« County Mayor Speaks to East Ridge Education Committee | Main | East Ridge Leaders Hosted a "Meet Your Candidate" on Sunday »
April 05, 2006
Wimps & Warriors versus Winners
Thanks to the Hamilton County Voters Council, Democracy for Chattanooga, and Chattanooga State College for hosting the first of three forums for county commission candidates in 2006. Here are some highlights from last night:
14 county commission candidates answered questions at the forum. Representing District 8 were Republican Curtis Adams and myself, a Democrat.
My opponent called himself the "heavy weight champion of school funding" despite the fact that he has not voted for increases nor pursued outside sources of funding during a seven-year war with Jesse Register and the School Board. Instead of helping children and the community, he was bickering and yelling. And during these battle years, the schools were dealing with a new federal mandate (NCLB) to "leave no child behind." With this mandate, achievement goals were raised that added costs to education locally.
Mr. Adams also said that "there are only two types of politicians, wimps and warriors." I say that there is a third, winners. These are the public servants who work hard with others and solve problems, bringing opportunity to Hamilton County.
I said, as I have always said, that the time is now for education, jobs, and trust. Now is most important time in our county if we are going to do something about economic development and schools. I pointed out that the number one indicator for higher levels of prosperity is the education level of a community. Support quality education and jobs will come, but we must do both. We must have an "accountibility agreement" or "responsibility agreement" that emphasizes performance and opportunities rather than fighting and fussing. And with business growth, revenue will rise. Consequently schools will benefit. Most importantly I will listen to those thousands of voiceless people who live in my district and in our county.
~John Bailes
Time is NOW for Change
District 8 Commissioner
| By wjbailes | 04:55 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://chattablogs.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/31011
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Wimps & Warriors versus Winners:
