Brush pickup plan not working
I have noticed eight to 10 piles of brush in my subdivision for over a month. I have noticed the brush truck coming and picking up one pile of brush and leaving the other piles to decay and be run over.
I followed the truck back to the red light at Gunbarrel and East Brainerd Road and counted 15 piles of brush they passed. Including a big pile on a drainage ditch in the 1300 block of Gunbarrel. Always the non-driving worker is talking on a cell phone.
Obviously, tax payers don’t know you have to call 311 and hold on the line to get your brush picked up … like nobody knows when or what to recycle.
Of course, before the Littlefield plan, everyone knew when to put brush out and when to recycle. All you have to do is drive up any street in East Brainerd to see brush piled up. You may be saving money (which I doubt) but the brush is not being picked up. Your plan is not working!
FLOYD SHADRICK
Behler has passion to serve court
We have all seen the signs around town for the upcoming election. I wanted to express how pleased I was to see a former UTC professor of mine, Gary Behler, running for juvenile justice clerk.
He would be a shoo-in for the position. He has a passion for the justice system, particularly for juveniles. When I was his student, he worked for Bethel Bible Village as a director of program services and taught our class in the evenings. He was an excellent teacher. He made the classroom an engaging environment in which learning was enjoyable and rewarding.
I strongly recommend him as the next juvenile justice clerk. He would be a success in the position as he was a professor!
SHELLY SWART
Let experts advise on energy situation
As the BP-driven events worsen in our Gulf, we reach for wisdom on the high shelf. I reach for the bound ideas of Rachel Carson. “What would Rachel do?” I ask. No one else has an answer. Meanwhile, the gush continues in unfathomable volumes — and is irreversible — and deadly.
I rediscovered Carson’s call to action during her crisis de jour — the gross mishandling of pesticides by industry, and industry’s blatant scoffs at our trust. Though frail and dying of cancer, Carson found her voice and drew upon her expertise as a marine biologist. She spoke on the Senate floor and “Today” show set to call for an independent “Pesticide Commission” that helped educate a nation. This group engaged professionally competent experts in such fields as biology, medicine and conservation, not government or industry.
We cannot throw up our hands and leave this to corporate attorneys, accountants and politicians to separate the oil and water on spreadsheets from their gated habitats. A pragmatic approach to an interdependent energy and conservation policy is our only hope. We need those who understand the system — the ecosystem — not just the political system — to advise. And each of us need to change our demands on this supply.
LAURIE PERRY
VAUGHEN
Add Testerman to school board
I am writing in support of David Testerman for School Board in District 8.
David is, by far, the most qualified candidate for the position. He is the only candidate with experience in the Hamilton County Department of Education — 30 years of experience! As a former teacher and principal in Hamilton County, David Testerman understands the needs of students, teachers and parents.
Mr. Testerman knows what is needed to improve the education of our children, and he has the charisma, character and communication skills to work with others on the School Board to accomplish these goals.
Personally, I have known David since he was my youth pastor at a local church, 25 years ago. I know that David cares about improving our community and has an understanding of the needs of children.
He also has a great sense of humor. Mr. Testerman is an exemplary individual who will make an excellent School Board representative. If you have any doubts, just ask the former students and teachers who knew him as a principal.
I am quite confident Mr. Testerman will work with others on the School Board to accomplish what is best for our children in the Hamilton County School System.
PHIL GREEVER
East Ridge
New sewer fee a sign of socialism
One definition of socialism is a society that advocates collective or governmental control. This is something I often heard about while growing up but never thought I would see in our own country.
Times have changed. With each passing day, we are seeing programs pushed down our throats without us as citizens having any say in what is being put on us.
Good men with good intentions sometime take a frivolous reason and institute programs without justification of the reason.
I once again refer to the private sewer fee of $8 that has been added to our water bills. It is not good business or good government to add programs such as this to the citizenry without allowing the citizens proper rhetoric to either accept or reject the questioned program, regardless of the legality of the action taken.
There are people in our community on fixed incomes who cannot afford another fee added to them. Their welfare should have been thought of prior to the addition of the fee. I refer back to the first line of this letter and the definition of socialism. I ask our representatives to reverse their decision and remove this fee.
TOM SHAVER
East Ridge
Use tanker flotilla to suck up oil
I, like most of the country, have been watching the oil disaster in the Gulf very closely. Knowing that oil and water don’t mix, it seems that a large flotilla of tankers could put a ring around the slick and suction up the oil, then take it to the refinery for processing.
A three-fold (or more) event would occur, saving the wildlife, the beaches, jobs and tourism. The refined oil would pay for the massive operation. Contact hundreds of tankers and have them work 24/7. I believe everyone would benefit.
GEORGE THOMPSON
Blairsville, Ga.