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Dalton
Roberts |
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In case you want to be smacked across the mouth with a wet squirrel, complain when the town is shut down from the river to the mountain for a bike race. Having read all the letters I received and those to the editor -- the nasty ones and the well-reasoned ones – I am even more convinced that it is utterly foolish to slam downtown traffic into such a dangerous and disruptive gridlock. One writer from East Ridge actually said, “You’re too late. The bikers now own the town.” You need to know he wasn’t talking about East Ridge. Their streets remained open while Chattanoogans crept along like snails as they were forced to get off all downtown streets, no matter the nature of their business. I was not aware the bikers owned Chattanooga. I thought all those who pay taxes inside the corporate limits of Chattanooga owned the town. It appears the true owners were not consulted about the massive street closures. Neither are we permitted to complain without triggering an orchestrated letter-writing campaign. One writer hinted that I am just an old has-been, saying, “No one is interested in what you have to say any more.” I thought that strange since he read and responded to what I had to say. In 23 years of full-time political service, I doubt I received as many insulting letters on any hot potato issue that came before me, including building an industrial park at Bonny Oaks, a trade and convention center, endorsing two metro charter proposals or supporting the Aquarium when it was almost unanimously called “Jack’s fish tank.” All I can say, my fellow Chattanoogans, is that it is a sad day for us all when a non-elected group can shut down everything from one end of Broad Street to the overpass at the foot of the mountain. Can anything make more sense than saying no street should be closed without the approval of the mayor and city council? We send them our taxes to build the streets and to take care of our investment and the purposes for which we made the investment. If you want to know how the people feel about it, put an advisory referendum on the ballot with the question, “Do you want to pay taxes to build streets for bike races?” I’ll personally pay the lawyers to draft it. There has been much blithe talk about the tourist benefits of the race. I have been intimately involved with tourist promotion for 30 years and take my word for one thing: the tourism revenue from this event was like dropping a bicycle valve core in the Tennessee River. The impact on all the small businesses that were closed down for hours was pretty rough. I questioned assignment of so many police officers to the event. Some letters pooh-poohed my numbers. I know what I see and at two of the three barricades where I was stopped, there were two or more officers. One citizen who tried to park told me he asked the conscripted school crossing guard why he couldn’t park and she threatened to call a policeman. He said, “Fine, maybe he can tell me why I can’t park.” He swears seven officers answered her call! Another writer called my remarks “shameful” and expressed disbelief that the paper printed my views but he did not object that they printed his. He really hit the heartstrings about how these events “seek funds for MS, diabetes and breast cancer.” Strange he didn’t notice the proceeds went to a Georgia charity. What I find shameful is closing streets without the vote of those elected to decide such questions. I especially find it shameful that any Chattanoogan struck by a heart attack or stroke anywhere in that long traffic corridor might well have died trying to get to an emergency room. Would it comfort his or her family to know their loved one died for a sporting event and tourist revenue?
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