Oak Ridge Today

Guest column: Historic houses a burden or a resource?

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In the 2013 city budget adopted this year is a line item of $250,000 to purchase and demolish severely deteriorated housing structures that have become a blight on their neighborhoods. This is not an intrinsically bad idea. It just has a few serious flaws.

This is a significant amount of money to simply throw at a symptom of a serious problem without ever addressing the underlying cause of the problem. Treating symptoms and pretending this will cure the disease is a common practice with governments, as well as doctors, businesses, and regular people. The problem is that we continue to be sick, go bankrupt, and remain dysfunctional.

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Column: Chamber announces Christmas parade winners, thanks volunteeers

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Beautiful weather and mild temperatures helped to make the Saturday, Dec. 8, Christmas parade a success. Approximately 100 entries participated in the parade.

Judges awarded six awards after the parade:

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Guest column: Oak Ridge should consider a homecoming

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Homecoming. No, not the Wildcats. I know the ‘Cats Homecoming was in October.

But scattered all across this planet are multiple generations of our native Oak Ridge sons and daughters. Almost to a man (or woman), they recall their youth in Oak Ridge very fondly. There is another whole army of scientists and technicians who reluctantly moved on after working in Oak Ridge because their careers demanded it. They, too, almost universally remember their years in Oak Ridge oh so fondly! That’s an outstanding record. Trust me, not every place is quite so fondly remembered.

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Letter: Time to try a new mayor in Oak Ridge

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Note: The following is a copy of a letter sent to Oak Ridge City Council.

Dear City Council Members,

Over the last decade, while he was vice mayor and mayor, Mr. Tom Beehan accomplished some very noteworthy things.

Oak Ridge completed a major upgrade to its high school. The west-end turnpike was modernized. The Guest House (Alexander Inn) was preserved. And Oak Ridge was selected to host a brand new Kroger Marketplace store.

Despite these accomplishments, it’s time to recognize that the clock is ticking on our city’s economic problems and move to a fresh new approach.

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Letter: Secret City race raised about $5,000 for Child Advocacy Center

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To the Editor:

The board and staff of the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County, or CACACT Inc., wish to express their great appreciation and gratitude to the many organizers and sponsors of the Secret City Half Marathon and the Secret City Run for Kids on Nov. 18. The race generated approximately $5,000 for CACACT Inc, which serves abused children living in Anderson County.

Specifically, the mission of CACACT Inc. is to combat severe physical and sexual abuse and resulting trauma by coordinating and providing services in a child friendly, safe, and nurturing environment. Our vision is that all children in Anderson County will be safe, families strengthened, victims healed from trauma, and offenders held accountable.

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Guest column: UPF project at Y-12 not real Santa, ‘windfall’ short-term

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

Sometime in about a year or so, when the $6.5 billion build at the Uranium Processing Facility building at the Y-12 National Security Complex gets under way, Oak Ridge could see a decided increase in revenue from sales taxes. The windfall should come to the city over a short period, but then it will then end.

During those years, however, there may be some who think that Santa Claus has taken up residence in Oak Ridge. This piece is to advise you in advance, that should you hear that sort of sentiment down the pike, it is time to check in with some five-year-olds. They will quickly remind you that Santa has always lived at the North Pole with elves and flying reindeer.

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Letter: Micromanagement or good government?

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To the Editor:

I am very saddened by the loss of Ellen Smith from the Oak Ridge City Council. I have told her that she will have my support for running again in two years. We will be greatly impoverished by her absence until then.

There are those who blame long meetings on Ellen’s dedication to detail and asking many clarifying questions. The devil is always in the details, and it has been Ellen’s interest, talent, incisive mind, and dedication to the details that has made her so vital to the maintenance of good government and to ensuring the people’s right to accountability of how their money is being spent. It has been her dedication to scientific principles of actual verifiable proof of bald assertions that has made her the guardian of the people’s best interests.

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Letter: School board campaign educational, financial default remains

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To the Editor:

I would like to personally thank each of you, the nearly 4,300 citizens that supported me in my campaign to change how our Board of Education deals with its major problems.

Many of you may have noticed that from the beginning of this campaign I elected to run a very unconventional political campaign that was intended to inform rather than just win votes. My campaign was designed to inform the general public about a little known financial default. A default that the BOE has not wanted to even admit exists and explains as a simple misunderstanding.

But this default is as real as the daily sunrise. In spite of that, it has received little public press and no open discussion by either the BOE or the current City Council members.

When I began this campaign, I understood full well the major difficulties that I faced in operating a political campaign based on informing the public. In August, less than 10 people knew a default had occurred. By Nov. 6, about 18 percent of the voters knew about the default. Political campaigns are rarely based on informing anyone or on any real facts. Even fewer campaigns are won based on real facts or principles.

Today, the same disagreement and financial problem exists following the election that was created by the BOE over a year ago. A problem that has resulted in a $766,470 reduction in the 2013 school budget, reducing the Oak Ridge city transfer from $14.6 million to $13.86 million.

This major 2013 reduction has yet to be dealt with by the BOE, and the school budget remains unbalanced. This reduction will also reduce all future city school transfer funds because it establishes a new base from which all future increases grow.

Now, the same people that created the problem and poor relationship must correct it. Members of the BOE have threatened both state and legal action to retain the previous budget, but none of these threats have yet taken place. Also, nothing has been done to improve the situation.

I wish both the BOE members and the school staff well in dealing with the reality of this unaddressed significant budget reduction and their self-created poor relationship. Should this situation remain uncorrected, both will impact staffing and program content in our fine school system.

Citizens, thank you again for your support and your committed concern to both our quality of life and everyone’s’ efforts to improve Oak Ridges’ competitiveness as we move to the future.

Leonard Abbatiello

Oak Ridge

Guest column: Vision for ‘something else’ in Oak Ridge

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By Pat Fain and Leslie Agron

This is the first of several columns about a different vision for Oak Ridge than has previously existed.

The default development plan Oak Ridge has been operating under, to rely on federal subcontractor and spin-off industry growth, has stalled. The degree to which it will revive as the U.S. economy revives remains to be seen.

The U.S. Department of Energy says the Uranium Processing Facility they are just starting is their last big build in Oak Ridge. Upon its completion the number of employees in this function will decrease by about one-third. Given this and other concerns, it behooves us to consider other possible engines to fuel the Oak Ridge economy. We think that any successful replacement development plan will be woven from a combination of elements, rather than from one major thread alone.

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Guest column: America needs ‘purple ideas’ to solve national problems

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The election a week ago had been called the most important in our country’s history, and if you are like me, you were more than ready for it to be over. The extreme polarization of our nation has never been more real than it is today. Attack ads, mudslinging, lies, distortions, empty promises, and more than a billion campaign dollars have worn down the American people.

I wonder when we will see our political system mature past grade-school tactics so that we can come together and develop real solutions to the very real and serious issues that face us as a people.

Unfortunately, we are not viewed as Americans anymore, but as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Instead of seeking truth and commonality, we are being led down a destructive road of allegiance to ideology rather than allegiance to this great nation we live in. The labels and language that now proliferate are divisive and derisive. What ever happened to “We the People”?

Let’s face it. We are up against a massive tide of problems that threaten our future. Massive debt compounded by out-of-control spending. Public health epidemics, such as obesity, that cause already high health care costs to rise even more. Infrastructures like bridges, power plants, drinking water piping, and wastewater treatment have received near failing grades from the American Society of Civil Engineers. (The ASCE 2009 Infrastructure GPA was a D.) Gas and food prices have escalated significantly in recent years, squeezing ever-tightening family budgets. Environmental concerns escalate as we continue to realize the consequences of our decisions.

Our morality has taken a nose dive to the depths of our infrastructure’s GPA…or lower. More than 20 million are unemployed and under-employed. And our national security (physical, fiscal, and technological) seems shaky at best. But what do we do?

We lack the leadership to tackle these issues in a truly bipartisan manner, and there is no sign of that changing. Our political leaders continue to fall in line with their respective parties, whether it is good for the country or not. Even our journalists, who have traditionally been viewed as the fourth branch of government, spout ideology rather than truth.

We have been painted up as red states and blue states. But I believe that there is a growing majority of us that long to be painted a different color, one that looks past party affiliation and realizes that the issues we face are American issues. Oh, for a renewed view of America that blends red and blue together and emerges united and together…that is purple. We need purple ideas to solve the purple problems that are before us.

This election was important as the two candidates for president, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, offered very different visions for what America would look like. As with every vote, it was important for each voter to choose the candidate that aligned most closely with their individual principles and ideals. But now that it is over, it is vital for us to embrace each other as brothers and sisters, looking past ideological barriers that have constrained us, so that we can move forward united, strengthened by the diversity that has always made the United States of America a great nation. It is in the color purple that we will find ourselves again.

Kevin P. Bradford

Oak Ridge

Letter: Gratitude offered for local teamwork in Siemens Competition

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To the Editor:

The Math Thesis program is one of the above and beyond programs offered at Oak Ridge High School. Aimed at providing research opportunities for high school students, the program pairs students with a mentor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, either as individuals or as teams. The students define a project with their mentor and conduct research over the summer. Then the students write a paper about their results.

One of the places they submit their results is the Siemens National Math and Science Competition. This year, a total of 2,255 students participated in the Siemens Competition, with a total of 1,504 submitted projects.

Of the 1,504 projects submitted, 30 teams and 30 individuals have been selected as regional finalists across the country. That’s right, a total of 60 projects out of more than 1,500, split evenly between teams and individuals.

This year, two of the 30 finalist teams are from Oak Ridge High School. Three other ORHS students were recognized as semifinalists. Wow.

Oak Ridge High School’s record at the Siemens Competition is nothing short of incredible. Six teams advance from the regional competitions each year. ORHS teams have advanced to the national level competition four times and have won the national competition twice. No other high school in the country has as many students recognized by the Siemens Foundation as Oak Ridge.

Most importantly, this is a story about the village. The individual students work hard, no doubt, but they didn’t get there by themselves. The thesis program was dreamed of, designed, and built by a teacher, a teacher who was empowered and backed by the school system. Other teachers have and are carrying the program forward. Even more teachers are responsible for preparing the students over time to be in a position to compete.

ORNL supports the program with workspace and resources. Each mentor contributes expertise and guidance, and each is actively engaged with the students, a task that is not part of their regular work. Whether students advance in the competition or not, this opportunity is priceless!

So, gratitude to: Benita Albert for conceiving of and implementing the program; Karl Flatau, Tammy Carneim, and Jessica Williams for carrying it forward; the Board of Education for supporting the program; ORNL for generously providing mentoring staff and research opportunities; each mentor for investing time and energy; and the countless individuals who contribute to the opportunity for the students, regardless of the outcomes. It matters.

Finally, congratulations to regional finalists Kyoung-A Cho, Yu (Samantha) Wang, Jim Andress, and A.J. Toth, and to regional semifinalists Neall Caughman, Megan Kelly, and Patrick Williams.

Cathy Toth

Oak Ridge

Guest column: Residents encouraged to serve on city boards, applications due Friday

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By Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson and City Clerk Diana R. Stanley

It might sound like a cliché, but it certainly applies in Oak Ridge these days—exciting things are happening in our town!

The new Kroger Marketplace and the new Weigel’s development will impact economic growth through our Planning Commission. The added beauty and recreation opportunities with the construction of the new Melton Lake Water Pavilion are a major accomplishment of our Recreation and Parks Board. Let’s also not forget about the historic Alexander Inn, which is getting a new lease on life due in part to the work of the Industrial Development Board.

The city’s ongoing pursuance of a Manhattan Project National Park designation and the utilization of the Not in Our City campaign to address neighborhood improvements are also big projects for many other city boards. Make no mistake about it; exciting things are happening in Oak Ridge.

Our city board and commission members play an important part in not only the above projects being achieved, but also in many more. Board members volunteer their time, experience, and expertise to help guide projects, foster ideas, as well as interact with citizens and local businesses to help our community grow, and we would like to thank them publicly for their service.

The city’s boards and commissions oversee a variety of issues to fit the different public interests of our residents. For example, the Trade Licensing Board sets standards and procedures for the qualification, examination, and licensing of electrical, plumbing, and mechanical contractors; the Parks Board advises City Council and city staff on the recreation and parks needs of the city, while the Traffic Safety Advisory Board reviews traffic safety issues and gives advice to the city on other matters concerning traffic flow and speeds within the community.

We all want Oak Ridge to be the best it can be and our best resource for achieving it is the people of our community. We would like to urge residents to be a part of the “Something Big” by applying for membership on a city board or commission.

Oak Ridge residents interested in membership are asked to complete an online 2012 Boards and Commissions Application at http://tiny.cc/12boardsapp. Paper copies can be obtained in the City Clerk’s Office). Applicants may also submit cover letter or resumes in addition to the application. The deadline for all materials is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16. Interested individuals may view the 2012 Election Notice by visiting the City Clerk’s departmental website for a list of the boards seeking members, terms of office, and special qualifications.

Margaret Mead once wrote “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Positive changes are happening in Oak Ridge, so come and join your City Council in helping Oak Ridge achieve excellence in the years to come.