Tax Payer Funded Propaganda

A couple or three times a year, Lenoir City government puts out news letter to inform the citizens about all the good things going on in the city. The news letter contains reports from the various city departments. It's like most government controlled literature, it only tells part of the story and just the parts the government wants you to know. The spring/summer edition is no different with one exception.

On the last page is a short article about the upcoming charter change that the council has placed on the August ballot. Author unknown.

The article is blatantly misleading from the start but this is what we have come to expect from the Lenoir City leadership. The article would have you believe that just out of nowhere the Charter Review Committee up and decided they thought the position of city treasurer/recorder should be changed from elected to appointed. Of course this is again false. Mayor Brookshire, Judge Vann and Dale Hurst were the ones who decided the charter needed to be changed so they could control that office. Hurst was the one who called the meetings, not the Charter Review Committee. It was obvious at the meetings that none of the members had a clue what the meeting had been called for till they were told by city administrator, Dale Hurst.

At both meetings, the overriding theme put forth by both Hurst and City Attorney, Shannon Littleton, was that as long as the position of treasurer/recorder was an elected position, they (mayor, judge, council, city attorney) could not control the office but if appointed  they (mayor, judge, council, city attorney) could control what goes on in the office. It's a scary thought. The article goes on to insinuate that if the voters will change the charter, they (mayor, judge, council, city attorney) would be more capable of appointing a capable, qualified person to run the treasurer/recorder's office. What comes to mind here? Oh yea, the foxes guarding the hen house.

At least some city tax payers weren't happy about their tax dollars being used to promote the mayor's propaganda agenda. That's how I got a copy of the news letter. Lenoir City government is slowly being taken over by those who would use the powers of the city to fill their own pockets. If the voters of Lenoir City are foolish enough to hand the check book over to these people, then they deserve what they get. Many of the city leaders feel that the citizens are not smart enough to see through wicked little plans. However, I honestly believe that the voters are a lot smarter than the officials give them credit for. I predict their little plan to take over city hall will fail as bad as the $50 wheel tax will. We shall see.

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6/2/08