| Today's Feature
The Three Minute Speeches.
Today’s issue contains the
speaches given by the candidates for Mayor to the
attendees of the Chamber of Commerce Eggs and
Issues gathering last Wednesday in the McCune
Brooks Hospital cafeteria.
Each candidate was given three
minutes to speak. Transcripts of the speaches
were provided to the Mornin’ Mail by the
candidates and are published as written.
Mayoral Candidate Clark
Thank you. It is a pleasure to
be here today...and now that we have had the
"eggs" parts of this morning’s
agenda, I want to touch on the "issues"
part.
Webster’s dictionary
defines an "issue" as a "matter
that is in dispute between two or more
parties," but the true issue that I bring
before you today is not in dispute - at least not
since the Framers of the Constitution assembled
in Philadelphia in 1787.
At task today, we are not so
much faced with concerns about street lights,
garbage collection or curfews, but rather we are
faced with an open attack upon our citizens. This
attack does not take the form of brute force or
physical assault but a more subtle, but equally
dangerous kind - that of intimidation.
The freedom of American
citizens to vote their conscious and convictions
is so basic to our national heritage that few
would even consider an attack on such freedom as
possible. We, the citizens should be free to
speak, seek religious convictions and we have the
right to equal protection under the law. Our
leaders have these same rights as well - they
even have the freedom to be wrong - and I will
defend their right to have their opinions,
regardless of whether or not I agree with them.
But having the freedom to be wrong does not mean
they have the freedom to do wrong.
Harry Truman once said, "I
never did give anybody hell. I just told the
truth and they thought it was hell." Well,
the truth in this fundamental issue is
undeniable. The voting booth and a citizen’s
vote should be private. However, there is strong
indication that citizens and City employees have
been intimidated and coerced by a select few in
positions of authority to vote in favor of the
current Mayor or face the possibility of job loss
or loss of advancement, either in their
respective jobs or in their climb up the social
ladder. No ones’ job or quality of life
should be in jeopardy due to an outcome of an
election, to intimate otherwise is
unconscionable.
This issue then transcends my
candidacy and it transcends all other issues that
may have arisen in this campaign. This is of such
profound importance to the public welfare and our
Constitutional rights that regardless of who is
elected to the position of mayor of this City,
this issue should be dealt with and investigated
irrespective of the person in office. I will do
just that.
Many of you have already heard
my platform - that of an open, accountable City
government that cannot be influenced by a
privileged few and will respect the rights of all
citizens and allow them the freedom of choice
while at the same time providing to both the
citizens and the council, the needed information
to make the best decisions.
I also stand ready to debate my
opponent on this or any other issue any time; any
place. My only requirement is that we don not
have the questions ahead of time. Let’s
speak from the heart and speak the truth.
I will remain her after the
breakfast to answer questions. Thank you.
Mayoral Candidate
Johnson
Good morning and thank you for
coming and giving me the opportunity to speak to
you. Also, I would like to thank the Chamber for
hosting this event. I am here to tell you a
little about myself and my qualifications and
just a few of the accomplishments that have been
made these past four years while serving as Mayor
of Carthage.
1. I have no axe to grind or
any hidden agendas.
2. I will not make any promises
that I am not able to keep. Final decisions are
made my the City Council, not the Mayor.
3. I made only one promise 4
years ago and that was to bring civility and
decorum to the council meetings. With the help of
the Council Members, that has been accomplished.
4. I served 6 years on the Park
Board, 5 years on the Board of Public Works, 4
years on the City council, and the past 4 years
as Mayor. I feel my 19 years of service to the
City proves that I am not only qualified, but am
willing to serve another term as Mayor.
In the 2000 Census, Carthage
had a 19% increase in population. (I personally
had nothing to do with that.)
1. In the past 4 years our City
has spent $490,000 resurfacing our streets. This
is by contract only and does not include the work
of our Street Department. That shows you haw bad
our infrastructure had become and is more than
was done in the 8 years previously, combined.
2. There have been 3 new
traffic signals installed on the Garrison Avenue
traffic corridor. The old signals were so old and
antiquated we couldn’t find parts for them.
3. There have been 128 new
single family dwelling houses built in the past 4
years, plus 5 more already this year and the
possibility of 40 more with 2 or 3 new
developments going on.
4. Myers Park has started to
grow with the new SMB Bank and the Sandor
Development Strip Mall next to Wal-Mart.
Richardson’s Candy House and Sally’s
Hallmark Store has moved into the Village Mall.
The Fair Acres Sports Complex is nearing
completion and other large projects ongoing are
the renovation of the Memorial Hall and the
Municipal Golf Course. Another project in the
works is the RES and ConAgra partnership to build
a facility to eliminate their waste and produce
marketable by-products in a self-contained,
odorless and environmental friendly facility.
These are just a few examples
of the progress we have made in the past 4 years.
As KOAM TV recently stated: "Carthage is the
most progressive City in the 4-States and a great
place to live!"
I urge all of you to Vote April
2nd, and I would appreciate your support.
We Are on Top
of the World!!
by Robin Putnam, artCentral
We are just sooooo excited !!
Spring is coming in like a lion around here ! It
is just too cool.......we have set a record for
sales in one month !! $2000 worth of art sold ( !
) between the exhibit in our main gallery and the
exhibit at Shellie's !! We are hoping it's
because people have finally found out we are
exhibiting some of the finest works available in
the four state are.
AND.....we are bringing them
the most variety of mediums, styles and huge
numbers of artists !! Some years it is possible
for us to introduce the general public to as many
as 75 different artists !! That's approximately
how many we have scheduled for this year !! Truly
amazing, isn't it ? !
Anyway.....we want to extend
our heartfelt thanks to all those wonderful art
patrons who purchase original art !! And, of
course, that includes buyers of prints as well !!
We know some buyers simply want the piece of
artwork and some buyers are going out of their
way to support us !! It's too cool to know these
people care about our organization and are there
for us !! For their support we can't thank them
enough !!
Shellie's Downtown has been a
satellite gallery for us since she opened in
November of 2001. Since then we have had over
$1000 worth of art sold out off her crusty brick
walls !! It is such an awesome way to have
artists work seen by hundreds and hundreds of
people from the area. We figure with her lunch
crowd alone about 200 people a week are exposed
to art !!!
That's our secret to getting
people to check out our exhibits........just
serve great food and they'll be there !!
The exhibit at Shellie's will
be over and a new one will be up on April 14th.
Since she is only closed for two days we take one
show down and put the other up on the same day !!
So there is still time to hit Shellie's for a
fine lunch or dinner and maybe you'll become an
art patron and take home a wonderful painting or
pastel from this showing !! The next exhibit
scheduled will be a series of assemblage
paintings by Perry Fleming. It should be an
interesting grouping and as usual something you
don't want to miss !!
April 12th will be the next
exhibit opening here and we will have Clydine
Ridenhour, Springfield, in the main gallery
bringing you her latest oil paintings. She works
in an impressionistic style and her subject
matter runs from florals to landscapes to still
life !! And Janet Carpenter, Kansas City, will be
in the Member's Gallery with her stylized oil
paintings and color pencil renderings of area
landmarks such as the Union Station in KC and our
very own Carthage Courthouse.
So we hope to see you here for
the next opening where you'll find great art,
good friends and some pretty tasty eats and then
again at Shellie's for another great showing of
local art as well as great food and a fun,
friendly staff !! And just for the record........
remember ........change is good. You heard it
here first !! And you'll hear more later !!
More next week......For more
info call 358-4404. Hours : Tuesday - Saturday
9am - 3pm. 1110 E. 13th Street ( 2 blocks East
off River ) and www.ozarkartistscolony.com
|
