They'll do it her way

Amy Moore used to work for the county mayor, now she works for the county commission. So why the comment? While working for Mayor D. Gary Davis she was asked to write the job description for a new position being created for research assistant to the Bradley County Commission.

Let me say up front that I personally like Ms. Moore. She has always seemed dedicated to her work for the county and is a very likeable person but I dislike the way government acts when filling jobs like this one specially designed for her.

To allow the person who wrote the job description to apply is a conflict under the best of circumstances, but to create a position for a specific person and then to make it appear legitimate by seeking applications and going through a selection process is a disgrace to everyone involved, including taxpayers and especially those who had their time wasted applying for a position that had already been filled.

It is uncomfortable to write negatively about someone you like and believe is doing a good job, but sometimes it is necessary to inform our readers of occurrences that happen under the radar with people we trust to be up front and open while conducting public business.

It is difficult to be precise on actual events but it appears that Ms. Moore worked for Mayor Davis but he needed a full time assistant which did not suit Ms. Moore. So as not to leave Ms. Moore without employment, a job was created for her in a part time capacity by the county commission for whom she had done research while in Davis' office.

Another problem the commission created for themselves having a seasoned county employee doing research for them, is they will never be completely sure if the research they receive and on which they base their decisions is complete and unbiased. An example would be if research was being done to discover if county employee salaries were in line with other communities, selective research could be offered that they were not, when in fact they were. This has happened in the past and will likely happen again. Individual commissioners doing their own research to reach an independent conclusion will insure responsible decision making for all constituents when the entire commission votes. All commissioners taking advice from a public employee is not how the system is designed to work. Commissioners do not work for government, they work directly for the people they serve. Relying on one person with a conflict of interest is not healthy for representative government.

Even if Ms. Moore does an outstanding job for the commission, and I have no reason to believe she won't, a cloud will always remain over the conflict that has been created.
That's what I think. What do you think?

Defeating the object

Sometimes government is an ass just as surely as the law is said to be. And when you combine the two.... enough said.

Saving the planet seems to be the catchword of the twenty first century. The United States spends untold millions educating the public to recycle and keep America beautiful. It is good that we take responsibility for the condition of our planet but sometimes it is difficult to do so on a personal level because there is no common sense leadership. Government encourage citizens to be environmentally considerate, then do their damnedest to prevent them from doing it.

A personal example of this that I think needs to be mentioned involves the disposal of old tires. In  a little used corner of a piece of land I own in Bradley county, many years ago someone had dumped a load of old tires, many of which were large commercial or agricultural tires. I had always intended to take them to the landfill for recycling but had never gotten around to it. Finally last month I had someone pull them out with a tractor and take them to the landfill. These tires were heavy and difficult to move manually so it took two men to do the job. I thought it was a good thing that was being done for the environment but the satisfying feeling soon subsided when I was presented with a bill for landfill charges of $131.40. So, with the cost to haul them I was out almost $200 for trying to keep Bradley county beautiful, and that my friends I find ridiculous bearing in mind a fee is automatically charged on new tires for disposal in advance, and presumably the tires are given to the recycling company for free. Now I understand why the tires were illegally dumped  in the first place.

Is it reasonable to expect even the most environmentally supportive citizen to pay such exorbitant fees to clean up someone else's trash?

What do you think?
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