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Read comments (38)Councilman Lee Roy Cunningham verbally attacked planning and codes director Kip Green, accusing him of keeping business from coming to Shelbyville, while city manager Ed Craig said that Green was merely upholding the laws on the books.
The argument was a culmination of a long series of questions from Cunningham on a variety of topics, such as questions over bids for the repair of city vehicles and methods taken with accounts payable by the city.
Cunningham later said he was simply bringing complaints to the table from Shelbyville citizens.
The argument began with Cunningham saying that Green's enforcement of codes had "turned away business or run them out of town, more or less. We need to be bending over backwards to help everybody open up businesses around here."
This statement appeared to anger Craig, who said in each of the cases that Cunningham was referring to, the businesses in question had not complied with city codes, even though the city granted an unidentified man a business license who was not in compliance.
The other case referred to a man who wanted to open up a business in a building owned by Cunningham. Before the business was opened, the parking lot was required to be paved because there was an increase of more than 25 percent of usage of parking space, with Craig adding that the city passed an amendment to the code to satisfy Cunningham's complaints over the matter last year.
Heated exchange
"It would be so helpful to us if we could have a discussion where we're doing wrong when we (the city) got the facts right," Craig said.
"We are getting the facts right. We're causing people not to get business licenses," Cunningham replied.
"We're causing people to comply with the codes," Craig shouted.
"OK, then we need to change the codes," Cunningham retorted.
Craig exclaimed that the council had already changed the codes for Cunningham in the matter concerning his property, with the councilman replying that the city is "not helping people like we should be helping them."
Cunningham claimed that another businessman told him that he would never build another building in Shelbyville.
"He answered my question right quick. Whether you're doing anything right or wrong I don't know, but I don't know why you would hire a man who was fired from another place," Cunningham said, referring to Green. "But I think I do know."
Green was formerly employed by Coffee County and Cunningham claimed that Green was hired because he was the preacher of former mayor Geneva Smith.
"That's not true," Craig said.
Politics is politics, Cunningham replied.
"I hired the man because I felt he could do the job," Craig said. "He has done the job."
Cunningham asked if Green had any complaints against him and Craig said he had complaints on public works director Mark Clanton, police chief Austin Swing, airport manager Hank Williamson, recreation director Sylvia Pinson and himself.
"People are going to complain about people when they're doing their job," Craig shouted.
"Not if they're doing their jobs right," Cunningham said. "I know you can't satisfy everybody all the time, but we're not satisfying enough people, that's my opinion."
Mayor Wallace Cartwright said he had received more compliments about "things going better in the last two years then I've heard in the last 10, so I don't have any comment to that," referring to the argument about Green.
Freeze suggested
Also earlier in the meeting, Cunningham had reiterated his desire for a spending and hiring freeze, stating that the Shelbyville Recreation Center has been losing money, the city had a deficit, and the council needs to start looking at cuts.
Craig repeated figures given to the council in November, stating that the city "is on budget" and that while deficits are budgeted into the numbers, Shelbyville has never really had one.
Councilwoman Kay Rose said that she thought "we had settled this two months ago," referring to the proposed hiring freeze and deficit questions.
Cunningham also attacked Craig over the city paying for demolishing two buildings on Depot Street last year, but Craig said that a suit would soon be filed against the owner of one of the buildings to recoup the costs incurred.
The councilman also objected to the city repairing the roof at the old Harris Middle School gym, stating that he had been told the Boys and Girls club had asked for the building. Craig said selling the building would leave many sports leagues without a place to practice.
After the end of the meeting, Craig was heard telling new councilman Thomas Landers that city study sessions were not normally like this and that this was the first time such a heated argument had occurred.
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I am just curious as to how many of the folks that have made comments about how great city hall and our council is have ever attempted to build, remodel, add on or repair anything in our fair city? It will be the most frustrating and costly event of your life. I would absolutely beg you to do this before you make hasty comments. Now, if you want some flowers planted or a new tree put someplace or if some older person can not afford to paint their house, then they are on faster than a speeding bullet. If they were as fast in trying to attract new business as opposed to making it as difficult as possible to creating a business, we would be a booming town.
I think the only thing "what" has gotten correct so far his his login name "what" he/she has no idea "what" he/she is talking about.
I think the only thing "what" has gotten correct so far his his login name "what" he/she has no idea "what" he/she is talking about.
He does run the city, that is the job that he was hired to do, he is the city mangager and he oversees the day to day operations of the city and implements the laws that the city council votes on for our citizens. The fact that some on the city council ignore their rules and are mad when they are not overlooked, thinking they have entitlement, and are actually enforced, is the sad part of his duty.
IT IS ABOUT TIME. I am so tired of that bow tie wearing such and such thinking he runs the city the people we put in to office run the town he was hired in by them. There are so many way that I am sure he takes advantage of this city.
IT IS ABOUT TIME. I am so tired of that bow tie wearing such and such thinking he runs the city the people we put in to office run the town he was hired in by them. There are so many way that I am sure he takes advantage of this city.
What???
You haven't given any specific details of what the City Codes enforcer did to make Sanford leave, so we must take that there is no merit in the accusation that you made that Mr.Green is the reason that Sanford is packing up and leaving. Please provide facts if available, if they are true and accurate then I think that it would be very plain to either fire or keep him.
Brett,
I am referring to the politicians and some of those appointed to certain positions within the city....governmental positions.
William
William,
You made some very good comments.
However, I am somewhat confused by what you said in your last sentence.
City Officials = Morons.
Please explain that for me, thanks. Would like to know if you think those working for the city are the Officials or the Politicians are the Officials.
Thanks.
Writeattitude,
I enjoyed your post. I have one comment to say regarding it. Remember when you were in grade school? Wasn't there always one bully on the playground during break?
Those bullies from grade school do eventually grow up, don't they?
Hmmm.
The citizens of Shelbyville TN deserve so much better than what is being displayed by our elected city officals. Just as I had predicted shortly after the election when these clowns were sworn in...nothing but rebel rousers and certainly not a clue how to carryout professional city business. Leroy Cunningham,Al Stephens, and (Wall-e) Cartwright trashed Mayor Geneva Smith, Ed Craig, and Councilman Leonard Travis (a fine honest hard-working man with high regard for integrity and doing the right thing)during the election process. These 3 men made empty promises to current city employees by pledging to oust Ed Craig by virtue of non-renewal of his contract and how they would make a difference in the way business was handled at City Hall. Well, I can honestly say....you have made a difference alright..the level of professionalism is non-existent and you all have proven the citizens of Shelbyville were not your priority to serve after being elected. Mayor Cartwright-if you have received more compliments in two years than you have in the last ten years...are you admitting you were never a team player in the previous mayor's term?? (HMMM??) It is easy to say you have received more compliments...but do you really have the statements from citizens to back that statement up? I doubt it! Just another fine example of tooting your own horn...because no one else will. At this point, I would definitely agree with Cunningham on one thing...the budget freeze...Let's stop paying the salary of the city council and mayor and see how many of them still want to represent their districts??? Although, the salary is not much...it definitely would save on such a wasted expenditure of the tax payers for the representation they are receiving at this point. The city council is the voice of the citizens of their district...not your own personal agendas or gain. What an embarrassment to the city of Shelbyville and the tax payers. A person who has to conduct his self in the manner this public meeting was conducted has a lot of short-comings. I would suggest seeking mental health assistance in the areas of anger management for a start followed up by a class in handling difficult situations with TACT! CAN THE CITIZENS OF SHELBYVILLE IMPEACH MAYORS AND CITY COUNCIL? CHICAGO IS NOT THE ONLY PLACE THAT HAS POLITICAL WOES...IT IS RIGHT HERE IN THIS SMALL TOWN. I WOULD SUGGEST HOLDING THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING AT THE TAXI CAB STATION...WHERE THEY HOLD THE WRESTLING MATCHES ON OCCASSION. ~SIGNED, THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED!!
I cannot believe elected officials let personalities, agendas and petty grievances dominate a public meetings in such an embarassing fashion. If I understand the Times-Gazette's report correctly, "Mr. Craig exclaimed the council had already changed the codes for Cunningham in the matter concerning his property", that sounds like an incriminating statement for conflict of interest. These people are elected to look out for the betterment and benefit of all people, not just to scratch each other's back. I guess the old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" is true. The more temper tantrums, the louder accusations, and the more conflict Mr. Cunningham stirs up, the more accomodations he gets to keep him quiet. In the future it would be nice if when reporting Mr. Cunninham's tyrades, stick to the "who, what, when, where, why, and how". If Mr. Cunningham starts saying "they said, he said, she said, before printing any of his allegations make sure there are names and facts to back him up. If people go to an elected official with a legitimate complaint or concern, then they shouldn't mind having their name mentioned in order to get results. Another thing that bothers me about Mr. Craig's statement, is that if at some point officials felt like it was necessary to pass a code, then how necessary could it have been if it could just as easily have been overlooked for a fellow councilman. In years past I owned a business that was required to meet certain fire, health and state codes. Never, never, never, did any state, city or county agency revoked any of the requirements just because I didn't like them. Either I complied or lost my license to operate. I say to Mr. Cunningham or any other person who wants to operate a business in Shelbyville, TN. to abide by the rules. If our elected officials can't uphold the laws and abide by the rules, then fire them all, do away with all the rules and let havoc reign. My sympathies lie with Mr. Cartwright. He's a better person than I. I would have ruled that Mr. Cunningham was out of order and adjourned this meeting and any future meeting that he disrupts. I would even consider insisting that he and Mr. Craig offer a formal apology for their behavior to the other council members and the residents of the city. If he refuses to comply, put him in "time-out". No more meetings until he can act like a civilized adult.
What??,
Not only did I correct your spelling, but I corrected your comment as well. I will also correct you now about going to church with Kip and Geneva...I wouldn't know Kip Green if I saw him and I don't hang around Geneva or Tom at church or elsewhere.
You have a great day also. You even got several more hours to get something right. Good luck we will all be pulling for you.
William
Would what??? just give the specifics that they are talking about that Mr. Green supposedly did to cause Sanford to leave?
William,
Thank you for the spelling correction. You must go to church with Geneva and Kip. Have a great day.
What??,
Can you please advise if you are talking about the maker of Sharpie markers and pens? If so, that is SANFORD, not Stanford and the reason the assmebly plant moved was because of excess plant capacity at SANFORD in Maryville and also the Maryville building is much newer. I seriously doubt that anything Kip Green could do to make things difficult for SANFORD, would cause them to spend millions of dollars to move machinery and such, when they could have just fixed whatever problems codes might cause them in Shelbyville much cheaper and much less hassle.
Could you be thinking about the SANFORD ink plant that is moving to Manchester? In that case it was not because of Mr. Green, but other higher up governmental agencies concerned with enviromental issues at the ink plant's current location. In addition some government official in their infinate wisdom decided to put a hospital in the city INDUSTRIAL park. My understanding is that the ink plant went to Manchester, because the Shelbyville city officials only had land available in the INDUSTRIAL park to offer to SANFORD. However they decided against that, because it was thought building a chemical plant close to a hospital was a bad idea, in case of a spill and a possible evacuation order. Last time I checked most manufacturing operations involve some type of hazardous materials. City Officials= Morons
JMHO,
William
Let's just remember who voted Cunningham in.
The PEOPLE! Maybe they will remember that come Election time and get him out of office. He makes Shelbyville look like a JOKE!!!
If I understand it correctly Stanford couldn't please Kip Green so they said it wasn't worth it and moved away. You know in the economic times we are facing you would think a representative of the city would want to help keep industry here.
To what??? - you may be right, but it sounds like you are giving way too much power to Mr. Green. I find it hard to believe that a city codes official brought a large corporate to its knees. On the other hand, maybe they read things like "The first study session of 2009 for the Shelbyville City Council erupted into a shouting match Monday between a councilman and the city manager." one too many times. Just a thought.
Kip Green HAS NOT always upheld the laws that his job requires. I have asked him atleast 2 dozen times to do something about my neighbor that has trashed out his house, parked in his yard making huge mudholes and KIP told me himself on two different occasions that he was taking my neighbor to court to get the situation took care of. NOTHING has been done...and I have wasted my time and breath asking for him to do his job. Nothing would please me more than to see him gone so maybe someone else can do his job. Im tired of being lied to.
While all of you are blasting Leroy why not ask around and find out the real reason Stanford left Bedford County. There is one person to blame MR KIP GREEN. He harassed Stanford over a million dollar addition to their facility until they said forget it and moved to East Tennessee. So all of you Stanford employees who lost your job you have KIP GREEN to thank. I want to know why he was FIRED from Coffee County. That might shed a light on the situation and open up the truth.
What a clown, he acuses the city manager of politics in hiring, gee doesnt he have a son in law working for the SFD that was hired the first time Cunningham was a councilman? You cant make this stuff up!
Lex4990,
Please clarify your comment; are you discussing the East Depot Street building that the city had to demolish due to its danger to the public? Respond and I will comment on that.
Also, I would like to add that I believe that the mayor, the city manager and the department head of the codes department are doing their jobs properly, and enforcing the city codes AS ADOPTED AND PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL.
If the council or the public wishes to remove these regulations that the city has adopted then of course they have the power to pass new ordinances to do so; and or modify existing regulations.
I heard the owner requested an inspection in November 2007.
Is it true the renter denied Scotty Farrer access to the building until she was evicted in March 2008?
I have known Mr. Cunningham for years. He is only into his position for his own gain...bottom line. He'll put on a show to your face and I have seen it. I guess it's hard to shake the car salesman out of him!
It is obvious that Councilman Cunningham is in way over his head and doesn't understand professionalism with respect to local government. It is also obvious that he has an underlying agenda to assist his cronies and those who choose not to follow codes and other regulations as set forth by the city.
Mr. Craig and Mr. Green are both exemplary city officials who have the city's best interest at heart. Both of these gentlemen have served and continue to serve the city in fine fashion. We are fortunate to have them as well as other department heads.
Cunningham would do us all a favor if he would resign or at least keep his mouth shut. He is an embarassment to us all.
Thank you to Ed Craig for continued support for Shelbyville and bringing some common sense and intelligence to the council. From the beginning it was obvious that Mr. Cunningham had his own agenda and personal gain in mind when he ran for council rather than the good of Shelbyville (along with his other stooges). Hopefully those who voted for that crew will see the error of thier ways and not make that mistake again. Fortunately it has backfired. The first thing on their agenda was to get rid of Ed Craig and since that didn't work they are acting like children on the school yard. Mr. Cunningham and his "partners in crime" are joked about a lot but since I don't know him personally I always wondered if he was really as people said - I guess I know now.
I hope that all of you living in the city limits take note of all this when the next election rolls around. They act like a bunch of juvenile deliquents at city hall. The citizens of the city need to do some house cleaning when the next election rolls around.
Ha ha ha ha. Leroy...do you remember what you told me years ago? You said, "You're stepping on the wrong toes." LOL. One of these days, Leroy, you're going to step on the wrong toes. In fact, you already did. ROFL....
My hats off to Mr Craig and Mr Green, good ole boy politics of the past have been phased out and the old goats aren't happy. They are actually enforcing the laws of the city and not letting them be gray areas that are changed as needed to accomodate everyone. Mayor Cartwright has surprised me since the election, I thought he was going to be a part of the three stooges, but since elected he has stood on his own and let Mr Craig do his job that we asked him to do. Thank you Mayor Cartwright for doing the right thing and help lead the city to fiscal responsibility and avoiding legal liabilities. I think we should extend our contract with Mr Craig again, as was done when Leroy tried to oust him before. Hopefully the citizens of Shelbyville will remember his tirades and wrecklessness with his council position in the next election.
Thatsmystory, if I understand correctly, the mandatory cable tv is the result of contracts that the housing authority signs with the cable company to provide service. Basically, before the cable company would provide service, the housing authority has to guarantee that a specified precentage of their residents will use the service. The only way to keep such a promise is to make sure EVERYONE buys cable. It's basically a scam to put more money in the cable company's pocket. But, of course, that is just my understanding, and could be completely wrong.
As for the story at hand, that meeting should be televised...too funny...sad, but funny. I don't know who this Cunningham person is, but he sure sounds like he's wound just a bit too tight.
I hope people pay attention to these meetings so that they dont elect this idiot,cunningham,to office again. good job mr greene for doing your job
Nice to see in print that AFTER the fact the city will be suing the absentee owner of the buildings on Depot Street. That shouldnt take more than 2 or 3 years in the court system to satisfy along with all the CITY attorney added costs to this whole debacle.
I bet if the Codes department had declared the buildings not habitable that the court preceedings would have gone much faster WITHOUT the city incurring over $200,000.00 in expenses to do what the absentee owner should have done.
Sure would be nice to see frequent followups WITH costs written up in the T-G !!
"Politics is politics, Cunningham replied." Well, he should know!
There must be something oddly comforting about being so stinking simple minded.
Where was frack by the way? Usually when frick gets going, frack has to add his two cents worth on the city's "bidness".
How odd that Mr. Cunningham would push to have others be forced to pave parking lots , but then resist when one of his properties required the same action. LeeRoy is only wound up because it's going to cost him a dime instead of someone else.
Hats off to Mr. Green, who I understand has done a fine job in his tenure in the position. I'll be sure to register my complaints about Mr. Cunningham with Ed Craig's office right away !
They need foam rubber bats to fight it out, maybe they can charge for tickets to get more city revenue instead of placing up Redlight Cameras to give money to companies in other States and Countries.
How embarassing for the participants and for Shelbyville.....uhhhhh....Mayberry.
Not sure who is regulating this but i have a question. Why if you live in public housing (Shelbyville Housing Authority) are you required to have cable tv? Last time I checked that was a luxury (any tv at all) not a necessity. If people are struggling to pay their rent they should not be forced to have cable. Who made this rule if anyone knows?
i hope thay show this one on tv