Snow If You Get My Drift/Cherokee & Self-Destruction

Photo by Anita Pace

Snow If You Get My Drift

Powdery white topped with stunning bright
Blinds those who in its hold delight.
Gasps of cold produce a croak
From those who gambol in its wintry cloak.
What is missing as the white siren bids?
Alas, we have no trash can lids.

SS (who can remember when every home had a metal trash can)

*****

Cherokee and Self-Destruction

By J.J. Ray

Tuscumbia attorney Rebecca Narmore has insinuated that I wish to see the city of Cherokee destroyed. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The city is doing quite well without much outside help. As a pundit, I only comment on what is or has happened on a variety of subjects. As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose and tell the truth based strictly on the facts. The facts in Cherokee fortunately are a matter of public record in print and on video.

Having never lived in Cherokee I can only be an observer. Some years ago, I did have an opportunity to purchase a home there but fate intervened and I moved to another city, which was most fortuitous. In my years in the corporate world I have been witness to many companies self-destructing but nothing like the Cirque d Ole in Cherokee.

They have taken total destruction to a completely new level without much help from the outside world with a couple of exceptions and I think most know who that is. The tragic part of this completely sordid affair is that several members of the city council have tried in vain to do the right thing for the city. They along with the city clerk and the citizens of Cherokee end up the losers.

Fortunately, for the city council the law firm that will be defending this abhorrent lawsuit will do most of the exposing of the truth. Not the truth some would have us believe but the truth based on the record. The shame of this ridiculous situation is that it need not happen except for fear of prosperity plus the greed and the lust for control by some in the present and past city government.

The dynamic law of prosperity could be called the eighth wonder of the world. When you look at it and really see it, you will stand in awe. It is invisible but has very visible results. It is profound but simplistic.

Conversely, the “Fear of Prosperity” is a real dynamic, a type of cancer that infects city, county and national governments to fail along with businesses, churches and individuals. Why do some fail and others prosper? Let’s compare two cities here in the valley. Cherokee is broke and completely dysfunctional but Muscle Shoals is prosperous and efficient.

Then why is Muscle Shoals prospering? The leaders are proactive, practical, and function, as a governing body should, planning for present and future city growth. Cherokee suffers from internal gridlock floundering around in a sea of backward and reactive thinking unable to function at all.

With all this negativity, how many businesses would locate in Cherokee based on their current record? Unless it is the circus, none I suspect. Perhaps this lawsuit will be the final nail in the coffin of a once prosperous and functional city. Alternatively, could the election of 2012 hold a solution and stave off the death of the city? Who knows now?

One thing is certain most of us will sit back and watch, some with disgust, others with delight. Personally, I’ll just observe, comment, eat popcorn and enjoy the show.



Shoalanda