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

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)

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

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...

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??

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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??

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

     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!!!!!

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

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

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...

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

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

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.