by Linda Moore

Let's consider for the upcoming joint meeting of the Cleveland City Council and the Cleveland City Board of Education for a moment. The topics will be geothermal HVAC systems and actually turning over some dirt to build the new Mayfield school. A big Thank You to the few parents who confronted the city council and basically told them that, "COSTS DO NOT MATTER".

Gee Thanks few parents, I really do appreciate y'all showing up to stand on the soap box and making the sky the limit in the spending of tax dollars. I have a question for you FEW, "How is a building going to educate children"? You parents are horrible stewards of money and the future of our children, (my personal opinion).

Yes, concerned parents, the job should have been bid out. Our costs for a school are way above the national average and our community is not even called Hilton Head.

And here are a few questions for the Board of Education. Why did you not have Don Shell draft plans that were within the budget in the first place? Why is the average of the projected building costs so far above the national average and why did you not bid the job out to begin with? Maybe, since nothing has been accomplished anyway, we need to start over and bid it out?

ELECTIONS! All of you realize that the Republican Primary Race will probably be the key election for Sheriff? I intend no disrespect for Chris Watson, he is a viable candidate. I'm merely speaking from a pundit's point of view. I wouldn't touch the Sheriff's race with a ten foot pole. It's loaded with dynamite and I have no desire to play with it and experience a big boom.

However I will touch a few of the other races for the Republican Primary. I would like to stress here that my opinions do not in any way reflect any of the other opinions of anyone who writes for this paper or the publishers of this paper. They are merely purely and solely my own.

Up for county commission seats in my district are incumbents Bill Ledford and Jeff Yarber as well as new comer Steve Anderson. I have two votes. One vote will go to new comer Steve Anderson. I have talked with Steve at length and questioned him. The things I like best about Steve are his dedication to America as a whole (he served his country as a Marine for many years). Steve also has the vision and desire to hold as many jobs as possible in our immediate area.

My other vote will be going to incumbent Jeff Yarber. Jeff goes out of his way to help the citizens of his community. He does it on the low-key. Meaning that Jeff doesn't brag about the extras he does in the community. He just sees need and attacks it. Jeff sees every person as equally important regardless of their socio-economic level or race and treats all folks with respect. Whoever wins can rest assured that I will be calling them to make my opinions known for the direction and decisions regarding my district and my community.

In the Bradley County Trustees Race I have a choice of Jute Miller or Mike Smith. I have voted for Jute so many years that I can't count them. But after speaking with Mike Smith for a very long time and asking him to repeat financial anomalies that I couldn't quite grasp, I'm going to switch over and vote for Mike. He is a serious business man with investing experience. I think he could earn us some money that would help keep taxes down. The county is in need of some schools and I'd like to see if Mike could earn us enough in a year or two to build a school. This is not to impugn Jute Miller. I very much like Mr. Miller. Regardless of who wins, we all need to guard dog and make sure that the Real Estate Agencies do not get the Sweetheart deals on all the foreclosed properties. Yeah, there's perks in every department.

Circuit Court Clerk gives me a myriad of choices. So many choices that I can't remember them all. However there are the three that I view as the top three contenders. These would be, Gayla Miller, Hubert Conley and Lita Esquinance. This race I am the most sure about for my vote. I met Gayla and she was nice to me. I haven't met Conley but several of my political buddies like him. But Lita Esquinance, her qualifications rule. This is my one vote that I am absolute certain of being right. Lita has a website that is very informative. She has also published a paper expounding on the job, its duties and her abilities. Lita is some sort of combination of computer and accounting guru. She has expounded over and over that she can save us money. After reading all of her material I am sure that she can also.

General Sessions Division 1, Jerry Hoffer or Dan Swafford. My vote goes to Mr. Hoffer. My reasons are that he has been willing to address the public in a very open venue; he has also been in active practice for years and has served faithfully as a volunteer to our community. I have spoke with both men running in this race. My choice has no malice in it. I merely view Hoffer as being my better choice.

General Sessions Division 2, We have another serious round of choices. Larry Wright, Sheridan Randolph and Rod Miller. Hard choices. But I'm going to be voting for Rod Miller in the primary. I met him and he is sincere. He strikes me as being honest.

These are a few of my choices. I have talked with every candidate that I am going to vote for. I urge you to do the same. If you have a last minute decision to make and need contact information for candidates please e-mail me. I will do all in my power to procure for you contact information. I urge everyone to make the best and most informed decision possible. Don't vote on mere name recognition. Don't vote for them because me or anyone else offers them an endorsement. CALL THEM!!! Talk to them.

Finally, I do not mean to impugn or disrespect any candidate. I thank you all for running. I wish everyone, especially the voting taxpayers putting these folks in office, the very best of luck.
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