Letter to the Editor:

I purchased my home in Cleveland two and a half years ago. My realtor never mentioned the possibility of a new airport being built less than two miles from my property. Had that been mentioned I would have moved on to another location. All was well in the beginning, the area was beautiful and quiet, the home was lovely and the natural surrounding environment was just what I was looking for having grown up in a busy noisy city.

I visited all the attractions, historic and otherwise, I even learned a few things about history that I never knew about, in particular the Trail of Tears. Little did I realize then that I would be reliving this part of history in modern times. No sooner did I hear about the possibility of a new airport nearby, the county tax appraiser raised my property taxes, in the middle of the deepest recession this county has ever seen since the great depression.

Now I find out that this airport is for the benefit of a select few possibly just one individual. The extension of the current airport would be too expensive or too noisy for the affluent neighborhood it currently resides in. So my home and my neighborhood would better suit Allan Jones and friends. My neighbors who live near this new airport are against building it in our backyard while those who stand to gain financially and don't live nearby are in favor of building it here.

So now more homes are for sale and I too have plans to leave. The value of my home has gone down and certainly will drop as soon as that airport is built. After all, who wants to live that close to an airport, apparently no one.

So just like the previous trail of tears I am being forced to move against my will. My property has and will continue to diminish in value and the great white man will rezone and take over my land. Our local politicians have done everything in their power to make this trail of tears come to fruition. The head lines of your next publication should read "History repeats itself in Cleveland Tennessee."

- Joe Cunetta, Cleveland, TN



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