Roy Exum
The city of East Ridge just offered the Hamilton County School Board the deal of a lifetime. But one school board member doesn’t even want to consider handing over the high school’s athletic grounds to the city of East Ridge, apparently thinking a condemned football stadium, a track that hasn’t been used in 15 years, a shabby baseball diamond and an unplayable soccer field are far too valuable compared to the children who play on them.
Don’t worry, the eight other members of the school board voted for attorney Scott Bennett to quickly pursue an obvious win-win situation. The East Ridge community is very intent on reviving Pioneer Pride. What started as an effort to rebuild Raymond James Stadium (because the Hamilton County Department of Education will not) now includes the entire athletic complex surrounding the storied high school (because the Hamilton County School Board will not.)
The ever-colorful Stump Martin has a fool-proof way to “shake down the glory.” As the town’s head of recreation and many other hats, Stump knows neither the school board nor the school district have the money or the horsepower to give the high school what it needs … or better put, what the students who attend the high school truly deserve.
Quick disclaimer: Stump and I worked side by side for years at the old News-Free Press. He’s one of the most magnetic personalities ever and what he has done at Camp Jordan is the envy of every town this side of Atlanta. His presentation to the school board was brilliant – in return for the deed to the land, the city of East Ridge will restore the school’s athletic facilities in a way the HCDE will not and cannot do.
Any clown – with the notable exception of school board member Tiffanie Robinson – can see this is the definitive answer for the East Ridge community right now. At last night’s monthly school board meeting Karitsa Jones, urging other members to lay their “personal agendas” and egos aside, pleaded to do what’s best “for the kids” but it has become obvious Robinson ain’t exactly a quick thinker. NOTE: Remember she is in her first term “at anything” and while she may seem slow to grasp reality, the remaining board can hold her in check through the learning process.
The facts: Raymond James Stadium will be a football field as long as the high school for East Ridge residents stands. Stump assured it and legal papers will cement that. Stump said the soccer field will take six-to-nine months to be revitalized but with the city of East Ridge overseeing its future, it will not be sold to some Section 8 developer. Both the boys and girls teams will play on a spectacular field. Ditto for the tennis courts, the track, the baseball diamond.
East Ridge will have total control and “first dibs” on every field. The city will even assign a full-time groundskeeper to the high school. But when the high school isn’t using the tennis courts, residents can play. After the Pioneers play on Friday night, the peewees can use the same field Saturday mornings. If East Ridge has an away game some Friday night, other high schools can rent the field. Are you kidding me? It’s perfect, and the other 13 satellite communities in Hamilton County ought to study the model most eagerly.
Can’t you get this? East Ridge city fathers know the real estate draw to any community is education. East Ridge High School, with its student body ever evolving, has stood for a long time. It belongs to Hamilton County – not East Ridge – and there is just so much make-up you can pancake on “an old lady.”
Stump has apparently convinced the East Ridge Town Council that if the surroundings to the high school can be greatly enhanced, and Tim James continues producing teams like his daddy’s, it will assuredly draw new property owners and revitalize the town. Camp Jordan is already generating thousands of dollars with its tournaments, its special events and – by golly – its aura. My goodness, can’t you envision what a transformation at the high school might yield? The lovable Mr. Martin already has.
I am lucky enough to remember Ed Woodham’s track teams and Mickey Haddock’s magic. I used to sit for hours with Mack Franklin and Marshall McEwen and the legendary Grace Keith. Don’t get me started on Raymond James’ greatest. Trust me, I have “lived” East Ridge High School sports – I know what’s there -- and Stump Martin can evermore kindle a bonfire.
Then there is this, so get your connect-the-dots crayon. Children who live inside the city limits of East Ridge – which is a town – go to East Ridge High, which is owned by the county. Currently the young East Ridge citizens play sports on fields that are in East Ridge yet are owned by Hamilton County. Each venue is substandard.
So East Ridge, which is very much a part of Hamilton County where every property owner pays city and county taxes, gets ownership of the dirt, which is required to get federal and state municipality grants, and pours the money and expertise into the betterment of the high school. This is economics. The effort is not just because the school district cannot do it, the East Ridge thrust is in order to attract the families and businesses that will better the entire community.
Do you believe anyone in East Ridge, Hixson, Red Bank, Signal Mountain or Sale Creek could give a rip who owns the dirt? The money stays the same, right? Please – same school, same town, same county, same fields. Show me the thief. This isn’t a monkey movie – where the gorilla pounces out and gets you in the end. This is real.
The solution is different, right? The bottom line is about being better. Or, as the school board’s Karitsa Jones insists: “It’s about the kids.” Darn right.
royexum@aol.com