Firstly, I agree that the $100K in discretionary funding for each county commissioner needs to be eliminated. It only creates a temptation for back-scratching, paybacks, and favoritism.
One question for Roy Exum: what's so bad about buying golf clubs for a predominately black school? Golf builds character, requires athleticism, fosters maturity and demands focus. Is that so bad for any student, regardless of their color, or do you think basketballs and watermelons would be a better purchase?
Hopefully you can write another column and clear this up, even with your foot in your mouth.
Herb Montgomery
Chattanooga
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Mr. Montgomery,
You posed the question to Mr. Exum: “what's so bad about buying golf clubs for a predominately black school…do you think basketballs and watermelons would be a better purchase?” Perhaps you would’ve found the answer to your question had you finished reading the article…or just the next few sentences.
Q: “What’s so bad about buying golf clubs for a predominately black school?”
A: “Not one teacher at the North Moore Road [school] has nearly enough resource materials, copy paper, or pencils to lend…”
Asked and answered. Or in this case, answered and asked. What was it you said about foot in mouth?
Dallas Cole
Hixson
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I could be mistaken, but I think Mr. Exum's subtle racial stereotyping that somehow golf clubs aren't a good purchase for a predominately black school was what elicited the "foot in mouth" comment, which may have went over Mr. Cole's head, as it almost did mine. Seems like both parties agreed there shouldn't be a discretionary fund, and I'm with them on that.
Christopher Rice
Harrison
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The "discretionary funds" the county commissioners voted themselves to have should go. Having such funds for each commissioner to spend - with little or no oversight - is nothing more than buying votes. In fact, these are tax dollars that these commissioners are spending to
buy votes.
Mike Romines