because of the unwillingness of the sheriff to share genuine documentation as proof. Because of his worthless promises we are at a point that his word is no longer good enough.... Let us see the proof.

I guess with a man like Tim Gobble, with so many years of Secret Service work behind him, being secretive is second nature. With all the secrecy, it is all but impossible for those who foot the bill to discover the truth.

I have been an editor for ten years, all through the declining years of the previous sheriff's tenure, and I have found that when a public official obstructs the gathering of legally obtainable information by the media or the public, he or she has something to hide. I would wager that if Sheriff Gobble had been honest and forthcoming with genuine proof to support his requests, had opened his heart and office to scrutiny and tried to do what he promised during his political campaign, he would not be using the court system to force a shakedown of the taxpayer.

The previous Sheriff, Dan Gilley seems to have trained Gobble well in misleading the public and playing political games with taxpayer dollars. But just like Gilley, he is fooling no one.

That's what I think. What do you think?

Something good

Many of Bradley County's public officials are doing a good job without any controversy or fanfare. One such person is Trustee Mike Smith. I am not a financial wizard but in his first year in office. by wisely investing county money, it seems he has added hundreds of thousand dollars to county coffers. Just like he promised during his election campaign. That is good news and a campaign promise that was honored.

That's what I think. What do you think?

Property fights

District Attorney Steve Bebb has reprimanded the Bradley County Commission for trying to interfere with an ongoing court case by siding with an unfortunate man who has run afoul of an enthusiastic environmental officer.

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I am an equally enthusiastic property rights advocate. Property rights are property rights... you either have them, or you don't. But environmental court is not so clear cut.

Let me explain. First, the officer concerned is not an environmental officer, he is an ordinance enforcement officer, which sounds much less warm and friendly. And there was no environmental damage, unless you consider eye pollution environmental.

The case in point involves a property owner who's outside tidiness does not conform to the liking of an unknown complainant who presumably called the officer to force a clean-up. No garbage, just untidiness. All the other facts in the case are irrelevant because, as Mel Griffith pointed out in his page 7 column in this issue, there are other worse violators going un-prosecuted. (Read it on page 7)

This property owner has operated a business for 30 years at the site with hitherto no complaints, but now something has changed to land him in trouble with the law, and it is not his junk. What has changed you might ask? The law and enforcement of it has changed.

Many times a community enacts laws that at the time seem reasonable and worthwhile but after trying them out they are found not to be as advantageous as previously thought. This is not the fault of the court or the enforcement officer, it is the fault of those that enacted the law. Usually laws that create more problems than they alleviate fade away but unfortunately it is a fact that it usually takes much longer to remove them than it did to create them.

It may be that some commissioners were forgetful of the legal process, when in good conscience they tried to right a wrong. Regardless, the property owner is still being singled out for no explainable reason and that needs to stop.

If all it takes to initiate legal action is for some unknown person to complain, then I would like to complain about a number of  violators on and near Waterlevel Highway, one of which is my own property. Lets clean the whole county up while we are at it.

The Bradley County Commission has legally stumbled but has been presented with one of those rare opportunities to reverse flawed legislation. Come on guys, do the right thing and throw these draconian laws out.

We already have a very enthusiastic office of the EPA monitoring the environment. We don't need to turn neighbor against neighbor. Who would want some community minded (but anonymous) individual to become all environmentally squidgy and point to some of the very important and influential property owners who have junk in their yard. They are out there.

That's what I think. What do you think?
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