At the Red Bank commission meeting last week commissioner Monty
Millard told the rest that he and Commissioner Pierce had traveled the
length of Dayton Boulevard. He further stated, as quoted in the
Chattanoogan.com, "(W)e counted 83 vacant buildings."
In fact, there are 83 empty offices, not buildings. There's a significant difference.
At the same time last year the number was 63 empty properties and, to
be sure, this is an increase. But do we need to embellish the situation so he can look better with "The Plan?" Is he comparing offices with offices, offices with prunes, or offices with buildings?
"The Plan" ... if he and Commissioner Pierce have a plan why do they
wait until just before campaign season to bring it before the the
citizens and the rest of the commission? For that matter, both
commissioners have held those seats, the ones owned by the citizens of
Red Bank, for several years. Why now, all of a sudden, do they have a
"Plan" for increasing business activity in Red Bank?
What've they done previously? I mean, like, other than count empty buildings and offices around town. Have they come forward with anything more than Commissioner Pierce's block party every year? And why, pray tell, did Commissioner Pierce give almost 16 grand to a privately operated seniors' group rather than to the Red Bank Senior Center, the purpose for which that money was solicited and donated?
Civic mindedness ... collect money for use in our community, then give
it to another group or organization. Yeah, that works.
Have either of these commissioners called around to the various
property owners to see if they needed any assistance with occupancy?
Mayor Glasscock and a couple of others did exactly that a couple of
years ago and found that some of those property owners didn't want to
rent their property. It was better for them to leave it empty and take
the tax deductions available. Ooo, ooo, if we had the FairTax deal
that Blonde Chick, Smitty, keeps talking about in her congressional
race, deductions wouldn't even be an issue. Of the entire field,
Smitty is the only one who truly understands the FairTax concept.
She's been tested, as have the others.
Personally, I'd like to see a program implemented that would encourage
small business to come to town. Small Business Development Centers,
SBDCs, like the one operated by the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce
are expensive propositions at the very least. With the retired and,
uh, let's call them mature, because it sounds better than geezer,
business men and women around town, it wouldn't be difficult to build
a group of mentors similar to what the feds have with their SCORE
outfit. But these would be local, often known by the new business
owner, or perhaps even a neighbor, and it wouldn't be a big deal to
stop by once in a while for a cup of coffee. I wouldn't be able to
participate, though. A friend once said it would be cheaper to adopt
me than buy my coffee.
The only chamber luncheon I went to in Red Bank seemed to be a bunch
of realtors patting themselves on the back for successfully purchasing
another piece of commercial property. What've they done for Red Bank
as a community, especially recently? Beautification awards are fine,
but they have no more weight than the County Mayor's office over in
Bradley County receiving an award for making spiffy presentations. As
my favorite tree hugger once stated, I'll bet Bernie Madoff could've
won a lot of awards for making presentations. There's already a
Neighborhood Pride Association in Red Bank that could just as easily
do commercial and residential awards. It also wouldn't cost 300 bucks
a year to join as an individual.
Elected officials, no matter what level, need to lead, follow, or get
the heck out of the way. All most of them have shown in recent years
is that they're quite adept at spending our grandchildren's and great
grandchildren's money, and most of those kids haven't even earned
their first dollar. There better not be any great grandchildren in my
future any time soon, either.
And for those who would try to tell the world the problem in Red Bank
is traffic cameras, please get your facts straight. I have unofficial
accident numbers from Mayor Joe but haven't yet received the raw data
from the Big MahMoo down at city hall, Mr. Dorsey, so I can plug them
into my abacus. Well, maybe I'll have to break out the K&E bamboo
slipstick for this one, but the figures do show a decrease. I don't
like the cameras either, but if they free up the cops to do real police work maybe we need to have them. If we're going to complain about something, we really need to have facts and figures in hand.
Some days I hate having been trained that way. It certainly would take
less time to gripe about stuff.
Royce E. Burrage, Jr.
Royce@Officially Chapped.org
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Mr. "Officially Chapped:"
Have you said anything that resembles "Simple Ideas to Help Red Bank?" Absolutely not. The rants, or gripes as you phrase it, are ambiguous and contradictory. Example given: "Elected officials, no matter what level, need to lead, follow, or get the heck out of the way." Well, that pretty much covers all of the possible options. Why not say that they need to lead?
Example given: "I have unofficial accident numbers...If we're going to complain about something, we really need to have facts and figures in hand." Unofficial numbers vs. facts? Come on.
I am tired of people complaining about Red Bank and not suggesting solutions. My wife and I are young and we love Red Bank. We both started our own businesses this year and public functions in Red Bank have really benefited her business. Yes, Red Bank does need to encourage new/existing businesses to locate/relocate here. I think that takes three things.
They are more citizens being actively involved in promoting these ideas, people to quit boycotting Red Bank and penalizing its businesses because of the cameras, and better economic times. I believe we will get there but it does take time and effort, not complaining.
I plan to start attending public meetings to learn more about what others are thinking about and doing. I am tired of all of the negative attitudes toward our city. Give some positive ideas or do not say anything. There are some things that need to be fixed but the citizens should be more involved in my opinion.
Any new business in Red Bank is good. It doesn't necessarily have be to small business. Why not use one billboard to advertise the plan to the residents? More residents would be aware of it and maybe that would help. How about offering those "dreaded" tax incentives to lure new businesses here? What about the mayor going on talk radio to discuss a plan?
More citizens of Red Bank should offer their opinions and maybe some helpful ideas will come from it. Life is too short to complain about everything and do nothing.
David Mason
masondavid@hotmail.com
* * *
David, before you throw rocks, it would be prudent to understand the characteristics of your target.
First understand, Mr. Officially Chapped has forgotten more about government and politics than most people possess. Mr. Officially Chapped is an engineer and bases his information on facts. Mr. Officially Chapped is articulate and can compose circles around seasoned writers. Finally, Mr. Officially Chapped believes in education and works diligently on these issues. I happen to know this for a fact.
I admire Mr. Officially Chapped, who has edited and provided insight into my documents at times. While you choose to blindly follow elected leaders that may place their own interests before the public's best interest, the rest of us will continue to seek the opinion of Mr. Officially Chapped, a critical thinker, an engineer, and my favorite Republican.
April Eidson
E3.Sciences@Comcast.net