. He said he did this because he heard from more people supporting a tax increase than those opposing. Obviously, since he had previously voted to oppose the increase and noone knew he was going to change his vote it seems clear that he only heard from those who were encouraged by Susan Robertson to contact him to support her. She aggressively has been pushing for this tax increase (after initially proposing a "wheel tax" then a "garbage tax") after stating during her campaign last fall that she hoped there wouldn't be any need for a tax increase for 3-4 years!

Since we are currently spending an extra several hundred thousands of dollars per year over and above the minimum payment required for the high school bond, I have long advocated using that extra money to avoid a tax increase. We have already shaved at least 6 years off the life of the loan and are currently paying around 1% interest on the bond, thus with inflation this is essentially a no interest loan. Mayor Lusk in the paper today made the rather odd statement that part of the reason he voted for a tax increase, after initially voting against it, was because he expected he would have to raise taxes again next year! Ironically, one or two years ago, when increases in the property assessment values allowed us to lower the overall tax rate, we decreased the amount going to the bond from $.35 to $.30 to shift revenues from bond payments to the general fund and avoid a tax increase, so there is nothing sacrosanct about this amount. Apparently the only difference then was that it was an election year.
Obviously, we are talking about two legitimate positions... keep taxes the same and continue to pay off the loan "only" 6 years early or raise taxes to pay off the school loan even earlier. My real issue is the hypocrisy of Ms. Robertson running on a "no new taxes" pledge then immediately and aggressively pushing for multiple tax increases, coupled with Bill Lusk voting one way at the public budget meeting then, without any previous indication of his change of heart, changing his vote during a special Monday morning meeting when very few people can attend. These meetings were originally proposed by Mr. Lusk as work sessions to discuss issues and decide when topics were ready to be put on the agenda for our regular more public meetings on Monday nights, not as a way to hide from the public when making controversial flip-flops. Unfortunately, it has frequently been used for just that purpose. I can't tell you how many times Robertson, Lusk or Allen stated during one of these meetings "we have to keep this secret, the citizens won't like it or understand it", including meetings with developers to sell town recreational property to those developers, economic development plans like Ms. Robertson's suggestion to get a convenience store built on Shackleford Ridge Road near the High School, traffic cameras and many discussions about individuals they deemed unacceptable for town boards. I rebelled at this cynicism and arrogance which was a big reason for the differences in style between myself and the other council members. This issue deserves a clear public airing.

The final vote on the budget (and the tax increase) will be this Monday, July 11 at 6:30pm at the Town Hall. Councilmembers Dick Gee and Bill Wallace have voted to oppose this increase and I suspect will continue to show their strength of character by remaining consistent and opposing this increase. If you have an opinion, I would urge you to attend this meeting and express that opinion. If you can't go, you can email the council at:

blusk@signalmountaintn.gov
srobertson@signalmountaintn.gov
aallen@signalmountaintn.gov
bwallace@signalmountaintn.gov
dgee@signalmountaintn.gov

I would also encourage you to consider sending a "letter to the editor" to the Times Free Press at:

letters@timesfreepress.com

or Chattanoogan.com at

news@chattanoogan.com.

Thank you for listening to me! I hope you also come to see "Beauty and the Beast" this weekend or any of the next four weekends in July at the Signal Mountain Playhouse: www.smph.org.

taxes are going up so let's go to the theatre!

2011-06-28T03:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I was optimistic last week but I was mistaken. Bill Lusk changed his vote Monday morning and sided with pro-tax increase Councilmembers Susan Robertson and Annette Allen so Signal Mountain will have a 10% tax increase in spite of efforts by Councilmembers Dick Gee and Bill Wallace to avoid such an increase. Looks like it's time for me to head back to politician rehab, so I'd like to talk about the upcoming Playhouse production of "Beauty and the Beast"!

I have been a fan of the playhouse productions for many years. Several years ago, my kids got involved when Nathaniel played the Artful Dodger in Oliver! with his sister, Mary Eliza who played an orphan. The next year, they both participated in Oklahoma. I feel like I got to know the Playhouse people well and was a big supporter while I was on the Council. This year, however I decided it was time to take the plunge and try-out for the summer play myself, so Mary Eliza and I will be appearing in Beauty and the Beast! I will be playing the kindly bookseller which means I get to be in the "villagers" chorus for such show stoppers as "Belle", "Gaston" and the "Mob song" and attack on the castle! Mary Eliza is not only a school girl but shines brightly on stage as a candlestick in the castle!

It is a great privilege to be a part of this talented group and I feel honored and a bit awed. The show features such Playhouse regulars as Tim Forsythe as the vain and swaggering "Gaston", Rob Inman as the uptight and "t-t-t-tense" Cogsworth and Shandra Burnette as Babette, the sexiest featherduster in France. Michael Smith, who I saw doing a great job as Harold Hill in "The Music Man" at Chattanooga Theater Center is Lumiere, the candelabra while his son, Michael, Jr. is "Chip" the cup. Leslie Bell is Mrs. Potts, keeping everyone warm and well fed. Mark Oglesby is hilarious as Lefou, the ever-suffering, ever hero-worshipping sidekick to Gaston and Bob Roza puts his deep, sinister voice to good effect as Monsieur D'arque, the corrupt head of the insane asylum. Starring as Belle is Becky Gardner, who has the beauty and innocence required for the role, but enough spunk that you fully believe she could handle both the village bully and a ferocious beast! Matt Lynn plays the beast with the combination of ferocity and tenderness you know he possesses. I have left out a whole bunch of other folk (including long-term playhouse regular Denny Wolfgang as the baker, my fellow village merchant), so you'll just have to come out and see for yourself.

So, I hope this little mini-preview is helpful. I feel lucky and proud to be a small part of this group. It is inspiring to be surrounded by so much talent. While I have been a performing musician all my life, I haven't done theater since high school, but have been made to feel welcome and a vital part of the whole enterprise. Director Alan Ledford has a great way with both the kids and adults (that is, the over-21 kids) and David Wood is patient to a fault with our attempts to stumble through his choreography. Oh, and did I mention Mike Huseman? Mike is our pianist extraordinaire doing his best (and succeeding) to sound like the entire orchestra that I look forward to hearing when we open the show! I know Mike from his days as Chair of the MACC Foundation, but his piano-playing just makes me want to lock myself up and (as the old joke goes) practice, practice, practice!

So, no excuses... you have 8 opportunities to come see the show. July 8,9,15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30 or basically every Friday and Saturday night in July after the fourth, at 7pm each night. I look forward to seeing all of you there!

To tax or not to tax (and a brief side note about growth)

2011-06-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends,

I want to share a letter I wrote to the TimesFreePress in response to yesterday's editorial. I have been assured that it will be published, but with the upcoming budget hearing on Monday morning, thought I would try to get ahead of the "news cycle". I confess that some of my intensity on this issue is a bit personal. One of the greatest negatives attached to politics is in the area of hypocrisy. As someone who has been attacked as lacking "honesty and integrity" for taking consistent, public and principled stands on this issue, it does bother me that Vice-Mayor Susan Robertson stated during her campaign last fall that she "hoped we wouldn't have a tax increase" for several years then almost immediately after being re-elected began advocating tax increase after tax increase, first a "wheel tax", then a "garbage tax" and now an increase in property taxes. At the same time her supporters were attacking other candidates as supporting tax increases for merely pointing out something that Ms. Robertson should have known better than anyone that the town faced fiscal challenges in the near term. The campaign would have been a good time to discuss this honestly and openly, but she and her supporters chose to fall back on ad hominem attacks on other candidates and to obscure the facts about the town's situation. Now the chickens have come home to roost.

One other comment I'd like to make is on the "elephant in the room" issue which was so dominant 4 years ago, growth and planning. We started a three-step process in 2006 to complete a new planning and development process in Signal Mountain, encouraging "smart growth" and conservation-oriented growth planning. We completed a land-use plan in the first year as the first step. The next step was a re-write of our subdivision regulations. It has now been almost 3 1/2 years and this second step is not complete. All this was preliminary to the real issue of re-writing our zoning laws to encourage progressive land use principles. I opposed the repeal of the Shackleford Ridge ordinances for two main reasons: first because I had promised to revise and improve them, not just repeal them and return to old processes that I felt were flawed and wasteful of land and resources. I believe in keeping my promises, so I did. Second, I knew that these ordinances needed to be improved and felt that keeping them in place would serve as an incentive to the Planning Commission to get its job done. I felt that, if the ordinances were repealed, there would be a general attitude of "mission accomplished" and that, since the whole goal of the "recall" crowd was to shut down all growth on Signal Mountain, there would be foot-dragging to prevent any growth. I was obviously right.

We will continue to face revenue challenges, ie the need for new taxes. The solution to this is an increase in our tax base. Our current Planning Commission rejected the only major commercial project proposed in the last few years (with the exception of the hair-brained idea of selling off town property to commercial development, which I did oppose as did just about everyone else in town that I talked with). This is an issue which must be addressed directly and not by foot-dragging and overblown rhetoric about "unbridled growth". Census reports have shown that the town is stagnant and that is not a good thing.

I hope that some people can attend the public hearing on the budget on Monday morning at the Town Hall. Frankly, I think it is ridiculous to have such an important public hearing on a Monday morning rather than at a time that the people who work for a living can attend. Nonetheless, it is what it is. If you can't go and still want to express your opinion, you can email the council as follows:

Mayor Bill Lusk: blusk@signalmountaintn.gov
Vice-mayor Susan Robertson: srobertson@signalmountaintn.gov
Annette Allen: aallen@signalmountaintn.gov
Dick Gee: dgee@signalmountaintn.gov
Bill Wallace: bwallace@signalmountaintn.gov

Now (finally), here is my letter:

Dear Editor;

Your editorial in today’s paper (6/23/2011) on Signal Mountain’s recent tax vote is misleading. Over the last few years, the Town of Signal Mountain has raised its own taxes several times to pay for a high school which should have been paid for by Hamilton County like every other school in the county. This dream of a local High School finally came to fruition in 2008 and has been an incredible success. The town undertook a $7.7 million bonded indebtedness for this school which was originally scheduled to be paid off over 20 years. Due to a combination of using previously collected sales taxes (also voted on by the citizens for the school), early tax collections and low interest rates, we have lowered that debt nearly by half in just four years. We have truly made hay while the sun shone.

Part of the reason for the rapid pay down of this loan is that tax collections from the school portion of the property tax were set high in anticipation of higher interest rates than have occurred. Because of this, we are collecting amounts much in excess of the minimum annual payments. Now, in this time of economic downturn the town has wisely decided to use that excess tax revenue for other needs. You state that we have “extended” the payoff to 2021 when in reality we have shortened it by 6 years! You don’t mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest saved by shortening the life of this loan. This school will be just as valuable, if not more so in 2021 as it is now so it is truly an investment in the future. A family takes out a mortgage on a house to extend payments over time for budgeting purposes and the Town of Signal Mountain has wisely done the same.

I support the recent decision of the Town Council to keep overall tax rates steady while shifting priorities from debt service towards needed services and maintenance and hope that you will also see the wisdom in this approach.

Sincerely,

Paul M. Hendricks, MD

Former Signal Mountain Mayor and Town Council member

Mayor Lusk gets slapped down by TDOT Commissioner

2011-06-16T10:09:00.001-04:00

Signal Mountain has had a less than ideal relationship with the state highway department, going back to adamant opposition to TDOT plans to widen the road up the mountain back some 10 or more years ago. When I got on the Town Council, I made it a priority to work to patch up this relationship with some success. I also learned that it is rarely productive to pick fights with state and county officials in the newspaper. Unfortunately, despite many conversations on this subject with Bill Lusk during my term (including his attacks on WWTA, the sewer authority http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_129533.asp, an attack for which he personally apologized to former WWTA head Henry Hoss), he has not learned this lesson and has now been publicly slapped down by TDOT commissioner John Schroer (http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_203404.asp). Schroer's letter is also in the Chattanooga TimesFree Press this morning. We were told several years ago by TDOT that a new road up the mountain would cost many millions of dollars and would close the road for up to 2 years and this has now been confirmed once again by Commissioner Schroer. There is a long term plan to build a separate road up the back of the mountain in the Sawyer/Corral Road area, but this is no more than a line on a map on the long-term transportation plan and is also years in the future. I feared this would happen when I read Mayor Lusk's intemperate public comments calling the re-paving of US 127 a "waste of money" and figured he would get a phone call or letter as we did after a similar incident early in my term. However, I didn't expect such a public calling out. Frankly, it is an embarrassing incident for this town and I hope that a lesson was finally learned.

In other news, apparently the Council has decided against a garbage tax and will plan to raise property taxes in spite of Vice-Mayor Susan Robertson's campaign comments that she "hoped" she wouldn't have to raise taxes for the next 3-4 years. I thought at the time that this showed a clear lack of knowledge about the state of the town's finances and apparently that was the case. It was an unfortunate missed opportunity to use the campaign as a forum to inform the public about the state of the town's finances and to engage the citizens in discussion about ways to deal with these concerns. I'm sure that many of her supporters, including some of our local tea party advocates who promoted her as an anti-tax champion are feeling misled at best. I still think that, in light of this financial need and a deficit which is now over $300,000, continuing to pay huge extra amounts on the "school bond" is a luxury we cannot afford (we paid an extra $900,000 in 2009 and almost $700,000 in 2010 over and above our minimum annual payment). This money could go along way towards covering the deficit and some of the town's long term maintenance and public works needs.

my comments on comments...

2011-06-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

I am committed to being very open in this blog to comments of all kinds. I started moderating comments mainly because of some Chinese and Russian porn spam I was getting! However, I did receive one anonymous personal attack awhile back which I chose to ignore. As a general rule I wish anyone commenting would be willing to leave their name, but realize some aren't comfortable with that. As long as comments are construct and relatively polite, I will publish anonymous comments, but reserve the right to exclude comments which are gratuitous. After all, it's my blog and I'll do what I want to... but I would really like for this to be an opportunity to discuss issues affecting Signal Mountain and encourage my readers to participate in the conversation. I only ask for a little respect.

I will say that, while I had my differences with the rest of the Council while I was on it and was subjected to some nasty personal attacks by some of them and their supporters, my experience with my constituents on Signal Mountain was 99% positive. I found that the vast majority of residents were respectful, even when disagreeing with me. I know that the annexation discussions got heated at times and that I was passionate on that issue, primarily trying to make sure that the facts stayed in the forefront, but even that has resolved relatively amicably. I do believe we can all "get along" if we try. So, let me hear from you.
Paul

Garbage Tax??

2011-06-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

It is awfully hard to follow what is going on with the budget on Signal Mountain. The last I heard, a new garbage tax was a "done deal" according to Bill Wallace's Facebook page and certainly the news coverage seemed to support that. Today, Bill's Facebook implies that the garbage tax will not be enacted and that a property tax increase is ahead. I know that Annette Allen has advocated a garbage tax (oops, I mean "fee") for awhile. When we went to automated garbage service a few years ago (a change I strongly supported), it was project to save around $100,000 per year which I thought justified the decrease in service from twice a week to once a week. I did not support decreasing backdoor service to our elderly and disabled citizens, though there was pressure from staff and other councilmembers to do so and apparently that is part of the current proposal... ie, increased fees for decreased service. I have long known that we would need to do something about revenue soon and was frankly surprised that town manager Honna Rogers hadn't recommended a tax increase sooner, but since my last year on the council was an election year, I suppose I shouldn't have been (surprised, that is). Nonetheless, the new census numbers supported my contention that the town has not grown in the last decade, in spite of all the fear-mongering about "unbridled growth". However, our costs do continue to grow and I knew that eventually the piper would have to be paid somehow.

There is some merit in going to a fee-based garbage system if it is used to reinforce recycling and decrease the waste stream. However, a "fee" which applies essentially to every household and which is an additional cost is a tax, so that's what I'll call it. I would have preferred an offset in property taxes if this was truly initiated as a way to separate out the garbage service. The problem with fees is that they are regressive, ie they affect those of lesser means (especially those on fixed incomes) disproproportionately and if the service being paid for is one that everyone uses, it becomes a regressive tax rather than a true fee. I supported some of the fee increases introduced during my term because we were trying to get in line with other towns and because the services were more optional (pool, tennis, gym, MACC, etc), however garbage service is basic and universal.

Frankly, I am a bit surprised that Joe Dumas and Mo Kiah and some of our other anti-tax teaparty types haven't been raising the roof on Chattanoogan.com over this proposal. As a matter of fact, the Chattanoogan seems quite uninterested in covering much of anything on Signal Mountain. The last article I found on our budget was from 5/6 (http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_200658.asp). Chattanoogan.com certainly seems to be less interested in Signal Mountain's activities since I've been off the council (maybe a coincidence or am I just paranoid??).

At any rate, I am very curious about what the final decision will be but either way I would plan on paying more for something. I still refer everyone back to my suggestion to keep taxes level, (see blog of Feb. 10), but since Mayor Lusk attacked me so aggressively on this proposal in his letter (on the Chattanoogan.com) of last fall, I would not expect this to be adopted.

Moms, Mountain and Music this weekend

2011-05-04T10:38:00.000-04:00

The Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC) Foundation announces its “Moms, Music and the Mountain” concert this Saturday, May 7. The MACC Foundation is a private organization founded to support the programs of the Mountain Arts Community Center.

This event will benefit the Karen Shropshire Memorial Scholarship Fund. Karen was the first director of the MACC and led it through its first 10 years of existence. Karen was passionate about the arts and the MACC and also about the students who were coming to the MACC for arts courses. She would sometimes reach into her own pocket to pay for students who couldn’t afford to take classes. This scholarship fund was established by Karen’s family after she passed away this past January. It will be used to fund deserving underprivileged individuals who wish to take classes at the MACC.

We invite all music lovers to come listen to live acoustic music all day at Signal Plaza and support Karen’s fund. We also invite you to have lunch and dinner at our restaurants and visit our shops while looking for something for Mom.

Busy Weekend on Signal Mountain

2011-04-27T11:19:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, my acoustic trio The Orchard Band will be playing at the Signal Mountain Business Expo this weekend. Information on the expo can be found at: http://signalmba.com/events/signal-spring-expo/. Mountain Cove Bluegrass will be playing from 11:30-1:30 and we'll be playing from 2-4. When I announced this event, I was reminded of all the other wonderful things going on this weekend.

First, Signal Mountain High School Theatre Dept. will be presenting the musical comedy "Little Shop of Horrors" on Thurs-Friday and Saturday night followed by a matinée on Sunday. Details can be found here: Little Shop of Horrors at SMMHS.

Saturday night will also feature a performance at the Mountain Arts Community Center by the Uptown Big Band. Information can be found by contacting the MACC at 886-1959 or checking the website at: MACC Website.

Bachman Community Center is having a gardening expo on Saturday. Information can be found at: http://www.bachmancc.org/expo/.

And don't forget Signal Mountain Youth Baseball's Home Run Derby & Festival going on Saturday as well. As well as the kids' HOUR Derbies, there will be a Dads' Derby, Moms game and several activities.

This is SMYB's annual fundraiser and couldn't come at a better time. There's a bevy of talent in our youth leagues - come out and see them! More info and contacts can be found at: Signal Mountain youth sports.

I'm sure this list isn't exhaustive, only a few of the other things I was reminded were happening this weekend. So... anyone who says "I'm bored" this weekend just isn't paying attention! And the last time I checked, the weather is supposed to get great! So come on out for some great music, theatre, gardening and sports!

Look for more info coming up on the "Moms and music" event next weekend!

Beauty and the Beast at Signal Mountain Playhouse this summer

2011-04-18T16:26:00.001-04:00

I've been asked to announce auditions for "Beauty and the Beast" coming up on May 14 at 10 am for children 7 to 12; and on that same day, at 2 p.m. for teens and adults. Auditions will also be held on May 16 at 7 p.m. for teens and adults. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or adult at auditions. Everyone should wear closed toe shoes. Auditions will be held at the Playhouse amphitheater behind the Signal Mountain Town Hall. Production dates for the show are July 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30. Go to Signal Mountain Playhouse for further details.

Great weekend for music on Signal Mountain

2011-04-18T05:13:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm sorry I'm so late getting around to commenting on last weekends fantastic music events. Friday night, April 8, the MACC Foundation hosted a dinner and concert by Fletcher Bright and the Dismembered Tennesseans. This was a fundraiser for the Mountain Arts Community Center. To say it was a success is an understatement. All 72 initial tickets sold-out rapidly and 10 more seats were squeezed in to accommodate the demand. These 82 patrons of the arts experienced a wonderful night. It started with a champagne reception hosted by Barnett & Co., a financial advising firm which has become a regular supported of MACC Foundation activities. Next, we moved into the old SME cafeteria which was elegantly decked out with black and white tablecloths and floral decorations by new florist "Poppy's" (located at Signal Mountain Plaza Shopping Center) and Crocker Produce. We had an excellent, four-course gourmet dinner prepared by the chef at Alexian Village accompanied by several fine wines and beers. Then, the highlight of the evening was 2 hours of music by Fletcher Bright and the Dismembered Tennesseans. This whole event began last fall when MACC Foundation Vice-President John Harper bid for Fletcher Bright's services at another fundraiser. John asked Fletcher if he would be willing to do a performance at the MACC. Fletcher not only agreed, but also donated the services of the rest of the band, too. In addition to Fletcher, we were also treated to a rousing rendition of "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" by John Harper, accompanied by the Dismembered Tennesseans. I was also fortunate to be included when Fletcher invited his nephew, Robert Thatcher up to perform one of Robert's tunes. As you probably know, Robert and I (along with his wife, Alice) have performed together for over 10 years as "The Orchard Band". Robert recently recorded a song he wrote for a Bluegrass Benefit CD. The song, "Kentucky Blue" is about the mountain-top removal mining technique (by the way, Robert's against it!). Since we do this song, Alice and I joined Robert on stage to perform this song, also accompanied by the Dismembered Tennesseans. It was clearly a night to remember for me!

That alone would have made for a great weekend, but the next night the MACC Foundation followed up with a more casual concert featuring several younger music groups. Since we already had the MACC all decorated (and had already paid for insurance and liquor license...) we invited The Local Group, an acoustic duo featuring Bryce Cronan and his cousin, Jay to open, followed by Moonshoes Mumsy, an excellent original rock band from Hixson and finally closing with Bred, a dynamic power trio from SMMHS featuring Garrett Massman on guitar, Baxter Whittenberg on bass and vocals and Clare Beasley on drums. Frankly, I was impressed! Bred had an acoustic set with Baxter on guitar and Garrett on mandolin with Clare singing and playing... well it looked like a stool, but sounded like a drum.

So, live music is alive and well on Signal Mountain. The MACC Foundation has plans for more such events in the near future including a day of live music on May 7 at Signal Plaza to honor Mother's Day and raise money for the Karen Shropshire Memorial Scholarship Fund which will offer tuition assistance to low-income students at the MACC. This was started by Karen's children to honor her memory and her 10 years of service as the MACC's first director.

Before I close, I have to acknowledge several folks who really made this past weekend a success. As a matter of fact, without them it wouldn't have happened at all! First, MACC Foundation President and Vice-President Buffie and John Harper were really the initial driving force and generous donors for this event. SMMHS senior students Baxter Whittenberg and Logan Whitlow then approached the foundation about helping out with an event as their senior projects. Their energy and "elbow grease" were essential to pulling this off. Finally, last but not least, Patrick Emanuel was the organizing force that made these events happen. He worked with Baxter and Logan on all details, made contacts with our sponsors who included Alexian, Pruetts, Barnett and Co., FSG Bank, Miller and Martin Attorneys-at-law, Poppys and Eberle Bros. Tire Co. who sponsored the Saturday Nite Jam Concert. His unflagging energy was an inspiration to us all.

Hope to see everyone on May 7 and keep your eyes open for future events!

Community Meeting with Mayor Coppinger

2011-04-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

I'd like to start this blog with a request. I had a recent computer "crash" and lost a LOT of email addresses. If you are reading this (and I know you are!), please send your email address to me at paulmhmd@comcast.net. And include your name. Sometimes its hard to figure out who "mom1234@" really is! Thanks!!

Last night I attended the community meeting with County Mayor Jim Coppinger at the theater in SMMHS. This was a well attended event. My estimate was approximately 150 people attended. As you might expect, education issues dominated the discussion. Clearly the "elephant in the room, however was funding, ie, money! The meeting did start off with a question from Dr. Cleaveland about funding for the Health Department. The looming expiration of the sales tax agreement between the county and the city has left many questions about jointly funded departments and, while a county health department is mandated by state law, as pointed out by Mayor Coppinger, Dr. Cleaveland asked how well it was to be funded. Like most questions last night, however there really was no concrete answer.

This was the theme of the evening... lots of problems but no answers. A few themes did emerge from the questions from the audience. One was the obvious but important message that we, the local residents care deeply about our kids and their education. While this is hopefully true of all communities, it was clearly pointed out that we have put our money where our mouths are. The $10 million raised by the Towns of Signal Mountain and Walden was crucial to getting SMMHS built. Since then more millions have been raised by local residents to fund our local schools. This doesn't include the increases in sales taxes which the town passed. One of my great regrets about my term on the town council was my failure to convince the rest of the council to commit this sales tax money to further improvements in the school before it opened. This reminds me that Vice-Mayor Susan Robertson, whose vote along with Mayor Bill Lusk was critical in defeating my proposal to dedicate this money to the school, was present at this meeting along with newer Councilmembers Dick Gee and Bill Wallace.

But I digress. The other message of the night was that the local residents were tired of being responsible for paying for everything from books to IB program expenses for our local schools while other schools receive such basics from the county, including a new IB program being proposed at Ooltewah High School. There was a mood of "we're not gonna take it" anymore from the crowd.

Chip Baker

I should mention that the other officials on the stage with Mayor Coppinger were County Commissioner Jim Fields and School Board Rep. Chip Baker. Chip was running late because of a budget committee meeting. At that meeting it was apparently announced that the school board deficit is an even greater $14 million. This information is in today's Times Free Press. Several questions were directed to Commissioner Fields about the PILOT money from the Volkswagen plant being withheld from the School Board by the County Commission. PILOT means "Payment In Lieu Of Taxes". Commissioner Fields began his defense of his support of this effort by arguing with citizen and former School Board member Annie Hall about the definition of property taxes. "It's not property tax money, its PILOT money" he insisted. That's like arguing whether the ocean is green or blue... either way it's all wet. Let's get real. Mr. Fields insisted this money would be used for "construction and maintenance" and, I do compliment the County Commissioner for agreeing to pay for the purchase of the old David Brainerd private school which saved money for the school board. However, the need is now. Schools have leaking roofs and many other maintenance problems now. The School Board is looking at significant draconian cuts in programs, benefits and personnel. The real life effect will be larger classrooms, continued problems with buildings falling down around our children and teachers leaving our county to work in Georgia. It makes no sense to withold current revenue from current needs. Frankly, my impression of the crowd was that they were not impressed with Mr. Fields position and his defense of it. I hope he will reconsider in light of a very clear message from his constituents.

The Greater Signal Mountain Community has shown its commitment to education through millions of dollars in actual cash raised not to mention incalculable amounts of volunteer hours. We have built a middle/high school which critics claimed no one would send their children to and which would sit empty yet which is projected to reach capacity in its third year. The County Commission needs to stop playing political games with the school board and give them the resources they need to do their job. It that means a tax increase, well, here on Signal Mountain we can say "been there, done that, got the t-shirt". Literally. Maybe if they get this job done it will give Congress a clue about how to do it right. Frankly, I'm not optimistic.

MACC Foundation

2011-03-06T09:13:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I have long been an ardent supporter of the Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC). My son attended Signal Mountain Elementary School in its last year as a 1st grader in Mrs. Joan Barnes class. When I heard of the idea of turning it into an arts center, I thought it was a great idea. I did my small part by holding several benefit concerts with my band, Orchard Blend in the auditorium, donating all proceeds to the MACC.

I got to know Karen Shropshire, the first director of the MACC and was proud to consider her a friend. She and I had many long conversations about the future and her dreams for the MACC. When she retired in 2009, I told her "Well, Moses never got to the promised land, but they'd have never made it without him". Sadly, my comments were more prophetic than I knew when Karen passed away this past January. I truly believe that without Karen Shropshire's dedication and commitment the MACC would probably not exist today.

When I was elected to the Town Council, I was appointed liaison to the MACC Board. There is some confusion about the entire structure of the MACC. While the building was initially leased to the town, the management has always been a town department. One major goal of mine was to obtain ownership of the building and in 2009, the building was donated to the Town of Signal Mountain by the Hamilton County Board of Education through the good services of our school board member, Chip Baker. The MACC Board is appointed by the Town Council to advise the Council on the needs of the MACC and to work with the director and town management on the mission of the MACC.

The MACC Foundation was started in the last year, but was a direct descendant of Friends of the MACC (FOMACC) which was the organization which originally advocated for and supported the MACC. It is a private organization that exists solely to support the MACC. It has been a source of volunteers for many MACC activities and also has contributed small amounts of funds over the years for needs ranging from pianos to postage and repair work! As the MACC came under town ownership, the FOMACC decided to focus on fundraising and evolved into the MACC Foundation. As part of this process, the Foundation hired a part-time consultant to advise the organization on the whole process of forming a Foundation. This consultant, Patrick Emanuel had done much work with hospital foundations in Mississippi before moving to Signal Mountain approximately two years ago to be nearer to his family in the area. In addition to advising the Foundation Board on how to raise funds, Patrick was also hired as an "operational consultant" to perform many of the day-to-day activities of the Foundation. There has recently been some controversy about Patrick, mostly due to misunderstanding about his role and responsibilities by some Town Council members. His contract currently pays him for four hours per week, however I can tell you all from personal experience that he puts in many, many more hours than this. As a volunteer board member with a family and a full-time job, I can tell you that I couldn't begin to keep up with the amount of work he does. Many of the board members are, like me working people and several of them are business owners. Without someone to do the day-to-day activities of the Foundation, I don't believe we could successfully function.

Last summer, as I was deciding where I would like to continue to serve the town, I met Patrick and learned about the plans of the Foundation. I had known this was a direction they were working towards over the last few years and had encouraged them to do this. I also got to know John and Buffie Harper better. I knew them from church and had played some guitar with John in our church group, but as I learned more about their philanthropic work, I realized what a great asset to the Foundation they were. I had previously gotten to know Barb Storm, the new director of the MACC and was very impressed with her skills and passion. Finally, I encouraged and supported Dick Gee and Bill Wallace, both members of the MACC Board at the time to run for the Town Council. With their election, I felt like there was a great team in place to further the vision of the MACC and I decided to jump on board. Over the last 9 months, the MACC Foundation board has markedly expanded and attracted considerable talent and experience to further its mission.

I'm very excited about the future. We have several "visioning" sessions planned to seek input from community members, one of which I will be moderating on March 10 from 10am-12noon at the MACC. The other two are on March 15 and 19 with details at the MACC's website at: http://signalmountainmacc.org/. I encourage everyone to come and contribute your views to the future of this great addition to our community.

SMMS Talent Show

2011-02-26T08:05:00.001-05:00

I had an amazing experience last night. The Middle School portion of SMMHS held a talent show. This has been a longstanding event at the Middle School. It is sponsored by the PTA and put on purely by volunteers, led by Rick and Tracy Faulkner and assisted by my wife, Snoda, though there was faculty help by John Lennon, Theatre teacher and wrestling coach. I don't have the exact number of kids who performed, but it was more than double of last year. Over 30 acts with more than 40 kids sang, danced, played, acted and rapped for a standing room only audience.

While I confess that that the rhythms weren't always metronomic and the pitches weren't always perfect, the enthusiasm and courage of these kids was awesome. Several accompanied themselves on instruments including guitars, harp and a very nice mandolin performance, while others sang to recorded music. There were several skits, an outstanding baton/dance routine, a hilarious Canadian rap song and something called the "chicken wing song" (you had to be there) among many others.

I would be remiss not to mention my daughter, Mary Eliza who performed three songs on her harp including singing "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music and also appeared in a skit that she wrote herself and put on with several friends. I certainly know how hard she worked on her performances and I'm sure the others did as well.

The evening finished with two rock bands, Battlefield and OCD. This topped the evening off with a huge amount of energy. I hope to see more of these guys soon (and am already working on other opportunities for them to play).

Finally, I have to mention the audience. First, I must say that when the school was being built I was disappointed that they didn't include a full-size auditorium. Both high schools I attended had full sized auditoriums for assemblies, pep rallies, band and chorus concerts and theatre productions. I was told that if such an auditorium were built, "it would never be used". However, I know that the small theatre at SMMHS is in great demand for all sorts of school and community activities and we were concerned last night about turning people away to keep the fire marshall happy. However, the audience that was there was impressive in their behavior. Filled with adults and many students, they were quiet and respectful during performances, applauded even the most awkward moments and gave standing ovations to several outstanding performances. The support that these kids showed for their fellow performers and students was impressive. We have a great school filled with great kids. There is an amazing amount of talent at this school, on and off the athletic field! I would urge all citizens, even those without kids at the school to start attending some of these performances and see what the future holds. Believe me, it is bright indeed.

New taxes??

2011-02-10T11:07:00.001-05:00

Interesting article in the Wednesday supplement yesterday for those who missed it (http://media.timesfreepress.com/epaper/community/sm/02-09-2011/index.html). The Town Council is finally acknowledging that revenues are a concern. This issue was raised in the recent election, but was downplayed. Susan Robertson stated at that time that she "hoped" taxes wouldn't have to be raised for 3-4 years. Now, 3 months later, she is quoted as saying they need something to "pull out of our hat" for new revenues and proposed a $10 wheel tax. In the recent election, just 3 months ago, the concern about the town's shrinking population was raised and ignored by the incumbents. Even though the US Census Bureau has consistently predicted that Signal Mountain's population has shrunk over the last 10 years, the council denied it based on their scientific opinion that, as Annette Allen is quoted "It's my experience that the intersections are busier". Susan Robertson is quoted as saying "I can't wrap my head around it". However, facts are difficult things and can't be ignored and it is the job of the Town Council to wrap their heads around them.

http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2009-04-47.xls shows the data:

Signal Mountain town population
2009: 7,253
2008: 7,179
2007: 7,180
2006: 7,255
2005: 7,264
2004: 7,282
2003: 7,338
2002: 7,390
2001: 7,408
2000: 7,440 (July 1 estimate)
2000: 7,429 (April 1 census number)

The annexation settlement won't go into effect until the end of 2012 with new revenues not appearing until late 2013. In spite of rhetoric to the contrary, the annexation is not a large net revenue increase for the town. One concern I have had is the massive extra payments we are making on the high school bond debt. We were originally indebted for approximately $7.7 million to Hamilton County by the referendum. After subtracting moneys previously set aside, the amount to be borrowed was approximately $7.236 million including costs of the loan. Since 2008, when the first payments were due, we have paid this down to approximately $3.9 million after applying the $317,000 which I recently discovered had been overlooked even though the Council voted to apply it to the loan in 2007.

What does this mean? In 2009 we payed an additional $900,000 on the school bond. In 2010, we paid an additional $375, 000 (not counting the $317,000 mentioned above). This amounts to an extra
$.06-$.11 of sales tax. While it is always good to pay down debt, very few of us would starve our children or even put off college to pay off our mortgages early. At present (at least last time I checked which was last fall) the interest rate on this debt was less than 1%! I have long advocated that, if the town needs more revenue (please note the word "if"), we should adjust the repayment schedule on the school bond. The original plan was to pay it off over 20 years. At present projections, we could have it paid off as early as 10 years (approximately 2018). I would urge the council to consider this option before considering a "wheel tax" or increasing the overall property tax rate, especially when we are still a long ways from full recovery from the recent "Great Recession" and are apparently losing population. High taxes are not attractive to new residents. I am all for paying off debt as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of our town's infrastructure and services.

I should note that my figures may be inexact. They are based on conversations with our finance director last fall just before I went off the council. The interest rate varies on a continual basis. It should also be clear that, if the council shifts this money to general revenues (it would require lowering the $.29 "school tax" and raising the general tax), that tax increase would still be in place when the school tax is retired in a few years. However, it is unrealistic that we would go another long period of time without a property tax increase. Ms. Robertson herself stated during the election that, when the school tax goes away we "could have a moderate" property tax increase (defined as less than 19%). This way, the immediate impact on taxpayers would be no change in taxes for at least 8-10 years and then taxes would still go down when the bond is paid off.

I would invite comment on this issue.

Great things on Signal Mountain

2010-12-05T11:32:00.003-05:00

This past week has been full of great happenings on Signal Mountain. Last weekend the Mountain Arts Community Center Foundation, of which I am a member, sponsored "Home for ThanksGIVING" at the MACC. We had up to 75 people in attendance listening to great music by Joseph Decosimo, The Kathy Tugman Jazz Quarter and Halcyon Jazz. This event was sponsored by Alexian Village, who provided the chili dinner, Barnett & Co. and Pruett's. A great time was had by all and we raised over $1000 for the MACC!

The Kathy Tugman Jazz Quartet

Continuing with the MACC theme, last night I attended the Christmas Tree Lighting at the MACC. There were performances by the Thrasher choir and the string students ensemble, featuring new Town Councilmember Dick Gee on violin! There were several craft workshops for making Christmas ornaments and cookies. Glenn Showalter, our newest MACC Board member did "thumb print" art for the kids and the night was completed with the lighting of the town Christmas tree and a carol sing. The new tree planted for this purpose is young and small but will grow and is a perfect symbol for the MACC. I feel obligated to report my disappointment that neither our Mayor nor Vice-Mayor found the time to attend either of these outstanding town events.

Obviously I must mention the very exciting news that the Signal Mountain Eagles Football team are now State Champions! It was a very exciting game broadcast on WTCI television so we could all share in this significant event. This is the fastest any new school has become State Champions in the history of the State of Tennessee. It has been so exciting seeing the our new High School excel not only in athletics (with State Championships in football and also in volleyball and golf for two years in a row!), but in academic and artistic endeavors, also. Recent honors for SMMHS students include:

* the Signal Corps Marching Band which took first place in their division at the Bradley Classic competition at Bradley Central High School. The color guard, and percussion also took home top honors.

* our team of middle school students which competed 5/10 in the Chattanooga State Middle School math contest. SMMHS had the most winners of all participating schools with Jackson Swiney placing 1st overall in 6th grade, Cameron Youngblood placing 3rd overall in 6th grade and Matthew Lamsey placing 1st overall in 7th grade.

* Ten students from Signal Mountain Middle School who attended the 2010 National TSA Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The students placed in the top ten in the nation in 9 of the competitive events. The chapter received The Chapter of Excellence award. Their advisor, Steve Seymour won the Advisor of the Year award. (By: Hannah Peterson from the SMMHS.com website).

*Michael Holloway won First Place and a $500 scholarship in Theatre Stage Design at a recent conference this fall. His design was from this fall's theatre production "Crimes of the Heart".

This is just a brief summary of a few of the outstanding achievements of our local students (plagiarized freely from the SMMHS website!). What an incredible addition to this community our high school has been. It still amazes me that there was any opposition to this great institution. I was reminded of some of the rancor of just a few years ago while I was cleaning out my "town council" files this past week. I found a letter I received in 2007 (if memory serves). It was sent anonymously which is obviously a comment on the poor character and lack of integrity of the author, but I thought was worth a brief revisit. The gist of the letter (which was sent not only to the town council, but to the Hamilton County School Board, County Commission, NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, SCLC, Rainbow/Push and "local media", among others) was to "take a moral, just and economic stand AGAINST the funding of construction for an unneeded and unwanted Middle and High School to be located on Signal Mountain, Tennessee". I'll just quote a few of the more outrageous comments:
"*The school will never have significant enrollment relative to the enormous cost" - which explains why the school will probably be at capacity by its third year.
"*The proposed middle School High School on Signal Mountain will be at least 99.5% white!" - Well, I don't know the exact numbers, but the photo on the front page of the TimesFreePress sports section probably tells the story of school race relations better (this is a similar photo from the TFP website):

Signal Mountain Eagles celebrate winning the State Championship

"*How will business relocation advisors to multinational corporations (Toyota) look at a county immersed in such a divisive decision related to something as important as integration and proper funding of public schools?" - Did you hear that Volkswagen and Amazon??

     I could clearly go on and on (it is a two page, single spaced letter), but I think you get the point. The threatened "desegregation lawsuit" never materialized. The writer states that the school would only benefit "the elite, wealthy and powerful few" and should be called the "Byron De La Beckwith High School". I will state that I don't think the writer cared a bit about the racial issue but was only trying to stir up opposition "off the mountain". This was written after the bond issue was passed and the school was barely started in a last ditch effort to kill the school by raising the red herring of race. I think the true views and associations of the writer are reflected in his or her comments about the "Complete our community" effort which was the slogan of those who supported the high school. The writer stated that this "effort has led to the recall effort effecting (sic) four town councilmembers". The writer clearly associates support for a local high school with the recall effort. Ironically, when I met with the "recall" folks just before my election in 2006, one of the first statements they made to me was that the recall "was not about the high school". Frankly, that had never occurred to me and I hadn't asked anything about it. I guess I have long believed that when someone makes a point of saying that something isn't about "something", then that is exactly what it is about!

     Well, fortunately the high school didn't get stopped, it has not generated any racial divisiveness and, with the exception of a few grumpy and curmudgeonly holdouts, it truly has "completed our community". I am incredibly proud of our local students and of the support our town (and general community) has shown for the school and all of its programs. I am proud that my daughter is a student there and that my wife is co-President of the Theater Arts Boosters, another outstanding program at SMMHS led by Theater teacher and wrestling coach John Lennon.

     We truly live in a great town with many great people. We are moving forward to becoming a real town and not just a "bedroom community" of commuters. While growth is inevitable, I see no risk of the "unbridled growth" that the fearmongers would use to protect their own elitist agenda. I think we can manage our growth, preserve our values and still welcome the broad and diverse range of residents who will be attracted by the very values that we all treasure. I am very excited about our future. Go Eagles!

Signal Mountain Eagles Win Again!!!!!

2010-11-20T09:33:00.001-05:00

Signal Mountain Eagles continued their march to the state championship last night with an impressive 46-36 win over top-ranked Trousdale High School. Congratulations to the Eagles for their victory and to Trousdale for an impressive showing consistent with their tradition of excellent football and many (9?) state championships. Go Eagles!!

Musical happenings on the Mountain

2010-11-15T19:07:00.002-05:00

The Mountain Arts Community Center Foundation's Music on the Mountain Series has some upcoming events on Signal Mountain.

For those of you who can't go to the away game this Friday, come on down to Lynn's Market from 7-10 and listen to The Orchard Band featuring Robert and Alice Thatcher and, yours truly Paul Hendricks. We'll be "folk" rockin' the house. Enjoy some BBQ or burgers and beer or brown bag and meet your friends for a great night of fun and music. Lynn's is on Taft Highway just past the town of Signal Mountain on the right just past Ace Hardware and next to the WRES volunteer fire station.

The Orchard Band at the Lion's Club picnic recently.

Next, over Thanksgiving weekend we will have a great musical benefit for the MACC.

Home for ThanksGIVING will be Saturday, Nov. 27 at the MACC in the old cafeteria (you won't recognize it) for some non-turkey chili with fixin's and some more great music.

We'll start serving dinner at 5pm and the music starts at 6.

6-7pm - Joseph Decosimo will be performing some traditional "old time" music, followed by:

7:15-8:15 - The Kathy Tugman Jazz Quartert will be presenting some classic jazz with Kathy's inimitable vocals.

Then, last but certainly not least:

8:30-9:30 - The Halcyon Jazz Trio a group of local musicians, young in age but ageless in spirit and talent performing more traditional jazz.

Admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Kids are $5 with a $30 family maximum. Contact Patrick Emanuel at 322-8445 for advance reservations. Dinner will be $5 and dessert $2.

So get out of the house, support the MACC and enjoy some great music Thanksgiving weekend.

Sponsored by Alexian Village, Barnett & Co., and Pruett's! Thanks for the support from our community!

cowards and scoundrels

2010-11-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

During my time on the Town Council, I would occasionally receive anonymous letters attacking something I did or said. I treated these with the respect they deserved... I ignored them. Last night, I received an anonymous comment on this blog full of lies and unsubstantiated attacks and innuendos. I consider anonymous attacks to be the refuge of cowards and scoundrels and will not publish them. Everything I have written or said has been under my own name and I have nothing but contempt for those who would not do the same.

As the votes are being cast...

2010-11-02T17:58:00.000-04:00

I started this blog four years ago when I ran for office. It was meant as a vehicle to communicate with my constituents. I strongly believe that it is an obligation and responsibility of elected officials to clearly state their positions and reasons for taking those positions and, through this blog I have tried to do so. You may agree or disagree with me, but anyone who feels I have not been forthright in my views and decisions has not been paying attention. If you want to know what I think, just ask me, as anyone who knows me can well attest.

As part of this process, I have occasionally expressed my differences with others on the council. This is part of the process. I have never intended my differences on policy to be personal attacks and, if my passion has occasionally exceeded my discretion I hope you all will realize that it is because of my love for this town. However, Mayor Bill Lusk and Planning Commission Chair Melissa Cantrell, both of whom owe their initial appointments to public office to me, have accused me of being dishonest without offering a shred of evidence or a single example. I resent this deeply and demand an apology from both of them (though I doubt I will ever receive one). Unfortunately, personal honor is far too rare a trait in this modern age.

Over the last four years I have related public comments and positions taken by public officials in public meetings. I see nothing inappropriate about this. In the immortal words of one of my heroes, Harry Truman “They tell me to give ‘em hell, I just tell the truth and they think its hell”. On the few rare occasions that errors have been pointed out to me, I have immediately corrected them and taken responsibility. That those occasions have been rare I take as confirmation of my general accuracy.

As my term ends this week, I will be publishing a formal thank you in the Community News, but, since I can’t thank all my friends and supporters enough, I will thank you all here, also. I have tried to listen to everyone and make the best decisions I could in the best interests of the entire town. I have tried not to let my own opinions and prejudices get in the way of doing what I thought the majority of the town wanted. I do not plan to go away. I have joined the Mountain Arts Community Center Foundation and will be working hard to promote the MACC and arts in general on the mountain. I plan to continue playing music and hope you will come to hear The Orchard Band playing around town. I don’t know exactly what the future of this blog will be, but I’m sure I will at least use it to announce events located at or sponsored by the MACC. My wife has insisted that I enter politician rehab, however I expect an occasional relapse, so don’t be surprised if I express an opinion or two from time to time.

I hope to continue to hear from my friends and supporters and even from those who differ with me politically. If anyone ever wishes to be dropped from my notification list, please let me know and I will do so immediately. Take care.

DRC minutes from Guthrie's sign application

2010-10-31T16:36:00.002-04:00

Claire Greisinger commented on my DRC blog and corrected an impression I received from a participant at this meeting about requiring a wooden sign. I accept her clarification and told her, to avoid further confusion I would post the entire minutes of that meeting (she is the secretary, so the minutes are written by her and, since I have received no corrections I assume they are approved by the DRC). Emphasis in bold italics are mine:

Design Review Commission Minutes

May 25, 2010

Present: Karen Rennich
Claire Greisinger

Jeremy Rardin
Ed Garbee
Rusty Sewell

Karna Levitt

Staff: Chuck Gearhiser

[Council Liason]: Susan Robertson
Absent: Jay Caughman

The committee approved the minutes of the last meeting.

Several businesses came before the DRC with requests.

Representing Guthries, a restaurant moving into the old CVS building on Taft Highway, were Mr.William Casteel, Mr. Will Garrett, and owner Mr. Grady Williamson.

The first item discussed was the red Guthries sign, shown imposed on the grey overhang on the front of the building in a picture given to the DRC

*Mr. Garrett stated the sign had already been purchased at a good price.

*Sign was 14’ by approx. 42” (the height of the letter G) without blue background paint.

*Overhang is 5’5” in height

*Sign would go on overhang above front entrance doors/windows with blue background.

*Blue background color would extend around top of building (side also)

*Mr. Garrett said he did not have a copy of the sign ordinance.

*Maximum total sign area was discussed by Karen. This sign is 49 sq. ft.

Karen stated the DRC policy is 25 sq. ft., but 50 sq. ft. max. is allowed as this has not been changed in the regs.

*Mr. Garrett asked if the sign could go on the side of the building (drive thru located on this side)

Karen asked if the board had suggestions about moving the sign to the side of the building.

Claire said this would involve 2 signs now – one on the side and one on the front of the restaurant. Claire said the sign was too big. Karen noted people do not support a big sign in the front area. Ed did not like a lit sign. Jeremy also thought the size was too large. No DRC members supported the sign as a light box.

Karna said the sign was OK on the side if it was not lighted.

The committee discussed the 3 additional windows on the front and side of the building. These will be smaller than the existing windows. A drawing was provided with dimensions. There was no objection to the additional windows.

The size of the large sign above the smaller windows was discussed. Claire thought it was too top heavy. Ed discussed the sign/windows and Karna added the sign was not too large to go over the windows on the side.

Karna made a motion to approve an externally lit Guthries sign centered over the side windows with no blue background and no further lettering on the side of the building. Ed seconded the motion. Voting yes: Karna, Ed, Rusty Voting no: Claire, Jeremy

A picture of the menu board was presented. The board asked where this sign would be placed. Mr. Garrett did not bring a sight plan. He noted the restaurant “had to have a drive thru.” The DRC talked about placing the board on the side of the building. Claire stated she did not like the food pictures on the sign (there are 8) and would prefer a smaller wooded board that would fit into the look of the mountain. Jeremy and Susan discussed reducing the size of the sign, removing Guthries from the top and removing some of the food pictures or reducing their size. Karen talked about removing the pedestal at the bottom of the sign and relocating the speaker (in the pedestal). Guthries stated they needed pictures. Ed supported pictures to help customers know what they were ordering. Karna stated we should concede the point about the pictures. Guthries said the sign was already under construction and Mr. Garrett stepped out to call the sign builder to ask the status of the frame. He returned and said the frame was built. Jeremy noted it would not be a problem to cut off the top part of the frame and reduce the size. The DRC agreed the pedestal should be removed and the sign be placed flush on the wall. Jeremy noted again the name Guthries and the 2 pictures on the top should be removed to reduce the size. The DRC discussed white trim around the windows and an awning without lettering and a straight edge. The representatives from Guthries discussed the awning and scalloped edges.

A motion was made by Ed to mount the sign depicted in the picture Mr. Garrett brought to the meeting on the side of the building. It will be to the right of the new set of windows. The sign will have the pedestal removed and the speaker located in an unobtrusive place on the side of the building. The colors will be as presented in the picture (green frame). An awning with straight edges will be over the drive-up window without lettering and white trim will be placed around the windows. The size will be 6’ by 5’ w/o the pedestal and internally lighted.

Karna seconded the motion. Voting yes were Ed, Karna, and Rusty. Voting no were Jeremy and Claire

The Committee discussed the signage, awnings, columns, and lighting on the front of the building. Discussion resulted in a decision to place a black awning(s) with red Guthries in the center above the front door/windows . An awning will also be above the new windows to the right of the entrance without lettering. The edges would be straight. Jeremy brought a picture from the Guthries website that showed the look the DRC thought was most appealing. The awning(s) were attached to the overhang and lighting shown down on the awnings. Guthries wanted the sign on the awning to measure 12’ in length. The columns were not in keeping with the style of the building and the decision was made to eliminate them. Jeremy brought up the screening of the satellite dishes and HVAC unit on the roof. Chuck said he did not know if the screening was up to Guthries or Frank Powell. He thinks it is Frank Powell’s responsibility and will check on this. The decision was made to let the staff approve a sidewalk cut for handicap access. Outdoor seating was mentioned in front of the restaurant.

Karna made a motion to approve 1 (one) black awning the length of the existing door and side windows and 1 (one) black awning over the new windows, as shown on the plan, with straight edges, down lighting above the awnings (as shown on the Guthries example supplied by Jeremy from their website), lighting spaced at even intervals, no blue paint, no columns, and if trim around windows, it will be white. Ed seconded the motion. Voting yes: Ed, Karna, Rusty, Claire Abstaining: Jeremy

Karen noted there was an appeal process if Guthries did not agree with the boards decisions.

As requested by the DRC, the minutes of the Guthries discussion were provided to Chuck and the rest of the DRC as quickly as possible.

Claire Griesinger

"Liberals", regulations and the DRC

2010-10-25T20:55:00.001-04:00

Well, I promised I would do a blog on the DRC and here we are a week from the election, so I’d better get to it. Before I begin, I should comment briefly on my whole attitude towards regulation. In a recent letter to the Chattanoogan.com, Joe Dumas attacked me as a liberal. Well, yes I am, Joe, always have been. However, if I depended on Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck (or Joe Dumas) for my definition of a liberal, I wouldn’t like me, either. However, the definition from Wikipedia is much closer to me: “Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom")[1] is the belief in the importance of individual liberty and equal rights.” Basically, I accept Thomas Jefferson’s famous dictum that the government which governs least, governs best. However, he clearly didn’t say the government which governs not at all. I also should comment on the difference between spending and investing. Any business person knows that you sometimes have to spend money to make money and we also know that spending money on stocks and bonds is different thatn spending it on beer and pretzels (the gratification is less immediate, I realize, but I think you get my point). I present myself humbly as an example. When I was 19 years old, my father died and left my family with minimal life insurance and no income. My mother had to return to work using her 20 y/o secretarial skills. My sisters and I went to school using student loans and social security survivor’s benefits. I also worked all through college and part of medical school. So, I was on of those chiselers living off the government that the tea party constantly attacks. I went to medical school on a National Health Service Scholarship and paid my “debt” by taking care of poor people in rural North Carolina. I then proceeded to pay off all my loans and now pay more every year in income taxes than I probably ever borrowed. My sisters have also both finished school, married, worked, raised fine, responsible kids and I’m sure return more than they have received. I would tell my conservative friends that government programs do work. I would tell my “liberal” friends that part of my “pay back” to society also includes raising a family, avoiding drugs and not going to jail.

Now, on to another aspect of being a “liberal”, I do support reasonable regulations. I think the government can be effective in protecting our health and safety and I also support regulations to protect the environment. However, I do not support regulations to impose my values or tastes or opinions on others.

It is ironic that Joe attacks me when I have been the most active council member at trying to diminish the regulations of this town. I was the first one to urge allowing citizens to raise their own chickens! I tried (but failed) to eliminate our prohibition on rock climbing. I killed the “speed camera” proposal which several other council members were enthusiastic about. I took a very minimalist (and inexpensive) approach to the traffic situation at CVS which I believe has worked quite well. On a more significant level, I have pushed hard for more flexible subdivision and zoning regulations (while still advocating control of density). I have also tried to make the DRC a more business-friendly organization. When I was elected, I was very interested in having the DRC re-write our design guidelines and our sign ordinance. I had heard from many businesses that these were a hindrance to local business. Bill Lusk was appointed liaison to the DRC to work with them to make these changes. When Lusk was elected mayor, I agreed to take his place as DRC liaison. When I went to my first meeting, they were happy to see me, weren’t really aware that they had a liaison and told me that Lusk had never attended a single meeting. So, we basically started from scratch in January, 2009. After working on this for several months, the volunteer members of the DRC felt overwhelmed by this responsibility of re-writing two major ordinance and asked for some help. This led to our hiring the KRCW group to advise on design guidelines. Their initial proposal cost $50,000, which I opposed, but it was decreased to $25,000

Right in the middle of this effort to bring in a consultant for help in re-writing these guidelines, the council threw DRC chair Greg Goodgame off the commission. The charge was that he hadn’t done enough (at the same time that the Planning Commission was in the middle of taking more than three years to rewrite subdivision regulations, a process that they still haven’t finished). However, clearly the fact the Greg Goodgame had run for council, but had not supported the recall and was not liked by the council and their friends was the real underlying reason. At this point, I resigned in protest as liason to the DRC and my position was taken by Susan Robertson. I don’t know the status of the rewrite at this time as we have received no reports on this.

Now that the history lesson is over, a few more comments on my “liberal” attitude towards these regulations. I realize that the citizens of Signal Mountain want an attractive appearance of their town commercial areas. Obviously, this has been inconsistently applied. I have a hard time enforcing my own (or anyone else’s) tastes onto others, especially businesses. I like green. Someone else might like purple. I like traditional architecture. Others like contemporary. Also, styles and tastes changes. What was attractive 30-40 years ago might seem a bit dated now and our design standards tend to inhibit attempts to update and make changes. Also, many of these requirements are expensive or impractical. The DRC asked Guthries to put up a wooden sign. The obvious question arises: what do they do when they change their menu or prices? This indicates a lack of understanding of what it takes to start and run a business. I realize that some reasonable restrictions are bound to be broadly acceptable, eg avoiding excess neon signs, too large of signs, etc. However, some have talked about wanting us to look like Hilton Head or Aspen. Folks, the average price of a house in Aspen is over $1,000,000. Both of these places are destination resorts where most of the people spending money there don’t live there. That is not our town. Our businesses depend on the local residents for business. I strongly believe we need to reach out to our business community for their input and what I’ve heard has been a lot of frustration.

So, I urge the DRC to bring in the local businesses, listen to them and realize that, if they want wooden signs or green shutters, they need to go out, buy a business and install them. But, if they want our town businesses to be successful, perhaps they need to ask the businesses what they can do to help them rather than getting in their way.

Signal Mountain is a great place to live!

2010-10-23T05:38:00.000-04:00

I have some observations about exciting things going on here in (and on) Signal Mountain. Before I go there, I found an interesting and useful presentation that I want to share. As faithful readers of my blog (and others following town goings on) are aware, land use planning has been an important issue on Signal Mountain for the last few years. During the development of the Land Use Plan, national known conservation development consultant Randall Arendt advised the town. For reasons still unclear to me, the majority of the council has since rejected Mr. Arendt as a consultant. The Council and Planning Commission then sought a new consultant and brought in Mr. Larry Collins, who presented views very similar to Mr. Arendt's. I recently was reviewing some things on the town's website and was reminded what a clear presentation of the principles of conservation planning Mr. Collin's "power point" was and thought I would share it. Here's the link: http://signalmountaintn.gov/assets/current/collins_presentation.pdf . Again, the Council and the Planning Commission chairperson rejected Mr. Collins input and has not sought any more advice from him. I talked with Mr. Collins after his visit and he told me that he didn't have the impression that there was much interest in what he had to say. It's a shame, because it is not only quite good, it is precisely what the Land Use Plan calls for. I urge all my readers (and especially potential future town councilmembers) to spend a few minutes going through his presentation.

Now, on to more fun matters. For the last several months, the Mountain Arts Community Center Foundation has been sponsoring a series of "Music on the Mountain" events, mostly organized by yours truly. Among these events have been live music performances at Lynn's Market on Friday nights. I should tell you that tonight, Friday Oct 22 Eddie Gwaltney and Kathy Tugman presented a superb performance of very eclectic music and if you weren't there, you missed a great night. The thing that really made me realize how exciting things were getting on Signal, though was last Friday, Oct 15. My band, The Orchard Band, was scheduled to play at Lynn's. Unfortunately for us (but great for the town), the competition was fierce! There was a home football game as SMMHS, the theatre department at SMMHS was presenting "Crimes of the Heart" and the MACC was having a movie night and showing the classic "The Mummy" with Boris Karloff. Anyone who thinks it is boring here and that there is nothing to do is obviously not paying attention and I didn't even mention the Mountain Opry which is also every Friday night. Certainly the addition of the high school on Signal Mountain has added a great focal point for community activity and involvement. The MACC and the MACC Foundation are working hard to offer more and more various cultural experiences on the mountain. For a small town, Signal Mountain has a tremendous amount to offer, so I urge everyone to check the Community News on Wednesday and plan to try and get out and experience some of this every weekend.

Next weekend on Oct 29, Lynn's Market will feature Woodnote at 7pm, consisting of Signal Mountain residents Joe Anzalone and Alex Hawkins and, about 8:30 Bryce Cronan, a very talented young man will finish out the night. On Saturday, Oct 30 the MACC Foundation will sponsor "Music under the Starz" as part of its "Music on the Mountain" series at Signal Plaza in the courtyard outside The Pizza Place. Featured will be Signal Mountain resident and MACC Board member Nathan Bell, followed by David Crawford and Tom Brown, two Dalton musicians who have found some "youtube" fame with their humerous take on southern life and bluegrass. Y'all come on out next Friday and Saturday and enjoy some great local music!

Town Council Candidate Forum report

2010-10-11T16:53:00.001-04:00

OK. Sit back, prop up your feet, get a beer or a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and get comfortable! Last night, Sunday, October 10, 2010 a Town Council candidate forum was held at the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club. It was sponsored jointly by the Country Club and the Mountain Business Association (MBA). There were over 100 people in attendance. The six candidates for town council were all present and answered questions in order determined by lot. They each started with a 2 minute introduction, then proceeded to answer questions previously submitted by the public. The event was moderated by Jeff Wishmyer. I took notes during the event. This is obviously not a verbatim recounting of the discussion, but I hope I have captured the gist of the answers. I also didn’t copy the questions exactly, but have done my best to reproduce them, sometimes without the preambles. Any errors are obviously mine, but if any candidates see themselves as misrepresented, please either comment or contact me privately and I will print your response or retraction. Also, if any candidates care to expand their answers I encourage each of them to respond. That is why I provide this vehicle for community discussion. I have tried to make a few clearly noted “editorial notes” to clarify or occasional “fact-check” some answers. I hope this is helpful. At the end of the forum, a “straw vote” was held. I will reveal the results at the end of this blog entry.

1. Will you work with the WWTA to get the sewer moratorium raised as soon as possible?

Wallace: yes, town can’t move forward until moratorium is lifted

Robertson: We have been working with the WWTA, she stated we have averaged “fourteen building permits during the moratorium”. (Ed note: I don’t know the source of this data or if she meant 14 total over the almost 3 ½ years that we have been under the moratorium, or 14 per year average. I briefly reviewed some monthly reports which reveal that we may have totaled around 14 new residential permits in the last 3 years. However, total permits can be deceptive since many “building permits” are for renovations and remodeling. In two random months in 2008, there were 26 and 38 permits issued with only 3 “new construction” in each month. Also, some “new” permits are renewals of permits which expire in 6 months if construction has not begun.)

Rardin: “I support lifting the moratorium to progress”, but mentioned that he needed to “investigate it further”.

Preston: mentioned that the town was ready to move forward. He stated that the moratorium was there for the right reason (to protect water quality), but it needed to be lifted ASAP once the problem was resolved

Bowling: stated “absolutely” the moratorium is a priority and that the town needed to work with the WWTA. He also stated he needed data to make decisions and that we need the data necessary to decide what is needed to wrap up the moratorium

Gee: stated that water quality is important. He stated we need to do the right thing and supported a tenacious effort to clean the water, then lift the moratorium.

2. With expenses growing and revenues being flat, where do we get the revenue to meet expenses?

Robertson: stated we’re “looking pretty good”. Stated we came in below budget (ed note: This is true. the town manager used very conservative revenue projections which came in $157,000 over budget. Also, there were budget savings and projected expenses came in 2% under projections. However, the MACC roof repair overlapped the budget year, so some of that expense carried over into this current FY). She stated the annexation will pay for a new fire station (ed note: I would dispute this. A new fire station is projected for the future but details are still not known. The plan of services for annexation require a study to determine need for future fire protection, but construction and equipping and providing personnel for a new fire station is not in the budget for the annexation. The reason for this is that a new fire station is expected to eventually be needed if and when more development occurs in the Shackleford Ridge area, so since this need isn’t dependent on annexation, its not included in those expenses.) She stated that we have been “fortunate with grants” and that we are discussing a new public works building. She stated “there are ways to get things done without raising taxes”, but wasn’t more specific.

Rardin: stated that before taxes are raised, government needs to first find ways to cut expenses. He suggested that, before taxes are raised there should be a public forum to get ideas.

Preston: stated that the current council and town manager have done a great job. Suggested looking at outsourcing and grants.

Bowling: stated that costs will continue to increase and that the annexation budget projects losses in the short term (ed note: this is essentially true since expenses start right away and taxes from the areas aren’t collected until the next FY. However, the accounting methods used may amplify this problem. Part of it depends on timing of services). He stated that the current council’s zero growth policy inhibits revenue. He stated that we can maintain our small town character while growing in diverse ways.

Gee: stated that taxes are a quality of life issue which should be decided by citizens, ie we have to pay for the services and amenities that we want. He stated that costs will rise and he expects that taxes will go up at some point.

Wallace: stated we have to increase revenue or cut costs. He advocated expense control and that we should make it easier to do business up here and to support the businesses that we have. He stated we should be careful of grants because some of them incur continuing operating expenses after the grant is spent.

3. Some officials consider grants to be “free money”. What do you think of grants and the possibility of ongoing costs from grants?

Rardin: if you don’t get it someone else will. We should get all we can. He stated that it is very difficult to project future maintenance costs 20 years out. We need a “savings acct” and need money to maintain it (ed note: my notes are unclear, I think this meant to maintain the things paid for by the grants).

Preston: depends on the grant. Mentioned that many grants require matching funds from town.

Gee: reminded everyone that grants ultimately come from taxes; he separated operational type grants from capital project grants. He supports capital project grants, but opposed operational grants.

Bowling: also reminded us that grants are not “free money” and they often come with an obligation including the costs to apply for the grants in staff time, etc. He thinks they are appropriate when grants are consistent with the town’s strategy. He disagreed with Rardin about projecting costs and stated that this is the kind of work he does in his job and that the town needs to plan for maintenance and ongoing costs from grants.

Wallace: had elaborated on grants in previous answer. Stated we need to think through grants and use them for appropriate needs.

Robertson: stated that grants are a “terrific way to get returns from tax dollars”, reminded that the pool and town hall were built with grants, mentioned the grant we just received for pool maintenance (Ed note: this was a 50/50 grant requiring the town to match the $82,500 provided by the grant for swimming pool maintenance projects) and the grant for heating projects for the MACC ($100,000 grant for heating efficiency projects with no match required). She stated “grant money is good”.

4. Local businesses are frustrated with the town council and the Design Review Committee and a perception that they aren’t easy to work with. What should the town council do to improve the business climate?

Preston: said “Yes”, implying that the council could do more to improve the business climate. He stated he had talked with many businesses and the theme was concern about support from the town, frustration with starting new businesses. Stated town needs to sit down with new business owners and help them through the process.

Bowling: Town needs to work as a community. Needs to remove the risk from town ordinances, needs to clarify and make them easier to understand, improve the ordinances and regulations and remove the personal bias and objectivity from town business application process.

Gee: believes in partnerships and need to work together. Wants to reach out to business for the great good.

Wallace: talked with local business folk. Says town emphasizes “what you can’t do” rather than “how can we help you?”. Need to reach out and help business. He mentioned the recent application for the Guthrie’s restaurant as an “eye opener” in talking with small business.

Robertson: stated we need to remember our committee are volunteers and only meet once a month. Stated that the town council has asked for a rewrite of our design ordinances and sign ordinance. Mentioned hiring the KCRW firm for advice on design guidelines (ed note: I intend to expand on this situation in a future blog).

Rardin: mentioned working “extremely hard” to rewrite ordinances. States he started a new business packet with illustrations and a time line. Stated they were making good use of the KCRW report.

5. Have you read the Land Use Plan (LUP), KCRW report (ed note: recently done report on design guidelines which included a plan for a central business district/town center), and town consultant Randall Arendt’s reports?

Bowling: has glanced at, but not completely read the LUP. Agreed that town council members need to read all these documents. He supports managed growth and preserving our small town character. States we can still promote growth and hold it all together.

Gee: has read report. States “I do support development, but have to do planning and discuss it first”, states we have to look at transportation and traffic, security, schools, etc. Need to develop in orderly fashion.

Wallace: “Yes, I do support residential and commercial development”. He read the town’s vision statement (which supports managed growth) and stated his support for this statement. He stated that once the sewer moratorium is lifted, the “fun starts” and we need to preserve our small town character.

Robertson: “I not only read the plan, I helped write the plan”. Stated it was based on input from Randall Arendt and another planner whose name I didn’t catch (ed note: I don’t recall any other consultant advising on the LUP. The Planning Commission has recently invited at least one other planner to advise them after essentially dismissing Randall Arendt, however his recommendations were very similar and, so far as I know there has been no more contact with him, either). She stated it promoted green neighborhoods. On commercial development, she said that “good business will always do well” and mentioned the Signal Mountain Athletic Club. She stated that we need infrastructure and stated “the community needs to decide how much it wants to grow”.

Rardin: stated he has read the LUP and KCRW report. Stated that Randall Arendt in his advice to the town “did not take into account if the land is flat or mountainous” (ed note: It wasn’t clear just what he meant by this as he didn’t elaborate. In Arendt’s advice, there is reference to steep slopes and how to define them and avoid building on them. There are also references to ravines and river (riparian) zones). Stated that growth has to “consider the (SMMHS) school” and not do a disservice to the kids.

Preston: stated that he has reviewed the plans. Stated that we live in a unique residential community. We need to maintain our character. He stated that after the sewer moratorium we will have residential development.

6. SMGCC’s lease is based on the tax value of the land. Mayor Bill Lusk has several times suggested finding a way to increase the amount that SMGCC pays on this land. Also, the current lease expires soon (there were some differences about exactly when and I haven’t had time to double check on that). Do you support or oppose the Mayor’s desire to increase the lease on the SMGCC and would you support a longer lease term to allow the SMGCC to do better long range planning?

Gee: Stated he doesn’t know all the terms of the lease, but had no reason to believe a change needed to be made. Would like to study it more.

Wallace: stated the lease amount was “$57,244” per year and the yearly amount paid for water was roughly similar. Stated that he supported a longer lease to allow more investment which allows the club to be a better amenity for the town.

Robertson: stated the lease expires in 2016. Stated the country club is an asset to the town and “I support it wholeheartedly”. Stated she didn’t know what needs would be or what would happen in 2016.

Rardin: Would like to see the numbers. “I don’t have an answer”. Stated that the Club is an asset and that he would like to get the town and club together to discuss it.

Preston: “can’t answer well”, stated we need to work together to make the community better and that the Club is a “wonderful asset to the community”.

Bowling: stated Club is town’s 2nd largest employer and an good steward of the land it leases. He is in favor of a longer-term lease.

7. Current projections are that the town has lost citizens over the last 10 years. What do you think of this and what can be done to spur growth?

(ed note: these projections are from the US Census Bureau based on annual estimates since the last official census in 2000 - the spreadsheet did not transfer well, but the figures essentially are annual estimates from July, 2000 on the far right to July 2009 on the left):

July 2009 July 2008 July 2007 July 2006 July 2005 July 2004 July 2003 July 2002 July 2001

July 2000

TN 6,296,254 /6,240,456 /6,172,862 /6,089,453 /5,995,748 /5,916,762 /5,856,522 /5,803,306 /5,755,443 /5,703,243

Signal Mtn 7,253 /7,179 /7,180 /7,255/ 7,264 /7,282 /7,338 /7,390 /7,408 /7,440
(so Signal Mountain has basically lost 187 citizens since 2000, but this may have reversed in the last year)

Walden 2,125 /2,093 /2,074 /2,061 /2,028 /2,003 /1,989 /1,979 /1,973 /1,962
(during the same time, Walden has gained 163 citizens)
Red Bank 11,765 /11,646 /11,650 /11,791 /11,833 /11,902 /12,024 /12,147 /12,265 /12,339

East Ridge 19,985 /19,797 /19,839 /20,061 /20,031 /20,102/ 20,008 /20,221 /20,418 /20,533

Collegedale 8,195/ 8,039 /7,564 /7,482/ 7,371 /7,285 /7,223/ 7,275 /7,088 /6,707

Chat. 171,350 /170,819 /169,847 /168,293 /165,927 /164,077 /162,367 /160,786 /158,701 /156,770

Soddy-Daisy 12,859 /12,675 /12,439 /12,278 /12,170 /12,062 /12,033 /11,914 /11,810 /11,542

Wallace: Stated he has seen several different projections and that the numbers were “squirrely”. Stated that we need more diversity in residential development and need to provide for citizens who want housing options similar to Westfield.

Robertson: asked “is growth good? How much can we sustain?” Stated it is up to the citizens to decide. Stated she didn’t believe numbers because “I don’t see a lot of empty houses. I think we have a growing community”. She stated we need another Westfield, “maybe two or three” (ed note: I can’t help but express my curiosity about where she would propose building these high-density developments). Stated “I want some growth, but not by numbers, by quality (ed note: she didn't explain what she meant by "quality")”. States this will be answered by the community.

Rardin: wanted to know source of data. Stated he didn’t have an answer. Wondered why people are moving off the mountain.

Preston: stated it is normal to have some movement. Stated that the population was probably essentially stable due to the sewer moratorium.

Bowling: stated he had found the same data in several places. Stated that he believed the cost of doing business will go up and that we need to complete the subdivision regulation revision and work with the WWTA and develop a growth plan.

Gee: can’t explain numbers. Stated that his church, Signal Crest UMC is adding capacity due to demographic projections and that other churches are expanding, so he expected growth.

8. In the current economy, tax values are declining. The Town of Walden doesn’t have a Public Works Dept, but outsources its pavement works, etc. How do you believe town can provide services without raising taxes?

Robertson: stated we contributed to the fund balance in the past Fiscal Year. Stated we could have a tax increase when the high school (bond) is paid off (ed note: last I checked, that was about 17 years off. She misquoted the exact amount of the current tax rate and I didn’t write that down, but the current rate is $1.5134 per hundred dollars of assessed value and includes the “school tax”, or amount dedicated to the bond debt which is 19% or about $0.29).

Rardin: First place to cut is government, need to cut costs. He doesn’t want to raise taxes and recommend we apply for grants.

Preston: understood that the question was about contracting services. He stated that the town already outsources paving and some tree work. Stated that the public works dept is efficient.

Bowling: stated the answer was good management and fiscal responsibility. Stated we have to constantly evaluate options.

Gee: states services would change with financial situation. He recommended we look at the finances and revenue and pick and choose which is best way to go.

Wallace: stated outsourcing is an alternative to explore and that we need to cut costs. Stated that when the school bond is paid off, the tax should go away “when its over, its over” and not be used to raise taxes.

**********************************************************************

At the end of the forum, there was a straw poll. There were actually two because the SMGCC did a separate poll including only their own members. I don’t have those results. However, the other straw poll was open to all participants.

The results were:

1. Wallace

2. Bowling

3. Preston

4. Gee

5. Robertson

6. Rardin

I hope this is helpful. I hope that everyone in the town will get out and vote, either during early voting (Oct 13-Oct 28) or on Nov. 2. You can also register your opinion on my very unscientific poll on the right of this blog. Again, if any candidates or other participants see anything I have gotten wrong, please contact me or use the blog to respond.

today's Town Council agenda meeting

2010-10-04T22:22:00.000-04:00

After this weekend it wouldn't be surprising if my readers think the Signal Mountain Town Council is totally dysfunctional. However, while our passions may occasionally get the better of our discretion (at least speaking for myself), today's very productive meeting should reassure everyone that the business of the town is very much on track.

During our meeting today, we accomplished several tasks and discussed several more. We reviewed our relationship with Town Manager Honna Rogers, whom we had recently evaluated individually. I haven't yet seen all the evaluations, but it was clear from the discussion, and certainly is my opinion, that she gets high marks. Ms. Rogers is very happy with her employment with the town, but we are quite aware of her skills and that other towns could clearly use her expertise (don't even think about it, East Ridge). After extensive discussion, which involved quite a bit of compromising and negotiating, we approved a 2% raise for her, within the range of the 1-2% raises given to the rest of the town's employees based on merit. We also approved some extra time off for her as compensation for the extensive amount of 24/7 availability she has provided for us, a fact to which I can personally attest. We then set some goals for her next 6 months, several of which involve doing research on issues which the next council can address as to whether to move forward or not. These include such areas as automated water meters, completing the current water and sewer studies, developing a 5-year capital plan for vehicles and other capital purchases, working on increasing our recycling efforts, doing occupational safety training for employees and developing options for locating a badly needed new Public Works Building.

Other issues being addressed include accepting the staff's recommendation not to put a new stop sign in Hidden Brook, but encouraging the staff to work with residents on other ways to improve safety at the intersection of concern at Windy Way and Hathaway. We discussed the recently awarded pool maintenance grant and the grant for a heating project at the MACC, discussed and agreed to oppose the recently proposed water rate increase by Tennessee-American, reviewed our attorney's contractual agreement to be sure it was consistent with his position with the City of Chattanooga and approved a much appreciated offer by Mr. Tom Poteet to offer space for a police training center. We met with a resident of Palisades Rd. about fire hydrants which the City of Chattanooga is going to place there (we provide the water, but it is in Chattanooga city limits and they will pay for the hydrants) and discussed how to proceed with placing some of our natural areas into a conservation easement. Finally, we reviewed and approved the agenda for next week's regular Monday night Town council meeting.

Whew! Pretty good, huh!? So, please don't dispair. While politics are alive and well in Signal Mountain, so is competent governance.

One last time...

2010-10-03T22:10:00.002-04:00

Over the last 4 years I have tried to use this blog to inform my constituents about the inside workings of the Signal Mountain Town Council. That I have disagreed with the majority on the Council on certain issues is well know. This is part of the political process. I have tried hard to make my positions clear and public. If my style has occasionally reflected my frustration, well I freely confess to being human. I have never tried to make personal attacks and if my admitted intensity has at times made it seem that way, again I regret it but don't think I am in any way unique in the political process. I have not made personal or "ad hominem" attacks, I have disagreed with policy positions and decisions and occasionally disagreed with philosophical or stylistic approaches. If that has been misinterpreted it has not been my intent. If my approach has not always been perfect, I'll have to accept that criticism. If some people are upset that I disagree with them, they'll have to get over it. I have been very successful at getting along with people I disagree with. After all, some of my best friends are Republicans. So, I really don't think that is the issue.

As I finish my term, I have tried to highlight some issues that I feel strongly about. I thought this would be helpful as part of the process. What started as a communication to the citizens of Signal Mountain about issues that I care about has now been ramped up into a major personal dispute by the Chattanoogan.com. I supposed I should expect that since, as the old saying goes "that's what sells newspapers"... or web ads, as the case may be. Here is the article: http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_185473.asp.

So, let me try to address the attacks on me by Mayor Bill Lusk in a way that hopefully will explain my positions and hopefully not further inflame this already ridiculous exchange. I have already addressed the "sour grapes" issue in my previous blog. He knows that I had already planned to step down from the council. I have never denied being disappointed about being voted out as mayor, but that is part of the political process. I am not the first politician to lose a race. It should be clear that the policy differences between myself and the majority on the council led to that event and that it was a symptom of that disagreement rather than the cause. I would have appreciated a more candid and forthright process, but that is old news.

The Chattanoogan.com accused me of "surreptitiously" trying to raise taxes. Mr. Lusk's own words contradict this when he says "“(O)n a number of occasions that are well supported by the public record...". It is kind of hard to be surreptitious on the public record. I freely admit that I was concerned our town manager might propose a tax increase. We collect quite a bit more in taxes from the "school tax" than we need to pay our yearly installment and I suggested that, if a tax increase were needed we could offset it with the school tax. I made this case to the council in a public meeting. It was a contingency we have not needed, but when we do need to raise taxes I would still propose we offset it by lowering the school tax if possible. I proposed this only as a way to soften the blow on taxpayers if a tax increase were needed. In the recent Town Council Forum, Mrs. Robertson stated that once the school bond is payed off "we could have a moderate tax increase and still be less than 19 percent" referring to the school tax. This is the same proposal as mine with the possible exception of timing. I doubt we will be able to get away with another 17 years (when the bond is paid off) or so without a tax increase. If that is not clear, I'm happy to elaborate, but it is certainly nothing I have tried to hide.

As to the zoning issues, I have elaborated ad nauseum on this. I disagree with the Council's approach. I do hope that eventually there will be a positive outcome. However, I am not encouraged by the actions of the council. We'll just have to disagree on this issue. I hope I'm wrong, frankly. However, I am also concerned about timing. We have already had significant turnover on the Planning Commission since our intial public hearings and Randall Arendt's presentation on his principles. I have concerns about comments from some members about the commitment to Mr. Arendt's (and our Land Use Plan's) proposals. Part of the intent of my blog was to encourage the candidates running to support this proposal. If the Council and the Planning Commission plans to remain true to that vision, that will be a good thing and Mr. Lusk should support my efforts. I confess to being dubious, but will try to give them the benefit of the doubt. As to attending Planning Commission meetings, well I'm not a member of that committee! When I was on the Planning Commission, I was very diligent. I don't know how many meetings Mr. Lusk attended before he was Mayor, or how many other committees he attends of which he is not a member or liaison. However, it has been made pretty clear to me that my input is not welcome, so I have worked to put my energies into areas where I might be more productive. I have tried to follow the discussion from a distance, but the minutes and output of the commission have been very difficult to figure out. As to "making few attempts to work with his fellow council members", I do take umbrage at this and think that anyone who knows me knows that this is not true. Clearly we have agreed far more than we have disagreed and I have frequently deferred to the other members on issues of particular concern to them.

Finally, he has tried to spin my support for education funding into something somehow sinister. I was very clear from the time I ran for council that I supported Signal Mountain Middle/High School where my daughter is now a 6th grader. When I became aware that this money was committed to the school, I fought hard to put it where I thought it would do the most good. I was strongly supported by a large segment of the community. Even Ms. Allen supported spending a part of the money for the school, which I appreciated. As we were considering this, I became aware of the dire problems with heating at the MACC. I considered and proposed possibly using some of this money for this purpose. I never received any dissent from the council on this proposal, however when this idea was opposed by some in the community, I immediately backed off and decided we would need to seek a different avenue of funding for the MACC heating. I don't consider this new heating system to be "spiff" and am thrilled that we have recently received a grant to accomplish this goal. I was very out front on this issue and still regret we did not use that money to improve SMMHS. I do confess to a mistake, though in that I have made assumptions I should not have made. When I got to know Bill Lusk, part of my interest in him and reasons for supporting him for State Legislature and ultimately voting to put him on the council was that he was, like me, a liberal Democrat. He was also a member of the Founder's Fund which was raising funds for the school. Because of this I assumed he would, like I, support this funding for the public school. Unfortunately, I was wrong. He resigned his position with the Founder's Fund soon after being appointed to the council and ultimately decided to oppose the funding. While we disagreed on this, that was his decision. However, I do not regret my own decision on this and will continue to do all I can to support public schools in general and SMMHS in particular.

Finally, I must take extreme exception to Mr. Lusk's comment "When it comes to honesty and integrity, these writings are seriously lacking". This is the definition of an "ad hominem" attack. While he attacks me on the issues I addressed above, he provides not one example where I am not honest. I deeply resent this. While personal honor seems to be an old-fashioned virtue in this modern age, it is one that is critically important to me, as a professional, as a husband and parent and as a public official. I do not lie. If I am wrong, point it out and I'll retract it. But do not accuse me of dishonesty without any substantiation.

I regret that this attempt to discuss the issues got so ugly. For whatever degree any clumsiness on my party has lowered the tenor of this discussion, I am sorry. I had thought I could publicly air differences and discuss issues without such nastiness occurring, but in this day of Tea Parties and Glenn Beck, I guess I was naive.

wow, someone noticed!

2010-10-02T19:58:00.000-04:00

My latest issues blog was prominently featured in a recent article on Chattanoogan.com: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_185315.asp . Judy Frank, the author of this piece then followed up by contacting the members of the council to comment:

From: Judy Frank

To: Susan Robertson
Cc: Bill Lusk ; Missy Cantrell ; allenonmtn@comcast.net ; Paul M. Hendricks
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 9:49 AM
Subject: question from Judy Frank

As you may know, an article about former mayor Paul Hendricks' criticism of other council members and town officials was featured on today's Chattanoogan.com. Susan Robertson, a candidate for reelection, was singled out repeatedly and in particular.
I am hoping to write a followup article giving Vice Mayor Robertson and other individuals mentioned by name in Councilman Hendricks' blog a chance to respond to any and all of the charges he leveled.
I will not be home today but will be checking my email regularly. Please let me know if you have a response you would like to make.
Thanks! Judy Frank

Bill Lusk replied with obvious enthusiasm:
From: Bill

To: 'Judy Frank' ; 'Susan Robertson'
Cc: 'Missy Cantrell' ; allenonmtn@comcast.net ; 'Paul M. Hendricks'
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2010 4:09 PM
Subject: RE: question from Judy Frank

I can’t wait.

Best regards,
Bill Lusk
blusk3660@comcast.net
423.667.2240-Cell

So, I thought I would share my own response with my readers. I honestly don't know if Chattanoogan.com will print my response, so here it is:

I should thank the Chattanoogan.com for highlighting my blog (www.paulmhendricks.blogspot.com) in its recent article. Since you essentially printed it twice, I should ask what you pay per word and if I get any part of that! Considering reporter Judy Frank’s friendship with Vice-Mayor Susan Robertson it is not surprising that she immediately emailed the rest of the council to encourage them to respond. However, before that happens there are several errors that need correcting. If Ms. Frank had contacted me or indeed any of the council before publishing she might not have made these mistakes. Ms. Frank seems very intent on implying that my decision to not run for re-election was because I was not re-elected mayor. This is not true. The fact that she refers to me as “former mayor” rather than as a current councilmember emphasizes her attempt to “spin” my personal decisions. The facts are that I had decided not to run for re-election before the last mayoral election and told this to the council. My decision was based on several reasons, most importantly the fact that my family had asked that I not run again. I have loved being on the Signal Mountain Town Council and I truly loved being mayor, but it was very time consuming and I decided two more years would have to be enough time to spend on what is after all a non-paid, voluntary public service position. I am a husband, father of a son going to college and a daughter entering middle-school and a full-time physician with a busy and erratic schedule. I also had to give up performing music, a vocation I truly enjoy and missed terribly. For these reasons I had already decided that I would not run for re-election and, when I announced to the Council my interest in remaining mayor I also indicated that I did not plan to run again. I was originally elected before Bill Lusk and Susan Robertson were appointed to the council, so I went to the council and told them I would be interested in remaining mayor for the rest of my term. I received no negative responses and, as a matter of fact both Mrs. Robertson and Mr. Lusk told me they saw no reason to make a change. Mr. Lusk had frequently complimented my performance as mayor and told me he didn’t know how I did it and that he didn’t think he could. Therefore I was surprised and disappointed when he announced after his own election that he was going to run for mayor and the rest of the council lined up behind him. I told him that, a main reason I wanted to remain mayor was due to my passion to revise our town’s zoning regulations and promote conservation development. I have known about and been an advocate of conservation development for over 20 years and was excited that I was finally in a position to do something about it. I told him that, since as mayor I sat on the Planning Commission, I wanted to finish the job. Mr. Lusk told me that he didn’t realize he would have to serve on the Planning Commission as mayor. He stated that he was too busy and didn’t have time to be on the Planning Commission and that if he were elected I could remain on the Planning Commission. While I have often wondered if I should have taken him up on his offer, I didn’t think that was an appropriate deal to accept.

One other issue I should correct is Ms. Frank’s continual referral to Signal Mountain’s development consultant Randall Arendt as “my” consultant. This is clearly absurd. There was a strong desire from the town to bring in a professional planning consultant. Both Annette Allen and I had independently sought advice from Karen Rennich, a planner with the Regional Planning Agency and Mr. Arendt’s name was clearly at the top of the list she recommended. We never discussed bringing in anyone else, the entire council enthusiastically supported him and our entire Land Use Plan is based on his advice and counsel. While I am still a huge fan of Mr. Arendt and deeply regret that his advice has now been rejected, to call him “my” consultant is to change history and is wrong. He was the town’s consultant. Finally, Ms Frank states that I “talked to potential voters about the need to counsel members who will do what he, and his consultant, wants” (emphasis mine). Actually, if Ms. Frank had checked out the link in my blog, she would know that I asked town council candidates to read the town’s Land Use Plan which was adopted by the town after extensive public input and was, at least initially, enthusiastically supported by this council. So, yes, being the radical subversive that I am I think it might be a good idea for town council candidates to read our Land Use Plan and, since I support that plan, yes, that is what I want.

During my time on this council, Ms. Frank has very rarely contacted me on issues she has reported on and usually I have had to contact her. If the Chattanoogan.com is interested in being an accurate source of news, I think it would behoove its correspondents to actually contact and interview the subjects of its news stories. Thank you for the service you provide.

Sincerely,

Paul M. Hendricks, MD

Current member of Signal Mountain Town Council

Hodge Podge 2010

2010-10-01T01:23:00.000-04:00

I know this is last minute, but come on down to Hodge Podge at the Signal Mountain Town Hall this Friday and Saturday, Oct 1-2. We have the traditional artists and craftspeople showing and selling their wares. In addition, this year for the first time we will have live music, a "KidPodge" children's area on Saturday and a Health and Wellness section sponsored by Alexian Village.
I was asked to organize the music and we have an almost all Signal Mountain line up.

Friday will feature :
11am-12noon - a vocal group from Alexian
12-1 - John Harper
1-2:30 - Jim Palmour
2:30- 4 - Gypsy Truckers with Mario Piccolo
4-5:30 - Dee Bass
5:30 -7 - The Orchard Band featuring yours truly with Robert and Alice Thatcher

Saturday:
10-12 - Mountain Cove Bluegrass
12-1 - OCD featuring the Sawyer Brothers and friends
1-2 - Woodnote with Joe Anzalone and Alex Hawkins
2-3 - Bryce Cronan
4-5 - Brian and Garrett Massman

KidPodge will have cookie decorating, face-painting, a bouncy castle and a talent show, among other activities.

Some y'all come and enjoy a great fall weekend on Signal Mountain. We made sure we called ahead so the weather promises to be great!

Issues in the upcoming elections

2010-09-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

     I had mentioned in an earlier post a "Chapter Two". I would like to take some time over the next month or so before the elections (and sooner with early voting!) to discuss some of the issues confronting the next council as I see them. I would love some feedback from readers as to what you see as the important issues in this campaign and what you think of my own take on the "issues".
     When I was elected 4 years ago, growth and development was the leading issue. The recall confused and misled the public on many of the facts surrounding this issue. I entered with a commitment to revise our zoning laws to encourage conservation development as a way to manage density and growth in a way that would preserve open space and allow more flexible development, more diversity of housing and neighborhood styles, decrease sprawl and generally preserve our small town atmosphere while still protecting the rights of the property owners. Sadly this has not occurred. We started strong with advise from Randall Arendt, a national expert on conservation development and then created a land-use plan based on his input and the involvement of a broad representation of our citizens. The next step was to revise our subdivision regulations and then our zoning laws. At this point, the Planning Commission has spent 3 years working on revising the subdivision regulations and still aren't done. I think this is unacceptable and would recommend a change in leadership on that commission.
     I have seen this council now reject the advise and offers of support and examples from Mr. Arendt and other consultants with similar approaches. My desire for a broadly inclusive process has been thwarted. While I have never thought that a Planning Commission should be dominated by development interests, this council, and specifically Annette Allen has proposed that noone with any experience in the development business should be represented on the Planning Commission. Having experienced the value of such former members as Don Moon and Wells Blake and current members such as architect Wayne Williams, I think this is a mistake. I encouraged the council to be inclusive and to seek the support of the development community to build "buy in" for conservation development which is still a new concept for many of them. I was told by Susan Robertson that this was unnecessary because "we have the power, we can make them do whatever we want". I was stunned by this statement. This is antithetical to everything I believe about governance. I strongly oppose this arrogant approach.
     When I ran, I proposed a process of review and revision to the SROZ ordinances. The Land Use Plan proposed a different approach to development in the undeveloped areas of town, primarily in the SROZ, from the already developed areas. It proposed using conservation development proposals allowing for controlling density directly but allowing flexible lot sizes to discourage sprawl and preserve open space. This council rejected the recommendations of its own land use plan, rejecting the whole idea of conservation development and returning to large lot zoning which encourages sprawl, discourages open space preservation and drives up the cost of housing. Bill Lusk clearly did not understand or possibly didn't even read the Land Use Plan when he complained that a one-acre lot owner on Palisades should be allowed the same development options as a 100+ -acre land owner with streams and forests and fields to preserve. This is directly in opposition from the proposals in the Land Use Plan. Why didn't he complain when we were developing the plan? Why didn't he oppose it then? Why didn't anyone else on the council who all supported him on this? I frankly don't understand.
     There are some facts which must be presented in addressing the issue of growth on Signal Mountain. As Daniel Moynihan said, you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. First, is the town growing? Well, not if you believe the US Census. Our population in 2000 was 7429 and, while the 2010 figures aren't out yet, our projected population in 2009 was 7253. And during that time we annexed the Shackleford Ridge Road area! In the last 10 years we have averaged less than 11 building permits per year (and even including the 10 years before the sewer moratorium it comes to about 14 per year). Not exactly the "unbridled growth" which was predicted and feared. I have made the analogy before between a town and a person. When a child is young, you want them to grow up big and strong. However, we all reach a point where any future growth becomes obesity or cancer! This is what we want to avoid. However, there is a third condition. It is called anorexia. This is where a person has such an irrational fear of growth that they can literally starve themselves to death. We all have to maintain our health through good nutrition to renew our bodies. If our town doesn't continue this process of renewal and responsible growth, then our expenses, which will continue to grow, will require greater revenue from a declining base which of course leads to increased taxes. In the recent town council debate at Alexian, Susan Robertson is reported as saying that she "hopes" taxes won't increase over the next four years. However, she is advocating for renovating the town hall and building a brand new public works building. We will probably need to build a new fire hall on Shackleford Ridge Road soon, especially if the annexations of Fox Run and Windtree go through. This will require increased revenues. The commercial base for this town is very limited and this council has already denied one proposal for a major commercial expansion of the current shopping center. I don't see much potential for any future such possibilities. We can't have our cake and eat it too, as they say.
     I would propose that the next council revisit the composition of the Planning Commission. Two councilmembers, the mayor and another member (currently Annette Allen) are also members of the Planning Commission. The Commission needs to finish its work on the Subdivision Regulations which has lasted now for nearly 3 years. Members came to me to ask for help on this daunting job. This is when we went back to Randall Arendt for possible input, however this offer from him was rejected by this council over my strong objections and the desires of several current Planning Commission members (unfortunately the current chairperson, Melissa Cantrell also rejected Mr. Arendt's offer). The regulations currently being worked on still need to be completed, then reviewed by the staff at the Regional Planning Agency then finally approved by the Planning Commission again. I anticipate several more months in the process at this point. Then, the Planning Commission will need to review the Zoning Ordinance, which was the original goal four years ago!! This was expected to be the really heavy lifting. If it took four years to do the preliminary work, how long might that take? Zoning is an ordinance, so will require public hearings (I don't believe there has even been an official public hearing on the subdivision regulations yet which, while not required has been promised by the Planning Commission). Once the Planning Commission completes its work, any changes in the Zoning Ordinance will then have to be passed by the Town Council (which does not have any official say in the subdivision regulations... a situation that I have always found rather odd). How much longer will that take? Will the new council, which may very well include a brand new majority, be up to speed on this?
     I have tried to encourage the candidates who have asked me for input to review Randall Arendt's original recommendations, which are still on the town's website on Page 89 in the appendix to the Land Use Plan: http://signalmountaintn.gov/assets/landuse/landuse.pdf . I hope they will be asked about this and that Ms. Robertson will be asked why the council has apparently rejected not only Mr. Arendt's advice, but the whole direction of the Land Use Plan itself.
    I think the next thing to be discussed is the Design Review Commission and I will address this in my next "issues" blog (Chapter Three??).

Music on the Mountain series this weekend!

2010-09-23T20:04:00.000-04:00

Lots of music this weekend! MACC Foundation's Music on the Mountain series makes staying "on the mountain" the thing to do this weekend!

Friday night at Lynn's Market: Dee Bass makes a return performance from 7-10. Come on out for burgers and bbq and beer and brown bagging and listen to Dee's eclectic performance.

MACC Coffeehouse Saturday night at Sweet Gipsy (http://www.sweetgipsy.com/). Come out up at 6 for Chili with all the fixin's or anything else from their menu. Stay for music from 7-10 with Mountain Cove Bluegrass (http://www.mountaincovebluegrass.com/). I will be opening for them at 7 then the boys come on at 8.

Next Candidate Forum October 10

2010-09-23T12:32:00.000-04:00

The Mountain Business Association will sponsor the next Candidate Forum on October 10 at the Signal Mountain Country Club. It will start at 5:30pm. Here is the announcement in the Community News:

http://media.timesfreepress.com/epaper/community/sm/09-22-2010/index.html

I hated to miss the forum last night at Alexian, but my daughter's birthday had to take precedence. I should make this one. I heard last night was well attended and went well. I urge any town residences who missed that one to come to the one on the 10th.

Candidate Forum Sept. 22

2010-09-20T19:25:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how many people are aware that there is a candidate forum planned for this Wednesday, Sept 22 at Alexian Village. As a matter of fact, I had to tell one candidate about it as he hadn't heard. It starts at 7pm and here's a link to an article with more info: http://community2.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/sep/16/alexian-hosting-candidate-forum-sept-22/ .

Since September 22 is my daughter's birthday, I will be unable to attend. If anyone happens to videorecord this event, I would love to watch it and would apprecaite knowing about that. I urge all citizens to attend and learn about these candidates. We'll have at least 2 new town councilmembers in November, so get out there and get to know them. There will be another forum, sponsored by the MBA on October 14 which I believe will be held at the Country Club.

Labor Day Picnic

2010-09-06T19:10:00.000-04:00

Had a great day at the annual Lion's Club Labor Day picnic. Lots of great food. They've added bratwurst to the menu and it was good! I congratulated the Lion's Club on having the foresight to call ahead for good weather! Also, the number of vendors continues to grow and there was some great stuff for sale. If you didn't go you missed a great time and great food. Bill Wallace and Dick Gee were working the crowd announcing their candidacies for Town Council. I waxed nostalgic as I remember kicking off my own campaign at this same event four years ago. Frankly, I was surprised not to see any other candidates out on the traditional start of the campaign season (that is, no other council candidates, I did talk with Bo Watson who is breathing a sigh of relief that he has no formal opponent on the November ballot and congratulated Jim Fields on his recent election win). Unfortunately, The Orchard Band was unable to play music this year as my partners in musical crime are spending the weekend with family at the beach, but we'll be back! Happy Labor Day to everyone.

most recent council actions and political courage

2010-09-05T09:12:00.001-04:00

Our most recent Council work session included some good movement on some issues I would like to resolve before my term ends. However, it also included a bit of disappointment which I'd like to discuss first. When I was Mayor, I started a policy of inviting a variety of religous leaders to conduct our opening prayer. While I am a Christian and consider myself a religous person, I am also very supportive of the concept of separation of church and state. However, I have no problem with the idea of an opening prayer for a legislative body. I did, however try to represent the varied and diverse religous traditions represented on the mountain. We had leaders from all the local churches and several off the mountain, including a rabbi. Since I am friends with at least one Moslem family up here (and I'm sure there are more), I had always wanted to invite a Moslem cleric to lead a prayer, but just never got to it. When Bill Lusk took over as mayor, he asked our fire chaplain, Stacy Seals to conduct our prayers. That was a fine idea that I supported and Mr. Seals has done a wonderful job. However, I have recently been very concerned about the anti-Islamic mood in the country and particularly some of the protests against the building of mosques, including the recent vandalism and arson in Murphreesboro. Perhaps I am particularly sensitized by my recent visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, but I have always been deeply concerned about any persecution of minorities based on religion, color, national origin, etc. I thought that having a Moslem cleric do our opening prayer on one occasion would send a positive message of tolerance from the Signal Mountain community. I offered to make all the arrangements and I was very pleased when the council agreed. I talked with Chaplain Seals and he was supportive. Therefore, I was quite disheartened when I got home a few hours later and received an email from Bill Lusk stating he had reconsidered and didn't think we should do this. Almost immediately I received emails from Allen and Robertson agreeing with him. I know that frequently when Mayor Lusk and Vice-Mayor Robertson take their cigarette breaks during meetings, the other Council members stand outside and talk and I saw them talking after our meeting. I have to assume that they got together afterwards and had second thoughts on my proposal. Either this or they just didn't want to disagree in an open, public meeting. Frankly, I think this is a failure of political courage on their part. As English philosopher Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." They suggested I write an "OpEd" since I feel strongly on this, but obviously a public display of tolerance by the entire Council would have much more meaning than the personal expression of an individual. I certainly regret this change of heart, but nonetheless I do want to express my own personal plea for religous tolerance. This was one of the founding principles of this country and one I feel very strongly about.

On a more mundane note, we are finalizing a revision of our "vicious dog" ordinance. Our previous ordinance defined "vicious" by specific breeds which I feel is inappropriate and we are working on a definition based on behavior. We also are revising our noise ordinance to define inappropriate noise based on objective decibel levels rather than the current vague definition of "annoying". As our chief said, "some people are more easily annoyed than others"! As I wrap up my term on the Council, I am trying to be sure we finalize as much as possible. I know from previous experience how hard it is to walk into the middle of something so I hope to minimize this for the next Council.

One other issue I'm trying to resolve has to do with benefits for Councilmembers. Early in our terms, one of the other councilmembers brought up the idea of allowing councilmembers to sign up on the town health insurance policy. Since the plan was for the councilmember to pay their own premium, this seemed like an ok idea, so I supported it. However, it later occurred to me that this could also affect our rates if a councilmember was high risk (realistically, councilmembers are likely to be older than most town employees). This was confirmed by Honna Rogers who told me that Blue Cross had serious concerns about this and would probably not continue to allow it. I suggested we repeal this option for future councilmembers. This is probably a moot point since Blue Cross is apparently not going to let us do this in the future anyway, but I thought it was better we get this off the books and it will be repealed.

I mentioned previously a "Chaper two"... I hope in the next few weeks to review the last four years and, more importantly to discuss the issues I see confronting the next Council. As you know, there will be Town Council elections on Nov. 2. Three seats are up for election and two incumbents, Hershel Dick and myself are not running for re-election. There are currently 6 candidates for those three seats. There will be at least two public forums for the candidates and possibly a third. So, stay tuned!

Music on the Mountain Series this weekend

2010-08-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

This weekend come on down to Lynn's Market Friday night from 7pm - 10pm for "The Local Group" and "Bred", two young musical groups.

Then Saturday night come to Sweet Gipsy from 6:30-10pm for Jim Palmour and The Gypsy Truckers, led by Mario Piccolo for some good solid Americana music. Sweet Gipsy is serving dinner featuring "fix-your-own" quesadillas. After Jim and the Truckers, stick around for open mike.

Both events are benefits for the MACC and are sponsored by the MACC Foundation. Hope to see everyone.

Education discussion this Saturday

2010-08-23T11:38:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, August 28 The League of Signal Mountain Voters will sponsor a discussion on education led by Dan Challener, CEO of the Public Education Foundation. It will be 10-11am at Sweet Gipsy Coffee Shop. Should be an excellent discussion on a very important issue. Hope everyone can come.

Friday Nite Live at Lynn's featuring The Orchard Band

2010-08-12T08:20:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder that this Friday, August 13 The Orchard Band (Alice and Robert Thatcher, Paul Hendricks) will be performing from 7-10pm at Lynn's Market on Signal Mountain (Taft Highway just past Ace Hardware on the right if you are coming from Chattanooga). Come on down and have some BBQ or Burgers with beer or brown-bagging allowed. Family friendly atmosphere.

In Memoriam: Robert Bruce Warren Scott

2010-08-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

I lost a dear friend recently. Robert Scott was a good man with a big heart. I first met him when he began teaching my son to play the bagpipes. I found that he was a man of many talents and interests and a father who loved his son deeply. I witnessed his pride at his son's military service and his anxiety when his son was serving in Iraq. I saw his kindness to my son as he taught him not only how to play the bagpipes, but how to take care of them and about the Scottish culture that he loved so much. He was an early supporter of my political career and helped me immensely by creating my campaign website and introducing me to the blog that you are reading right now. He contributed his deep, strong voice to my son's Eagle Project as narrator of his video on the Medal of Honor Museum. I didn't learn of his passing until I returned from our vacation and unfortunately missed his memorial service. He was a fine man and I will miss his friendship. I offer my deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Here is a link to his obituary in the Chattanoogan with info on ways to honor Bob's memory. Rest in peace my friend.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_180598.asp

County Commission District 2 Candidate Forum at Alexian Village

2010-07-23T03:46:00.001-04:00

For those of you who missed the "debate" tonight at Alexian Village, I thought I would provide a brief summary. I should start by saying that I am neutral in this race and plan to remain so. Frankly, I don't know yet how I will vote. I did think the event was well-presented and efficiently run. I would have preferred a format which allowed questions from the audience, but the people at Alexian decided to come up with their own questions and not allow audience input. That was their decision and I respect that. Some of the questions were more oriented to hot-button national issues than local county commission issues, but there were several good local questions, too. Each candidate gave an opening statement primarily involving their biography and background. I refer readers to their websites for more info on that (links to their websites are on the side of the page). So, here are the questions and a summary of responses:

1. The first question was about the IB program at SMMHS and whether the candidates supported or opposed it. This question also mentioned the issue of how to fund it.

Cantrell stated that he supported the IB program and mentioned that he would encourage Volkswagen to help support it financially.

Fields stated he had only recently learned about IB and what it was really about and had decided that it was a "great program" and that he supported IB and its funding.

2. The second question asked how to maintain county revenues when the county offered tax breaks to businesses to come to Hamilton County.

Fields pointed out that only the county general taxes were affected and that the school portion of the taxes were still collected as a "payment in kind" from Volkswagen and other businesses. He suggested increasing tourism as a way of increasing county revenues.

Cantrell felt we should concentrate on a more diverse economy, especially emphasizing small businesses. He thought we should try for more federal money to incentivize "green" businesses and high tech business. He emphasized that, as a pilot he felt he understood the technical aspects of high-tech businesses such as turbines, etc and that this would be a plus for him as commissioner.

3. The candidates were asked how they felt about city/county consolidation.

Cantrell stated that his approach would be "show me the money", ie he would support consolidation where it was cost effective on a case-by-case basis.

Fields stated that he would support consolidation if the logistics could be worked out, mentioning differing procedures between county and city courts as an example. He also stated that he would look at cost savings.

4. The next few questions were, directed toward national "hot button" issues. The candidates were asked if they were for or against the national "Tea Party" movement.

Fields stated that he was very much in support of the movement.

Cantrell stated he was "neutral". He stated that he agreed that the Federal government was too big and expensive, but stated that services have to be paid for and that too often people only want to cut the services that they don't use. He stated that we have to walk the walk, not just "talk the talk".

5. The candidates were asked about illegal immigration and how Hamilton County should approach it.

Cantrell stated that immigration was a Federal obligation and that the Federal government should enforce the law.

Fields discussed getting education for the Sheriff's Department and to work with the Federal government. He stated he supported immigration laws.

Cantrell rebutted by stating that he thought the Sheriff's Dept. was already well-educated on the issue.

6. The next question was to ask which side of the 2nd amendment each candidate was on.

Fields stated he supported gun ownership and registration. He stated he doesn't own any guns himself.

Cantrell stated he did have a carry permit and that he opposed the "guns in bars" bill.

7. They were then asked where they stood on the separation of church and state and the teaching of religion in schools.

Cantrell stated he supported the separation of church and state. He stated he supported the teaching of comparative religion in school, but that support for religion in schools would depend on which side of the majority you were on.

Fields stated he supported the 1st amendment. He supported teaching Bible in schools as literature and history. He stated that teachers and students should be allowed to express their own opinions, but not impose them on others.

8. Another education question was asked. The question was essentially that 60-65% of the Hamilton County budget goes to education and since "many people in Signal Mountain opposed the new SMMHS", how did the candidates feel about that (I realize that is vague, but I didn't write the question down verbatim).

Fields stated that the County Commission passes the budget and the Board of Education decides how to spend education money. He suggested several ways to potentially enhance revenues for the schools:
a. work with state representatives to improve the state funding formula for education.
b. increase businesses in Hamilton County to increase revenue
c. modernize school facilities as a way to save money

Cantrell stated that since the high school was already built, opposition to it was "water under the bridge" and that we should make our schools as good as we can make them.

The candidates then were given the opportunity to ask each other a question. Cantrell stated that since he worked in Atlanta, he had no connections with local businesses. He asked Fields how he would handle any businesses that he had professional dealings with who came before the county. Fields responded that he dealt with this issue all the time as an attorney and that if it were a business that he represented, he would recuse himself.

Fields then asked Cantrell if he had received any contributions from any unions. Cantrell stated that, as an independent he "didn't have any help from anyone" (good laugh line for audience) and that specifically he had no contributions from PAC's or unions.

That was pretty much it. I sincerely hope that I have accurately reflected the intent of the questions and the responses and positions of the candidates. I urge anyone who was at the forum to comment and offer their impressions, especially if they differed from mine. I especially urge the candidates to respond if I have in any way misrepresented their positions or if they wish to expand or clarify any statements.

Finally, here is a video from TimesFreePress of Mr. Fields discussing term limits:
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jul/22/video-fields-term-limits/?localvideo-news

Signal Mountain History

2010-07-17T16:24:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let y'all know about an excellent group of people, The Signal Mountain Genealogical Society. The planned a "history tour" or Signal Mountain for today, not knowing if there would be any interest. In reality, they had to expand it to two(!) tours as over 80 people signed up including my family. We had a delightful morning touring various Signal Mountain spots. We started At Bachman Community Center with a brief overview and powerpoint by Mrs. Jolley talking about the early history of Signal Mountain and the surrounding area (ie, starting at 15,000 BC!). We then boarded an air-conditioned bus for the tour. First stop was the Conner Toll House. This oldest building on Walden's Ridge (part of the Cumberland Plateau) is now owned by the Chattanooga Regional History Museum and has been upgraded and has some displays and various artifacts in it.

Here are MaryEliza and Nathaniel in the upstairs bedroom at Conner Toll House.

Conner Toll House

Next we went out Taft Highway to Lone Oak and then returned for a drive down Fairmont Road and a discussion of the earliest days of the area when Fairmount Academy was the first school in the area. After talking about the Mountain Opry and Summertown, we went to Signal Mountain Old Towne, Alexian Village (formerly Alexian Inn), Signal Point and then followed the route of the old trolley. After about 2 1/2 hours we returned to our starting point. Our tour guide was James L. Douthat, well known around here for his many books on the local area. The Society is thinking of doing more tours in the future and if they do, I would strongly urge everyone to go and take their kids so they can learn the history of their home town.

Finally, a County Commission forum

2010-07-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to announce that there will be a candidate forum with the two County Commission District 2 candidates. This will be held Thursday, July 22 at 7pm at Alexian Village in the "Town Hall" at Alexian (it is around back, you take the entrance off Ohio Ave and follow it to about half-way down on the left by the flag pole... parking is limited, so I urge folks to consider carpooling!) Ironically, this is one of the dates I had originally proposed to the candidates for the forum I tried to put together. I guess their calendars opened up a bit...
This forum is being led by Mr. Dudley Meadows at Alexian. Regrettably, the format he is following will not allow for any input from the audience or any public questions, however he promises to be sure he challenges them appropriately. He did promise a question on public education. I urge everyone to go and listen to these two candidates so you can make an educated decision on this important election.

I will get around to "Chapter 2" (from my last blog" soon...

Minute by minute...

2010-07-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

OK, I hope you'll excuse the cute Doobie Brothers reference to introduce a boring but illustrative topic. Generally, the most perfunctory part of any meeting is the reading of the minutes. This is generally a quick "Has everyone read them... any changes..." and you're done. Signal Mountain Town Council, however has turned the "reading of the minutes" into an intermittent ordeal. I realize this my be very "inside baseball", but I think it is an example of the kinds of behind the scenes manipulation of the issues that concerns me.

The most recent example is from last night. As background, you might know from reading the Signal Mountain Mirror that we have frequently spent a fair amount of time with minutes in the past as former English teacher Susan Robertson made assorted grammatical corrections including misplace commas and misspelling and typos. I have found this generally acceptable and even laudable as our minutes should be accurate. Some time ago, Ms. Robertson became concerned about the time involved and we decided to circulate the minutes in advance so that such trivial changes could be made in advance of the meeting. However, over time it became clear to me that more significant changes were being made, changing the facts of events which have occurred and adding "after the fact" justifications for issues she was involved in. Because of this, I asked the town recorder to circulate any "adjusted" minutes with even the most minor changes identified. This has generally been successful, but has occasionally suffered from technical glitches such as this past month. When I received a copy of "adjusted minutes" I noticed that a question I had asked at the last meeting had been changed! This bothered me since I am usually pretty specific in what I want to know and I knew I had specifically planned that particular question.

Now, to some more background. As you probably know, the owners of Signal Crossing recently requested a zoning change for the property behind Signal Crossing. This has been identified on the Land Use Plan as one of the few areas in Signal Mountain for potential commercial development. The application was accompanied by a preliminary plan for the development of this parcel which would have left approximately half of the area as wooded undeveloped land. The was understandable concern by the surrounding property owners about this, but the current and potential owners had been very active in seeking out input and demonstrating their flexibility in their planning to accommodate these homeowners. I had hoped and expected that, going forward we would be able to work on more changes to accommodate the homeowners and mitigate any impacts. Knowing the interest of the current council in expanding commerical development (eg, the earlier enthusiasm for possibly selling town hall property for commercial development), I had assumed this would be passed. This was the reason I supported the $25,000 (negotiated down from $50,000) we spent for the commercial design study by the KCRW design group (http://signalmountaintn.gov/assets/misc/guidelines2.pdf). I had tried to make it clear that the pending approval of this project was the reason I supported this expenditure. Frankly, I should have waited, but the council was very anxious to move forward with this. The previous DRC under chairman Greg Goodgame had also requested assistance in developing new guidelines which was another reason for this study. I mention this to refute the various statements and implications by Ms. Robertson that Mr. Goodgame and the DRC had been negligent and non-productive. It is very difficult to ask volunteer citizen boards to develop comprehensive and complex community ordinances and they frequently ask for help. The Planning Commission has worked for over 2 1/2 years in reviewing new subdivision guidelines and are still not finished. They also asked for consultants, but the Council has refused various offers of help on this. As you can see, this whole process is convoluted and difficult to follow, so I hope you're keeping up.

Back to the KCRW study and my question which was changed in the minutes. When KCRW held their public hearing, they presented a plan for discussion which was very similar to the plan presented to the Planning Commission as part of the zoning change required to implement the presented plan. I was frankly surprised by this at the public meeting and several others who were familiar with the earlier proposal commented on the similarity. The primary difference was the addition of a "public square" which would require the town purchasing part of this property, an expense I frankly don't think we can afford. When KCRW presented their report, I asked if they had considered the previous rejection of this plan in their presentation. I realize that technical it was a request for a zoning change, but clearly the zoning change was to implement the plan presented. The answer was that they knew of this, but didn't consider this fact, only taking into account the land use plan. Clearly the implication seemed to be that the Planning Commission had not considered the land use plan (which is not a mandatory plan, only advisory). However, when Ms. Robertson changed the minutes, my question had become one about zoning, not about the similarity of the plans. This made my question frankly seem absurd and pointless. Fortunately, I have learned to closely scrutinize the minutes for such changes and objected to the change and the original correct reflection of reality was restored. I will note that, at the meeting Ms. Robertson apologized for changing my comments, stated that she was trying to clarify the situation and indicated that she assumed I had not understood just what was going on. While I accepted her apology, I felt it was rather condescending and told her that minutes should reflect what actually happened and not what she thought should have happened and how she wished things would have happened. I will not go on with further examples, but they do exist.

Finally, what is the practical issue of all this? Well, I think I will leave that for next time... Chapter 2!

Signal Mountain Town Council and the sign ordinance

2010-06-30T09:47:00.000-04:00

Before I launch into local politics, I wanted to thank everyone who came out for the coffee house last Saturday. We had a great turnout. My group played for the first hour, then Zach Laliberte brought his unique perspective to the receptive audience. If you weren't there, you missed a great show, but can still pick-up his CD at http://www.zachlaliberte.com/. After these two performances, we had open mike with performances by the two Sawyer brothers, Joe Laliberte, original tunes by Robert Thatcher and myself with some bass back-up by Alan Moss among others. Next coffee house will be July 31, again at Sweet Gipsy opening with John Harper and his band, Brownhaven, followed by Tarbell Patton. Jennifer at Sweet Gipsy is working on some dinner specials to compliment the evening, so stay tuned!

My group, the Orchard Band will be appearing at noon at the Lion's Club July 4th picnic at Althaus Park (on Monday July 5) and again on Friday, July 9 at 6:30 on the lawn at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church (or inside if weather threatens).

This past Monday we had our monthly council "agenda" meeting. Four council members were present as Annette Allen is spending the bulk of the summer at her place in New York where her husband works. Most of the meeting was pretty routine. We passed the budget on second reading. We were required to hold a public hearing for the budget which we had on Monday. No one from the public attended. I commented that in the future we should hold our budget public hearings at a regular Monday night meeting. While the budget was apparently non-controversial (I have had no comments from any citizens and there was no tax increase), I think it doesn't look particularly good to hold a public hearing on a Monday morning when most people are at work.

The one potentially controversial issue was a change in the sign ordinance. This was presented by Susan Robertson as a first reading. Since the agenda meetings were originally established to set the agenda for our regular Monday evening meetings and for discussion and routine business, on principal I did not think this was the proper time for this sort of issue. Susan assured us that these were minor changes and she may be right. However, I know that the sign ordinance has been a source of continuing aggravation from the local business community. I have wanted to have the DRC work with the Mountain Business Association and local businesses to revise it and make it more user friendly. While this proposal may have been a minor fix, I don't think it sends the right message of openness and cooperation to our local merchants. I recommended we table the ordinance until our regular meeting in two weeks. Ms. Robertson seemed to think this was too important to wait 2 weeks in spite of it supposedly being a minor fix. However, my motion to table was seconded by Mayor Lusk and I was gratified that the council agreed to table and therefore postpone this until it could be more adequately vetted by the business community with Ms. Robertson eventually going along. I think this was the right thing to do on principal.

Frankly, this may turn out to be a minor and non-controversial change, but since I don't run a business up here, I have never presumed to speak for the local merchants or tell them how to run their businesses, only to work hard to see that their voice is heard. I have always believed that regulations are appropriate to the degree that they protect the general public, but I feel they should be reasonable and clear. It should be easy for a business to come to this town. Our regulations should be clear enough that, if a business follows them their process should go like greased lightning. They should also be reasonable and consistent and not based on the personal whims and opinions of individual DRC and Town Council members.

MACC Coffeehouse returns this Saturday!

2010-06-24T19:03:00.000-04:00

The MACC Coffeehouse returns this Saturday, June 26. While the roof is still being repaired, Sweet Gipsy coffee shop (http://www.sweetgipsy.com/) has graciously agreed to continue to host this event. This Saturday we will open at 7pm and go until 10-ish.

At 7, we will open with my trio, The Orchard Band featuring Alice and Robert Thatcher along with myself doing an eclectic set of folk-rock standards from the 60's and 70's and beyond!

At 8, former Signal Mountain resident Zach Laliberte will be performing his songs. You can find out more about Zach at his website http://www.zachlaliberte.com/. I have heard him and he is quite good and a pleasure to listen to.

At 9 we will open up the stage for the traditional open mike/jam featuring any musicians who want to come, bring their instrument and play either solo or with the group.

So come on out, sample some of Sweet Gipsy's coffee and treats and enjoy some local music. There is no cover charge.

Recent town council meeting and Signal Mountain business issues

2010-06-16T11:02:00.001-04:00

Our latest Town Council meeting was this past Monday, June 14. There were several major issues on the agenda. One was an appeal of a decision by the Design Review Commission (DRC). I have long had concerns that the DRC's guidelines were too vague and that the sign ordinance was too restrictive. We have done several things over my term to try to help and support the DRC while requesting that they do a comprehensive review of these guidelines, many of which date back to the early '90's and are contradictory and unnecessarily vague leading to capricious decisions based on personal opinions of members rather than adherence to town guidelines.

There is a new business trying to open on Signal Mountain at the location of the old CVS. It is a restaurant called "Guthrie's Chicken" which is a franchise owned by local Signal Mountain residents. They have run into several regulatory hurdles from the town and WWTA and I have tried to help them through these issues. Their portion of their meeting with the DRC lasted over 2 hours and led to several decisions that they needed to appeal, one involving a logo required by their corporate office and one involving an admittedly awkward location for their drive-through. To make a long story short, I was highly gratified that the council decided to overrule the DRC and approve the items as appealed. This was after some discussion back and forth between Guthrie's and town staff and included give and take on both sides. It involved a drive-through setup with no perfect solution and I appreciate the council deciding to err on the side of supporting local business. While the process was unnecessarily long and tedious, I was glad it led to a positive outcome.

I should emphasize that I do not have a problem with reasonable regulations (reasonable being an admittedly loaded word). However, I feel that such regulations should be clear and precise and easy to interpret so that a building can follow them. If a business then follows the guidelines, their process of starting a business up here should be smooth and easy. I realize that no regulations can be perfect and account for every condition. That is where the DRC can be helpful and I have seen them work with a business to advise them on their signs or design in a cooperative fashion. They should also advise the council when they think their guidelines (which are town ordinances) need revision. However, no commission or councilmember should insert their personal opinions for or against business decisions that they just don't like or agree with.

Finally, there was an announcement from Hershel Dick that he would not run for re-election and from Susan Robertson that she would run to stay on the council. So the town council election, to be held Tuesday, Nov. 2, will have three seats up for election. So far, Susan Robertson is the only candidate who has announced. I have heard from one or two folks thinking of running, but noone else has announced yet. Decisions need to be made soon. The deadline for submitting your application to run (you have to get a small number of voters to sign a petition) is August 19. If anyone has any questions about the process of running or what's involved in serving, I would be happy to talk with them.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and some random political thoughts...

2010-06-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

The League of Signal Mountain Voters met on Saturday, June 12. Dr. Clif Cleaveland led a discussion of the recent health care reform bill with 14 interested citizens. It was an informative presentation with questions and discussion which was polite and respectful showing Signal Mountain's citizens at their best.

Dr. Cleaveland gave some perspective and background, pointed out facts about health care delivery in the United States, based both on his research and extensive experience as a long-practicing physician. He pointed out the need for more coverage, more coordination of care, better cost-containment and the need for people to live healthier lives. We discussed issues of malpractice and defensive medicine, compared America's system with several other countries. He layed out the timeline for implementation of the various aspects of the Act over the next 4 years. He recommended a website for further research: http://www.kff.org/.

I hope to have our next meeting in July or August. I had originally hoped to have a candidate forum with the candidates for the District 2 County Commission race, but as you know I have been essentially stonewalled by the two candidates. I hope that some sort of forum will occur. I find that many people are still not even aware that there is a race (they thought Fields won the race by winning the primary and don't even know there is an independent candidate) and certainly seem unaware of the candidates' positions. While I encourage people to go to the candidates websites, I also strongly urge people to ask some hard questions of the candidates. They have encourage you call them and both have phone numbers and email addresses on their websites and in the Signal Mountain Guild phonebook. Both candidates have a site on Facebook.

Jim Fields' website is:
http://www.electjimfields.com/ . Mr. Fields also highlights his involvement in this organization:
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/

Mr. Fields makes no mention of education on his website that I can find, even though this has been an important issue on Signal Mountain and figured prominently in our forum with him and Dr. Casavant in May. He made a mention of the importance of paying attention to private schools and home-schooling, but didn't elaborate on how that relates to the County Commission position. He also looks to balance the budget with budget cuts, but is unable to provide specifics. He supports term limits, but doesn't specify how many terms he would serve. I would encourage voters to press him on these points.

David Cantrell's website is: http://www.davidcantrell.org/ . Mr. Cantrell is running as an independent, though I understand he voted in the Democratic Primary in 2006 and 2008. He moved here in 2005, so I don't know if he had any political involvement prior to that. He does have a statement on his website in support of public education, though I have a hard time squaring this with his active support of Joe Dumas in the School Board race 2 years ago (his wife was Joe's campaign treasurer). Since he wasn't here for the various votes that allowed the high school to be built here, I think it is important to ask for more specifics about just how he would support public education and whether he would have supported building the high school up here or whether he agreed with Joe Dumas' active and vocal opposition to the high school. Interestingly, Joe Dumas endorsed Jim Fields in the Republican Primary.

I do want to remind everyone to vote on August 5 or during early voting (July 16 - July 31). I also want to remind everyone that the Signal Mountain Town Council elections will be November 2. As you know, I am not running for re-election and at this point, Hershel Dick has not decided if he is running or not. Susan Robertson apparently is running for re-election. Anyone interested in running needs to file their petition by Thursday, August 19 at 12noon. So, if anyone has thought about serving their community, this would be a good year with at least one open seat on the council. Feel free to contact me for information or go to: http://elect.hamiltontn.gov/default.aspx. The last council election was uncontested which is never a good thing in a democracy.

MACC Roof and public input

2010-06-07T11:17:00.000-04:00

On June 4 we had our monthly "agenda meeting". Most of this was routine. An engineer (James Cawthorne) presented details on planned improvements in water supply to our water customers down near the "space house" and Loretta Hopper reported on research on traffic calming devices like rumble strips. We also discussed an exciting proposal from a private company to do curbside recycling for a monthly fee but with "rebates" in the form of reward points based on amount recycled. We are researching this further, also.

Another issue which came up was one I thought of as minor though it created quite a stir from the rest of the council. However, it does bring up the broader issue of the role of our various town commissions and boards. We have many such boards and this council has expanded the numbers of boards over the last 3 1/2 years. It is my opinion that these boards are a valuable way to get citizens involved directly in town activities and provide valuable public input on specific issues as representatives of the town. While the town council obviously has final authority and responsibility to decide, I have always felt that input from citizen boards on issues pertinent to their area of interest should be strongly considered. Sometimes, it is valuable to try to hold large public hearings for citizen input, but doing this on too many issues can lead to paralysis.

The specific issue being considered was the project to replace the roof on the Mountain Arts Community Center. This roof was originally slate, but over time has been mostly replaced with shingles. The architect planning this project presented the idea of using a dark, brick red color which he felt would compliment the mountain stone facade. He presented this to town staff who liked the idea. Frankly, I was initially dubious, but after seeing a picture of the what the MACC would look like I was intrigued. I then was up in Nashville visiting the Hermitage and saw several old service building from the 20's and 30's with similar roofs and realized how attractive they were and that this would be an historic look and I became supportive. The staff then took it to the appropriate town committees. This was approved unanimously by the MACC Board. The MACC Foundation, formerly known as Friends of MACC, is not an official "town" board, but they reviewed the idea and approved it (I think there was one dissenting vote). Finally, the project went before the town Design Review Committee where it was also approved unanimously and, as I understand it with minimal controversy or discussion. My understanding was that the council liaison, Susan Robertson even raised no objections at that time. Nonetheless, with the shingles on order for this past Tuesday, Annette Allen went to the town manager over the Memorial Day holiday to ask for a public hearing process to approve this change and sent an email to the council. Bill Lusk emailed that the town should go ahead and replace the roof with his own personal choice of color for the roof based on the previous color instead of the one approved by the multiple committees. We delayed the process until the end of the week when our meeting was scheduled. This meeting was well-attended by members of the MACC Board, MACC Foundation and DRC and MACC Board chairman Bill Wallace made a presentation on the process of making this decision and asking why the council disagreed. The other members of the council stated that they thought it wouldn't be accepted by the public. When I pointed out that nearly 100% of the "public" on these three committees had supported it, I was told that they (the committees) were not representative of the "public" because they were "artsy" people and better educated than the general citizenry of Signal Mountain. I obviously objected strenuously and made a motion to accept the recommendation of the architect, staff, MACC Board, MACC Foundation and DRC. This motion was rejected 1-4. So, the MACC will have a grey roof (decided on by the council majority without any further public input). Since the price of shingles was supposed to go up 5-7% the next week, the various committees present asked the council to move forward rather than drag this out any longer with further public hearings.

Obviously, this view of "citizen input" disagrees with my view. In our last meeting, we were presented with a budget item to replace the floor in the gym. This was a high priority from the Recreation Committee and was recommended by our staff (including the Recreation Director and Town Manager). The Council decided to take this item out of the budget. I recommended we meet with the Rec Board to better understand the need, but was overrulled with Hershel Dick in particular being very adamant that we should not have the board talking to us about budget items and that only staff should have input. Bill Lusk stated at our next meeting that he had "shot a few hoops" in the gym that morning and decided the floor did not need replacement. Again, I would have preferred a more open process with input from the citizen committee which has responsibility and particular interest in this area. A final example involves the MACC Board once again when they recently had some questions about the salary and employment agreement of the MACC Director and Mr. Dick asked Honna Rogers to inform the MACC Board that the director "works for the town, not for them". I pointed out that, frankly I considered the citizens to be the town and that we, the Council and all the staff work for "them". This is my opinion.

I would urge citizens to give thought to our various committees and their responsibilities (and the amount of time that citizens volunteer for these committees) and let the council know if they are comfortable with these boards representing them.

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Issues and Politics: Upcoming benefit

2010-05-27T14:44:00.000-04:00

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Issues and Politics: Upcoming benefit

Upcoming benefit

2010-05-27T14:42:00.000-04:00

I'll be sitting in with Kathy's band on bass. Be there!

Paul M. Hendricks

County Commission election forum follow-up

2010-05-20T13:48:00.000-04:00

It appears that my efforts to put together a candidate forum for the District 2 general election will not be successful. As you probably know, a political discussion group I formed, The League of Signal Mountain Voters had an informal forum before the Republican primary between the two Republican candidates, Casavant and Fields. We had always planned to do another one for the general election between the primary winner and the independent candidate, David Cantrell.

Immediately after the primary, on May 6 to be exact I talked directly with both candidates to inform them of our plans and followed with up with an email that same day suggesting details. At that time I suggested that the middle two weeks of July would be ideal, due to early voting dates, but that I was open to other dates and suggestions. I lined up the auditorium at SMMHS for this with the support of Principal McCullough.

After not hearing anything for several days, I ran into Mr. Fields who stated he was waiting to talk with Mr. Cantrell. While I thought it unusual that the candidates were working together on this, I felt that at least we were making progress. I subsequently learned that Mr. Cantrell suggested the dates of June 5-19 and Mr. Fields said he wouldn't be able to make those dates. I followed up with the two candidates on May 17 and asked if they could confirm a date before May 22. This was for my convenience since I have to set my July work schedule by then. Mr. Fields said that he was unable to make that deadline. I told him that scheduling would be more difficult for me after that, but that I was still open to working with them. Mr. Cantrell stated that he could't do the third week in July (seemingly implying that was the only time I had offered to do this) and that he was working with "others" to put on a forum.

I then learned that Mr. Cantrell had contacted town manager Honna Rogers about putting on a forum, without telling her that I was working on such a forum. Frankly I think this was disingenuous on his part. In retrospect I wish I had informed her that I was doing this (I guess I thought she would have read this in my blog). I did not think the town would or should conduct this for several reasons. First, to my knowledge the town has not previously conducted forums for races other than the town council. More importantly, it is well known that the Cantrells are close social friends of the rest of the council. Annette Allen and her husband, John Shearburn have already donated $1000 to Mr. Cantrell's campaign (as of the last reporting period: http://elect.hamiltontn.gov/candidate/current/042910/Cantrell,%20David%202010-04-24.pdf). I don't know if any of the others have donated to him since 4/24. Both Bill Lusk and Susan Robertson are listed as supportive on his campaign Facebook page and Bill Lusk's wife, Sandy has a link to Mr. Cantrell's site on her website: http://southernliberalliving.com/. I have not found similar links to Mr. Fields' sites. Because of this I was concerned that any forum sponsored by the Council would be unlikely to be acceptable to Mr. Fields. This is why I kept my efforts separate.

It certainly seems that both candidates have told me to move on and that they are unable to make a commitment. Frankly, the fact that these two were unable to find 2 free hours between May 6 and August 5 to get together to discuss issues with the voters makes me wonder how they will find time to serve on a County Commission which is essentially a second job and quite a busy one, but that is a question for the voters to ask him (although I am one of those, aren't I?). While I remain open if the candidates request my involvement, I will no longer actively pursue this effort.

The League of Signal Mountain voters will continue, however with a meeting on Saturday, June 12 at 10am on the porch at Sweet Gipsy. Dr. Clif Cleaveland will update us on the status of the health care reform legislation recently passed with an emphasis on implementation schedules and implications. Dr. Cleaveland is a well-respected physician and very knowledgeable about health care policy. This should be an excellent discussion. These meetings are always open to anyone interested in open-minded and civil discussion of important issues.

County Commission election forum

2010-05-17T13:03:00.001-04:00

I am still waiting to hear from the two candidates for a commitment to a candidate forum this July. I had asked for a commitment by this past weekend or certainly by the end of this week (frankly, this is for my sake because of my work schedule). Mr. Fields said he couldn't commit by the end of this week. I have not received a reply from Mr. Cantrell other than his initial "I'll get back to you" reply. If anyone out there knows either of these gentlemen and supports the idea of a forum, I would ask you to encourage them to contact me. I have the sponsorship of Signal Mountain Middle/High School since we are using their auditorium. I also have a commitment from the Community News to give this forum coverage (I haven't contacted other outlets such as TV or Chattanoogan.com, yet. I was waiting for more specific dates). I am still hopeful this forum will occur. I feel strongly that the voters deserve more information to decide about these two gentlemen, especially as neither has served in public office before and therefore neither has a record. I encourage everyone to look at their campaign websites and ask them to be more specific about their specific stands on issues:

http://electjimfields.com/

http://davidcantrell.org/

I do want to thank Mr. Cantrell for responding to my curiousity about his independent candidacy (http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_175379.asp ).Frankly, I thought his response was pretty good. One of the pleasures of running for town council was the fact that it was a non-partisan race and this liberated me from being attached to any irrelevant national "party" issues. As Richard Casavant used to tell me "potholes don't have parties"... ie, local issues rarely fall down into partisan positions, so I certainly understand where Mr. Cantrell is coming from even though it does make it a harder race to run.

One other issue... I am going to start moderating responses to this blog. I do not intend to prevent anyone from responding to the issues I have covered. All the responses I have received to my blog issues have been appropriate and highly appreciated by me. However, somehow I am getting some occasional Chinese and Russian spam and even porn, which I do not want getting through, so plan to delete that. If you ever send a response and don't see it on here within a day, please email me (paulmhmd@comcast.net) and I'll be sure it gets there, but hopefully I can screen out the inappropriate and irrelevant nonsense. Ain't the internet a wonderful thing???

Thanks for the interest.
Paul M. Hendricks

County Commission election forum

2010-05-12T11:42:00.002-04:00

As I have previously stated, I am working on putting together a candidate forum between County Commission candidates David Cantrell (I) and Jim Fields (R). I wanted to make something clear about our earlier forum. When we initially discussed having the forum held earlier between Mr. Fields and Mr. Casavant, I reminded the group that there was an independent candidate in the general election, Mr. Cantrell and asked if we should invite him. The consensus of the group was to only invite the candidates in the upcoming Republican primary. Our intent was always to have another forum between the winner of the Republican Primary and Mr. Cantrell before the general election. I am currently negotiating with the candidates to establish a date in July to hold this forum. SMMHS principal Tom McCullough has agreed to sponsor the forum in the auditorium at the high school. With two months to prepare, I hope for this forum to be better organized and better publicized than the last one which was admittedly a last minute affair. I am hoping that one function of the new organization we are forming, the League of Signal Mountain Voters will be to hold more forums such as this for local elections such as Town Council races (both for Signal Mountain and Walden) and County Commission and School Board races and maybe even state legislative elections. I'll post details when available.

County Commission primary

2010-05-05T14:56:00.003-04:00

I am obviously saddened by the loss of Richard Casavant in the County Commission race. I have great respect for Richard and his service to our town and county. Without Richard we would not have a high school on Signal Mountain according to Claude Ramsey (along with Chip Baker and the many, many friends of the High School).

I do congratulate Jim Fields on his victory and compliment him for his gracious comments about Dr. Casavant after the election.

As you should know, Mr. Fields will be running against David Cantrell in the general election on August 5. I honestly don't know Mr. Cantrell well at all, I've probably never said more than hello to him. I have had my differences with his wife, Melissa Cantrell who is the chair of the Planning Commission, though I realize that shouldn't reflect on him. I do know that he and his wife were strong supporters of and campaign workers for Joe Dumas during Joe's last political campaign which clearly raises red flags in regards to his support for public education. Other than the initial announcement article in the Chattanoogan:( http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_171610.asp )I have heard nothing of what his positions are or his reasons for running. I am, of course always curious about reasons why someone runs as an "independent". I really don't know his politics except that his wife once implied to me that they were Democrats (in an email from Ms. Cantrell she said to me "I've even been told that you are a Democrat - not a bad thing in my household"). Clearly if he was to run as a Democrat the primary field would have been clear. So, that is a question I would like to ask.

I was quite appalled at the lack of opportunity for the candidates to present their views to the voters. As you know, I put together a last minute forum for the two Republican candidates which suffered from being last minute. I plan to work towards putting together a forum this summer for Mr. Fields and Mr. Cantrell to present their views to the public. Details are pending, but I will work at publicizing it as much as possible.

Finally, I was also appalled at the pitiful turnout for this election. Less than 8.5% of Hamilton County voters voted. That is shameful. Stuart James commented on this on his blog:
http://www.truthfactor.org/articles_details.php?The-Death-of-Our-Republic-538 . I hope that we can get better attention on the upcoming general election this summer (August 5) and fall.

Candidate Forum News

2010-04-24T21:20:00.003-04:00

Intrepid voters!

On Saturday morning, April 24, a group of hardy souls braved the rain and gathered on the porch at Sweet Gipsy Coffee Shop on Signal Mountain to hear from the two Republican candidates for County Commission District 2. Incumbent Richard Casavant and challenger Jim Fields spoke and answered questions for an hour on the topics confronting the County Commission and explicated their reasons for running.

Dr. Richard Casavant

The event started with opening statements. Dr. Casavant emphasized his experience and excitement about the future prospects for the county with the pending opening of the Volkswagon plant and several other new and expanding businesses. He mentioned his priorities were public education, sewer infrastructure to drive economic growth “where it needs to be rather than just where it perks”, and supporting opportunities for young families.

James Fields

Mr. Fields emphasized his business experience as a lawyer running a small practice and his volunteer work with his church and other community organizations. He stated he was running as a conservative and emphasized his opposition to any new taxes.

The floor was then opened for questions and education was clearly on everyone’s mind. The first question was about the news of the day that money was yet to be found to support the German “school” or program promised to Volkswagon executives. The moderator asked if the rainy day fund would be tapped or if other sources would be found. Dr. Casavant stated his support for this promise and his conviction that the money would be found. He stated he opposed using the rainy day fund in order to protect the county’s AAA bond rating which keeps interest rates low. He stated that the ultimate problem with funding was at the state level and that the BEP formula was unfair. Mr. Fields also agreed that the funding for the German school should be protected. He stated that education was important and that, rather than raising funds he would look at the cost side for ways to balance budgets. He also stated that private school and home school students should be addressed, but wasn’t specific about just how.

The next question was on protecting the IB program at Signal Mountain Middle/High School. Dr. Casavant stated that he was working on getting the teachers for the IB program. Mr. Fields stated that he couldn’t guarantee any positions and had no specific answer, but would do his best to fund education.

Next, the candidates were asked about Mr. Fields pledge to cut costs and he was asked for specifics. He stated he would “look through the budget” for what is essential, but did not know the specifics although he pledged not to cut “the classroom”. Dr. Casavant commented that there was always room for more efficiency, but that it was more important to be effective and give the teachers the tools to teach. He said that the education budget was already very lean. He stated he was proud of what has been accomplished on Signal Mountain and wanted to be sure that no “sand was put in the gears”. He also reminded the audience that there were other schools in the district that had to be considered, specifically mentioning the new Middle School in Red Bank.

On a related topic, but with a different approach, the candidates were asked “what’s wrong with increasing taxes for schools”. The questioner commented on living in other areas with higher taxes and more resources for schools. Mr. Fields again commented that he opposed increasing taxes unless it was voted for in a public referendum. Dr. Casavant noted that the property tax rate since 1997 had decreased from 2.982 per hundred to 2.7652 per hundred. While this decrease was primarily to compensate for increased assessments, he noted that without the increases passed over the last 12 years the town’s fiscal status would be very poor. He also commented that most of those increases had gone to schools.

Next, Mr. Fields was asked what new ideas he would bring to the County Commission. He corrected the questioner that he would actually bring a new perspective and different experiences. He stated he would focus on the VW plant and encourage local hiring, though again was not specific about how he would accomplish this. He mentioned the idea of having commission meetings at night. Dr. Casavant reiterated his excitement about the future for Hamilton County. He noted that he had seen an increase in his students getting jobs locally and the fact that the VW plant is already hiring and will be making cars soon. He also commented on the changing nature of our community due to international investment in Hamilton County and how important it was for us to prepare for global competition. He expressed his desire to continue to be a part of this economic future.

On a lighter note, the candidates were asked what they would do to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches! They both stated that they supported nutritional meals, but that those specifics were more the responsibility of the school board.

A more pointed question was then asked. The audience member questioned the “rosie picture” of the local situation presented by Dr. Casavant. He mentioned Spring Hill and wondered if the VW plant would just become an albatross, asking if taxes would rise to fund VW. Dr. Casavant mentioned examples such as Greenville, SC and West Point, GA which, unlike Spring Hill continue to have successful auto plants. He noted the importance to diversify our economy to prevent the very problem that the questioner presented and keep the county from becoming too dependent just on VW. Mr. Fields agreed with Dr. Casavant about the need to diversify and again stated his opposition to taxes as inhibiting business.

A related question on what else might be in the works for Hamilton County was put to Dr. Casavant. He noted that we should always be careful about assisting businesses since we can’t predict future success. He stated that we need people willing to risk their own money as entrepreneurs. Dr. Casavant was also asked about a rumor the questioner had heard about “discretionary funds” that each commissioner has and he reassured the questioner that any left over funds stayed with the county and would not be kept by him personally if he left office.

During closing statements, the candidates asked for the votes of the group and thanked them for their interest. The candidates had both agreed to answer questions from each other and Dr. Casavant asked Mr. Fields a final question about whether he had supported the bond issue which allowed SMMHS to be built. Mr. Fields responded that he had voted against that bond issue. He later contacted the moderator to clarify that his vote was not against the high school, but against the funding mechanism.

The group sponsoring this forum is a political discussion group recently formed by a group of friends on Signal Mountain. They plan to meet regularly to inform themselves and the public about issues and the public are always welcome at their meetings. They are meeting under the name “League of Signal Mountain Voters” and future meetings will be publicly announced.

Big Weekend Coming Up

2010-04-20T10:48:00.002-04:00

Two big events this weekend deserve notice.

First, Saturday morning, April 24 there will be an informal candidate forum with the two Republican candidates for County Commission District 2 from 10-11am at Sweet Gipsy Coffee Shop. Some friends and I have recently started a political discussion group, tentatively called the "League of Signal Mountain Voters". This initially was inspired by the CoffeePartyUSA which was started as a counterpart to the so-called "Tea Party" movement. While the Coffee Party has had a decidedly liberal or progressive approach, we decided to keep this group non-partisan at the local level so are not formally affiliated with them. Our primary emphasis is to discuss issues on a factual basis with openness to opposing and dissenting viewpoints and a polite and civil approach to discussion. So, with all that introduction, we had our first meeting at Sweet Gipsy coffee shop a week ago with about a dozen folks there talking about what we wanted to do with this concept. We decided to put a strong emphasis on encourage voter education, participation and turnout, especially with the county primary coming up on May 4. So, that being said, we will have current County Commissioner Richard Casavant and his Republican opponent, Jim Fields at our meeting on Saturday at 10am on the porch at Sweet Gipsy. This will be open to the public. I will moderate and will expect all to act in a civil and respectful manner. There will be opening comments and then questions from the audience.

On a lighter note, the next day, Sunday April 25 The Orchard Band, featuring Robert and Alice Thatcher and myself will be performing at Sweet Gipsy during their weekly Sunday brunch from 11am-2pm. We will also have guest performers! So come on down for lunch and some good acoustic music!

Commercial Design Public Meeting

2010-03-20T07:11:00.002-04:00

This Thursday, March 25 from 6pm-8pm there will be a public meeting at the Town Hall. It will be conducted by Ann Coulter and her company whom the town has consulted to help in developing commercial design standards. I urge all citizens to come and express their opinions on this subject.

I have to confess that I was initially reluctant at the expense for this project. The original cost was approx. $50,000. After some negotiation and narrowing of focus, we were able to decrease that to approx $25,000. I said at the time that I felt the timing was appropriate because I expected new commercial development on the mountain. Frankly, because of the enthusiasm this council has expressed toward expanded commercial development, I expected the proposed grocery store project behind the current shopping center to be approved. If I had known it would be rejected, I would have preferred to wait on this consultation until our finances were more robust. Nonetheless, this meeting is being held and it is important that all citizens have a say in the future of the mountain.

The scope of this project has been somewhat misunderstood. Some have thought that Ms. Coulter would recommend where commercial development would occur on the mountain. However, those proposals were part of the land use plan and are included in that plan. Ms. Coulter will be helping the Design Review Commissiond revise our commercial design standards for appearance of our commercial buildings. This will obviously be of particular interest to owners and tenants of our current buildings and those interested in future developments. However, all citizens should have an interest and a say in these standards and also understand the potential pros and cons of such design standards in the area of expense, limits on renovationst, etc. So please turn out this Thursday and let us know what you think.

Shameless Musical Plug

2010-03-03T09:41:00.002-05:00

Mark you calendars for this Sunday, March 7. My acoustic trio, The Orchard Band, featuring Robert and Alice Thatcher (and myself) will be performing at Sweet Gipsy coffee shop from 11am-2pm. So come by after church for lunch or a late breakfast and enjoy an eclectic variety of late '60's/early 70's acoustic music. For those of you who don't know where it is, it is on James Blvd, just north of Thrasher Elementary right at the entrance of the Orchard neighborhood! For directions, go to www.sweetgipsy.com! Y'all come!

zoning request for grocery store

2010-02-04T19:51:00.002-05:00

I just returned from the Planning Commission meeting. The PC recommended against rezoning the land behind the shopping center on a 4-2 vote. Cheryl Graham and Van Bunch were absent and Guy Beaty recused himself due to personal connections with the case.

I confess to having been quite surprised by this. The motion to deny was made by Annette Allen and seconded by Bill Lusk. This is particularly surprising considering that this council had been so aggressive in promoting commercial development. Just a year ago there was great enthusiasm by Ms. Allen and Robertson in particular for selling town property for commercial development. I also know that Bill Lusk has recently been buying some commercial property in the town (but not in the shopping center involved). He stated he wanted more time to talk with surrounding neighbors and walk the property even though the request was original presented in, I believe October if memory serves. I'm not sure what more he wanted to learn. He also said he talked with a large number of business owners and has been unable to find any of them who support this. I would be curious to know if any business owners reading this talked with him and what their reasons were for opposing it.

The projected tax benefits to the town from this development are projected to be on the order of $300,000 per year. I certainly agree with concerns about the surrounding property owners potentially affected by this, although only a few would actually be directly affected. Approximately half the property would be preserved as potential open space (I would certainly look for guarantees such as conservation easements for this). Since this area is currently zoned residential, that protection is not guaranteed at present and I'm sure that any potential residential development would try to maximize use of all the property. I'm also just as sure that the property owners will not be content to let the property stay undeveloped and the town cannot prohibit any development on this property.

After hearing the presentation tonight, I would certainly lean towards supporting this rezoning, but would like to look at ways to maximize protection of surrounding property owners, perhaps through wider buffers or berms or other options. I fear that the town is losing one of the only potential sources of new revenues considering the strong opposition to future residential growth and the difficulty of annexation (and the possibility that the state may make annexation even harder). Planning Commission member Wayne Williams made an eloquent statement on this point. Our budgets are getting tighter and the demands are getting greater.

As an example, the sidewalk proposed for James Blvd, while mostly funded with federal tax dollars, will also require about $50,000 in town contributions. Frankly, I begin to wonder if we can afford this. The MACC will require a substantial sum to repair the roof just to get it opened for business again and we need to make some major repairs to the gym roof. We need a new public works building desperately and, should the annexation go through, will probably need to build a new fire station on Shackleford Ridge Road (though we have some money set aside for that).

Folks, it is getting to be time to make some decisions. We all want more services and sidewalks and want to add more parks and preserve our open spaces (certainly things I support), but we are going to need to pay for it. Our revenues from the Hall Income Tax (on investments) have decreased with the problems on Wall Street and property taxes are really about all we have to go on. I fear we are trying to have our cake and eat it, too and I fear that our chickens will soon be coming home to roost (hey, is there a market for mixed metaphors??).

2010-01-29T14:12:00.002-05:00

Just completed one of our "agenda" sessions which was quite productive. I was given a preliminary draft of the potential locations for a future sidewalk down James Blvd. I want to begin by correcting an error on my part. I have said several times that my understanding was that we did not have the right-of-way across the street from the Country Club to build a sidewalk, but that is not the case. This preliminary document shows potential locations for a sidewalk on both sides of the street in the town's right of way. While other issues may arise (and apparently the issue of utilities is also pretty much equal on both sides), at present it seems that either side would be feasible. It think it is important that everyone know this. These plans will be available at the public meeting next Wednesday, Feb. 3 from 6-8pm. This is a "drop-in"meeting, so come when you can and stay for as long as you want.

Representatives of the Country Club, including club President Doug Fisher and Mike Feher, the Club's representative to the Council attended. They arrived with a very cooperative attitude and the discussions were mostly polite and open on both sides. There was some heated discussion between Mr. Fisher and Vice-Mayor Robertson over some statements she apparently sent out stating that only a few trees would need to be removed if the sidewalk goes in on the CC side. This seems to be overly optimistic based on new information and she admitted this. Clearly we are all gaining new information all the time (as my mea culpa above indicates). The meeting next Wednesday will be a good opportunity for information and input from the town's citizens to the engineers on this project. This is NOT a Town Council meeting. I have to work and will be unable to attend, but I'm sure the other members will be there to listen. I will receive copies of all comments and engineering advice and will give my own input and questions. I want to say that this should not be a "town vs the Country Club" issue and comments about elitists, etc are totally out of line. Apparently there have been some nasty personal comments made (probably on both "sides") and I hope this will stop. I'm tired of "sides". We need to decide what the town wants (and it seems that most do want to go ahead with the sidewalk) and how best to do it. Clearly we should do this the safest way possible and with the least negative impact on the Country Club. So, if you have advice, please tell us if you want the sidewalk or not and, if you do, how best to build it.

In other news... we approved the contract with EPB. Several of their executives were present and everyone was very relieved and happy that we had come to an agreement that I feel is very positive for the town and which they seem content with. Hopefully we should have EPB fiber-optic cable and internet by the fall (or possibly sooner).

We also discussed some new approaches to our efforts to cut energy use and decrease our carbon "footprint" in keeping with our signing the "Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change" when I was Mayor. We talked about appointing a committee to look at these issues in a more formal and systematic way. The organization (called "ICLEI") promoting this issue have tools for measuring the town's effectiveness in this direction. We are already saving money through these efforts, so this isn't purely a pie in the sky issue. We will be looking for potential members for such a committee and possibly dedicating some staff time the next time we bring a management intern to our town as we have in the past (probably this summer).

Finally, the issue was brought up to change our charter. This was raised by Ms. Robertson. Clearly our charter, approved in 1990 has a few outdated measures (such as authority to have sewers and schools). However, it doesn't require us to have these, so these measure are merely superfluous and doesn't restrict or direct the town in any way. A major focus seems to be on the Mayor position. Clearly this has been a concern for the rest of the Council. When I was Mayor, then-Councilmember Bill Lusk (with the apparent support and encouragement of the rest of the Council) went to our state legislative delegation to change the way Planning Commission members are appointed. This was done without my knowledge. Formerly, the Mayor appointed these members. This was essentially the ONLY specific power that the Mayor had. However, I and I believe all my predecessors have done so with the advice and consent of the rest of the Council, even though that wasn't required by law (as it was with all other boards and commissions). Certainly every appointment I made was done after consulting with all the other council members and were all affirmed with a unanimous vote.

In the interest of democracy I agreed to go along once I found out about this however, if I had known that the law passed by Rep. Floyd and Senator Watson ONLY applied to Signal Mountain and not the rest of the state, I would not have done so. Clearly any changes in our charter (even removing a comma) requires a vote from and the time and attention of the state legislature and therefore I believe should only be done for significant changes. Removing irrelevant or outdated passages without any effect are probably not worth taking up their time. Generally changes in the charter should be recommended by a committee of citizens with much input from the general public and I think if we make any more changes, this is the way it should be done. Among the changes Ms. Robertson seems to want to make are removing references to "the Mayor and Council" on issues such as receiving the oath of office and replacing it with "all Councilmembers". Currently "the Mayor or a majority of the council" can call for special meetings, she wants to make this only "a majority of council" and remove the reference to the Mayor. I don't know what her issue is with the Mayor's position. The others on the council have commented about a "future mayor" (this was when I was Mayor) becoming too powerful! The Mayor of Signal Mountain is elected every two years by a majority of the council! The Mayor is a creature of the Council and obviously, as recent history has shown, would be unwise to oppose or become too independent of the majority of the council if he/she wants to remain Mayor. With all the things that this council and our state legislature has on it plate at present, making these changes does not seem like a good use of their time and I see no reason to pursue them. I did suggest that Ms. Robertson use these suggestions as part of her platform when she runs for re-election in the fall.

2010-01-27T08:11:00.002-05:00

I would like to briefly cover the issues involved with the proposed sidewalk down James Blvd. The town received a grant some years ago for this sidewalk, portions of which have already been built from the library out towards Thrasher and from Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church to Maryland. This grant is specific for this stretch of road and cannot be applied elsewhere, so we are basically in a "use it there or lose it" situation.

The first decision for us is whether the sidewalk needs to be built or not. Not building it would mean giving up the rest of the grant, although I have no need to just spend money (even "free" money... and, yes, I know that federal tax dollars are still tax dollars) unless it is needed and wanted. Frankly, I think that the majority opinion at this point, at least from the mail I've received is in favor of building the sidewalk. This will, however involve an investment by the town of $50,000 over and above the amount of the grant, so this decision should be taken carefully.

The second decision involves the technical details of where to put the sidewalk. At present, we have an engineering firm looking at these details. The public meeting planned for Feb. 3 will be an opportunity for the public to review these details and give input to the engineers about what needs to be considered in placing the sidewalk. My understanding is that we have inadequate right of way to place the sidewalk across the street from the country club, but I expect this issue to be answered more formally, through a survey if necessary. There also are issues of utilities, etc.

One side issue involves the "ownership" of the Country Club land. While technically the land is owned by the town and leased to the club, my understanding of the deed is that, if the country club ceases operation the land will revert to the original owners and therefore be available for residential or maybe even commercial development. I don't think that is the best outcome for the town, so I believe it is desirable that the country club remain viable. I have no interest in harming their interests as a business.

The final issue for me involves safety. While the trees the country club planted may not be the best solution and are not a perfect solution, I believe they do a fairly good job of preventing line drive golf balls from endangering pedestrians and vehicles on James. I realize there are controversies about the original approval and planting of the trees, but frankly that is water under the bridge. We are where we are and we have to move forward from here. While I never like the idea of cutting down trees needlessly, I do not see this as an "environmental" issue per se and arguments in that direction are not particularly persuasive. However, back to the issue of safety, I will not be able to support a sidewalk along the Country Club unless the engineers can assure me that pedestrians can walk safely on it. I am sure that if it is built along the country club side, some trees will need to be removed, but I am hopefuly that some solution will be found that will allow a sidewalk to be built safely and still protect the interests of the club. This might involve a fence, a hedge, a net or some similar precaution. These are not necessarily mutually opposite outcomes. However, the devil (as always) will be in the details. I hope that our citizens will keep an open mind and that we do not get into choosing up sides on this issue. Let's try to work together for the best interests of the whole town. This will probably involve compromises by all interested parties, but I think it can be done.

2010-01-21T15:34:00.002-05:00

A brief note in case you were planning to attend the Planning Commission meeting tonight (Thursday, Jan 21). The developers requesting rezoning of the property behind the shopping center and between Lancaster and Cauthon Way have requested a postponement, so there will be no vote tonight. It is tentatively rescheduled for Feb. 4.

2010-01-15T09:44:00.002-05:00

The issue of animal control has obviously raised concerns. I want to address those concerns. First, I want to be clear that my intent and I believe the intent of the council is to use East Ridge as our primary animal control agency (we should get a final word on this very soon). This is a very low-kill shelter, similar to the Humane Education Society we have used in the past. Town Manager Honna Rogers negotiated an arrangement with Cleveland as a back-up, but the numbers of animals sent to shelters from Signal Mountain is so low that I hope it will not be needed. This would only be stray animals picked up whose owners can't be found and only if East Ridge is unavailable. Since we have averaged less than 10 animals a year in this category, I doubt we would need this fall-back. All stray animals delivered to either facility by the town must be held at least 72 hours before adoption or euthanasia.

As to animals surrendered by owners, you would not be required to take these to East Ridge or Cleveland. There are many shelters that will accept such animals. Signal Mountain will no longer pay for this to be done for free, however. You will need to pay a fee wherever you take them. Since animals voluntarily surrendered are not required to be held for 72 hours, I would advise animal owners to do some research before dropping them off. If you find a stray in town, you can contact police dispatch for a free pick-up, but to be honest, I'm not sure if that would fall under the 72 hour rule.

I confess that the arrangement with Cleveland was a surprise to me which I have not personally investigated, but it was always presented as a "last chance" back-up arrangement and we may make similar arrangements with other towns and under those circumstances I support them. We did visit the East Ridge facility and were very impressed with it.

Thank you for all the input and passion. Obviously, the best solution to all of this is for owners to keep their pets under control (ie, follow the leash law) and to be sure they have identification, ideally a microchip id. We have talked in the past with local vets about "volume discounts" or special arrangements for these and if there were a lot of interest in the town, I would certainly support trying to arrange something with our local veterinarians.

I will be reviewing all these arrangements with the town manager try to keep everyone updated on these arrangements. My goal all along has been to provide quality and humane animal control at a reasonable cost to the town. Our current contract with the Humane Education Society, I believe is excessively expensive. If anyone wishes to raise voluntary funds for better arrangements, I will be happy to personally contribute. If anyone has ideas of other facilities we could use, please let us know (we did have talks with McKamey, but they couldn't help us). Thanks again for all the feedback, it helps me do a better job.

2010-01-08T11:10:00.003-05:00

I have spent a bit of time on this blog expressing my frustrations with the direction and governing style of the majority on the Town Council. However, in spite of this there are still many wonderful things happening in this town. I recently attended a meeting of the MACC Board. As you know, we have major structural problems with the roof of the MACC and the building is closed for safety issues until these problems can be fixed. I was very pleased that the Council unanimously voiced its support for repairing the building. Our new MACC Director, Barb Storm is working with other town staff to put together the specifications needed to bid out this project. While no decision on funding has been reached, the general discussion has been around using a bond issue. Among the advantages of this approach is that interest rates remain low. Also, I remain hopeful that much of this can be paid for through voluntary contributions rather than a need for any extra tax revenue. A yearly payment on a bond issue would provide a great focus for such contributions and the Friends of MACC are currently stepping up to the plate with great plans for increased fundraising. The enthusiasm of this board is infectious and sure to raise anyone's spirits. Laurie Buchanan has applied for an open position on the board and I expect her to be enthusiastically supported by the Council on Monday. This remains a major bright spot in our town, among many. Our town is a much better place to live because of the enthusiastic volunteerism of its citizens.

In addition, I realize that I go on about our town staff, but with good reason. With the current "snow situation", our staff has again risen to the occasion with employees actually spending the night at the transfer station to be sure that the roads were open for the early morning commute. A recent water pipe break near Alexian brought out our excellent water department working late in the freezing cold to repair this problem. So, next time you see a town employee, give them a hug (or at least a wave!).

From time to time I try to go back to my original "campaign" website to refocus on why I ran for this position. I became a physician because I enjoy helping people and I became a town councilmember for the same reason. I was warned when I ran that I would be deluged with calls demanding various things. I can say that I have never been "deluged" with calls, that nearly all my contacts with our town's citizens (my friends and neighbors) have been respectful and civil and that nothing gives me greater pleasure as a councilmember than to help a fellow citizen steer their way through the bureaucracy. Certainly sometimes the answer I have to bring back is "no", but at least if I can get them an answer I feel I have done a service. Like medicine, government is a service industry and, while we can't be all things to all people, if we lose sight of that fact then we don't deserve to be here. So, in my last year on the council I pledge to refocus on service, continue to do all I can to improve this town, keep our citizens informed about what's going on and hopefully to leave an easier job to whoever may succeed me on the council. Even with the current frustrations and disappointments, it is still a great honor to serve and I will never regret asking for and receiving the trust placed on me by the people of this town.

CORRECTION

2010-01-05T11:59:00.002-05:00

CORRECTION! I mentioned our contract with the "Humane Society" in my last blog and referred to them as "HSUS". That acronym is for the Humane Society of the United States. The local organization is called the Humane Education Society. I don't know if they are affiliated in anyway, but I should clarify that our contract is with this local group. Their website is:

www.heschatt.com

I should also state that I have no problems with this organization, wish them well and encourage anyone who so desires to donate to them. However, as a public official with responsibility for your tax dollars it is my responsibility to get the best "bang for the buck" I can and I believe our new arrangements will be much more cost-effective. I appreciate the reader who brought this to my attention so I could clarify and correct it.

2010-01-04T14:02:00.004-05:00

I just finished one of our Agenda meetings today. Some good news and some unfortunate news. At our last meeting, we had informally agreed to reappoint 2 members to the Design Review Commission, Chair Greg Goodgame and architect Jay Caughman. Then, at our regular meeting in December, Mayor Lusk stated that since that previous meeting, several more applications had come in and moved to table the resolutions to reappoint them. I protested since there was at least one other opening and another likely opening (which has since occurred due to resignation). I stated that with 3 and probably 4 positions to fill, it made sense to retain our current experienced members (including the chair) and then fill the other two openings with new members. However, the motion to table passed. At today's meeting, it was clear that the decision was already made. Mr. Lusk wasn't present (he is apparently at his beach house in Florida for the holidays), but had sent recommendations for three new members (he wasn't aware the fourth opening had occurred). I again suggested that we retain our two experienced members and appoint two new people. However, my motion to reappoint Greg was defeated for lack of a second (ie, noone else supported it). Jay Caughman was recommended for reappointment along with three others (this will be formalized at our meeting on Monday). I abstained on several of these votes out of protest and not out of any opposition to any specific individual. This is a continuation of the moves by this council to eliminate anyone who has not been in lockstep with them. Most of you will recall that Greg ran for the Council in 2006, coming in 5th. After the 4th place finisher, Lolly Durant removed her name from consideration, Greg offered himself to replace Bob Linehart who had been recalled. Bill Lusk had also applied along with several others. I initially supported Greg for several reasons. He had been attending nearly every council meeting for several years and was very knowledgeable about the issues before the town. (Greg had actually been the person who had suggested to the council that the slow down the SROZ issue, about to be passed in the spring of that year, so that more citizens could become knowledgeable since he know it would be controversial. This allowed the whole "recall" movement to get going). In addition, I had many emails suggesting we should just appoint the next person "in line" from the election, which was Greg after Lolly dropped out. However, after two tied votes between Mr. Lusk and Mr. Goodgame, I decided to change my vote to prevent a divisive and expensive "special election". Greg did remain on the DRC for the next three years, indicating his continued commitment to the town which I appreciated. Nonetheless, he has now been removed in spite of his active participation and interest in continuing on the DRC. I find this continued move to remove anyone who is not a partisan of the council majority (along with Wells Blake just last month) to be highly regrettable and contrary to my own approach to town representation which is to have a diversity of views. Therefore I resigned as the Council liaison to the DRC. I certainly wish them well as we plan to put a lot of work on them in the next few months, but my influence is continuing to be minimized by this council so I can no longer be of any service in that capacity.

In other business, we approved a new cable contract with Comcast which should benefit the town. Hopefully, EPB will now agree to the same terms so that competition can finally come to Signal Mountain. We also agreed to pay Ann Coulter's firm just over $25,000 to conduct a review of our commercial design regulations and the current environment, including conducting a public meeting for input, then work with the DRC to develop new guidelines for future commercial development. While the cost is unpleasant in this fiscal environment, the need is there and the timing is forced on us by the pressure for more commercial development between the proposed Signal Plaza expansion, SMMS and other potential commercial proposals, so I supported it reluctantly. We also approved $727 to fix some playground equipment at Norris Field (on Signal Road).

One very positive element is our animal control situation. As Mayor and a new councilmember, I was astounded to find that we were paying over $36,000 a year to the Humane Society (HSUS) for animal control which has consisted of picking up less than 10 animals per year which had usually already been caught by our police. I pushed hard to develop a new arrangement. We had cancelled our contract with HSUS once, but an agreement we had tentatively worked out with East Ridge fell through, so we went back to HSUS. However now, through the hard work of our Town Manager, Honna Rogers and our Police Chief, Boyd Veal, we should have a new agreement soon using private contractors and the animal shelters of two other towns. This will save the town a LOT of money. The one downside for citizens is that, if you need to "drop off" an unwanted animal at a shelter, you will probably need to pay a fee now, however I do not feel it is the responsibility of the tax payers to pay for this service for individuals.

Well, that's the latest. Please feel free to post comments and your own thoughts. I would love for this to be a multi-way dialogue rather than just a one-way lecture! I hope to hear from you all, soon.

2009-12-18T17:19:00.007-05:00

Wow, almost a month since my last blog and so much going on. First, check my new poll out. We recently put up a new sign announcing our monthly meetings. to replace the old black stencil on white sign. This is on the "sign board" on the road up the front of the mountain. Let me know if you like it or not! Now, sit back and relax. This one is kinda long...

On Dec 1 we had one of our monthly "agenda" meetings. We started having these meetings early in my term. We found ourselves having frequent "special meetings" and decided to have one extra meeting for informational purposes and to set the agenda for the upcoming "regular" meeting. These are, however official public town meetings though usually sparsely attended due to being held during the day. The town charter designates the mayor as the "chair" of all town council meetings and during my tenure I conducted these meetings. However, Mayor Lusk has decided to turn these meetings over to the town manager to run. Honna does an excellent job of it, but it has been an interesting and surprising change in the general running of the business of the Council.

Issues discussed at this meeting included several raised by Ms. Allen. As everyone probably knows, it is state law that all bicycle riders under 16 wear helmets and she would like this more aggressively enforced. Apparently, however the maximum fine is only $2. So we are going to take an educational approach. Certainly as an emergency physician I strongly encourage everyone (both under and over 16) to wear helmets when on your bicycle.

She has also raised the issue of charging a monthly fee for extra garbage cans (more than one) to try to encourage recycling and decrease solid waste. Mr. Lusk raised the possibility of a fee of $15-20 per household. Loretta Hopper was asked to study the costs involved and at our Dec 9 regular meeting, she presented some data indicating that the extra costs to the town of those using more than one can to be something less than $10 per year. I certainly urge all citizens to recycle and decrease their solid waste output. However it doesn't appear the cost impact is adequate to justify and extra charge at this point. It has also been pointed out that larger households have more trash and would be penalized. I should remind everyone, though that there are smaller cans than the 96 gallon ones most folks have, so if you have decreased your waste stream, feel free to downsize your trash can.

Good news is that the Council agreed to support repairing the MACC as soon as possible and we passed a resolution at the 12/9 meeting confirming this support. Mr. Lusk raised the idea of a bond issue which might be a reasonable approach with interest rates being so low. This would also allow repairs to begin soon and then efforts to raise private funds could continue to pay down this debt. We are currently putting specs together to get bids on repairs to determine how to move forward.

A major discussion was had over appointments to town boards. As everyone knows, the Planning Commission has become a major source of controversy. Soon after my election (both to the Council and as Mayor), I appointed Melissa Cantrell to the Planning Commission and reappointed Wells Blake, who had served for I believe 6 years at that point. I thought these two provided a diversity of opinions which would benefit the commission. At that time, the appointment process for the Planning Commission was solely in the hands of the mayor by state law, although the town had a history of consultation and consensus with the town council that I followed. Nonetheless, I found out about a year into my tenure that, without my knowledge Mr. Lusk had been working with our legislative delegation to change this law to take this power out of the Mayor's hands and make it a council vote. While I was obviously disturbed by the surreptitious way that this was done, I decided to support this effort in the name of democracy. I later found out that the bill the state passed ONLY applied to Signal Mountain and not to any other city or town. That whole process was frankly disappointing, nonetheless all my appointments were done with the unanimous agreement of the council and all were confirmed by unanimous vote.

At the meeting, when Honna asked if we should reappoint Wells Blake, both Hershel and I said yes. However, the other three councilmembers began raising objections. Annette felt that no one should be appointed to the Planning Commission who has any even peripheral connections with the building industry. Mr. Blake works as an appraiser, as did Reid Sisson when initially appointed though he has since changed jobs. This approach would also exclude Wayne Williams, an architect and an excellent, hard working PC member. While I do not think that the PC should be dominated by development interests, I certainly think they should be represented. Ms. Robertson then specifically accused Mr. Blake of "shmoozing" with developers after the meetings to get business and specifically accused him of conflict of interest. I found this accusation to be outrageous and told her so. Ironically, since Mr. Blake is contracted by banks and lenders, if he were "shmoozing" developers it would do him no good since they don't hire him. I think this approach and attitude is not in keeping with a diverse viewpoint on the PC and can only assume it is a part of a continued attempt to "stack the deck" towards a very narrow viewpoint. Unfortunately, Mr. Dick raised no objections and, while no formal vote was taken, Mr. Blake's name was taken out of nomination for reappointment. His experience, which is greater than anyone else on the PC will be missed. No replacement for him was decided on at that time.

This brings me back to the topic of Ms. Cantrell. As I said, I appointed her to the PC 3 years ago. However, I can know longer support her and voted against her reappointment. Some of you may know of her personal insults to me. While personal honor may seem an old-fashioned and quaint concept in the 21st century, it is important to me and her private attacks on my integrity are adequate reason for me to oppose her. However, I have other concerns. The email to which I am referring is reproduced below:

"From: "Missy"
To: ,"Susan Robertson" ,"Racie" ,"Annette Allen" ,"mary seay" ,"teresa Hon" ,,"Dr. Joe Dumas" ,,,"Annie Morrow"
Subject: town business
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:18:49 +0000

This appears to be Mr. Hendricks' final word on this issue. It seems a lot less damning, and from what I can tell, a lot more truthful than what he has been sending out in the past on the subject. Please feel free to send this out to as many people as you can tomorrow as this appears to be Mr. Hendricks lastest word on the subject.

Thank you,

Missy"

This exchange was about my opposition to the proposal to sell town ballfields for commercial development. Frankly, I'm not sure what I said that was "more truthful" and, in spite of asking her, have no idea what was more "damning" and less "truthful". She has never explained it or apologized for it. However, more importantly it is obvious that this email was meant not only for private friends, but for select members of the town council and planning commission about a topic that undoubtedly would have been discussed and debated by the PC if it had gone forward. As such, it appears to be a violation of the spirit, if not the letter of the open meetings law. This also raises my concern that this isn't the only such private email on public topics. In addition, I have had complaints from PC members about her obvious personal bias against certain landowners regardless of their specific plans. She also refused to delay for one month a vote on the SROZ repeal, a topic obviously of no urgent importance when requested by a landowner who couldn't attend that particular month. This was an unnecessary rudeness to this landowner who has been a very active participant in our town's business. Possibly it is because one member who would likely have voted against her was out of town that month. Since the vote was 4-3 it appears she does know what it takes to get a vote to go her way. I think these are adequate reasons to oppose her reappointment even without considering the personal attacks.

Finally, a comment on my political future. In my last blog, I mentioned that I didn't plan to run for re-election. While I thought this was common knowledge, the Chattanoogan.com found it newsworthy:

http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_164262.asp

I found the first sentence interesting. For the record, when I informed the Council before the election that I would like to continue for 2 more years as mayor, I also informed them that it was highly unlikely I would run for re-election. The Chattanoogan.com made no attempt to contact or interview me for this article so their attempt to link my decision with the mayor race is an unfortunate and erroneous assumption. I truly love serving the Town of Signal Mountain and do not rule out asking for another term some time in the future when my children are grown, but at this time I feel I have asked enough from my family and medical partners and feel I need to put my energies elsewhere. However, I have one more year to go, so don't give up on me yet!

Finally (whew), Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

2009-11-22T05:39:00.002-05:00

In my medical career I have frequently felt that some of my best decisions were to NOT do something. Sometimes, especially in an emergency there is a temptation to just do something, anything... but sometimes the best thing is to just stand there! Some problems resolve themselves, sometimes the initial impulse is not the right one and sometimes one has to take time to think to do the right thing.

Some of our recent Town Council decisions fit into this same rubric. My initial response to the speed camera proposal was negative. However, I have great respect for our police chief and his advice and wanted to evalute them further and also seek the input of our citizens. My research only reinforced my initial instincts and I am glad we are not moving forward with this. Although there was initially much enthusiasm among some on the council, clearly public opinion took its toll. While we don't always have to make an active decision not to do something, I thought this was a time when we should make that statement and made the motion to not move forward with this idea. I'm glad it was accepted and passed.

The same applies to raising the sales tax. Obviously we can always use more money, but at this time with the economy only just starting to recover and many of our businesses struggling, this would not be the right thing to do.

Bill Lusk has raised several other proposals recently which we have decided not to pursue. He asked the town to research curfews for youth. I did some research and found evidence that they didn't seem to work. Chief Veal agreed that the problem didn't warrant the solution. I'm glad we are not moving forward on that proposal.

Mr. Lusk has also raised the idea of a "dog park". I have owned dogs almost my entire life. I currently have two. I stand behind noone in my love for dogs. However, I don't see this as a pressing need in our community. Mrs. Robertson stated that we didn't plan to spend tax money on this and it would only be done if it was run by volunteers. Since we have never discussed any of this I'm not sure just what she meant. She may have just been expressing her own opinion, but she did say "we". If she is having these discussions with the rest of the Council in non-public meetings, it is a violation of the public meeting law and that would be unfortunate. Obviously, if someone wants to buy some land and create a dog park with volunteers I would say more power to them, but since this was brought up as a town effort, it would clearly involve tax dollars even if volunteers agreed to "scoop the poop". I think there are much more important issues for us to address and greater needs for our tax dollars at present.

While those that know me as a liberal might be surprised, I am a believer in the principle that government which governs least governs best. It is a classic liberal principle to keep government out of people's lives as much as possible. I do believe government has a role to play in public safety and can do much to improve people's lives, but was never interested in just looking for things I could meddle in. We have way too many needs in this town to be creating more.

As I enter my last year in office (and no, I do not plan to run for re-election), I hope to see a few things finished that we started. I wanted to re-write some of our ordinances to make them clearer and began re-organizing our whole board and commissions structure. Honna has taken my initial work, improved it and the Council will hopefully be passing this re-write in December. I hope to see the Planning Commission and Council complete work on re-doing our subdivision and zoning regulations before I leave, but considering how long it is taking, I am not optimistic. Considering that I have been totally sidelined on this issue anyway, it probably doesn't matter.
I am please with many of the environmental initiatives we have begun. These have not been just "feel good" initiatives, but actions such as replacing lighting fixtures with more energy efficient ones and replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescents will save the town money while cutting down our carbon emissions. I am proud of that. I'll deal with a few other outstanding issues over the next few months.

Speaking of elections, the town council elections are a year off! We were criticized last year for not publicizing them more broadly and some thought this is why noone ran against the incumbents. Clearly there will be at least one open seat next fall, mine. Hershel was talking about running for re-election last I heard from him, but I honestly don't know what his final decision will be. I also don't know what Susan Robertson, who is also up for re-election will do, though I would be surprised if she didn't run. I would urge anyone who has considered serving in town government to think seriously about running. It is a great service to your community and a great experience. I'm happy to talk with anyone considering this. Deadlines for "signing up" aren't until next August, but elections up here have gotten a lot more serious lately, so it is best to do some advance planning. Give it a try!

A few issues in the news...

2009-11-04T13:33:00.003-05:00

I wanted to comment on a few issues currently in the news. We had our monthly agenda/work session last Monday and several of these were discussed.

On the topic of "speed cameras", I have previously stated my opposition. I just don't think we need them on Signal Mountain right now, although I support our police chief and his efforts to enforce our laws. It seemed apparent to me that Hershel Dick also opposed these and he expressed this in the meeting. The other three Councilmembers had seemed fairly supportive of the idea, however Bill Lusk stated that after further research he was now leaning against them. I suggested that we should formally make a statement that we would not be moving forward on this issue. The other two (Ms. Allen and Robertson) expressed no opposition, so I suspect this is a dead issue and will be formally dropped.

Mr. Lusk has also raised the issue of curfews for minors. We have had some problems with vandalism in some of our parks and apparently he had been asked by citizens to consider this option. Many cities have adopted these and, while the cities claim they decrease crime, at least one independent study that I found did not support this. Mr. Lusk had asked Chief Veal to research this and, while Chief Veal stated it would give the police more flexibility, he didn't seem to think it would help that much. I have my own concerns that the primary effect would be to hassle law abiding minors returning late from dates, etc without significantly impacting the few problems we have. I did tell the Chief that I supported the idea of the police contacting parents of minors found out late at night. I think that sort of notification is the best approach to this issue. The general consensus seemed to be that this was a solution in search of a problem and that we shouldn't pursue it.

In the paper today is an article about dog parks. This is another issue Mr. Lusk has raised for the town staff to research. I have never heard anyone raise this issue before. I don't see this as a need for this town and in the current fiscal situation could not support any money being put towards this kind of a project. I can certainly see the need in cities where many people live in apartments with pets, but in a town where the council continues to prefer to require that citizens have large yards it doesn't seem necessary.

The staff has suggested we consider a referendum on raising the sales tax. Our current tax rate is 9.25% with the highest allowable rate in Tennessee being 9.75%. The concern raised was that the state legislature might consider raising this tax statewide to raise revenue and, in that case Signal Mountain would lose significant funds unless we raised it ourselves first. However, it has also been pointed out that next year is an election year and, with a state legislature controlled by taxophobic Republicans, it seems likely they would look for more subtle ways to raise revenue. It seems unlikely we will be pursuing this anytime soon. Certainly the town could use additional funds for capital projects and this is the case that would have to be made. However, while the recession seems to be over the the economy starting to slowly recover, it doesn't seem like an ideal time to raise this tax.

As many of you may know, the MACC is having major ceiling and roof problems. Raccoons have nested in the ceiling for years and their, shall I say "items left behind" have led to deterioration of the ceilings. This building originally had plaster ceilings. When the ceilings began to crack, apparently the school board covered them with drop ceilings as a cosmetic fix. However, the damage is such that the plaster ceilings are now beginning to fall through and the roof has leaks in it, too. Parts of the roof have been repaired in the past and some areas such as the "portable" metal buildings and the cafeteria area are still usable, however it would be foolish to repair the ceiling without repairing the roof, so this has turned into a major project. We are currently in the process of collecting bids and proposals, so I will have more info later. The MACC board has been very active and supportive of this effort as has the Friends of MACC. We will certainly be seeking any grants available for this historic building and if any of you have ever considered contributing to the MACC through Friends of MACC, this is the time to do it. I want to thank Barb Storm new MACC director for her leadership in taking on a project which was not apparent when she took the job!

Finally, my personal congratulations to the Signal Mountain High School Girl's Golf Team on winning the State Championship and to the SMMS Varsity Football team for making the play-offs! Go Eagles!

2009-10-14T08:18:00.003-04:00

I was very proud of the citizens of Signal Mountain Monday night. We had at least 2 very contentious issues. The meeting was well attended. Everyone was polite and spoke to the issues without any personal attacks. Obviously, the big issue was that of traffic control cameras. Bill Kroski of American Traffic Solutions presented the technical details on these systems. Obviously, as owner of the company he was making a sales pitch and painted a very positive picture (pun intended) of the cameras. He answered questions and tried to dispell concerns. Next, the citizens got their chance to speak. It is probably no surprise that the overwhelming majority of comments were in opposition to this proposal. However, again everyone who spoke did so in an appropriate manner, respecting the decorum of the meeting and also respecting the 3 minute time limit, intended to give everyone a chance to speak.

I must say that I am not opposed to these systems in general. There are positive reports of increased safety in larger cities and paticularly dangerous stretches of highway. However, I don't think the citizens of Signal Mountain are ready for them and I would prefer to look to other alternatives for controlling our speeding problem. I have great respect for our police force and our Police Chief, Boyd Veal. He became aware of a problem and presented a potential solution. That is his job and I appreciate it very much. I do not think our speed limits are too low. I believe Taft Highway is our only multi-lane road and since its extent in our town limits is nearly all either residential or crowded commercial, I could not support increasing it. I know that some have suggested we increase the speed limit past the traffic light going down the mountain. This has been the site of most of our fatal accidents. Since many drivers "pad" the speed limit by 5-10 MPH anyway, Chief Veal showed earlier that lowering the limit to 35 succeeded in lowering the average speed to 40MPH. I think this is fine for this steep downhill stretch and personally I find that, by downshifting and occasionally tapping my brakes I can keep my speed at 35 without problem.

Our next potentially contentious issue was a proposed increase in the sales tax. Currently, our total sales tax is 9.25% with the potential to go up to a total of 9.75%. The state is actively pursuing opportunities to increase revenues and if they raise the state tax, we will only receive back a very tiny portion in shared revenue. However, if we raise it ourselves first, we will be able to retain the entire portion for local projects. Obviously, this is being presented as a defensive measure depending on what we think the state might do. However, it would benefit the town at a time when we have several capital infrastructure needs including the need for a new public works building, repairs to the Town Hall and the MACC. There is a legitimate concern as to whether this would put our local merchants at a disadvantage, although frankly the gas to drive off the mountain would cost more than the few cents saved (tax would mean an extra 50 cents on every $100 spent in town). Ultimately, the only way for this to go into effect would be by a townwide referendum which I suspect will be presented in the late winter or early spring so you'll hear more about this.

Many of you probably know that we have a grant for sidewalks on James Blvd. They have already been put in from Thrasher to the library and the next phase is from the library to Timberlinks. The grant is very specific and can only be used for this purpose in this location.
For reasons of right of way and infrastructure, it seems the best place to put this would be on the Country Club side. Representatives of the Club were present to raise concerns about safety which have also concerned me. The leland cyprus trees were planted along there for this reason, but at least some of these will have to come down to build the sidewalk. We approved an engineering study for the sidewalk which should address the safety concerns. At that point we will have to see what measures will have to be taken so that people casually strolling down the sidewalk will not have to risk injury from errant golf balls.

Finally, the really important and exciting news was giving authority to the mayor to sign the deed transfer for the MACC. After 10 years of leasing the building, it is about to become the property of the citizens of Signal Mountain. As an old and historic building, it has many needs including the urgent need to clean out years of debris due to racoons nesting in the attic! However, ownership opens up many new opportunities for grants. I think this is great news for the town and enjoy my relationship with the MACC board as its liaison. This is a great group of individuals working hard, along with Friends of MACC to preserve this treasure.

As always, let me hear from you on these important issues.

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Issues and Happenings

Tarzan, the musical at CCA

The Butler Did It Again - photo!

to be presented February 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, and 25at the Mountain Arts Community Center.Tickets available at the door of each nights performanceor from the MACC office between the hours of 9-2 and 4-8 week daysat $12.00 per person. For group reservations call 886-5243.

"The Butler Did It Again" by Signal Mountain Playhouse at the MACC in February

The Future of Signal Mountain

Happy New Year!

Christmas greetings

Community Service and Town Boards

Serving your community

Stationery card

Jazz Champagne Brunch and Sunday on Signal

Sunday on Signal and the Jazz Brunch

Monster Barn photos

Hendricks Halloween and the Boy's Next Door

Preserving town lands the right way

Preserve public lands the right way.

Hodge Podge musical performances

response to attack letter

Save TEAM Center

Last time on tax increase

new taxes... express your opinion

taxes are going up so let's go to the theatre!

To tax or not to tax (and a brief side note about growth)

Mayor Lusk gets slapped down by TDOT Commissioner

my comments on comments...

Garbage Tax??

Moms, Mountain and Music this weekend

Busy Weekend on Signal Mountain

Beauty and the Beast at Signal Mountain Playhouse this summer

Great weekend for music on Signal Mountain

Community Meeting with Mayor Coppinger

MACC Foundation

SMMS Talent Show

New taxes??

Great things on Signal Mountain

Signal Mountain Eagles Win Again!!!!!

Musical happenings on the Mountain

cowards and scoundrels

As the votes are being cast...

DRC minutes from Guthrie's sign application

"Liberals", regulations and the DRC

Signal Mountain is a great place to live!

Town Council Candidate Forum report

today's Town Council agenda meeting

One last time...

wow, someone noticed!

Hodge Podge 2010

Issues in the upcoming elections

Music on the Mountain series this weekend!

Next Candidate Forum October 10

Candidate Forum Sept. 22

Labor Day Picnic

most recent council actions and political courage

Music on the Mountain Series this weekend

Education discussion this Saturday

Friday Nite Live at Lynn's featuring The Orchard Band

In Memoriam: Robert Bruce Warren Scott

County Commission District 2 Candidate Forum at Alexian Village

Signal Mountain History

Finally, a County Commission forum

Minute by minute...

Signal Mountain Town Council and the sign ordinance

MACC Coffeehouse returns this Saturday!

Recent town council meeting and Signal Mountain business issues

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and some random political thoughts...

MACC Roof and public input

Signal Mountain, Tennessee Issues and Politics: Upcoming benefit

Upcoming benefit

County Commission election forum follow-up

County Commission election forum

County Commission election forum

County Commission primary

Candidate Forum News

Big Weekend Coming Up

Commercial Design Public Meeting

Shameless Musical Plug

zoning request for grocery store

CORRECTION

A few issues in the news...

to be presented February 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, and 25
at the Mountain Arts Community Center.
Tickets available at the door of each nights performance
or from the MACC office between the hours of 9-2 and 4-8 week days
at $12.00 per person. For group reservations call 886-5243.