According to The Chattanoogan, the city of East Ridge is considering taking down their Facebook page.   One reason given for taking down the Facebook page was, in effect, it took too much time to censor.  

One would think, that as our public servants, the City Council would want to know, for better, or for worse,  what the people think and  how they feel about issues.  Right now, there is a lot of anger out here because citizens express their feelings and concerns and their posts are deleted, or ignored by the City Council. 

Council members were elected to serve the people of East Ridge and not themselves.  How can they know how the people feel and what they want done it they don’t take the time to find out what those that elected them have to say, or don’t have the opportunity because their opinions are not consistent with the opinions of the City Council and are deleted.  In life, we frequently find people who disagree with us.  That is no excuse for attempting to censor their thoughts and opinions.  

Debate keeps us better informed.  Many perceive the City Council as being out of touch with the citizens of East Ridge.  Calling us “cowards” does not help.  It should be remembered that not everyone can attend council meetings. 

Some have to work.  Others are physically unable to attend and still other may have very valid reasons for why they are unable to attend.  If this really is a forum for the citizens of East Ridge, then do not take this page down and learn to accept what East Ridge citizens have to say, even if you get your feelings hurt. 

At least two council members would do well to pay attention to the electorate, as they could soon find themselves out of a job.

C.R. Goodner

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East Ridge City Council and it's genius city manager wants to deactivate their Facebook page. They complain because people go to the page and are mean to them. Well, if you did not go around doing dumb things like trying to steal a Youth Soccer Association, being too short-sighted on so many issues and in this article admitting to walking around in East Ridge and getting bit 150 times (which I am sure he counted) and opening his mouth and leaving no doubt, .then maybe people would not say such mean things to them. 

They are so stupid they must not know...you can disable comments on any kinda page and just because you have a like page vs a personal type page just shows what dummies they are... they should hire maybe a 14-year-old  to manage their page.

If they pay the city manager over 100K a year and the other salaries they give to other people I know are dummies, then I would be worth $50k a year to run the Facebook page and recruit biz. But I would want some commission to recruit & develop biz.

Wade Cardwell

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I would like to refresh the citizens of East Ridge to what has previously been commented on Mr. Gobble that might explain his actions regarding the ER FB page.  This is the man that is our city manager and the administrator, as designated by the East Ridge City Council with assistance of legal counsel, of the East Ridge Facebook site, and where he spends a large amount of his time; while working, on his mobile, even while at home.

City Manager Gobble decides what is right and wrong. He decides who is good and bad.

His actions in the past pretty well explain his actions regarding the deletions and blockings on the FB page.  If, in his opinion, a question or suggestion is not a positive statement for the city of East Ridge, then it is deleted, and he has blocked several people from the page that he feels are negative; the City Council has given him this authority, and he takes this job seriously, to the point of making comments on another East Ridge site.  Personally, I think it’s kind of a strange duty for a city manager.

Jackie Fulks

East Ridge

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Negative comments on the East Ridge Facebook page should not be allowed.  The page was set up so the government of the city could make announcements and notify the citizens about matters of interest.  Negative comments are hurtful to the image of East Ridge.  Abusive comments should never be allowed on a public Facebook page, particularly those that attack an individual.  If citizens cannot attend meetings there are other avenues they can take to tell the council and the manager about their problems and concerns.

That said I would like to add that I have e-mailed members of the council about issues and they have never responded.  Recently I sent a message to one member thanking him for the additional stop signs at the pedestrian cross walks at Camp Jordan.  I never received a reply.  However, my daughter did call the city expressing her concern about the danger and about a month later the signs were installed.  I am sure there were others who complained, and all of us are grateful we no longer have to dodge traffic.  In addition, on the city website there is not an electronic way to communicate with the manager.

Since I am communicating via this paper, I would like to say something about the police department.  Saturday I was at Camp Jordan to walk without realizing the trail would be closed for a special event.  The police were helping with logistics and I noticed that in the 104 degree heat they were in full uniform.  They had on short-sleeved shirts, but they were all in long pants.  I am sure they were all miserable and I would like to suggest that they be allowed to have shorts as part of their regular uniform in the summer, particularly if they are standing in the sun with no shelter.  This may already be allowed and the officers just prefer not to wear them.

Edna DeGarmo

East Ridge