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Trumann, Arkansas ~ Saturday, November 22, 2008
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Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008, at 10:50 AM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
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How long til we elect a NEW mayor????
Pulled that question right out of my mind.
I think in 2010?
The next election for mayor is 2010, with the term to begin January 2011.
That is just way toooooo long to wait for a new mayor!
Yes, but who are we going to get to run?
Don Cole?
Can we run her out of office. She is the worst mayor I can remember. 2010 is way to long to wait. Who voted for her and why?
No, they already tried taking her out of office by a majority of voters signing a petition. However, because of the type of city government Trumann established, that was not legal.
It is amazing how one can impeach a President of the United States, but nothing can be done to a small town mayor.
Amen to that!
I second that Amen!
The opinions here would be a lot different if she were actually concerned about things other than the things she's concern ed about.
Maybe next time there will be a better solution to a tie....
The last mayorial election just proved how important ones vote is. It is our civic duty to vote. My grandfather was big on voting, when I was a kid I heard him say that over and over but was too young to understand. Now I know how true his words were. To have an election end up in a dead tie is in one way preposterous. To have a candidate picked by drawing a piece of paper is sad in my book. I work in Jonesboro and made trips at lunch to vote in the election and the runoff and to have the election decided by drawing a piece of paper out of a box was in a way insulting to me. But thats the process and I have to accept it. I dare say the next election won't be decided in such a manner. I know its two years away, but I would encourage all the citizens of Trumann to get out and vote. We all care about our town and its problems. We are a typical small town and while our problems are not much different than they are in any small town, the biggest difference is that they are "our" problems. We need to find creative ways to deal with them and creative ways to improve the image of Trumann. Maybe one of the first steps in that process would be to have a record voter turnout in the next election.
Danny Harvison
Right there with you on that Danny! Trumann's image has gone to the waste side! We need improvements.
I did the same thing you did when I was voting. It's a good thing gas prices were not as high then! Ha!
Does anyone have an opinion about either candidate for county judge that we vote on Tuesday?
No opinion here.
I bought my dad a new flag for his Birthday because his was starting to look faded. Once he took his old one down he asked me what he was supposed to do with it. I was a little puzzled about the whole issue of proper disposal of the American Flag so I called the Chamber.
For those of you with the same issue this is the response I got.
Take the old flags to the Chamber and they will get it to the American Legion Post or call a member of the American Legion to have them come pick the flag up and dispose of it in a proper manner.
Congratulations to Charles Nix, new county judge. See the story on our main page.
http://www.trumanndemocrat.com/story/143...
We need to start thinking about possible candidates to run for mayor in the next election. Any suggestions???
Don Cole!
I would hope that whoever the next mayorial candidates are that they could show a commitment to bringing about some positives for the city. I think a new successful mayor would be one who demonstrates the ability to think outside of the box so to speak without being considered way off in left field. That in itself would require a person with new fresh thinking and new ideas. The problem is that Trumann is really no different than any other of the thousands of towns of the same size in this country. We are typical small town America. Every small town mayor is faced with pretty much the same problems and has the same challenges in front of them. If we do not get someone with a new way of thinking things will probably stay the same. The challenge is how to go about things in a way that will make Trumann stand out from the crowd, that is unless the majority of people in Trumann would like for things to stay like they are. I think our city government should be open, honest, and responsive to the needs of the citizenry. I just think Trumann has a huge amount of potential that is being unrealized. I don't mean to sound accusatory, but in my humble opinion things could just be so much better. There's always room to improve.
Hmmmmmmmm sounds to me like Danny Harvison would be a good candidate for Mayor too!
I can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind. But thats about as far as my thinking has gone. I just see a need for things in Trumann to be more positive. Most of us are proud of where we live. Like I've said before Trumann has the same problems as most any small town. We have drugs, crime and the things that go along with them. However, we also have some very, very good people in our town and there are many of them. I think that these people are our greatest asset. There is a majority of good, stable, honest and hardworking people here. To me they are the backbone of our community and I think this all gets lost in all the negative things we constantly hear. The future for Trumann can be bright if everyone pulls together for the common good.
Danny Harvison
Amen! Well said Danny! To bad we are stuck with the mayor we have for a while!
Just wondered if anyone knows who is planning on running for alderman from ward 5 in the upcoming election?
I have expressed these thoughts many times but this gentleman says it much better than I so here it is.
545 People By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con game regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.
No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.
Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.
I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.
When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ . If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
However, it is also true that we, the citizens of this country, re-elect approximately 90% of the 545 every election. Therefore, we bear a great deal of the responsibility for the mess we have created ...........
Are the current alderman going to run for re-election?
The next election of city council persons should be viewed as an opportunity to make a difference in the future of Trumann. If the citizenry of our town is happy with the manner in which the council is operating then they should turn out and vote to support their aldermen. However, if the majority of folks are unhappy with things as they are then here is their chance to do something about it. In my opinion there does seem to be a need for some changes. But that's my opinion. I would encourage everyone to get out and vote according to their convictions.
But are the current aldermen running for re-election? Just wondering.
I called the county clerk the other day and was told that no one can file for the election until August 6th. Guess we will know more at that time.
A number of years ago my daughters and I lived in Trumann where they, and I, were all reared. When my daughters were teenagers I was working in Memphis and didn't get home until about six each evening. One Friday evening after arriving home I received a call from a Trumann Police Officer asking to speak to my oldest daughter. After informing him that I was her father he explained his reason for calling. At this time we were living in the Char Mur Apartments. While my oldest daughter was home by herself, she was doing her laundry down the road at the laundry mat, preparing to go to the football game where she would be cheering that night as a Trumann Cheerleader, and a young man had been stalking her. This man followed her home and saw which apartment she went into. Upon seeing this he went to the back of the apartment and took the screen off and was trying to get into the house through the window when some neighbors saw him. He ran off and the neighbors called the police. The officer who phoned me told me that they caught the man at the ballgame and that he was there stalking other girls. I went to the game and got my daughter and we went to the police station to fill out some paperwork. While there the man's father came in and spoke with his son. My daughter and I, along with a police woman, were just a few feet from them and well within hearing distance. The father asked his son if he had touched the girl. The son said no and the father responded to his son not to worry about it because nothing would be done. Needless to say, hours later the young man was released and nothing was ever done about it.
During this same time frame, I had just been home from work a short time and was taking a shower when my daughters banged on the door and said someone was stealing our boat. I had a ski boat in the back yard that was not locked to anything. I looked out the window and there was a truck hooked to my boat trailer and they were driving off with it. I told a neighbor to call the police and I jumped into my truck and was able to get to the end of the road and block it with my truck so the men could not get by. Just moments later the police arrived. I explained what had happened and the police took the man to jail. I was told that someone would get back with me about this. Time went by and I never heard anything about it. I finally went to the prosecutors office to ask him what was being done. He said that they turned the man loose because there was not enough evidence to show that he stole the boat. The man had told the police and prosecutor that he paid someone $50 in a tavern for the boat and the prosecutor said there was no proof that he didn't do this. It didn't matter that I had the proper papers in my home showing that I owned the boat, and that the police saw him in the road one block from my home with my boat attached to his truck. The boat was also worth several thousand dollars and evidently a man saying he bought it for $50 did not sound suspicious. I asked the prosecutor if that meant that if someone wanted to take his car would all they have to do is to state that they bought it in a tavern and they could go free. He didn't like this question and told me if I had anything else to say about it for me to take it up with the new prosecutor since he no longer occupied this office. By the way, the man who was caught in the road with my boat attached worked for the city of Trumann.
I am telling this hoping that Trumann is not like this any more. All cities have crime and I applaud those policemen who are dedicated and do their job. It is so unfortunate that not everyone is dedicated to enforcing our laws and punishing the criminal. To clean up a town, county, state, or nation, you must begin at the top and install leaders with integrity. Said leaders can not differentiate between people when it comes to enforcing the laws because one might be a relative, friend, or co worker. Said leaders need to be above corruption and truly concerned about the community they serve and when this is shown not to be true it is time for them to be removed from office. This fact has never been more proven that in our U.S. Congress where over 90% are reelected each election and our country continues to be in worse shape.
Trowlett,
When did this take place?
There must be more to this story than i'm hearing surely. Email me if you like at trumannpd_7@yahoo.com
I am sure that Trowlett's story was years ago. If one of his daughter's is who I am thinking of then she graduated in 87 or 88.
If I remember Trowletts ordeal was somewhere in the the mid to late 70's, of course he can answer that himself. I did think he used his experiences as an example to make several good points about integrity of leadership.
If it was back in the 70s then it is unfair to compare current law enforcement (and our town) to the one that was in place more than 30 years ago. It is important we quit living in the past and focus on the present while preparing for the future.
Very good point.
Kind of you to say that, Harvo. Actually, it was about 1982. Not exactually sure but that is the best that I can remember.
I think that if you will reread what I wrote, especially the last paragraph, you will see that I didn't say anything that would indicate that I was comparing law enforcement, or even the town, of years ago to the current.
I also am not living in the past but I do firmly believe that we need to learn from the past.
True, we definitely should learn from the past so as to not repeat. I also agree with your point about how it starts at the top. Every army (or whatever group of people) is only as strong as its weakest member and that includes local government, law enforcement, etc. Good leadership is essential to success and the TPD has excellent leadership.
Trowlett is one of your daughter's DeeAnn?
Yes, Stephanie, DeAnn is my youngest daughter. I've tried to think of who you are since you know her but so far haven't been able to. My address if trowlett@comcast.net.
Looks like the council and mayor have done it again. They don't seem to care about fairness. There does not seem to be any shred of justice in the decision concerning Mr. Woods. There are a couple of things that really disturb me concerning this. First, Alderman James Baker voted to remove Mr. Woods from the parks committee. He shouldn't have voted or be allowed to vote. Mr. Baker is being opposed by Mr. Woods for his council seat in the upcoming election. I know this one vote wouldn't have changed the outcome but there is a matter of principle involved. This to me is a definite conflict of interest issue. The man simply shouldn't have been allowed to vote. To me this is similar to Scotty Jones being on the council and not voting on issues pertaining to water and sewer issues. At least Mr. Jones had the decency to abstain when those votes came up. But not Mr. Baker! But this is the way our city operates.
The second issue I have concerns the reason given for Mr. Woods dismissal. The reason being that the sports programs have lost money. That may be a valid reason for the vote result, however how come the person the mayor hired to run the city sports programs is not being held accountable? How come she didn't lose her job? Last year Sharron Turman, who was in the same position, was fired because her husband came to the complex? How come Ms. Parker still has this job when the program has lost money? If the money problem is so severe as to let the parks chairman go, then why does the person in charge who is a city employee not get the same? Which is worse, someones spouse coming to the park or the programs losing money?
This whole thing smacks of favoritism and not impartiality.
Tincan took the words right off my keyboard!!
Guess no one cares any more............or maybe there is no point in beating a dead horse
Well, I care, and it was wrong. Never should have happened, especially the way it happened.
With the coming elections, maybe the voters will elect someone that will stand up for what THEY believe in. It just seems that ONE person makes ALL the decisions behind close doors and the others follow that decision. It is simply amazing how much control ONE person can have.
You are right burn, and there are several running for council that wont let ONE person run things.
disco infernoooo
I have read with interest all of the comments for sometime about the mayor and the city of Trumann. I guess my only statement is this: Did the problems start with this mayor?? OR were there problems here before this mayor???
Mimi2, YES there were problems before this mayor took office. We need to be part of the solution not part of the problem. The bashing should be long over by now.
Thank you for your response-- "elemprincipal". I was beginning to wonder.
What would happen in Trumann if we had a "volunteer program" as a lot of other towns have? If we went to the Mayor with ideas and concerns about our town----We could be a part of the solution, and not any problem. This is a great town. I was born and raised here. I have been away for a number of years, yet I was back often to see relatives and have kept up with "my home town". Trumann has a future, but it can't be done by one, two or even 12 people. It will take all of us working together, not pulling apart. I for one will ask--what can I do to help better my town.
There are some good efforts going on now to make the town better. PLEASE VOLUNTEER!! All you have to do is ask to be apart of these efforts. Have idea's??? Talk to the mayor, council form a committee. Tell them you have XXXX number of hours a week that you can help. We might even win the volunteer town of the year!. It would be wonderful to be known as a great Volunteer Community.
There is always a starting point, maybe now its time. If we don't TRY to make things better, or improve on the things we have, we have no right to complain.
I don't want to bash anyone, I don't want to be bashed for my thoughts, or what I feel in my heart.
Thank you!