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Local officials announce 21-point strategy plan

By David W. Shelton | June 10, 2007 |

After a weekend retreat at Land Between the Lakes, City and County officials brought forth a 21-point plan to improve the Clarksville-Montgomery County area. But will it be enough?

Eleven of the twelve Clarksville City Council leaders have just gotten back from a weekend retreat to strategize on how to improve the Clarksville-Montgomery area. The retreat also included several other City and County officials including City Mayor Johnny Piper, County Mayor Carolyn Bowers, as well as several department heads [editor's note: County officials were not involved in this summit].

The retreat, organized by Brett Sciotto, who was at one time Mayor Piper’s chief of staff, had the goal of clarifying the vision of city and county government. The result was a lot of great discussion, and was reportedly a success. Attendees compiled a 21-point list of the “top” areas of focus for the next few years.  After reading all of the 21 points, it was clear that it needed further commentary and analysis:

• Putting Clarksville on the map.

The first of these goals is an admirable one; one which shows a desire to bring positive attention to the Clarksville area. Although some might criticize its vague wording, I think the direction here is clearly to look to other local groups like the Chamber to look for ways to bring people here for tourism and relocation.

• Getting a paperless reporting system for the Clarksville Police Department.

“Paperless” is a great 21st century word, but when it comes to keeping records, I’m still one to hold fast to the good old-fashioned hardcopy. However, Clarksville’s finest often have to spend critical time just to fill out an arrest report when they can be using that time for patrol or even taking a much-needed break from time to time. This is a great goal, and quite frankly, it’s an idea whose time has been long overdue.

• Expanding the mayor’s and city council’s role in promoting the city’s river and military heritage and recreation opportunities.

Any word on how that big $2 Million grant will be used for Fort Defiance? Let’s see some movement already. Also, since the Wings of Liberty Museum has long been in planning, and the Tiny Town Road improvement is well underway, I wonder what else they have in mind.

• Creating a Capital Project Revenue District.

I’d love to read more about this one. But I have to ask… isn’t the City Limits a “Capital Project Revenue District?” Or does this mean that they’ll find ways to build arenas in an attempt to create revenue?

• Enforcing tougher residential and commercial codes to keep areas cut and clean.

How about enforcing the existing codes? That would be a good start. Let’s not get carried away with “new codes” when the old ones have been sitting idle for so long.

• Developing a press policy with fact sheets for council members.

Wow, what a novel concept. Let’s inform our Council members on what they’re going to discuss or legislate. Does this strike anyone else as being a little obvious?

• Creating city-wide standards for all signs.

BRAVO! To see how this kind of ordinance has worked so well, pay a visit to Franklin or Brentwood, Tennessee. Let’s make our city a place that’s a little easier on the eyes. And please, please get rid of those obtuse animated signs that look like exploding Christmas trees.

• Optimizing the efficiency of current roadways and intersections.

Yet another no-brainer. Drivers in Clarksville have often been panned because how bad they seem to be. I think they’re just dealing with an atrocious road system with an even worse traffic light network. Let’s get these lights installed (like at Exit 1) and get the traffic moving along.

• Initiating a charter revision.

Excellent. Let’s update the charter for the 21st century and pull out such silly laws as “movie theatres shall not have show times before noon on Sundays.”

• Establishing a chain of communication with local state representatives.

Excuse me while I scratch my head on this one. Does this mean that there is no chain of communication now? Are we to understand that Representatives Johnson, Johnson, and Pitts and Senator Kurita are not in regular discussions with our city and county legislators? Please tell me that this is not something that actually has to be implemented. Those channels of communication should have been established long ago.

• Installing red light cameras at intersections.

Just when we were doing so well. After a bit of research and discussion on this matter, I really don’t think this is even a remotely good idea. RLC’s might reduce the T-bone type accidents, but they’d actually shift the numbers to rear-end crashes. Plus, they would be enforced through “guilty-until-proven-innocent” citations. Let’s leave Big Brother out of it, okay?

• Implementing performance-based budgets.

This is another area which should have been in place long ago.

• Acquiring digital video cameras for CPD patrol cars.

An excellent idea which would only reduce the weight and bulk our officers must work with each day. Go for it! In fact, spend money here instead of those ridiculous red light cameras.

• Modernizing development and utilization of geographical information for all departments.

Another good idea. Let’s actually PLAN our growth instead of just arbitrarily approving each subdivision as it comes down the pike.

• Improving intersection geometrics.

I’ll refrain from comment on this one since I’m not really sure what it means. If it means to realign a few of those badly-designed intersections that are all throughout Clarksville (like the one at Tylertown and Trenton Roadthen this should have been a no-brainer.

• Planning for a commuter rail toNashville.

YES. Let’s get mass transit for people to get good jobs. Clarksville is fast becoming another bedroom community for Nashville, so we need to accommodate that.

• Conducting a community survey for recreation needs.

This survey should be ongoing. Low-income areas are especially in need of quality parks and recreation areas since they’re less likely to have clean, safe back yards in which their children can play.

• Creating a bulk e-mail distribution to communicate with the public.

This would be great, too. However, some might consider the extra email to be spam. I think it is good idea to have our council members to actually communicate with their constituents. Unfortunately, the critical part of the equation is for the residents to stay involved in the decision making process.

• Improving neighborhood watch programs.

This should be a community-wide program, and residents need to start by getting to know their neighbors. Crime has much less chance of a foothold when watchful eyes abound.

• Keeping trees and shrubs cut back to see signs.

Some have criticized “topping” trees extensively, but there’s a good reason for that. I think if we can put our wires underground, it would eliminate most of the need for topping. Then, all we’d have left is to cut back the shrubs so we can see around corners and see some of those obscure stop signs.

• Writing an ordinance meant to keep vacant buildings from sitting for years.

Blight is always an ongoing problem. It’s great to keep it under control. Good move. Old buildings that have asbestos should be cleaned out or properly demolished to allow for growth.

• Resolve all lawsuits and provide proactive solutions to prevent new ones and improve relations and morale with all City and County employees.
• Implement clear Title VI policies: Yes, this has been a bit of a hot-button item, but this little-known section Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one that would improve the quality of life for thousands of Clarksvillians.
• Attract high technology industry and white-collar jobs: I’m especially disturbed that this item was left off. Do we really want to retain our agriculture image, even though agriculture is becoming less and less of a driving force in our community? We need industry and technology to build our community’s image so it will indeed be “on the map.”
• Build a foot bridge behind the Two Rivers Center to Fort Defiance. Tourism needs to be increased to build interest in the area. Fort Defiance is one of the best-kept secrets of the Clarksville area, and it needs to be let out. Why don’t we actually use those $2 Million worth of grants to build it into a quality attraction?
• Improve roads and intersections in the Northeast High School district. I’m a bit irritated that there’s been little discussion or movement in this area aside from the Tiny Town Road improvement. Sure, a few roads have been resurfaced. But listen up, City Council: They need to be widened. Let’s get these capital projects put in place and get them started.
• Add left turn lanes in front of all schools. Even a single extra lane on Rossview, Trenton, and Richview Roads would help the traffic flow a great deal. Let’s get some common-sense action on this.
• Add sidewalks to all major roads, starting with areas near and around schools. Am I the only one who’s afraid for our children who walk to school? They shouldn’t have to be forced to hug the side of the road or risk falling into ditches to avoid cars.
• Bring all city and county buildings to full ADA compliance within 5 years (instead of 20). The city has already lost the lawsuit filed by Wheel Me On. We lost the appeal, too. The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed to provide accessibility to everyone. Why do city officials think it’s acceptable to delay action on a law that was passed fifteen years ago?
• Improve channels of communication with state highway department to facilitate better road maintenance and construction in the Clarksville/Montgomery County area. When I asked about the needed improvements to the streets around Exit 1, it was painfully obvious that there was little to no communications between the state offices and the local street and highway departments. This is absolutely critical, especially if they’re talking about widening I-24 from exits 1 to 8.
• Encourage HIV and AIDS awareness. As Clarksville grows, the need for quality STD education grows as well. As of right now, there are at least 158 HIV cases in Montgomery County. For every case we know about, there are at leat two that we don’t know about. Several churches are already working to inform their congregations on this critical issue, and the City and County governments need to have programs available for people to be educated about HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases. Sadly, the demographic with the most rapid growth in infection is in the African-American community. Kudos to Pastor James Hill of Greenwood Missionary Baptist Church and other local ministers who are working feverishly to provide education and resources to those who are affected by this illness. We can do more, though.

 There are surely more items that were left off the initial 21-point list that I’ve not mentioned here. Clarksville is growing at a feverish pace, and there’s no sign of it letting up. We need to work together as a community to encourage responsible growth, and make our city a great place to live for ALL people.

About David W. Shelton

Posts by David W. Shelton are copyright (c)2006, 2007, 2008 by the author. All rights reserved. David W. Shelton is a writer, speaker and activist in Clarksville, and serves on the Clarksville Human Relations Commission. His passions include film and complete equality for all people, and he has worked in various capacities to work toward this goal. He is currently an illustrator, graphic designer, trainer, and is the owner of Imagine Media Solutions. He is an Adobe® Certified Instructor in Photoshop®.

Web Site: http://www.skippingtothepiccolo.com/

Email: dwshelton@att.net

Sections: News, Politics
Topics: 21 points, Blight, Capital Projects, City Council, Eminent Domain, Growth, Retreat

2 Responses to “Local officials announce 21-point strategy plan”

1. Turner McCullough Jr. Says:
   June 10th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

   I commend you for your commentary. Your additional ten points are solid observations that must rightly be addressed as our city seeks to advance itself. One correction though, this retreat was for the city council and city dept. heads. The county government was not involved. Clarksville citizenry will need to make themselves knowledgeable about the proposals that develop and keep themselves involved in the process. Communication with our elected and appointed officials will be essential to ensuring that what happens to our community is what the community wants and supports. After all, there is no They, there is only US!

2. David W. Shelton Says:
   June 10th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

   Thanks for the correction, Turner. I checked a few things and made the edits. Your point is great, too… which is why Clarksville Online exists. We are citizens of Clarksville who will speak out when needed. Thanks again, Turner!

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