Lexington? No Business/Cherokee? Monkey Business

Lexington, Your Lexington

A Guest Commentary By

Bailey Quarters

I've never been to Lexington, Alabama, and I don't feel I've missed that much. Do I think Lexington has no worthwhile citizens? No, I'm sure it does. I just think there's nothing in Lexington that would make it a veritable tourist mecca.

So why am I writing about Lexington? The town tries too hard and makes all the wrong decisions for all the wrong reasons.

Some time ago I worked with a woman from Lexington. She told me of a new "biker shop" in Lexington and how the people in that town would make short work of it, send it packing so to speak. When I asked her about it some months later, she replied that everyone in Lexington loved having it there because of all the tax dollars it generated.

Was the biker shop bad to begin with? Probably not. Was it less bad because it produced tax dollars? Definitely not. Money doesn't change something from bad to good, but it does seem to change the way some people in Lexington look at it.

That brings me to the new Internet service in Lexington. Is it a good thing? I've always thought competition was a great thing, so Francisco Guerra's new business is certainly not bad in itself. It's just that if all I knew was what Guerra's press release stated, I would think there was no real Internet in Lexington. There is. Will Guerra's Internet be better than anyone else's? We doubt it, but it will produce tax dollars for Lexington and that seems to be what matters most to them.

As for Francisco Guerra himself, he stated that he moved to his Lauderdale County location because so many people need jobs and they are willing to work hard. You could call that statement either good or bad, depending on how Guerra uses his workers.

Guerra seems to like to do things for himself. It would be good if both Guerra and Lexington could hire a professional to promote them. Then their attempts at making the news wouldn't look so shallow.

*****

From Lexington, we travel southwestward to Cherokee; here's C. R.'s report:

Opposites do not Attract

The Cherokee Town Hall is located in the old Cherokee Middle School. By the actions of the Town Council and Town Clerk the Town Hall should be moved to the Cherokee Elementary School. A few weeks ago the Town Council changed the locks of the Town Clerk’s Office and Mayor Chuck Lansdell later changed them back. The Mayor hired a part time secretary and the council refuses to pay her salary. The mayor fires the mother-in-law of Councilman Steve Glover because she turned in her resignation and was never hired back properly. The council illegally hires the mother-in-law back and at a later Town Council meeting the council had to fix their mistake. I could go on and on about the misdeeds of the council.

Refuses to Take Orders

On several occasions the mayor has given Town Clerk Melinda Malone items to put on the Town Council meetings agenda and she failed to include the items. The mayor has asked Melinda to work on the grant paperwork or make a copy of the town’s minutes and nothing is ever done in a timely manner.

Monday was a holiday so all agenda items had to be put on the agenda by the close of business Friday. The mayor sent an e-mail addressed to several people Friday. The e-mail addressed to the town clerk, town attorney, mayor’s secretary, mayor’s attorney, and the mayor himself instructed the Town Clerk to put several issues on the agenda. Everyone received the e-mail except the town clerk. Even the town’s attorney stated he received the e-mail.

Consequences

A few months ago the Mayor of Cherokee decided he would stand up to the misdeeds of the council and he would undo anything done improperly or illegally. The mayor hired a part time secretary to work on the town’s grants because the town’ clerk stated she is so busy and does not have the time to work on them. The secretary’s job would also include reviewing the town’s minutes and finding anything done improperly or illegally.

When Melinda Malone decided to not open the mayor’s e-mail the mayor decided to not play the council’s game anymore. At the beginning of the Town Council meeting the mayor decided not to call the meeting to order. The mayor informed the crowd that the town clerk failed to put his agenda items on the agenda and he was not going to call the meeting to order. Councilman Steve Glover asked the town’s attorney could he call the meeting to order. The mayor informed the town attorney to make sure he knew what he was going to speak about because he already done the research. Glover was informed by the town attorney that if the mayor is present he could not. When the council got up to leave the room the crowd clapped loudly.

Sources close to the situation state that the mayor’s attorney has given the mayor a green light to fire Melinda Malone. Melinda is failing to obey the orders of her boss and can be fired for it.

Work Session

Before each council meeting there is a work session. All agenda items are addressed and talked about. During the agenda item concerning the town’s bills the town’s attorney fees were addressed. The $240.00 bill paid by the town was just not for a 10 minute council meeting. It seems that the council has been calling the town's attorney concerning their ethics issues and other things. The mayor informed the council members that they would have to pay back the taxpayers of Cherokee because it is not their responsibility to pay for their attorney.

*****

Role Models

We don't usually touch on national politics or events; there are bloggers who do it so much better and have so much more influence. We're going to make an exception today and comment on role models. Why?

Yesterday we found the time to read last week's USA Weekend, the Sunday supplement supplied to TimesDaily readers because, we suppose, Shelton Publishing already had a contract with the mag when they purchased the TD. In this particular issue were two very telling articles.

First was an article written by Anderson Cooper, the CNN news presenter of wealthy parentage and uncertain sexuality. We'll inject here that we don't care what his sexual orientation is--we just get tired of Cooper straddling the fence on the issue in order not to alienate viewers. In his article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Cooper mentions "an ugly reminder of the city's segregationist past," the name Francis T. Nicholls etched in a cornerstone.

We'll be the first to confess having only the foggiest idea who Nicholls was. A quick Google search proved him to be a Confederate Brigadier General and later in life a governor of Louisiana who, per Wiki:

...believed in having less government through lower taxes and fewer official functions. During his first term, he battled political corruption...

Nicholls chaired the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1879, and returned the state Capitol from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. He also accepted an appointment from President Grover Cleveland to the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Military Academy.

After his tenure as governor closed, Nicholls became Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1892, a post which he held until 1911.

Well, his later years certainly sound uneventful and not worthy of emulation. We in 2010 need real role models who will encourage us to strive for the worthwhile things in life. Let's flip a few pages and find one--Heidi Klum.

Here we can find out how she "eats, shops and diets." Yep, role model central right here in print coming to us every week courtesy of the TimesDaily.


Shoalanda



Get Connected in September!