Column
By Mark Beardsley
An Interesting Race Ahead For BOC District 2
Chas Hardy’s decision to challenge Jody Thompson for the Post 2 seat on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners adds a little life to what had been shaping up as a colorless local election.
Having worked for his father, Mayor Charles L. “Buzzie” Hardy Jr. for the first 12 years of my newspaper career, I watched Chas grow up, changing from a precocious child, to a teenager, young adult and now a respected and liked father of two — who also lives across the street from me. He’s got a good sense of humor, has two cute kids, keeps his lawn mowed and his Labrador retriever stays in his yard. What more could you ask of a neighbor?
Chas is the last person I expected to run against Thompson, but he comes by it naturally. His father got into politics out of fear that no one would stand up to run against Mac Barber, who was seeking re-election after a disastrous two years as mayor. Now Chas tosses his hat into the ring out of fear that nobody would otherwise run against Thompson. Is genetics at work here?
He certainly has the résumé of public service. He’s young (OK, more and more people are young relative to me), but not too young. He’s got the intellect, he’s had some leadership experience — he’s a good candidate.
But don’t ask me his chances. I had an inkling his father would whip Paul Vickery pretty badly for mayor last fall, and turned out to be right, but my record at predicting elections is no better than a coin toss. As I write this (Monday), there is speculation that Tommy Stephenson will enter the race, and who knows what other potential candidates are out there, but at least we have competition for the District 2 seat. As of last Thursday, I hadn’t heard any mention of opposition for Thompson.
Shows how much I know.
(A disclosure here: MainStreet Newspapers is my employer. Candidates running without opposition don’t buy much advertising, so the company much prefers a spirited local contest to an uncontested race. We would actually like to see at least a dozen candidates for each race, although those of us on the news side of the business would rather not have to talk to any of them.)
It’s hard to gauge Thompson’s popularity. He upset Sammy Thomason four years ago as Thomason rode Harold Fletcher’s coattails to defeat over the courthouse and other issues, but there was a sense that anyone could have beaten Thomason, given the circumstances. You don’t hear too many complaints today about Thompson’s votes; but you don’t hear any strong support for him either.
Anyway, District 2 should prove to be a lively race.
+ + + +
Now the war hits home. Sgt. Shaun J. Whitehead, a former CHS student, was killed Thursday in Iraq. To my knowledge, he’s the first local soldier to die in Iraq.
Whether you support the war or don’t is immaterial. A young man died for his country and for his comrades, and he deserves our honor and respect. Whatever happens, however history judges the war in Iraq, we owe that to the fallen.
Mark Beardsley is the editor of The Commerce News. Contact him at mark@mainstreetnews.com.
What’s The Best Course For Hospital Authority?
With the Jackson County Board of Commissioners split over financing a new BJC Hospital, and convinced that there is no practical choice other than replacing the current facility, the BJC Medical Center Authority is looking for a partner.
That offers both opportunities and concerns.
The authority has correctly concluded that the most important issue is that the area keep a viable hospital to meet the health care needs of residents of Banks and Jackson counties. It would prefer to replace the current facility, but with that not likely to occur, the only other option is to convince another medical group — for profit or not-for-profit — to come into the area.
The concern is the replacement of a hospital owned by the taxpayers of Banks and Jackson counties with a facility in which there may be no public ownership. Who will answer to the public? How will the public respond to losing its facility?
Those questions will be answered if and when BJC finds a partner, someone willing to build that new hospital and meet all of the conditions the authority hopes to impose — or enough to get its blessing.
Coincidentally, Dr. James Bouchard appears to be ready to start his medical complex. He told the Commerce Planning Commission Monday night that he hopes to begin moving dirt in six to eight weeks on two large medical buildings, a hospice, a pharmacy and more. Bouchard’s continuing offer of a hospital site — free to a nonprofit facility that meets his conditions — could come into play with the BJC project.
It’s too early in the process to see what the hospital authority’s best course of action will be, but BJC Hospital is a crucial entity for Commerce and Jackson and Banks counties, and its “replacement” will not be taken lightly. The ultimate goal remains to have a quality hospital in Commerce for the welfare of the community and its citizens. We’d like to see the continuation of a publicly-owned hospital, but unless the political situation changes — and it could with an election upcoming — the BJC Medical Center Authority has little recourse but to look elsewhere for help.
Time For Spring Cleaning In Commerce
Spring brings a welcome rebirth in nature, as trees, shrubs and grass put on new growth. Most lawns look their best right about now.
Code enforcement officials in Commerce point out, however, that spring growth often overwhelms property owners, who let their yards get out of control — and makes them subject to citation under the city’s cleanliness of premises ordinance.
If your property has been neglected, now’s the time to clean it up — while the weather is pleasant and before you’re forced to under the ordinance.
Column
By Susan Harper
Making A Spectacle Of Herself
To those of you who may have seen me lurching in and out of the library lately and stomping on the ground as if I were killing spiders, I want to say that I have not gone any crazier than usual — I just can’t always see where I’m going, now that I have new glasses. I can see straight ahead, actually, and I’ll think I’m doing fine, and then suddenly the ground will seem to drop away, or ripple like a cartoon carpet. I’ll be leaving a friend’s house, for instance, and I’ll think, “Wow — I didn’t know there was a step here!” or “When did they re-landscape?” And there isn’t; they didn’t. It’s me.
This whole adventure began at the library, when a patron — I’ll call him Jon Gable — ordered some books from other libraries. As the books came in, I consistently misread the printout and put them on hold for ‘Jan Coble.’ Meanwhile, Mr. Gable kept calling to ask, “Have my books come in yet?” It took some clever sleuthing by library staffers to sort this out and get Mr. Gable and his books together, and we all knew I was the one at fault, because I’d been going around wondering aloud who Jan Coble was.
I’d also been having to get my eye within an inch or two of a driver’s license in order to read it when I was registering someone for a new library card. I had to resist the temptation to whip out a magnifying glass, which I thought would look as if I was suspicious of the license and thought it was fake.
Obviously, clearly, it was time for new glasses — past time, really — but more than that, it was time, alas, for the dreaded bifocals, those time-honored symbols of age, a veritable announcement — if an announcement is needed — that one has boarded the old downhill slide.
I’m happy to say that mine are the non-obvious kind. The only way you can tell they’re bifocals is by watching me walk around. I have to put my chin on my chest in order to see the real, solid ground instead of that rippling stuff, and I have to throw my head back to read anything closer than five feet.
The first two days were the hardest. I considered taking Dramamine, but I feared that would just make me sleepy while I was reeling around, and might cause me to take an unscheduled nap on the asphalt in some parking lot.
Along the way, though, I started noticing that I didn’t have to take my glasses off in order to read a menu, find a book on the library’s shelves, or have a conversation. I noticed, too, that taking them off was a hard habit to break. I’d spent years wrecking the frames of my glasses, so that the earpieces shot off in opposite directions and flopped around in a state of lamentable dereliction. Now I’m having to learn to leave the glasses alone and move my head or my eyes instead. It works wonderfully when I’m driving.
My favorite thing about all of this, though, is how clever our brains are. All by themselves, I’m told, they figure the whole thing out, and if you can get through the first few days or weeks without mishap, you’re home free. I’m in day four as I write this, and doing better, but I still clutch the railing when I’m going down stairs, or take a step down when there isn’t one. Look out! Here I come!
Susan Harper is director of the Commerce Public Library.
