Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck scolded parents, schools, the courts – even himself – Thursday during an impromptu speech about the slaying of the Rev. David Strong.
At the end of Thursday’s commission meeting, Beck began by talking about his and other officials’ attempts to help keep young men and women in school and off the streets.
Just last Saturday, he said, he saw adults and children playing football together, and he recently sponsored a Boys Leadership Summit at Brainerd High School with Commissioner Warren Mackey.
Those things made him feel good, he said, but his emotions changed Sunday when he read that Strong had been killed during a robbery.
Antonio Henry, 25, and his cousin Brendan Barnes, 16, have been arrested in connection with Strong’s death.
“I’m not at a point of frustration, but I’m at a point of motivation,” Beck said. “I want to see a different thing happen in our courts. I want to see a different thing happen in our schools. I want to see a different thing happen even in my own life and I want to see a different thing happen with our parents, even if they have to be made to do it.”
The speech resonated with his fellow commissioners, and Chairman Fred Skillern called it “eloquent.”
“I feel like this whole commission is backing you,” Skillern said.
In other business, commissioners discussed a proposed agreement with the Hamilton County Railroad Authority for $6.6 million worth of railroad improvements at the new Volkswagen auto assembly plant.
County Administrator of Finance Louis Wright said $2.2 million would come from the $20 million set aside by the county for incentives to entice Volkswagen to build in Chattanooga. He said $2.2 million would come from CSX railroad and $2.2 million from the state.