Before anyone wig's out and starts accusing me of being nuts and part of the conspiracy to annex All of Cumberland County permit me to share some information with you.
I attended the Thursday community meeting at FTCC where the folks from Columbus/Muscogee and a research group from University of Georgia video conferenced with interested people here in our community. First let me say what a wonderful job the people at FTCC did. The meeting went off without a hitch.
Second, I am from "Big Bang" land, I am no fan of annexation the way Fayetteville bungled it. If you remember back the triggering event was related to money. The County controlled how the money was to be doled out and the City wanted more of it. The County said no, the City got P.O.'d and scrapped a logical 5-10 year plan to annex suburban areas in favor of a tantrum inspired "Big Bang". Metro government would avoid that sibling spat type event that is all too common here.
What I heard Thursday puts all that childish B.S. out of the picture. These folks have hit on something that works very well for them. Could it work for us? There are an awful lot of similarities between Columbus/Muscogee and Fayetteville/Cumberland. There are also some big differences. Could it work here? I really don't know right now but I think the idea has plenty of merit. It certainly deserves a fair discussion. What we have now certainly could use an upgrade!
Cheers to the County officials especially Breeden Blackwell, the Mayor, Mr. Imam, City Councilman Charles Evans and my fellow citizens who attended. Cheers to Tim White who has clearly reported what occured in editorials in Saturday and Sunday's Fayetteville Observer.
Big jeers to the City Council, except Mr. Evans, who were conspiciously absent. The old saw" If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem" seems more and more apt for our council members.
Sincerely,
Bill Wadford