Scenic City needs to beat bad, ugly
I am a lifelong resident of Chattanooga who has seen the good, the bad and the ugly. The good – watching Chattanooga transform from a dirty manufacturing town into a vibrant, technological city luring many young people with great opportunities; seeing a dead downtown transform into a magical waterfront city.
The bad – the number of shootings and killings on an almost daily basis (it seems the Violence Reduction Initiative is not very effective); spending taxpayer and federal money on bike lanes downtown and elsewhere in the city when the road infrastructure is pitiful; a City Council that is nothing more than a rubber stamp for the mayor, who did a much more effective job as state senator.
The ugly – what is going on with the school board and the Department of Education. The cover-up of the Ooltewah mess should be enough to fire Rick Smith and the entire school board except for Rhonda Thurman. The education system needs an overhaul if we want to attract industry and people to our city.
Chattanooga has a chance to blossom if we can only get our heads out of the sand and do what is right and fair for our city.