Holland's Talking Points * McKenzie is the only town in Carroll County with the ward system. All others are at large, including Huntingdon. * Other progressive cities without a ward system include Paris and all other towns in Henry County, Murfreesboro, a municipality of 80,000 people, and Smyrna, also a very progressive city. * In the current system, several very qualified people could live in the same ward, however, only one could be elected. Another election for that ward would not occur for four more years, thus, many would lose interest in waiting four years to run again. * Many who are well qualified will not run for office because they feel they will be running against someone in the same ward, however, in an at large system prospective candidates would be running for a position, not against another candidate. * McKenzie does not have multiple fire and police departments, as large cities do, in each ward. In a city the size of McKenzie, council persons should be responsive to the needs of the entire city and citizens, not just a small geographic area. * The McKenzie Special School District has at large elections and is a very balanced board. It includes board members from throughout the school district who are equally interested in the best education for all of the children in the district, not just those in their area. * Our citizens need to know that any councilperson they contact is responsive to the needs of the entire city and its citizens, not just a small geographic area. * In recent amendments to the general law mayor-aldermanic charter, regarding cities incorporated after June 30, 1991, there is a stipulation for cities under 5,000 people to have only one ward. For cities over 5,000 incorporating after this date, the amendment states the city must have no fewer than two wards. These amendments were made after much research, and if balance of aldermen was found to be a concern, the amendments would have allowed for this. * In 1994, our city charter was amended to divide the city into six wards. In 2006, we can take a step to becoming more progressive by voting to request the general assembly to amend McKenzie's charter to become an at large system. * The ward system that McKenzie currently has is out of date and should be eliminated. This would be a step toward progress in our city. Eliminating the current ward system, would assure all citizens that they have an equal voice in our town. We need not run against each other but, instead, for a position where we can all work with others to insure the future progress and success of McKenzie.

A "workshop" regarding McKenzie's six-ward voting system is scheduled for this Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m., at City Hall. Council members are expected to discuss ways of enjoining the community in the decision-making process regarding the ward system.

A public forum is one of several suggestions council members put forth in order to seek the input of citizens on the issue. Also mentioned was participation in The McKenzie Banner poll at www.mckenziebanner.com and personal phone calls made to individual members of the Board of Mayor and Council for the City of McKenzie.

The issue arose when council member Jill Holland said, "I would like for us to seriously consider amending the charter so that we have an at large voting system rather than six wards."

Holland, who represents Ward 4, said the act would be a progressive move for the future of the city and was "certainly not to keep anyone from being elected."

In addition to a point-by-point rationale for abolishing the ward system, Holland cited a state law that governs wards and aldermen in cities established after June 30, 1991. New cities with a population of fewer than 5000 must have one ward, with two aldermen elected at large, while those with a population of more than 5000 must have two wards, with two aldermen elected from each of those wards. Cities with more than 5000 citizens may elect to increase the number of wards above the two that are required.

City attorney Kent Jones did not comment on the significance of the law to the city of McKenzie, which has a population of 5,295 according to the 2000 census. See the sidebar for Holland's list of reasons why the city should amend its charter.

Ward 1 representative Wade Allen contested Holland's reasoning, noting that in 1929 the city government submitted for approval a private act for a four-ward system of voting. He said that in 1963, during the height of the civil rights movement, a gerrymandered line resulted in the dilution of the black vote so that it was "virtually impossible" to elect a black representative to the council. In 1994, a minority ward was established to ensure black representation, the result of which was his election to the board.

"I feel the 1994 (decree) is a fair law," said Allen, later noting black voters have a right to representation.

Holland replied, "This is 2006 and I have never and would never vote against someone because of race; I would vote for the qualified candidate."

Also a member of the McKenzie Special School District Board of Education, Holland said she believes the city has a "very good, diverse" government.

The six-member school board includes one black representative, elected at large, who has been a member of the board over many terms of office.

Additionally the six-member city council includes not only Allen but another representative who is black and who has been elected for successive terms despite the fact that the ward he represents is predominantly white.

That representative, Willie Huffman, representing Ward 3, suggested the public meeting, noting not every citizen has access to the Internet poll.

According to the 2000 census, the racial make-up of McKenzie is 4,384 white persons and 754 black persons plus small numbers of Indian, Asian and other races as well as 114 Hispanic or Latino persons. Theoretically, therefore, the ideal make-up of a six-person representative council in McKenzie would be 882.5 persons each. Were race the deciding factor in such a system, one might conclude that the black population has a greater than 200 percent representation ratio with 33 percent black membership and 14 percent of the population.

That the McKenzie police chief is black, as is the state-provided community planner, further indicates race is not an overriding issue in McKenzie.

Darra Adkins, Ward 6 representative, asked whether the election commission had not recently spent "quite a bit of money" as well as time and effort in redistricting the wards in order to equalize the population among the wards and elected representatives.

Mayor Walter Winchester dispelled the notion of extensive expenditures by the election commission, "because the wards pretty much stayed the same."

A look at the map reveals gerrymandering continues to be a problem in the present ward system, its purpose now appearing to be an effort at maintaining the elected officials in their current wards while drawing tangents from that point in order to include the appropriate numbers of citizens in each ward.

Of note is the fact that Allen, chairman of the NAACP when the wards were redrawn to create a minority ward, had reportedly also expressed his intentions to address special wards at the county level as well as in the adjacent town of Huntingdon. However, the other governments retained their at large voting systems without outside interference.

In other business, Winchester submitted to Street Department liaison Jerry Arthur and Superintendent Joe Curtis five varied bids for a waste oil burner. Bids were received from J. Bisio in Antioch, McKenzie Feed and Grain, McKenzie Auto Parts, Clearview of Goodlettsville, and Power Clean Equipment LLC. Some bids were for the heating unit only while others were for the oil filter crusher alone. Prices ranged from $2,321 to $10,800, which is the maximum allowable bid under the state grant slated to pay for the purchase.

Curtis said a sixth bid was mailed Monday from an environmental company, however, the city attorney said the bid must have been received to be considered, and city clerk Charlie Beal declared no other bids had been collected.

Two other agenda items were postponed because the date advertised for the opening of bids was in error. Bids on a heating/cooling unit for city hall and for flagpoles to be placed alongside the existing pole in front of the municipal building will be opened at the next regular meeting of the council on February 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Adkins reported 258 fire and rescue calls in 2005 as opposed to 199 the previous year. Represented in the 258 calls were 14 residential, 4 commercial, 7 structural (outbuildings), 44 alarms, 15 vehicle fires, 4 other, 10 brush, 4 hazardous materials, 31 investigations (smoke, etc.), 31 rescue, 87 non-emergency EMS calls, and 6 mutual aid calls.

   

By Joel Washburn washburn@mckenziebanner.com

HUNTINGDON (January 24) - Engineering and land acquisition for the construction of the 1,000-acre Carroll County Lake Project will begin this summer. According to Kevin Young, project engineer for the Carroll County Watershed Authority, geotechnical engineering and soil core sampling for the dam must begin this year in compliance with the Army Corps of Engineers timetable.

Proposals by engineering firms will be presented during the April 25 meeting of the Watershed Authority.

Board members authorized the surveying and appraisal of five tracts of land that lies between Highway 70 and the proposed dam. That land will be the first purchased for the construction. The actual acquisition will begin after July 1, said Young.

Carroll County Watershed Authority will purchase the land necessary for the proposed lake bed plus a 50-foot buffer zone. Jim Murdaugh, appraiser with Golden Circle Appraisal Company, said he has appraised all the property and met with the current landowners. "I basically have not met any opposition," said Murdaugh concerning the appraisal prices. Young said the appraisals average approximately $1,000 per acre.

Two landowners will be landlocked once the property needed for the lake is purchased. Murdaugh suggested the Watershed Authority purchase the remaining land from those affected landowners.

In conducting the appraisal, Murdaugh discovered a small section of Kirk Road would have to be relocated.

Mark Jackson, Jessie Tucker and Heather Dempsey, landowners along the road, are agreeable with the relocation.

The board approved payment of $120,000 to TVA to begin preliminary work to raise the high tension power lines that will traverse the lake. Kelley said the Authority received $496,000 from Congress with an additional $600,000 slated for the upcoming fiscal year.

Authority secretary Dale Kelley said the indebtedness was retired on the mitigation site along Crooked Creek. As part of the mitigation plan, Crooked Creek will be returned to its pre-1920s channel in addition to planting acres of trees along the creek. Young said one of two test plots of trees was inadvertently plowed under and destroyed by the farmer leasing the land. Young recommended not leasing the property for this year.

The board approved the submission of a Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant to help fund the acquisition of the land for the property. The county of Carroll and town of Huntingdon will apply jointly for the grant. County Mayor Kenny McBride said the application would not affect any other grant applications. Kelley said the joint application gives the application more "leverage."

Donny Bunton of the state's Local Planning Office presented new plans for the Planned Growth Area surrounding the lake and extending to Huntingdon's Planned Growth Area. McBride said a county Planning Commission, authorized solely for the lake's planned growth area, would be appointed soon. They will only consider the provisions of the planned growth area. A proposed zoning map will be available for inspection in the coming weeks at Huntingdon City Hall. McBride said the county Planning Commission and each of the eight municipalities must approve the plan before it is sent to the state for final approval.

McKENZIE -The newly organized Tennessee T's will play its debut season at Bethel College, according to owner and General Manager Chris Lash. The newest entry into the Kitty League will play its first season of home games at Bethel College's newly renovated Wildcat Field.

 

Initially, the T's was to split its home games between fields at Bethel and its home base in Huntingdon. However, the Huntingdon fields have not received the renovations needed to host the team.

Huntingdon Town Council recently approved the application for a Local parks and Recreation grant with hopes of constructing or renovating a ballpark for the 2007 season.

Wildcat Field at Bethel College underwent a phase I renovation last fall, with new grass, a warming track, new dugouts and more. Phase II this year has 150 to 200 seats from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia being added, along with additional bleachers that will seat 400 to 500 spectators. A new press box and concession stand are under construction. Additional ideas include the possibility of a roof in 2007.

"What Bethel has done with this field is amazing. And with the stadium seating, this was the perfect place for the T's to play this summer." said Lash.

Weekday games will start at 5 p.m., and weekends will feature earlier matinees at the unlighted field. The Tennessee T's open the season on Friday night, June 2 with a 5 p.m. start.

 

Tennessee T's will face Farmington (Missouri) Firebirds, Fulton (Kentucky) Railroaders, and Union City (Tennessee) Greyhounds, Sikeston (Missouri) Bulls, and a newly organized team in Clarksville in a 50-game schedule.

The official Kitty League schedule has not been released. The T's season ticket drive is underway. General admission seating packages start at $60. The reserved stadium seating packages are priced at $110 for adults for the 25 home game schedule.

 

"All stadium season ticket holders will even have the benefit of waiters and waitresses," added Lash. Season tickets can be ordered by phone at 731-986-9746 or online at the T's new Web site: www.tsbaseball.com. Major credit cards are accepted.

 

"Our goal for the first season is to sell 100 stadium season ticket packages. However, we can go as high as 200," said Lash.

The connection with Bethel goes beyond the new ballpark. Bethel Assistant Baseball Coach Rusty Thompson will coach the team. Bethel Head Coach Glen Hayes will serve as bench coach.

"One thing's for sure, this will be the best dressed team playing on the best field in the entire Kitty League. Glen Hayes made sure of that," Lash said with a smile.

 

The theme of "Old Fashioned Baseball, New Family Fun" will launch the team's first season in Carroll County. Promotions will highlight each game, and pricing for both tickets and concessions will be something the entire family can afford. Tickets range from $3 to $5. For more information visit
www.tsbaseball.com or the Kitty League Web site at www.kitleague.com.

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will join President George W. Bush in Nashville this Wednesday as deliver a speech on the 2006 agenda at the Grand Ole Opry House.

Air Force One will arrive at Nashville Airport and the President will deliver remarks at 11:50 a.m. with a scheduled departure time of 1:00 p.m.

"I look forward to welcoming President Bush to the Opry stage Wednesday," said Senator Frist. "The president's decision to make Nashville the location of his first speech following the State of the Union address is a tremendous honor for the state of Tennessee."

"President Bush has been a strong leader throughout his five years in the Oval Office, working diligently to strengthen our national security and improve the lives of all Americans. As majority leader, I will work closely with the president over the course of the next year to implement an agenda that applies meaningful solutions to the issues facing America today."

   

A Trezevant woman is a quarter of a million dollars richer, less taxes, thanks to the Tennessee Lottery.

Annie Hand said she recently heard the advertisement for the Lottery's newest instant ticket, "Money Money Money," on the radio and "something" told her that she should buy it, according to the Tennessee Lottery.

So, when she stopped for gas at the Maverick station in Three Way, she bought what turned out to be a $250,000 winning ticket.

The state lottery recently celebrated its two-year anniversary with an estimated half-billion dollars raised for education. Lottery ticket sales are used to provide scholarships to higher education institutions in Tennessee, as well as after-school and pre-kindergarten programs.