In the coming months, we will go to polls to elect or re-elect officials for the Office of Mayor, Alderman (Ward 1) and Alderman (Ward 2). As a potential candidate for Office of Mayor, I would like to ask the members of this forum...

Start over

Hello everyone. Please do NOT reduce the current staffing level. You are playing with officers/citizens lives and property. The staffing level can be structured to permit 3 officers per shift. This does not include vacation, sick, holidays etc. The major majority of the time you will have three per shift if a Chief is permitted to go to a different schedule. (i tried) You do have crime-more than you are aware of that happens. If you do anything besides keeping the department, i'd like to see it abolished before I see lives placed in enhanced danger.
thank you,
Mike

I'm the current lone vote to downsize and my reasons being:

Pleasant View is comparable population wise with just over 3,000 people. Coopertown has twice, with 25 square miles than Pleasant View has in square mileage. Pleasant View has one Chief and three officers. Coopertown, depending on the shift configuration, does or will have one chief and 9-12 officers. Both cities have their county sheriff's offices to back them up. The crime rate is comparable. The only difference is being the square mileage. Does this justify 6-9 officers more than Pleasant View has? Maybe. My problem is, as you say three officers per shift, is when I travel the interstate and see "three officers" patrolling 4 liner miles of roadway, where does that leave the other 62 miles of roadway and the people who live on those roadways? I don't see how you can justify one full shift of officers to one small section of roadway. I believe I could cut back the force and have one officer patrol 1/3 of the town and have full coverage. Correct me if I'm wrong.

_________________
The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Adlai E. Stevenson American Lawyer, Politician.

If the focus of the department is refocused to improve the crime rates in Coopertown rather than sitting with one patrol car facing westbound in "the trap" with the other patrol car facing eastbound. I totally agree Paul! I hope more people will partake in the poll. The one thing that would improve Coopertown city government besides removal of DC would be more citizen involvement. I play a largely backseat role in participating in meetings conducted by our government mainly due to scheduling conflicts. However, I am well aware of happenings in that building and at the meetings.

Personally my vote for the poll would be to abolish the police department with all its negative equity and use RCSO to patrol our town. Safety was then a priority and never took a backseat to ticket quotas.

I must add to my last post...I stated my vote but I am not a type of person to go against the desires of my potential constituents should I run and/or be elected into an public office in November.

By reduce the officers you are putting them and yourselves at risk. Example: A dommestic violence call the has just one officer responding and the person has weapons. Nearest backup is 5-10 minutes away. Someone will probably lose their life. Look at the incedent with the officer that was hurt after being attacked by a teenager. Where was his backup? And when he went to the hospital that left NO COVERAGE for the city of Coopertown. Just some observations.

You can have all the "feelings" you want. You can also want a whole lot that a town of 3500 people just can not afford without raising taxes, or, as Danny has done, make the police force self supporting. We need to get some people in office that understand the business of running a town. I hate to be cruel and say very few people have impressed me that are thinking of running for mayor as they aren't business people. I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, if Danny has more than one person running against him, he will win. We may need to use the county for police like we use Pleasant View for fire. I know when you make a contract with a county for police, you can write in it how many officers are in the town at any one time, but again, it becomes a money issue and how much do the townsmembers want to spend.

Unfortunately taxes are a fact of life. Either way you go you are going to have to pay for police protection. The only way to get Danny Crosby out is to have only 1 person run against him. It is sad the he is the face that represents Coopertown. You can tell by just looking at him he is self-serving, maniputative liar that will do and say anything to get what he wants. People of Coopertown be smart. Find a way to get rid of him. It is time to clean house politically.

guesswho wrote:

Example: A dommestic violence call the has just one officer responding and the person has weapons. Nearest backup is 5-10 minutes away.

Guesswho, I agree but, what about the times when there are three officers patrolling the interstate? What coverage does the rest of Coopertown have? I am glad to see you have finally figured out who the bad guy around here is.

oldmaen wrote:

I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, if Danny has more than one person running against him, he will win.

oldman, I'm somewhat inclined to agree with you. It would be much better to have one opposition candidate but with all Danny Crosby has done with giving Coopertown a international blackeye, writing tickets to citizens of Coopertown after arbitrarily reducing the speed limits and the fact which came out AFTER the election that he had a criminal background and the fact Coopertown has gone through seven police chiefs, I think the odds of him winning are slim to none.

_________________
The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Adlai E. Stevenson American Lawyer, Politician.

Excuse me if I am wrong but having a "businessman" for Mayoral duties is exactly what we have now. He owns a business and gets all the added benefits of collecting "verbal" contracts with the city he oversees. He will tell you himself that he can spend up to $2000 per day as his "spending limit" without justifying it.

Sounds like businessmen really just the right people to hold office. To be a good public official in Coopertown requires NO degree in business, finance, or law. Yes, these degrees could be useful to an extent in day-to-day operations, but in the long run you just need to have a genuine personality, good head on your shoulders, communication skills and most of all...COMMON SENSE.

The State of Tennessee holds training courses for all interested political candidates or incumbents to "teach" the ropes of managing a town and how to effectively meet all requirements in regards to Right of Information laws.

In the next election, we will have 1500-1800 people vote. Danny will get 650+ votes. If 2 others run and one gets only 200 votes, Danny wins. It really is that simple. Emti, I would like for someone to run that can take charge, like a Danny but with charm and ethics. your idea of common sense may be a long way from my idea of common sense. It's funny how we all think people who agree with us have common sense. I want uncommon sense, a mayor who can lead. Keep the budget under control, listen to all sides and still make what is the right decision. We have a lot at stake in the next 4 years. Look how much has happened in the last 4 years. Open, honest, smart....won't get elected.

It is so sad that in society today Open, Honest and Ethical can't get elected into office. As has been noted apparently that is why X-Chief Rose was asked to resign. He was to honest and questioning of the mayors policies.

oldmaen wrote:

In the next election, we will have 1500-1800 people vote. Danny will get 650+ votes. If 2 others run and one gets only 200 votes, Danny wins.

oldmaen, I'm not sure how many people ran for mayor last election, maybe someone can come on here and give us the breakdown of the election results, but it was reported the mayor only won by 15 votes. I am sure he has lost more than 15 votes due to his policies and the embarrassment he has brought upon Coopertown.

_________________
The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Adlai E. Stevenson American Lawyer, Politician.

emtivkwilson wrote:

... but in the long run you just need to have a genuine personality, good head on your shoulders, communication skills and most of all...COMMON SENSE.

How about a highschool education emtivwilson, which Crosby doesn't have.

_________________
The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Adlai E. Stevenson American Lawyer, Politician.