Mitch McClure, a Hamilton County commissioner and the preacher at the Middle Valley Church of God, and I think a lot alike. We agree on all kinds of things; after all we both try to read the same “Rule Book” every morning. But sometimes it is healthy to disagree and I’m on the other side of his belief the Hamilton County Commission’s “Discretionary Fund” is a good thing.

In a speech he made to a Republican group on Monday, the preacher bragged about doling out his allotted $100,000 this year to special groups in District 3, which he represents on the county’s governing body. While I don’t have a quarrel with any of his so-called gifts, I do resent the discretionary fund itself because, with eight other commissioners, I’m far more comfortable with taking the entire $900,000 set aside each year for such folly and calling on the whole commission to be its steward, just like the rest of the budget they oversee.

I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like to be Santa Claus but by empowering each commissioner with a little treasure chest every year, I can see where that could quickly lead to the same kind of trouble I smell brewing between the city of Chattanooga and the leaders of Hamilton County. I dread the day when we turn away from an “us” form of government and try to please “you, you, you and you” when – let’s face it – there are a few elected officials among us who really care about only “me.”

It is happening already. As I wander around and informally visit with city and county officials alike, they all agree that city government and county government are now deeply divided. They also agree that our duplication of services, our terrible method of double-taxing our city residents, and a stubborn resolve to protect each other’s fiefdoms will bash a lot of opportunities for both urban and rural growth if our leaders don’t soon unite into some sort of streamlined, home-rule form of government.

The first election of the year is schedule for March 6 and – in District 3 – Mitch McClure, a truly dedicated man who is already seated on the commission, is being challenged by a hard-working guy named Marty Haynes in the Republican primary. I believe both are solid, each sincere in wanting to do what’s best for their neighbors. What “the neighbors” should do, in turn, is to get answers over and beyond “The Classic Three.”

For that matter, I believe you ought to know the answer to the “Classics” before you pick a doctor, buy a used car, choose a church, hire a house painter, or anything else: A) Can I trust you? B) Do you care about me? and C) Where are we going from here?

In the District 3 Republican primary, the voters also need to know other stuff, such as how the candidates feel about home-rule government, speed cameras, widening which highways, enhancing which schools, growth areas, blighted neighborhoods, crime prevention, even Hixson High’s resource officers. I think a voter should talk to both men and form a well-founded individual opinion.

That understood, the discretionary stench readily comes into play. You see, Rev. McClure can brag that he – personally -- installed four fire hydrants to an area that sorely needed them, hopefully lowering homeowners fire insurance costs, but Marty Haynes can’t play such an ace. Neither can any Democratic candidate in District 3. When Rev. McClure speaks of buying iPads for Big Ridge Elementary so the kids “can talk to professors at Cornell University,” that’s got to be a bit unsettling to Marty Haynes as he walks door-to-door when parents ask what he’s going to give the same kids.

Please, I’m not casting any aspersions on Mitch McClure -- not at all -- and don’t mean to put Marty Haynes in an unwanted pinch but I use the two as an example of how a $100,000 discretionary fund, right here a month away from a county primary, isn’t exactly Hoyle and, further, it doesn’t take Disney Studios to see how the same scenario might be played out in every district of Hamilton County.

What I yearn to see is the day when we have “home rule,” when commissioners the county over worry about gangs and where those in districts that contain Alton Park or Lookout Valley bear concern that everybody in Hamilton County should have adequate fire protection, emergency EMTS and easy access to public services.

I believe that if our nine present county commissioners were to pool the $900,000 discretionary fund and, as a group, use it as wisely as they knew how, all of us – everybody – would be better off because we’d all be in this together.

royexum@aol.com