With the vision from the Director of Schools, Michael Harris, The Education Foundation searched for an additional partnership to complement the Pass and Go event to provide additional incentives for the students who qualified for the car. Premier Medical came on board and agreed to give-away 12 laptop computers to provide students another chance to win, in addition to the car. Premier will also provide flash drives to every student participant in the program so that everyone will walk away with something.

“Education is such an important facet to healthcare and we are very excited about the opportunity to partner with the Clarksville Montgomery County School System as a sponsor of the Pass & Go event,” says Cathy Hayes, Premier Medical representative. “This program provides an opportunity to recognize and reward students for their academic achievement which we see as an investment in the youth and ultimately the future of this community.”

William Beach from Beach Oil Company recently came on board to give students a chance to also win gas cards.

Mike Harris, Director of Schools says, “I am thankful that we have so many businesses and individuals in our community who are willing to help us recognize students for their hard work and also support our district programs.” Without the support of our community we would not be able to have such events and rewards.”

For information about how your business can become a business partner with CMCSS please contact Candy Johnson at 931-920-7955 or candy.

Candy Johnson, City Council Ward 5

I received some emails from people who expressed concerns abut the city council opting out of the state guns in Parks bill,  which I along with some of my constituents think is a good decision for our community. The theme amongst those who are in favor of allowing guns in parks seems to be that they are worried about safety in our parks. This is not backed up by the statistics, so I have attached a list of the crimes committed in parks as reported to the Police Department since January.

In 11 of our parks there were no crimes reported, and in the others there were just a few. I think providing some information on the safety of our parks will provide some relief to those who are concerned. I will continue to oppose allowing guns in our parks, as a matter of ensuring the safety of our children. I would hate to see a permit holder get into an argument at a park with someone,  and then instead of calling the police  take matters into their own hands, and innocent bystanders get hurt. Our public safety department is here to help citizens deal with these situations. Of the type of incidents reported, very few involved weapons. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Parks with no crimes

The following parks had no reported crimes from January 1st – July 14th, 2009

• Billy Dunlop Park
• Bel-Air Park
• Burchett Park
• Coy Lacy Park
• Dixon Park
• Ft. Defiance
• Mericourt Park
• Lettie P. Kendall Park
• Patriot Park
• Sevier Park
• Sherwood Forest Park

Parks with crimes

The following parks had incidents of crime reported between from January 1st – July 14th, 2009

• Airport Park had one incident of vandalism
• Ashton Park had a case of assault
• Burchwood Park had a theft
• Dalewood Park had an incident involving drugs, and a misc offense on another date.
• Edith Pettus Park had one incident of vandalism
• Fairgrounds Park had a vehicle theft, vandalism, and a theft.
• Heritage Park had two incidents of vandalism, one incident of burglary, and one misc offense
• McGregor Park had three incidents of vandalism,  one drunkenness, one intimidation, and two misc offenses
• Smith Ballfields had one assault, and one misc offense.
• Stokes field had one assault,  one intimidation, one theft from buildings,  and two misc offenses.
• The Swan Lake Sports Complex had a case of theft of motor vehicle parts.
• Trice Landing Park had a misc offense.
• Valleybrook Park had the most serious incidents including, two incidents involving drugs, three involving alcohol, one robbery, one arson,  and one misc offense.

Candy Johnson, City Council Ward 5

There seems to be a statement made in the Leaf Chronicle about me saying $81,000 is not a significant amount of money. I personally feel it was taken out of the context in which I intended it to be. Here is the reality of the statement I made.

The Ward 2 city councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin said that the purpose of her beer ordinance was so that we can create a new revenue stream and to ease the burden for those who want to buy beer before the Titans game or going fishing. I feel there may have been selfish motives behind this ordinance, and so did not buy into the “creating additional stream of revenue response.” So I made the statement that $81,000 was not a significant amount of money to be proposing this ordinance in regards to a city budget of  $71 million. To me personally it is a large amount of money; however I did not base this on my personal finances, I was looking at the city’s finances.

If people will remember $81,000 is around what it cost to fix the lighting for one park and for other parks it’s even more than that. I am not opposed to bringing additional revenue into the city, however this was not an appropriate way to do so.

The fundamental issue is about having a reverence and respect for Sunday which is observed nationwide as a special day, religious or not. I will not compromise on this, and respect what the majority of what my constituents asked me to do, and that is vote “no.”

Thank you!
Candy Johnson

Candy Johnson, City Council Member for Ward 5

For several years the condition of this Park originally funded through a grant for the low-income area has been overlooked for repairs. The city owns and is responsible for this park, but has failed to upkeep the proper lighting, ball field and pool. The residents haven’t had full access to this park in over 4 years.

I have noticed that several other parks in poor condition receiving preventative maintenance measures such as lighting in amounts of of $80,000 to $125,000 have been allocated funds for improvements in this budget. I have supported the Heritage park improvements in my Ward and also some others in other Wards.  I agree that parks are about a good quality of life for our citizens but I am confused as to why we never consider fixing this particular park after several request to do so?

The responses I have received are as follows;

1. We don’t make any money off the pool.
2. It would not be a wise management decision to reopen the pool in that area.
3. The usage of this park is low.
4. Little league teams do not want to play there.

I do not feel that we have properly addressed the needs of the citizens in that area, nor have we gathered relevant and up-to-date data to back up these assumptions. As I am on the parks and recreation committee I have requested the cost to repair the once heavily attended pool, and was given an estimated cost of around $50,000 to repair the liner due to leaks in the pool. I am sure it may need some additional repairs, but before APSU built their new fitness center, they rented the pool from the city and did just fine maintaining it. I understand bottom lines, but is that what quality of life activities are really about?

When we talk about kids getting into trouble in the summer when there is nothing to do and the causes of low-income housing areas generating crime… We can keep talking about it, because when they have nothing to do they will unfortunately make trouble or possibly join gangs. If we can spend $40,000 on curtains and blinds, we can certainely afford an additional $80,000-$100,000 to invest in a park that has been overlooked for many years.

Many of these kids don”t have the transportation to get to the other pools and additionally can’t afford to pay $3-4 for admission. This pool is in their neighborhood and is in walking distance. On another note, the field and lighting is in such poor and unsafe condition I have no doubt as to why little league teams would not want to play there.

I have shared this information with you in order to let you know that the request I proposed for $80,000 to be allocated to begin fixing this park along with the other parks that were approved for funding failed (5-6) at the budget hearings. I not only support the growth and progress of this city, but also have a heart to make sure we are providing for the all the areas that need attention in our city as a parks and recreation committee member. If you feel this is something that should be given consideration please contact your City Council members to express your concerns.

Thank you!

Candy Johnson
Ward 5 City Councilwoman