No tears for Walter

Walter Presswood has been showered with tributes after news of his pending retirement from the Bradley County Board of Education reached the media. Whether the complements were warranted depends on how you perceive his school board track record and whether you empathize with his actions. To be sure, public service is commendable but being accountable for your conduct is about the only way the average citizen can get redress from civic leaders. To let Presswood off the hook with a handshake and a pat on the back for his sometimes vicious and spiteful conduct would be encouraging his successor to emulate him. He proclaimed in parting as chairman of the board that it is important for board members to work together with their peers and other elected officials for the good of education. Noble advice he was unable or unwilling to follow himself. Not so long ago he created a media circus, filling the newly completed Walker Valley High School auditorium with jeering supporters to publicly insult and slander fellow board member Mel Griffith and Bradley County Commissioner Roy Smith for daring to question scandalous cost overruns at the new school. He used the same ploy to strong-arm the commission into funding his overpriced projects. He used the tactic yet again to try to pressurize State Senator Jeff Miller, and Representatives Chris Newton and Dewayne Bunch. Anyone who didn't support this man's vision was labeled by his entourage as anti-education and viciously persecuted in his friend's newspaper, the Bradley News Weekly. The ordinary citizen didn't fair much better from Presswood's lashing tongue. Remember when parents tried to petition the board to drop its plans to impose a county wide dress code - he denied them their chance to speak and changed meeting rules to prevent future input. He manipulated supposedly public meetings into a rubber stamp authority and a "good news" performance. Even while considering his resignation he was plotting to ensure the new chairman would walk in his shoes despite efforts by the county commission to fairly elect a replacement. He resigned his chairmanship before retiring in order to help vote in his replacement Troy Weathers, before he left office. This premeditated action will ensure the board continues down its destructive and divisive path.  The sad thing is that probably in time his name will become an icon to history with his excesses wiped from the record. The good thing is that education in Bradley County is well rid of him.
What do you think?

It was just a little snip!

"What do you think" Continued

Two West Virginia men learned the hard way not to mess with horses in Kentucky. An AP story reported the men castrated a horse in a trailer without a veterinary license. Pike County District Judge Darrel Mullins, fined Ronnie Bowens and Herbert Messer $300 each and probated a 30 day jail sentence after fellow horse trainer Lisa Moore, filed a cruelty complaint. Cruelty to animals offends me as much as any animal lover but this case was won not because of the cruelty but because the men didn't have a veterinary license. The ramification of this case could effect every livestock farmer in the nation. Raising livestock hasn't changed much in centuries and I'll wager that most of the cattle raised and horses too, are castrated by unlicensed owners. I have performed the dastardly deed myself but now I have been criminalized by a distant but well intentioned judge - and so have thousands of US farmers. Now, any time a neighbor gets mad at a livestock breeder they can use the weight of this stupid conviction and call in the law. What most of our tree hugging friends fail to comprehend is that raising livestock can at times be hard on the animals and sometimes even be perceived as cruel by an outsider. The leveling factor with domesticated animals is the same as with any other possession - if you own it you will likely take care of it. That is not to say animals don't get abused but it is not the norm, so why is a silly judge criminally labeling so many people with this silly ruling? It makes you wander where we find these people.
What do you think?


"What do you think" Continued

More Editorials

Website Survey Results