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You are here: Home / Opinion / Wilson Believes in East Ridge

Wilson Believes in East Ridge

February 24, 2019 By Dick Cook and Contributed Article Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: The following is a response to a Facebook post on social media where those posting were criticizing East Ridge. It has been posted here as an editorial with the permission of the author.

East Ridge is beginning to show signs of revitalizing and l believe we are making progress.  New businesses are opening all over the city, not just on the East end.  We have made monumental changes in ways to get new restaurants here so we don’t have to go downtown or to Hamilton Place. 

The new council is listening to the citizens and doing everything they can to think outside the box to improve ALL areas of our city.

Many comments have been made about the schools, but this is an issue with the VAST majority of the schools in Hamilton County.  In our county approximately one out of four children attend private schools, the HIGHEST in the state of Tennessee.  It’s been that way for years.  We tie the hands of our public schools at the state level and parents don’t get involved in the schools the way it was in the past.

 I myself believe in East Ridge and l wouldn’t live anywhere else.  The convenience of our city is the best asset we have. The community is beginning to emerge again and you will see great things happening in the near future. 

I support our City Council, l support ALL of our first responders and our Animal Services is absolutely great!

Property values are increasing as derelict properties are being addressed. New SINGLE FAMILY homes are being built and new businesses are coming. 

If our city is so bad why are we the most densely populated city in the state?  That alone speaks volumes for what our city has to offer.  Someone referred to “undesirables.” That is an issue EVERY city has to deal with.  We have Interstate 75 (the most traveled interstate in the U.S) which intersects with Interstate 24 here. Of course, we will have a higher risk of issues with what some refer to as “undesirables.”

Go listen to Mayor Brian Williams and the others that play an integral role in this city’s future. Ask questions, bring your concerns, and offer solutions to those problems.

Sorry I got on a soapbox, but sometimes I get tired of all the negativity about our city and our country.

_ Earl Wilson

Filed Under: Opinion

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.

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