Jerry Summers
Atlanta has always been able to advance ahead of Chattanooga in growth well before the Civil War when they were comparable in size and population.
Chattanooga had the advantage of being the prominent railroad center in the South but Atlanta quickly overtook the Scenic City and now has multi-million citizens in its metropolitan area.
With the growth of urban spawl it also caused the increase in crime to include murder, rape, armed robbery, and other negative signs of community development and progress.
Chattanooga however in the 2020 era is rapidly competing with the Capitol of the Peach State’s reputation as “Murder Capital, USA” in those three categories to rightfully earn the comparable title of the “Best Mid-Sized Murder Town in America”.
Lewis Grizzard in his 1991 best seller, “You Can’t Put No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll” (Villard Books – Random House New York) addresses the use of “street gangs” after the killing of an innocent citizen who happened to be present when there was a “gang rumble” in the vicinity.
LG also provided a possible solution to crime problems that might be directly applicable to the Gig City and our rising migration population.
“We let the gangs fight it out in Atlanta Stadium and sell tickets. Promoters would put up protective shields at the stadium so paying customers wouldn’t get shot. Proceeds from the events could go to help families of innocent people killed in gang violence.
We might even televise such events. Tonight, is the Brutes against the Really Bad Guys.
The gangs eventually kill each other off in the stadium rather than on the streets where a visitor to the mall or a baby in a crib catches a stray bullet!”
With the availability of Finley Stadium, the new soccer stadium in East Ridge, and the proposed $80 million ($86.5 million for inflation) baseball bailout stadium, the competition for revenue at the venues could possibly contribute a significant amount to reduce the proposed $373 Million tax burden on the Citizens of Hamilton County to satisfy the unpaid consent decreed hypothetical balance with the Tennessee Department of Government (TDOG) and Conservation and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), and the Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA) that has resulted in the rise in sewer rates through the years.
(The recent increase in the projected costs of updating the sewers at Lookout Mountain, Georgia from the original $950,000 cost to $2,000,000 may be a sign of more things to come to the Valley in the $373,000,000 estimated government and taxpayer contributions per chattanoogan.com – 5/9/22).
(LG may have been a man ahead of his times?)
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)