View  OPINIONS

TO THE EDITOR:  Click here to send OPINION  (Please specify if you prefer to be published in the print edition.  Name & City required.)

There comes a time when one has to speak his or her mind and that time has come for me.

I recently learned of a bill that is being presented in Congress called the Military Voting Protection Act. It is HR 5673, introduced by Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

This bill would require the Pentagon to collect absentee ballots overseas and deliver them stateside by express air transport. This would shorten the delivery times for overseas ballots from 3 weeks to only 4 days. More importantly, it would mean that thousands of military ballots rejected in 2004 would be counted in 2008.

A recent survey by the Election Assistance Commission revealed that of the almost one million ballots requested in the last election by overseas and military voters, only about one-third were successfully cast and counted. Most of the votes that were disqualified were stricken because the requested ballots sent to military voters were returned as "undeliverable" or because the mailed ballots were received by the local Election Commissions too late for them to be counted.

The National Association of Secretaries of State, composed of both Democrat and Republican Secretaries of State from across the United States, has endorsed the Military Voting Protection Act.

Currently House and Senate Democratic Party leaders are blocking the Act from moving to a vote.

As Chairman of the Senate State & Local Government Committee in the Tennessee General Assembly, which oversees all election laws, I have worked with this bi-partisan committee to insure that every registered voter vote is counted in Tennessee and those not registered are not counted. We work to insure that all voting laws are fair and never disenfranchising.

There are currently 41 co-sponsors of HR 5673. Only one Democrat, Congressman Dan Boren (D-OK) has signed on. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has joined as a co-sponsor.

We currently have men and women in uniform serving their country to protect our freedoms and the American way of life. Some will even shed their blood or, worse, give their life for us as we speak.

Here is where you can make a difference. You have friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances. Please ask them to call, e-mail, or fax their Congressmen and Senators in every state in which they live.

As we approach the most important presidential election of your lifetime, please give our military the right for their vote to be counted this November. Please ask your congressmen to vote for the Military Voting Protection Act HR 5673.

Senator Bill Ketron
Floor Leader
Tennessee State Senate
August 16, 2008

Voting In The Eagleville Upcoming Election

If there are persons who are interested in voting in the upcoming city election who are not currently registered to vote, I have applications for voter registration that have been provided by the Rutherford County election commission.

Two groups of people are eligible to vote in the November city election:

1.)  persons who reside in the corporate city limits of Eagleville

2.)  persons who own property in the city limits and who live outside the corporate city limits of Eagleville, but who currently reside within the Eagleville voting precinct

I have these voter registration forms at the florist that only require 8 lines of information and your signature. I will be happy to deliver these forms to the election commission for you. We are especially anxious to encourage new residents of Eagleville to become registered voters so that they can vote for candidates in the city election. If anyone interested cannot get by the florist during business hours, please phone me at 274-6321 and I will be delighted to deliver these registration forms to your home.

We are actively encouraging NEW RESIDENTS of our city to become ACTIVE VOTERS. Your involvement in the election process can play a major role in electing new people with progressive visions for our city. An operational POLICE DEPARTMENT is at the top of every citizen’s wish list, but it is sadly evident that the current council continues to turn a deaf ear to the citizens.

We are glad you have chosen to live in our city and we are making every effort to ensure that YOUR VOICE will be heard in the November elections.

With sincere thanks for your participation.

Phil Williams
Eagleville Florist
June 1, 2008

I have been going to city council meetings on and off for quite a while. It seems to me that most of the council and the mayor just don’t listen, aren’t interested or just don’t care about the citizens input or their concerns.

Last fall at a meeting I officially addressed the council for the record. I questioned why the city recorder was getting such a high salary? What was her qualifications? What was she bringing to our city that was so valuable? The mayor adamantly defended her. He stated that she was an experienced, trained, registered city recorder. The mayor’s wife sitting next to me said how would you like to sit down there in that pressure cooker or hot box all day long?

Later I found out that we taxpayers paid for her training, paid for her experience as she worked for the outgoing city recorder and we paid for her schooling to become a city recorder. So basically we set her up for the requirements to get an $18 hourly salary plus overtime and a lot of perks. In response to the mayor’s wife remark, I think a lot of us taxpayers have had worse jobs for less money.

Then several complaints started about City Hall being closed a lot, and such complaints as My Space pictures circulating from the city’s computer of city employees playing around at City Hall.

I myself complained about the number of friends and family coming and going or just hanging out behind the window. Once she had a family party with several adults and a couple of children eating and watching cartoons during business hours. We paid $18 per hour for this?

Complaining did nothing. We were called trouble makers, jealous and it was all sour grapes. So she quit. Now there are a lot of questions. Questions about a $1,900 check. Questions about who changed city documents. Questions about "questionable accounting practices." A lot of questions about this current administration, but no answers.

No one can say anything because there is a TBI investigation going on. Eagleville city government is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Can you believe it? Our current administration is under investigation by the TBI.

Who is responsible to run our city, hire, fire employees, and oversee the city’s daily goings on? I think it is the mayor. It is like the $50,000 yearly salary for the city’s part-time, uncertified, police chief. The mayor arrogantly does what he wants even though the taxpayers complained about these city employees. He doesn’t want to listen to anyone who questions his decisions.

Now amid all the city’s problems, the council voted unanimously to change the city’s charter at the March city council meeting. In spite of the fact that nine voters, myself included, pleaded to the council to wait. We all agree the charter needs changing, but why the hurry? We need to wait until after the TBI investigation and the November election is over.

This is very fair and reasonable. We have been under the old charter since 1977. Waiting six more months won’t make any difference. Plus the new charter gives the mayor and the council more power and takes away the citizens right for such recourse as initiative and referendum. Very sad. Come see for yourself. Ask questions. Get involved before it is too late.

Donna Jensen
Eagleville, Tennessee
March 15, 2008

In reference to the letters/comments regarding the new city recorder position. I applied for the position. I did not get the position. That is fine; however, I never received a letter, phone call, or e-mail that my letter and resume had been received. I have not received a letter thanking me for applying for the position or notifying me that the position has been filled. These are common ‘good’ business practices which seem to have been overlooked by our city administration.

On a lighter note – I enjoy the paper so much. I pass it along to my mother-in-law, Evelyn Maxwell Writesman, in Nashville and she loves to see the pictures and articles of folks she knew as a child growing up in Rockvale. Thank you for such a great tool to stay in touch w/our corner of Rutherford county (and surrounding areas)!

Maureen M. Writesman
Eagleville, Tennessee

Thank you and Bobbie Sue Shelton-Lonas for the article which brought back some good memories of riding the Interurban. You see, I grew up on the Nashville Pike, which is now called Franklin Road, about half way between Franklin and Brentwood. We rode the Interurban Bus to Franklin and Nashville because two-car families were almost unheard of in the 40s and 50s and Daddy drove the car to Nashville to work. And certainly teenagers didn’t have their own cars.

We rode the bus to Franklin to shop, go to the library, to the picture show, and to Sunday School. By the time we were about 11 and 12, my sister Rubie and I were riding alone with no fear of harm. Mr. Ben Pewitt, Mr. Russell Vaughn and Mr. Ocie Poteet were three of the bus drivers I remember well, others I don’t remember.

There were times we would spend all our money, sometimes in the collection plate at Sunday School, or for a cherry coke at Sandlin Drug Store, or for an extra treat at the Franklin Theater after we’d seen the latest serial on a Saturday or perhaps a weekday musical or drama film. Mr. Pewitt and Mr. Poteet always allowed us to ride back home even when we had no tickets. Children don’t forget those kindnesses. Mr. Pewitt holds a special spot in our hearts. Yes, we were in trouble when Mama found out about our bus bill.

By the time we were high school students our parents allowed us to ride to Nashville alone to shop at Harvey’s, Cain-Sloan, W. T. Grant, the Arcade, or the National Store, or to meet our Nashville cousins to see a show at the Lowes, Knickerbacker, 5th Avenue or other theaters. With all that bus riding experience it was natural that I would look for my first job in Nashville after graduating from Franklin High in 1957. So for nearly two years before marrying I rode the bus round-trip every weekday to National Life and Accident Insurance Company. During that time I met and became friends with several regular riders.

As a teenager our mother Gladys Bolton Savage lived with her family at Elysian Fields in Nashville and rode the railcar Interurban to attend and graduate from Nashville’s Central High in 1935 as did her sisters Dorine and Mildred, graduating in 1933 and 1934 respectively. Mama and Aunt Mildred will be thrilled to see this article. Thank you again for a good community newspaper.

Julia Savage Minatra
Rockvale, TN
December 15, 2007

ONE WOMAN’S OPINION

In response to Mr. Phil Williams’ Letter to the Editor published in the NOVEMBER 16-30, 2007 edition of the Eagleville Times, I agree that perhaps it is time to re-think how we handle the position of City Recorder, but I think maybe we should approach it a little differently than how he suggests. It is true that our previous city recorder was apparently paid at a rate that was "ludicrous, outrageous, and one that our cash-starved city coffers cannot maintain." However, there is a solution that is much better than letting a "part-time student employee" handle the job alone. What would that solve? If the person is employed part-time, we would still have several hours a week when the office could not be open for business.

Maybe we should just hire a competent professional person who would keep business hours with little time off, manage the office as a business should be handled, and not demand "an arm and a leg" for a salary. Why do we have a part-time student employee in the first place? It sounds as if one competent professional accountant could do the job and help with anything else that came up, such as doing the bookkeeping for a police department should we ever have one again. Who is keeping the books for the fire department? That could be done by a qualified professional in this position as well.

While it is true that the City of Eagleville has had virtually no growth in the past twenty years, do we really think that this trend is going to continue in today’s world? How many subdivisions have sprung up in the surrounding areas and how many people have moved into this area in the past two years?

Think of what the next twenty will be like. It is true that we want and need to keep our small town, quaint atmosphere, but we can’t hide our heads in the sand either. We are going to have to have at least one policeman in the next couple of years if not before then. Then there is the absolute fact that a new high school is going to be built in Rockvale and another one in Unionville in the next year or two, which will most likely attract more people to Eagleville to live. Let’s face it, folks, this town is a great place to live – great for our children and ourselves alike, and we have been a well-kept secret for a long time, but that is about to change. So whether we like it or not, we are going to have to grow. The only thing we can control now is how we do it.

Do we really want to keep a part-time student employee in a position of responsibility with our city records and the records of our property and businesses for all of us in this community? I think that is dangerous.

Let’s hire a responsible, competent, and reliable professional accountant who will do the job in a better way than it has ever been done and at a much lower salary than the previous city recorder. We need to start our search in our own community for a person who cares about our town and has the expertise and experience to handle this position as well as budgeting experience to help the Mayor and City Council better plan how to spend our tax dollars without putting it into his/her own pocket. Office hours from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday would be maintained, absolute confidence would be kept, budgets would be implemented, and all at a considerable savings to the city coffers. Maybe we could get a local "professional" person for the salary of a "clerical" one, and get the job done the way it needs to be done.

Janice K. Morgan
Eagleville, Tennessee
November 15, 2007

ONE MAN’S OPINION

The hiring of a new city recorder could indeed be a critical turning point in the administration procedures of Eagleville city government.

I have observed that the current council plan of putting the mayor in total control of personnel has been a disaster. For the past several months the actual hours that city hall has been open for business is ridiculous for the two salaries provided for that purpose.

The office of city recorder is not that of city manager. It is a clerical position. It primarily involves collecting monies paid to the city generated from taxes, receipts from licenses, tax payments and permit fees due the city–both current and past due. The mayor indicated in his closing remarks at the October council meeting that the city student employee is qualified to handle clerical work including collection of funds, issuing all permits and license and she has the authority to deposit funds.

At one time the city recorder did all book work for the city water department, city police department and the job of city recorder. Our little city has had virtually no growth in the past 20 years. It no longer requires a full-time employee as there is no more city water department, and we have no police department. The mayor has already announced that the student employee can handle a large volume of the clerical responsibilities at a fraction of the salary of the current city recorder.

City hall should be manned from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days each week. It has for the past several years opened and closed with no respect for the posted office hours. We now have verification by the mayor that many of those weekly office hours will be filled by a lower wage, part-time student employee.

At a recent council meeting the mayor informed an Eagleville city taxpayer who volunteered to work part time with no salary that he would not permit such an arrangement. Why would the mayor refuse free labor for a job that a student is already performing? A twenty-hour allotment with sensible wages for the new city recorder clerical position would be more than sufficient time for performing more detailed clerical work. No benefits should be offered nor should they be expected. The current $36,000 allotment for a part-time city recorder is ludicrous, outrageous and one that our cash-starved city coffers cannot maintain.

The city council needs to take an active part in developing a detailed job description, setting strict office hours that will be monitored and maintained, and establishing a sensible salary for clerical personnel. Only after a carefully designed plan exists should the city advertise for job applicants. The mayor has already assured us at the time of the city recorder’s resignation that, "MTAS has a new program where they will, free of charge without any cost to us, send a person here who is trying to certify in being a city recorder and work with our city recorder... as long as it takes... to get comfortable. It is called a ‘mentoring’ program in my book".

A businessman who chooses to be a company manager should know every aspect of employee training in his jurisdiction. The council, likewise, should entrust the management of city hall personnel and operations to an experienced and qualified member of the council with business experience. Our current financial problems may in part result from management by person(s) with limited business acumen and business experience. The city council should examine the instability factor that has surfaced in matters of personnel and management and ascertain that the position of managing these matters is handled skillfully.

Our city street fund is virtually empty. How do we propose to fill potholes or repave a street in bad repair? At the October council meeting one taxpayer was pleading for help to keep loiterers off their residential street and stop theft of personal properties while another taxpayer presented a persuasive and reasonable proposal to put a halt to drivers going twice the posted speed limit in their neighborhoods. Citizens continue to get promises of action but it is a given that there are no funds to re-establish the Eagleville City Police department.

Beware, taxpayers. What are you getting for your tax dollars? There is no sewer service, no trash pick-up, no police protection and there has been no methodical program for expanding street lighting in our city which is a labor-free approach to discouraging loitering.

Pinching pennies and spending our tax monies carefully is of primary urgency now. The city council will never run out of money because they can make a simple decision to raise our taxes and fund any project they choose. When this mayor requests a tax increase, keep in mind that he has always been able to count on Councilmen Harold Vincion, David Rigsby and Terry Zumbro to support his request. The city charter then permits the mayor to cast the tie-breaking vote. There is no indication that the mayor has ever attempted to improve city income by a well thought-out long term plan. Raising our taxes once again is most likely.

Phil Williams
Eagleville Florist
November 1, 2007

We just want to thank everyone in the community for supporting us so kindly for the past 3 years. We have always dreamed of having a community grocery/cafe' and are blessed that we were given that opportunity. We want to thank everyone who came for breakfast, lunch, to chat, and to share in our Friday night Catfish & Bluegrass.

Thanks for the big turnout for our LAST catfish & bluegrass event. I know we will ALL miss sharing and enjoying the food, music, and friendship it brought.

Debbie, thank you for all of your support through your newspaper. We were proud to sell it at our store. We hope to see you all around in the community. We plan to be regulars at College Grove on Friday nights for bluegrass ! We are not moving from the area, just moving to a different opportunity. Jon will be playing music professionally full-time and Jill is working with an architect.

Thank you again and God bless.
Jon & Jill Martin (the former) Holts Corner Grocery & Cafe'
August 2004

My husband, Wendell, and I want you to know how much we enjoy your paper.  We look forward to buying our copy as soon as it comes out and we have sent subscriptions to two family members.  We can count on both of them to call us when they get their papers to talk about things they have read.
We particularly enjoy the historical articles written by Bobbie Sue Shelton. This month's article had special meaning to both of us.  Two of Wendell's cousins, Jesse Morris and Gladys Morris Harrelson were in the Patterson School picture and I learned that two of my great aunts, Minnie Floyd and Abbie Floyd Beesley, were teachers at the school.
We wish you continued success with your paper.

Judy Rowland - Rover, Tennessee
May 2004

A quick note to thank you for your work in producing and distributing the EAGLEVILLE TIMES. Your newspaper is interesting, fun, informative and the best thing to happen to our little town since paved streets!

In your recent issue you provided information regarding the upcoming Eagleville city election. There are many reports in large media outlets regarding attendance records of congressmen, senators and state legislators. Are attendance rosters accessible on our city council members?

Publication of this information would assist Eagleville voters in determining how seriously incumbent council members take their oath of public service to our city.

Keep up the good work. Your efforts in historical research of your circulation area is excellent and the entire area is abuzz with praise for your newspaper.

Phil Williams, Eagleville, Tenn.
March 2004

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