In 1790 Benjamin Franklin said nothing is certain except death and taxes. In the East Ridge of 2021 that statement certainly holds true. After a recent reappraisal of property in our fair city, the value of homes rose on average about 30 percent. By state law, municipalities cannot reap a windfall profit from higher property […]

We have all heard, many times, that Camp Jordan is the Crown Jewel of East Ridge. We have been told that investments in Camp Jordan pay off in the long run by keeping taxes low, that “Camp Jordan is a gold mine” – a direct quote from Vice Mayor Vince Dean, way back in the […]

Here’s the least controversial statement you’ll read today: We need to solve Tennessee’s litter pollution problem.  Our roadways, waterways and wildlife are being absolutely choked by litter. And it all has real, measurable impacts on our wallets, our health, and our natural world. There’s a lot of good work on litter happening across the state […]

What happens when you’ve lived in East Ridge all of your adult life in a quiet residential neighborhood and somebody buys the house next door to you and sets up shop? No, not just a household but something that more resembles an auto shop. Apparently, the answer is nothing happens. Last week, our Administrative Hearing […]

East Ridge is planning to raise your taxes. They need more money for “salary stabilization;” in other words, they’d like to give themselves a raise. An extra raise, on top of the three percent already budgeted for next year. When I recently asked City Manager Chris Dorsey for simple details, like “which positions would receive […]

East Ridge better get cash from the Red Wolves for that field lease. As of today, July 27th 2021, Sterling Holdings has yet to pay their 2020 property taxes according to the Hamilton County Trustee’s website. Did they get a pass on those or some sort of grace period? If not, that’s over $70,000 now […]

When teaching Environmental Science I will conclude the year with a garbage unit. Most years some students participate in a litter clean up which has given me a good perspective of litter in Hamilton County. One year my students also made a presentation to the Hamilton County Commission about litter. I believe that litter, specifically […]

As the sun rose over Marlboro Avenue this Fourth of July morning, I noticed what appeared to be foggy conditions in East Ridge. Walking across the street to put the Sunday Times Free Press on my neighbor’s doorstep, the unmistakable smell of spent fireworks wafted through the air. Oh, glory! Ain’t it great to be […]

Mr. Cook wrote an excellent article on the cliches of East Ridge. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the internal workings of the East Ridge governing body. I’m not great with dates, but back when I was in office 1998-2002 the city paid a premium price for a compensation and job […]

Cliches are cliches for a reason. Maybe its because they are true. One that comes to mind these days is “you can’t fight City Hall.” Our elected officials passed a budget last week that ballooned a million bucks between first and second readings. The extra million for the $17.3 million fiscal year 2021-22 budget is […]

East Ridge lost its “watchdog” on Saturday when citizen activist Frances Johnson Mathis Pope passed away at her home. Pope, 73, battled metastatic lung cancer for 15 months with the kind of dignity and determination and selflessness that is rarely seen in this world.  Pope, all four-foot-11 inches of her, cast a giant shadow on […]

There’s a little pile of rubble on Covington Street. It’s no more than six-feet square. It’s been sitting there for a couple of weeks. I can testify to that. I walk by there with my wife and a couple of my neighbors most every day on our morning exercise walk. Found out yesterday from the […]

East Ridge’s ineptness in dealing with issues of extended-stay motels in our fair city can be laid at the feet of past administrations and councils. One can go back to Mayor Mike Steele and his City Attorney John Anderson, who went hard after Superior Creek Lodge and its owner David Gysin. Push up the timeline […]

In the early 1970s, East Ridge had one of the highest concentration of motel rooms around an interstate exchange in the entire United States. These motels flew the flags of respectable hoteliers; Holiday Inn, Ramada Inn, Howard Johnson’s, Best Western, Days Inn. Exit 1 was hot and business was booming. One thing that wasn’t booming […]