Feeding the monster.

For Cleveland and Bradley County, budget time is here again. A time that must strike fear into the minds of County Mayor Gary Davis, and City Manager Joe Cate. The reason for the trepidation is because they know that they can't please everyone and more than likely they will upset most. Public sentiment has demanded a halt to tax increases but special interests on the fringes of government are forever raising its cost. There has been no obvious tax increases for the past 3 years yet the cost of government has risen almost 10% a year, supposedly living on growth money. Imagine what could be achieved had that growth money been returned to its rightful owners, the taxpayers. Both Davis and Cate claim to be presiding over "bare bones" budgets yet they are spending money on every conceivable whim and fancy. New government projects abound everywhere, offices are plush and personnel are being added at the rate of hundreds a year system wide. They, supported by legislative bodies that want to make cuts but never quite seem able to because everyone's pet project demands financing, trudge on looking for ways to increase revenue to feed the monster. Davis was proud to announce the revitalization of the area around the courthouse as one of his priorities for 2005, replanting trees and moving monuments to the tune of millions of dollars. Bare bones indeed. And Cate seems to be quietly rebuilding from the ground up, the maintenance garage, the police building, even a new airport, all in the space of a year or two. Yeah, there are bones showing everywhere. In the coming months, it is likely that the same rhetoric will be repeated, hoping to mislead the public that budgets are being trimmed and taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely, but it doesn't have to be like that. If elected officials were to follow the wishes of their constituents and cut spending, really cut spending, not just cut budget requests for more money, then, after a few years of turmoil and firing those that did not cooperate, lower taxes and government efficiency would become the norm. Will Davis, Cate, the County Commission and the Cleveland City Council honor the wishes of there constituents?
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Lock um' all up.

Even thinking about the new Bradley County Justice Center tends to bring up bile from the pit of the stomach. This project is a prime example of why government, both state and local, can't be trusted to do anything right. The complex was

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supposed to save money for the taxpayer. Having services under one roof was designed to be more efficient and enhance security. The unpleasant fact is that instead of centralizing court services as Sheriff Dan Gilley promised, courts are now held at the courthouse, the new complex, and soon to be at the new juvenile justice center as well. That's right, spread all over town. It could not have been more of a disaster if it were planned that way. Almost everything has to be triplicated. Despite the claim of courtroom overcrowding at the courthouse, most days Judge Steven Bebbs courtroom was unused yet he addressed the commission pleading for more space. Now they have more space, but the justice system is still a mess. And it's getting worse. It's time for the justice system in Bradley County to pull its socks up. Prisoners should be earning there keep, not lazing in a $17 million climate controlled hotel. Juvenile offenders should be at boot camp not a holiday camp. And judges should be less compassionate to the criminal and more compassionate to the victim. Having the old jail decertified by the state may not have been such a bad thing after all. What would they have done, locked us all up in our decertified jail? This whole mess has gotten ridiculous and expensive.
What do you think?


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