FRONT PAGE - Around the Town - November 2008

I along with my neighbors and friends have had a conversation about the parks car. I don't want to be rude or disrespectful in any way, but in all honesty, we don't understand why we see him driving at all times on any day (including Sunday's) in the city's car. Is he really working or is he using the city's money for gas? I live close to him and see if driving the car at all times. Never in his own personal car. I really don't know and would like to find out what is going on. Another thing, my children play soccer at the park and along with other concerned parents, we see him driving up the walkway to the concession stand day and night. As he is backing out (especially at night) we are afraid that a child may get run over. That would be horrible for the city of Portland and I pray that never happens. We must make better decisions and take things seriously so that we can make this city safer for our children. I do feel blessed that we are able to have a parks car and someone to do the job. I just know I want to pay him for a job well done!

I saw a city truck in my neighborhood the other day helping someone move. The truck was loaded down with furniture. I think it was on a Sunday. If the trucks are allowed to be taken home I guess they can do with them whatever they want. Doesn't seem right.

When we see these things, let's take pictures of them and send them to the mayor and ask for an explanation.

That's why people want these city jobs...for the perks. They probably charge the gas to the City, too. Dosen't seem right to me either.

I've seen the Parks car and wondered about it.

YES WE DID!

Yes, we did !!! :)

If anyone has pics, post them so we all can see what is going with our tax dollars.

Just this morning, I saw a city police officer dropping a child off at the middle school in his patrol car(didn't have my camera). Is this allowed? Does the city insurance pay for families to ride in city vehicles? If my tax dollars pay for this, then I want a city vehicle to run errands. Oh....don't forget the gas card too. The economy is tough now and we need to watch wasteful spending.

Drove by Portland Cares this morning and always am shocked that dopey people continue to leave stuff out by the road. If you really wanted to truely help someone, you would take care to make sure it was properly handled and certainly not left out in the weather beside a busy road at that. But today, I was stunned (takes a lot to shock me, lol), there was a very large screen tv someone left out there, in the pouring rain no doubt! I haven't dealt much with Portland Cares, due solely on their hours, but do appreciate the work they do. How rude and inconsiderate is that of someone to dump their cast offs out like that (continually) just to get it off their hands and/or out of their own way!!??!!

Over the last few months, much has been said (and in fact I've said a lot of it) about the fact that the Portland gas stations have been gouging us, charging a ridiculously higher amount than the surrounding communities. These past few days I have noted that the prices are now competitive to the Kentucky stations (notwithstanding the tax difference) and are actually even lower than Gallatin (which has not been true for months). I don't know if this is because the Portland cartel started reading this blog, or because it was finally making a difference to them that people were choosing to do business elsewhere. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to see the improvement.

mg62 - I was about to say the same thing, Kudos to Portland stations for getting in line or doing a little better than neighboring communities on the price of gas!! It's nice to be able to get gas right here at home!

I've been one to say as gas prices were rising that they would never come down as fast as they are going up. I can now eat those words, because, I think they went down quicker. This is awesome to see prices hovering just over $2.00 per gallon, it's like an early Christmas present! My only hope is that we learned a little something from this experience and continue to conserve where we can.

I am looking for a some land to lease for deer hunting in or around the Portland area. I have been hunting for 20 years and know the responsibilities that come with it. If you or someone you know would be interested in leasing some land to me then please call Jason at 681-7575. Thanks for reading.

Paid 1.83 for gas this afternoon in Columbia,TN! Hopefully those savings will come on up this way soon!!

I have seen the Parks car also driving around the parks and making sure our parks are safe and secure so our residents can have nice parks to visit. Did you know someone has to go out and lock the Meadowbrook park around 11:00 p.m. each night? Also, the parks have to have extra patrols since the skate park that was built to give the residents something to do was vandalized. You should be thankful we have these nice parks we can enjoy and feel safe to visit.

I have seen the Parks car also driving around the parks and making sure our parks are safe and secure so our residents can have nice parks to visit. Did you know someone has to go out and lock the Meadowbrook park around 11:00 p.m. each night? Also, the parks have to have extra patrols since the skate park that was built to give the residents something to do was vandalized. You should be thankful we have these nice parks we can enjoy and feel safe to visit.

It is nice to have nice parks and nice to have the necessary security for those parks; people who perform these tasks are paid for those duties. Using city-owned vehicles for personal purposes, however, is not a suitable entitlement for employees. This is bad practice all the time, but especially in these economically uncertain times. I've not observed this myself, so I'm not commenting on anyone specifically, just clarifying that it can't be presumed that we have to tolerate waste in order to have nice parks and security.

As for Portland Cares; Yes, there are many inconsiderate people who drop off their junk after hours, and usually between the barrier and the white line at the edge of the street. I would think a few well-placed cameras and a few tickets written by the police department would help this situation.

HOWEVER, although I believe the litterbugs are wrong, I can understand why they drop unusable stuff there. We live just outside the city limits, and have to provide our own trash pick-up. We had an old couch, a couple of twin mattresses and some other junk that the regular trash service wouldn't take. We asked a legitimate company for an estimate to dispose of it, and their estimate was $150. To the best of my knowledge, there is no landfill or "dump" in the Portland area, so just what is a person to do with all this unusable trash?

I can understand why it is left at the side of the road, or dumped in the woods on a back road.

My understanding is the new parks director is responsible for closing those parks that need to be, and is also responsible for turning on and off lights, opening/closing gates etc. His job is not your typical 9-5. To ask him to use his personal vehicle for these tasks would be wrong, not only that he would be required to carry additional insurance on his personal vehicle if he were using it for business use. As for the police officer and dropping a child off at school, maybe is was a one time thing, probably on the way to work, child missed bus or something, many do drive their squad cars home so probably not an additional expense on gas but the insurance factor would be another thing. Maybe it was a student that was truant or got caught skipping school, ya never know for sure, one can only assume. My hope is that the City closely evaluates their city vehicle use policy so they don't wind up with a lawsuit on their hands should something go wrong if the policy isn't being followed.

I didn't mean to suggest that city employees should use their own vehicles to carry out those tasks pertinent to their jobs, only that they should use PERSONAL vehicles to carry out PERSONAL tasks in most cases. I am concerned not just about fuel and wear and tear cost issues on city vehicles, but the liability issues.

Just wondering if anyone has heard how the Greenway Project is coming along?
The plan on the City's website looks great. I just haven't heard too much about it.

Reports from the high school say that Coach Bever will not be back as the head football coach.

With the record they have I wouldn't call him a choach to start with.

I have seen portland Police with their families in the car many times and all of you are paying for their gas.

If i'm not mistaking doesn't the Parks director live in Hendersonville. If so the I dought very seriously that he is locking the gates.

Is there a place in Portland where UPS picks up large, prepaid, packages? I have a large box going by UPS and they want $10.83 to come to my house and pick it up when a UPS truck goes by my house just about every day.

Walker Supply on the north end of town just before you get to CARES has a UPS sign out front.

Thanks for the info Terry. Went to Walker Supply and it cost me $2.50 just to leave a package for pick up by UPS. Next time I will flag down a UPS truck.

COPIED & PASTED FROM ANOTHER POST
Some of these are more suited here than the Hospital closing
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I agree w/Brian and TopCat...I have lived here in Portland for 5 years and have yet to see any significant improvements being made in retail or otherwise...finally gave up hope, and just go to Franklin, KY or Rivergate or Bowling Green...Groceries here are too expensive and when you add TN tax on top of it, it is waay not cost effective...Portland may not be able to compete with Kentucky's no tax on food, but they could compete w/the resturaunt industry, the clothing, department stores, etc. I don't know what the problem is, but other towns around seem to be able to support new businesses, why can't Portland? I still think a small outlet mall near the Interstate would be a good idea and an O'Charley's, or something comparable would do well. I like McDonalds, Sonic, Arbys, Krystal and Hardees, but I get pretty tired of them and have to go to another town to get anything different...If I ever get lucky enough to win the Powerball, I'll consider putting in some new businesses myself...until then, guess I'll just keep makin' those little out of town trips..

Posted by: gw at November 25, 2008 06:56 PM
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Great post Brian. The town has not been able to put a total package together, instead being real good on a few things, real bad on others. Industrial development thrived during the last century mainly due to a turn key developer, who has carried this town on his back for 25 years. Let's face it, the citizens of Portland have not always been gracious in supporting local business; example: it has always been so easy to cross the state line and drop the coin. We have dropped enough coin that more business developed and more coins were dropped, let me point out that not all the business in Kentucky have been successful. To go down the ridge to Gallatin has been a long time pain for many of the "ridgerunners" here in Portland, our money was looked at like it was foreign currency. A few of the businesses that have located here have not provided adequate service, thus the customer has looked elsewhere. The bottom line, many think that the citizens here will accept only what they deem to be good enough, but we the citizens expect so much more for the hard earned dollar we spend, and we deserve it

Posted by: topcat at November 25, 2008 06:31 AM

Brian,
Amen, Preach It Mister!!

Posted by: MDL at November 25, 2008 04:35 AM
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This is par for the course in this town it seems. Since my wife and I moved here 2 years ago this town has lost more businesses than it has gained. Every weekend we venture out to civilization (i.e. Gallatin or Hendersonville) and see that they are leasing business sites faster than they can be built.

The closing of this hospital will be another nail in the town’s coffin. We also noticed that during the elections all of the campaign mail for those running for local government prided themselves on being from Portland or being a resident of 20+ years. Maybe this is the problem...lack of experience in a thriving city, or no experience attracting new business, limited vision development and so on. These leaders should be swaying constituents that passing the liquor by the drink law wouldn't mean that Satan would move to town, but would open the door for real restaurant opportunities and JOBS. We have to get past the Mayberry thoughts and move into a 21st century business planning and industry seeking mode to entice investors to develop here.

The reality is this...we have to seek new leadership in this town or we will never get beyond the grocery store strip malls that seem to be the only small to medium size businesses that can survive in Portland.

Remembering a cute carton I once saw depicting a dinosaur on its back with the caption above that read "Adapt or Die". I would prefer that this town evolves rather than shutter the remaining industry that we have now. They should be out encouraging residents to stay here and shop here. Let’s boost our local economy rather than watch them drive to neighboring communities to aid in their success while our local businesses dwindle. There are not options here to keep people local.

Posted by: Brian at November 24, 2008 01:19 PM
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CHUCKSTER -JAWS- WHAT IF
I moved your comments on the coach to the sports post

IMO even if we pass LBTD it might be too little too late. To the south White House is building and getting good retailers and restaurants. To the north Franklin is doing the same. Why would any retailers or restaurants need to come Portland?

Seen in the Progressive about Shoals coming to Portland. Where exactly is Distribution Parkway? Never heard of it.

Has anybody had to ask Portland Cares for help and been treated like dirt? It's happened to me and I'm wondering how many others have been made to feel unworthy of their help?

Yes, we were needing help with a very high electric bill one winter. My husband's work was slow and we couldn't pay it. I went to Care's and was treated unkindly. I was told that I had to have a cut-off notice, proof of income, & proof of food stamps. I only had a statement from the electric company saying we were late & if payment wasn't received in so many days, further action would be taken. Plus we weren't on food stamps. She said she couldn't help me. I called CEMC & they said that what I had was the onlt notice I would get. They recomended me to Mid-Cumberland in Gallatin. They were very nice & helpful. They gave us the help we needed.

Asking for help shouldn't be a degrading experience especially when Cares is in the supposed business of helping people. It wasn't a nice experience and while they helped me I left feeling like the lowest vermin because I needed help and I asked. I am also determined never to ask them for anything ever again even if I'm dying in the gutter. We had always donated items and it took me several years before I would do that anymore even longer before I would attempt to shop there.

P.S.
When did Portland Cares lose their tax exempt status because they charge tax on everything that you buy while the Gallatin Cares doesn't charge tax. I can remember when Portland Cares didn't charge tax on things because they were tax exempt. Another thing that I noticed was that the volunteers bringing items from the back to place behind the counter for their personal purchases. With all the churches in this town(more then we have businesses) you would think that they would have things set up to help the community as well. If they have them and the community isn't aware of them then someone needs to post them. I believe that the Oak Street Baptist church does Angel Food where you can purchase boxes of food to feed your family. You don't have to be a member of their church to participate in this either. You can call them to place an order or go online to find a participating church near you and order online, then pick up your food. There isn't a limit to how many boxes you can order but you need to order at least one basic box. Maybe this would be a great heading for the mediator to find out where people can get help they need and for people to talk about how they have been helped and treated when asking for help. Just a thought.

MM, SurveySez & Needed: I empathize with your experiences at Portlant Cares. Although I have never been there, I have seen how people who are in need are often treated at other places. About a year ago I was considering selling my house and renting one of the new apartments in the Franklin,KY Housing area for Seniors(renting based on my retired income). When I asked about my grandsons spending the weekends with me I was told I could only have an overnight guest 14 times per year..when I asked why, I was rudely told that because they are paying the water bill...Excuse me, but I and my grandchildren's parents have paid Kentucky taxes, and the State pays the water bill not "them" also through Federal Government subsidies (and I am a Federal Gov Retiree so I have definitely paid my due)_I was furious, I left and never considered going back..I certainly have paid my way, and resent the haughty attitude of someone who just happened to be "in charge" for a minute.. I have seen many people treated with condescending attitudes just because they were less fortunate..not everyone is "savvy" and has all their stuff together all the time..sometimes people just need a little help..or even just an extra day or two in order to pay that utility bill. Kindness and respect are always two of the best things you can give someone. If people would take a second and see their own face in place of the one asking for help, then just maybe some attitudes would change, and yes some people take advantage, but as a whole, people would rather not have to ask for help.....If you are going to work/or volunteer someplace that offers help, you should try to have the attitude that everyone is your peer and we are all equal...

The local churches are MUCH of the problem here in Portland. They do little to help this town progress, they only do everything in their power to increase their numbers and bank accounts. They run off progress, yet take their congregation in vans and buses to enjoy the EXACT same types of establishments in other towns that they don't want here! Such as...they don't want Portland citizens to reap the benefits of a restaraunt that in addition to great food ,also sells alcohol, yet they will have meetups at restaraunts in Gallatin, Rivergate and Bowling Green that in addition to great food, sell alcohol.

Then again, blah, blah, blah, this argument is so tired here. Portland residents, do as you always do. Shop at Wal-Mart in Franklin, and take the family to the nice dining establishments in our many fine neighboring towns! Portland is stuck in the mud.

I have always thought the staff at Portland Cares were nice and considerate. The lady that runs the place seems like a good hearted lady. Just wondering where does Cares get the money to pay for electric bills and that type of stuff?

I never realized C.A.R.E.S. was charging taxes, they are classified as non-profit atleast they were, could it be they did loose they non profit status, very interesting. With all the hoops you have to jump thru to maintain nonprofit it's a wonder anyone does it anymore, but I guess it is that way for a reason..... to keep the rifraf out.

CARES also gets some grant funding from different organizations, plus the income from sales at the store, that is how they help with electric bills, but I would really be interested in knowing just how many benefit as I too have heard many horror stories about what one has to do to get any help from them. I realize they have to make sure they are doing for those in need and not for someone that is just trying to beat the system so I guess it is a fine line and people do get offended.

Comment left elsewhere was Off Topic re-posted here
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Posting out of place sorry, but since I'm cool and have the hookup in town I thought I'd post the headlines that will come out in the Portland Progressive tomorrow before it is printed.

Santa Claus is coming to ... Portland!

Proposal to postpone Portland Middle School renovations rejected

Lack of use spelled doom for Portland Medical Center

Man tasered twice while resisting arrest

McDonald recognized by veterinarian association

School board gives names to new schools, libraries in Portland

McFadden honoring son with fundraising project

City council approves resolution supporting effort to pursue dedicated funding for public transportation

Posted by: Spoiler at December 2, 2008 09:39 PM