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July 17, 2005
How Will You Help Me Defeat Curtis Adams?
I am pleased to tell you that many people have asked me how to help in my campaign for county commissioner. And some of you have asked where to contribute and how much to contribute. Here are three ways you may help out:
1. Volunteer~Please email me. We need canvassers and letter writers, "meet & greet" hosts and event assistants, phone callers and "personal note" writers. We need volunteers to recruit new volunteers. We are about one year out from the August 2006 general election, but there is a primary election first, which awaits us in May 2006. So we have two elections ahead of us--a primary and then the general. Right now, I am running uncontested in the primary. But before deciding to run myself, I was ready to support a strong and qualified candidate in this district. And so I sought out qualified candidates in District 8, people I could support and help put in office. For whatever reason, no one stepped forward. What I discovered was that I am that strong and qualified candidate. Many people began to encourage me to run, calling me the "right man for this race." More than a hundred people locally approached me personally within a few months, asking me to run. That is the major reason I am running--because I others have asked me to. Another reason is to show Hamilton County that we can bring citizens together to solve problems, and that's where you come in. So volunteer. Please. You should send me contact information (phone number, etc.). And do one more thing. Email a list of five other people you know who would help us get me elected.
2. Contribute~This is one of the most important actions you can take in this campaign. Money pays for printed material, advertising, equipment, supplies, staff needs, and so much more. So give. Whether it is one dollar or a thousand dollars, please give (state law caps individual donations at $1,000 per candidate per election). Make personal checks payable to "John Bailes for County Commissioner." Send your checks to: Friends of John Bailes - P.O. Box 91355 - East Ridge, TN 37412.
3. Vote~The most important action anyone can take is to vote. And no matter where you live, you must vote to make a change. But if you live in District 8, as some of you do, I need you to vote for me. When it comes down to it, it is the vote that counts more than anything else in this campaign. So if you can't volunteer and can't contribute, you still need to vote.
Your Candidate for District 8 County Commission,
John Bailes
423.493.0266
Posted by wjbailes at 11:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 14, 2005
Bill Lusk Named Campaign Treasurer in Bailes' Bid for County Commissioner
I've got a treasurer! Here's the report below:
John Bailes and Bill Lusk signed an "Appointment of Political Treasurer" form at the Hamilton County Election Commission yesterday, 13 July 2005. Mr. Lusk will serve as treasurer for Mr. Bailes' political campaign. A Hamilton County resident, Mr. Lusk was formerly the president of U.S. Xpress Global.
Signing this form allows Mr. Bailes' campaign to start raising funds. Currently Mr. Bailes teaches writing and reading at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. He has two decades of teaching experience in the classrooms of middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. Mr. Bailes publishes the Daily Bailout, a website devoted to political discussions. John Bailes is a candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner in District 8.
Posted by wjbailes at 10:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 12, 2005
In the Pulse~Political Columnist Writes Last Column
But Pulse writing will not suffer
*
By way of finishing, I am going to adopt
an old Chattanooga Times (nineteenth-century) motto:
"He that bloweth not his own horn will not have it blown."
And so let me announce here and now
that I plan on running for and winning
the office of Hamilton County Commissioner
in District 8."
*
How do I say goodbye to all that I love? Let me brag a bit first about the Pulse.
Let me start with what most readers never see: The blood, sweat, and tears. Put another way: You cannot imagine the relentless days of work and hours of dedication Pulse publishers, editors, writers, and staff put in. You have to picture it.
Posted by wjbailes at 07:55 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 11, 2005
Soul Searching~Finding Max W. Hackett
At the Daily Bailout website, an online source of commentary and analysis, Dr. Olin Ivey reflects on the short happy life of Max W. Hackett at WGOW-FM. You may read an excerpt from Ivey's At the Threshold below:
Marcia Ball has soul. Watching her nimble but hard driving fingers attack the keyboard and listening to her razza-matazz renditions of original and arranged numbers, one can come to no other conclusion than this: Marcia’s combination of blues, R&B, ballads, and soul music has taken the honky-tonk milieu of her hometown of Benton (Louisiana) to a deep level of feeling about life itself. She’s a soul woman.
As I listened to Marcia Ball, I couldn't help thinking of Max W. Hackett. Max ain't just soul man; he is soul.
Max stands alone as the godfather of talk radio in Chattanooga. I did not know him back then when he was on the cutting edge of a new form of radio programming – the local talk show host. But even his present-day detractors speak not begrudgingly--but glowingly--about what he did in those early days of talk radio.
CLICK TO FIND THE SOUL OF TALK RADIO
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July 10, 2005
Chattanooga Cheap~the GOOD, the BAD, the NEW
[Pardon me, boy. Isn't that the Walking Bridge you're riding on?]
The GOOD News
If you're a business person, as I have been off and on over the years as a marketing consultant to small businesses, you have to be excited by the news that Chattanooga was picked by fDi (ForeignDirectInvestment) as the Most Cost Effective city in the United States (fDi article is here). And why?
Obviously, the city is a remade paradise for recreation seekers with the Waterfront, the Riverwalk, and the North Shore--much of it available all day for residents and visitors. Not bad for public property. But fDi was thinking of some other indicators, namely that Chattanooga office and industrial space is cheap to lease. And for a tri-state metro area of almost a half-million people, property prices have to be some of the best in the Southeast. The salaries are lower than national averages, good if you're an employer. And, yes, our cost-of-living is lower too (see my Boom & Bust Economies piece). We receive high marks because of our low labor turnover as well as good marks for providing employers with "dedicated" workers.
Still, we have to stop and ask: Are we capturing new businesses and industries? And if not, why? And what can be done about it?
CLICK TO READ ABOUT THE BAD NEWS & THE NEW NEWS
Posted by wjbailes at 09:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 09, 2005
Boom & Bust Economies
Along with 6,000 plus people in Northern California, my wife Dinah and I entered Mount Shasta's 4th of July Fun Run & Walk, the "largest small town walk in America." While some ran a 5-mile run, we joined the majority of participants and walked the 2-mile loop (I had been put in the Clydesdale category, after all, a category aptly named for men over 200 pounds). So as we strode along at the base of the majestic Mt. Shasta, bands and musicians playing at every turn, we took in the clear blue day. And the cool, thin mountain air felt good.
Along the last half mile of the loop, local gourmet restaurants offered sample nibblets for us. We indulged. As we nibbled, we were met by Dinah's uncle and aunt. My wife grew up in the Mount Shasta/Weed area and much of her family still lives here. This is an area settled by loggers and Italians. Dinah's mother, for whom we now care in our home in Chattanooga, grew up in Weed also. And Dinah's grandmother, straight from Italy to New York City, came to California around the turn of the twentieth century. This stock of people were strong Catholics, unlike the Baptists with which I grew up.
After the race, winners were announced, followed by a parade down Main Street. I sat with Italian in-laws and listened to the gab about the inflated real estate market in California. We were interrupted now and then by my son, Jackson, who was excited by the parade and the mountain and wondered how his mother could have ever left this "piece of heaven." I smiled and then listened to my wife's family talk about the median price of a home in the state being anywhere between $300,000 and $450,000. Property had obviously become overpriced, and Californians were talking about when to sell to avoid a coming "bubble burst."
Posted by wjbailes at 03:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 08, 2005
Seneca, Lincoln, the Cheshire Cat & Democracy~The Art of Vision
The Daily Bailout posts a guest columnist today, Martha White on Democracy and the Art of Vision. Martha White is an author, interior designer, professional public speaker, futurist, and a consultant to organizations in the domains of learning, creativity, and change. Here's an excerpt from her column:
What could the Roman philosopher Seneca, American president Abraham Lincoln, and the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland possibly have in common, and how could that commonality relate to the subject of democracy?
The answer is: They all articulate the significance of vision.
Seneca understood that “our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
Abraham Lincoln believed: “If we could know where we are and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do and know how to do it."
Lost in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
Said the Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go."
In other words, if you don't know where you are going, and why you want to get there, any road will do.
How have we, as a species, done such damage to our global environment and to ourselves and other human beings within a relatively short period of time? How did we come to find ourselves in such dire straits in our short history as a nation?
Proverbs 29:18 states the answer succinctly. “Without vision the people perish."
CLICK TO READ ON & LEARN HOW TO DEVELOP VISION
Posted by wjbailes at 03:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2005
Calling for Total RE-MAX!
We're back with a bang! And happy to get things moving with a call from Candy Corneliussen to reinstate MAX HACKETT on WGOW. Also at Chattablogs is Beth's statement on the removal of Max Hackett. Here's an excerpt from Candy's Call to Action:
URGENT!
We need every voice to protest the corporate removal of Max Hackett from WGOW; he was Chattanooga's only progressive voice in local talk radio and is being replaced with an afternoon of RUSH LINBAUGH!
Max's show aired on WGOW 102.3 FM, Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Max has been our only local talk radio host who routinely featured voices and opinions that are rarely heard - or often silenced - in our community.
TO CONTINUE READING CLICK HERE
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