Annexation is bad enough, but merging the county and city is totally a power grab by Ron Littlefield.

While annexing gave Mayor Littlefield a stronghold because Chattanooga is the larger entity, in this case Hamilton County is the larger so common sense would tell you that Sheriff Hammond, who is a great leader, should take over all of the city's police officers. He does a great job and I think if the city insists on merging with the county, then the county should be the lead officials.

If you will check major crimes in the county per capita compared to the city, I think anyone could clearly see that the county does a better job than the city in controlling crime.

Mayor Littlefied is about control and power and Sheriff Hammond is about justice and morality.

This is really about the city getting the sheriff's budget. I wonder what the difference is between the city police budget and the county's budget. With Mayor Littlefield it's all about money and power.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

When the annexation started I think the people should have incorporated their areas and nipped this in the bud.

I believe that an ethical man would more or less do what is good for him. A moral man would do what is good for the betterment of the community and not about self-gain. Sheriff Hammond is a moral man.

We haven't had any input from Claude Ramsey that I have noticed. Curious?

The city officials have forgotten one small fact that this country was based on, and that is the voice of the people. What happened when elections decided what is to happen to our city and county?

Bettye Wilkey Clark

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With all due respect to Ms. Bettye Wilkey Clark, when pointing out how "corrupt" or "power-hungry" a certain politician may or may not be, one would be wise to not use the same tricks that particular politician uses.

I am no big fan of Mayor Littlefield. He and his staff finesse the numbers in his proposals as expertly as any administration I've ever seen. He is very good at picking the numbers that support his views while completely ignoring all the other pertinent numbers that work against his desires. Many times, seemingly blindingly, his staff will march out statistics to "prove" how urgent his requests are. Most politicians do this.

Ms. Clark has sadly fallen to the same level. By stating, "If you will check major crimes in the county per capita compared to the city, I think anyone could clearly see that the county does a better job than the city in controlling crime."

She certainly is not lying. However, it is less than honest to leave out the fact that over 55% of the entire county's population lies within the city of Chattanooga's boundaries, and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department does very little patrolling inside any city's limits. This applies to Red Bank, Soddy Daisy, Collegedale and all the other municipalities incorporated within Hamilton County. This leaves Sheriff Hammond to deal with less than one-third of the entire county populace. It is no wonder that his 33% commits less crime than Chattanooga's 55%.

It is hopeful that when all of us state our opinions in these important issues, that we use 'all' the facts and numbers available. Hiding or forgetting to include important data simply because it does not support your position will only cause ill feelings, and slow down the process. Please voice your opinions loudly and often. Just make sure it is your honest opinion.

Roger D. Gibbens
Chattanooga