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January 2012

Flying The Stars And Stripes

  This is a quick informative note for my readers.  A friend of mine has been in a  "running gun battle", as it were, with the personnel at Center Point City Hall.  The point of contention?  Like me, my friend is a patriotic fellow who believes in the "reverence" with which "Old Glory" should be displayed. (I doubt you'll ever see him wear a pair of stars and stripes swim trunks.)  Our flag at City Hall flies 24 hours a day.  According to Federal Law, 4 U.S.C. § 1 (et.seq.) it should be properly "illuminated."  As of 12 January, 2012 ... it was not.
  My friend has been recommending that substantial lighting be used to alleviate this problem.  This recommendation has not fallen on deaf ears.  Councilman King, upon hearing this, told my friend that he would, "... take care of it.".
  I've been to Washington D.C. more times than I'd like to remember.  I've also seen all of the locations "officially" allowed to fly our flag 24 hours-a-day (such as Iwo Jima Memorial, Lexington Green, White House, etc.).  At night these flags are brilliantly illuminated as to be able to be seen from long distances.  While our city can also fly our flag continuously (which I whole-heartedly endorse), it must also be brightly illuminated at night.  (Refer to U.S. Title 36 Chap. 10 § 174.)  Councilman King has placed his reputation on it.
  To some folks this matter may seem trivial.  I can only say to them, "... It is not trivial to those who have had to bleed and die for it."

The State of Alabama makes it a Class A misdemeanor for anyone to desecrate a venerated object, such as the U.S. or Alabama state flag. [Ala. Code Sec. 13A-11-12]

2012 CP budget is here!!  Check it out in the CITY COUNCIL section.

Mayor Henderson why don't you address the City Council and citizens for the "State Of The City" address?  Why just the Chamber of Commerce? 

Councilmen Barlow and Olan Tie In 2011

  I thought for sure that Council President Barlow would stand alone this year as he did last year but ... this year Raymond Olan tied the venerable politician.  "Tied in what?", you ask?  Both of them reminded citizens who were speaking to the City Council at meetings, 5 times each, that, "... I'm not being paid to do this."  In 2010 Council President Barlow reminded our citizens only 4 times.
  Funny ... I thought these stalwart citizens campaigned for this privilege.
  2011 was a record year though for both of these gentlemen.
   -  Only 3 times in 2011 did Councilman Barlow's clients get city contracts. (This number was reached by counting the number of times Councilman Barlow openly admitted as such.)
   -  As for Councilman Olan ... he decided to throw a temper tantrum after the City Council was asked unanswerable questions concerning the proposed "Industrial Park" purchase.  Although not one question was asked directly of him, nor was any ad hominem attack levied against him, Councilman Olan verbally attacked a citizen after the following City Council meeting.  Under the pretense of apologizing for his lack of responsiveness during the previous meeting's questioning, Councilman Olan lashed out declaring he would not be , "...belittled or berated!"  He had been neither belittled nor berated but instead had been embarrassed due to his, and the other city council members, lack of due diligence concerning the $1/3 M purchase.  After his tantrum, Councilman Olan declared, "... I don't listen to you anyway.".  I fully expected him to hold his breath.  As for me ... I'm glad he's not paid.

Center Point's Eagles Have A New Nest!

  The new auditorium and athletic field should be opening soon!  Congratulations to Mayor Henderson on this magnificent achievement.  With Principle Phillips, and Assistant Principles Reid, Simmons, and Tillman, our citizens can rest assured that this institution will rise to the expectations of parents throughout Center Point.

  By the way ... I just learned that this year's freshman boy's basketball team placed 2nd in the Tom Henderson Invitational Tournament.  I'm sure our Mayor is proud of their achievements.

  One final note concerning CPHS athletics.  Coach Willie Miller must be congratulated.  On 18 November, 2011, I watched as a proud group of young athletes stepped into Center Point history.  The final score indicated defeat.  The effort, even up to the last second, of these young men, indicated a developed strength of character and dedication to perseverance normally only recognized in victory.  These young men, in my opinion, ... won.  They won because they were passing academically in school.  They won because Coach Miller developed men ... not just athletes.  They won because they brought back the pride in being called an "Eagle."

Would You Buy Water That Came From Center Point's Spring?  You guessed it folks ... Councilman Barlow is at it again.

  October 27, 2011 - City Council meeting.  It was quick and one of those comments requiring a double take. "Uh ... what did he say?"  For a minute there it sounded like Council President Barlow wanted the Center Point city government to go into business selling Center Point Spring's water.  Nahh.  Couldn't be.  It sounded like something from an old W.C. Fields movie about some snake-oil salesman selling medicinal waters.  But ... nope ... sure enough, Council President Barlow was strangely serious about CP city government selling bottled water.  Water that comes from our spring at Reed-Harvey Park.
  Fast forward to the present.  Once again, Councilman Barlow has failed to publically discuss any pertinent details of this project with the entire city council.  With the exception of the October 27th mentioning, nothing more has been discussed with the entire city council IN PUBLIC!  Now, at the 12 January, 2012 City Council meeting, Barlow wants approval to get 3 bids (only because the job would cost more than $15,000 ... the limit requiring competitive bids)  to hire a company to perform "Water Quality Testing" for a "Preliminary Engineer's Estimate."
  Wait a minute here!  IT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT TO MAKE MONEY!  Some would say, "Hold on there.  If we had more money, we could buy more things for our city.".  DUH!  If you made more money, they would spend more money ... or find new and creative ways to spend it.  And nothing has been discussed in public.  Barlow has, once again, steam-rolled another idea through the back room and could care less about popular desires or possible questions from those he professes to represent.  Another case of, "You elected me  ... now shut up and go away."
  Nothing in the proposed budget has been listed for this type of expense.  Barlow is just going to use the "Dimension" account (emergency funds according to Mayor Henderson) as a slush fund for this and once again, ram it down the throats of the public all the while claiming, "Well I thought we had discussed it.".  Funny ... with all the snake-oil flowing around, I'm feeling strangely sick to my stomach.

Go Ahead ... Speed Or Run Red Lights In Center Point.  Our Deputies Can Use The Money!

  You've been warned!  According to Mayor Henderson, approximately 8,000 warning letters have already been sent since the cameras went on-line.  Now it's serious.  If you speed or run a stop sign or traffic light in Center Point you may not see the flashing lights of our deputies BUT ... you may just take a walk to your mailbox and discover that you are now lighter in the wallet because of your indiscretion.  The money from these citations are, according to our Mayor, slated to go to our deputies and their requirements.  So feel free to stand on it Cletus!  Just remember to smile at the birdie.

Your Home Must Have A Visible Number On It!

  Check out CP Ordinance 2011-03 in the "LINKS" section for details.  This is no joke.  Remember ... anything that can assist emergency personnel in finding you in a hurry can't be bad.  Take it from a guy who falls from ladders regularly.

 Total to date - $337,793.75
 

Outstanding U.S. Public Debt - as of 15 January, 2012 - $15,234,317,700,000.00

Want to really be scared?  The U.S. has unfunded liabilities in the amount of
$56,480,737,000,000.00 !!

Note: A newborn child in the U.S. now begins life $48,693.00 in debt! 
 This is the largest national debt in U.S. history and is growing by $4.21 billion per day.

  Think about this ... there are 46,953,167 recipients of food stamps.  So far, in 2011, there were 1,429,264 bankruptcies. Finally ... so far there have been 878,967 foreclosures.  The U.S. debt to GDP ratio is 60% ... China's is 19.81%.  The U.S. may have a population of approx. 310,000,000 people BUT only 110,484,382 are taxpayers.
  In Alabama, 1 out of every 151 homes is in some form of foreclosure.

U.S. Iraq Death Toll (since war began 3/19/03) - 4,484
U.S. Iraq wounded (since war began 3/19/03) - 32,200
Alabama's Iraq Death Toll - 73 (572 wounded)
U.S. Afghanistan Death Toll (Operation Enduring Freedom) - 1,875
U.S. Military Wounded Afghanistan - 14,342
Alabama's Afghanistan Death Toll - 21 (137 wounded)
U.S. Captured - 1(MIA)
U.S. Suicide (self-inflicted) - 14

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GE