Topic: Ward 8

A Candidate speaks: On Democracy

September 12, 2008 |

David Cutting is a candidate for Ward 8 City Council. This is his second position paper.

Ward 8 City Council Candidate David Cutting

City Code Section 1-204(c), as copied below, is anti-democracy, and the new members, hopefully including this writer, must vote to repeal it.

A public comment period is conducted prior to each regular session of the city council from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.. Any person wishing to address the council shall make such request to the city clerk by noon on Wednesday prior to the regular session and shall submit their name and the topic of said comments. Each person shall be allowed a maximum of five minutes to speak during the comment period. No public comments concerning any zoning amendment to be considered by the city council at such regular session shall be received during this period.

We must encourage, not restrict, resident participation in our city government. It should suffice for persons to sign up for comments between 7:15 and 7:30, as they enter the meeting, and to do so without stating a topic. The council should hear the five-minute comments, in the order in which people signed in, at the end of the regular session. This will help ensure that the public will have the opportunity to address items of current concern, rather than stale issues that may already be resolved. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion, Politics | No Comments

Ward 8 Candidate David Cutting speaks out on public safety issues

September 5, 2008 |

David Cutting, candidate for Clarksville Ward 8 City Council, in his first position paper, targets the issues of Public Safety. Cutting is seeking the seat currently held by Councilor James Doyle.

I choose to write my first position paper, Public Safety, as a brief narrative, derived from my personal observations.

The current City Council systematically denies pay increases for our firefighters and police officers by first telling them they must accept salary reductions, so that when their current salaries remain uncut they feel good that at least they did not lose anything. However, the public loses, when seasoned officers leave for smaller cities, such as Ashland City and Oak Grove, for higher pay. We must then recruit and train replacements, at significant cost, when those funds, plus revenue from an increased property tax base (not increased property taxes) should have been used for parity increases to our already trained and devoted men and women. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Politics | 3 Comments

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