If I told you of a private group that manages government collected taxes without government oversight and whose votes were weighted by how much money they had, would you think it unconstitutional?
Private profit on the backs of the working class – it’s the new obsession of City Council members Erskine Oglesby, Anthony Byrd and Jerry Mitchell, who reintroduced the already failed Business Improvement District.
What I’ve heard from council members who aren’t sure if it’s a good idea is “well, if small businesses start failing and moving out, then we’ll see this experiment as a failure.” Isn’t it just the peak of privilege to play and experiment with Chattanoogans livelihoods? But don’t worry, if the city center empties out even more, know it happened so wealthy million-dollar property owners could consolidate their power and plant more flowers in front of their empty storefronts.
You can either watch downtown be taken or make a ruckus at the City Council meeting on Tuesday and tell the people who are supposed to represent all Chattanoogans that we aren’t genérica America, and we aren’t going to let the wealthy steal from us.
Blake Blamalam
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Escort ‘dad’ Trump off political stage
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say the following statements were made on the town square by your 75-year-old dad.
Finland rakes its forest floor to prevent fires. Brazil is in North America. Homelessness began two years ago. The hurricane was the wettest we have ever seen from the standpoint of water.
Mars is part of the moon. The Revolutionary War was won by controlling the airports. Windmills cause cancer. Stealth bombers cannot be seen even if you are standing right by them. The kidney has a very special place in the heart. It’s an incredible thing.
Would you (1) cheer and agree with everything he said; (2) blame Obama; (3) chant “lock her up,” (4) gently take him by the arm, get him out of the public eye and have him committed to a facility where he can no longer harm himself or others?
Let’s pray the Trump children choose #4 and soon or God help us all.
Ruth Prince, Sewanee
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Sheriff deserves our thanks, prayers
I’m writing to give thanks to our departing sheriff, Jim Hammond. The citizens of Hamilton County will miss Jim’s faithful leadership.
It was my good fortune to observe Jim’s leadership in the position of the sheriff of Hamilton County.
For more than 25 years as the county personnel director, our offices came in contact often as we were located across the street from each other. And, on one important opportunity I helped the sheriff’s office develop a personnel system that mirrored the county”s award-winning system.
The sheriff’s system now guaranties the best qualified people are hired and provides a grievance provision for their employees. This system is monitored by a volunteer citizens’ advisory board.
Under Jim’s leadership, his deputies are well-equipped, well trained and the reputation of our county is good.
One very important thing I must mention is Jim’s Christian faith. He never hesitated sharing his faith with others, without being pushy.
We all should pray and support all our faithful county employees. I won’t be sending $1,000 for Jim’s re-election, so I’ll go on a second honeymoon.
John Miller