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I'm probably one of the few that can be objective about this race, I did not vote for Mr. Irons last time because he is a caretaker type personality and I thought after that boob Jordan and the Utility department problems with the former head of it and his inability to control the gas departments mismanagement we needed someone to come in and shake up the city departments and hire some capable competent outsiders for department managers.

Mr. Irons did not do this BUT, he did bring some stability back to the city operation after these fiascos I mentioned. He has run the city as a "caretaker", a responsible fiscal manager, as I thought he would, and that hasn't been all bad compared to what we had before him.

Mr. Irons never had to have a police car go to huntsville and get him out of jail there, nor did anybody else's husbands beat him up, things like that, that sometimes happen to just think up a few scenarios. Nor will Mr. Irons ever have to check into a drug and alcohol treatment center during his term. So I give him a big positive for his personality and character strength.

I still think we need someone that will bring more cost savings and efficiency, but I do not think Mr. Carrier from what I have seen is someone that can do this responsibly. He seems to be just the opposite, reckless, emotional, acts before he thinks, and plays to the crowd. All of that is on record. Not the traits of a manager that we need. I still have heard nothing about any management experience, just some loose general talk about working in some capitals whatever that means.

I would like to see another candidate emerge who has strong management experience in a large business or organization that is not afraid to take on the city employee constituency and try to improve our city and its finances even further. But if no other candidate emerges, I will have to go with Mr. Irons, who we at least know his strengths and weakness and at least is tempermentaly constant and not going to embarass us.
[quote]Posted 08 July 2008 10:02 AM Hide Post
I am not familar enough with either candidate to feel like I can make an informed choice so here is a chance to win a vote.
1. Tell me what are your candidate's long term plan for the city? Do they feel we can recruit more industry? Do they want Florence to become a retirement center? I just want to clarify this "retirement center" issue. I do not think that anyone in our area wants to become a retirement center. The idea behind attracting retirees to our area is a very good one. Retirees who are looking for a place to retire normally have a pretty good little bankroll somewhere. They normally bring that bankroll to town with them and generally deposit/invest it into our local banking institutions. They usually buy a home in the area and quite often rather than move a house full of furniture they buy at least a room or two of new furniture from our local furniture stores. They use our local medical resources, they shop in our local stores, eat out in our local restaurants, play golf at our local golf courses, join our local country clubs and quite often they bring families to our area from multiple states that also spend money in our area. Now I don't know about you but the idea of bringing retirees into our area who are completely self sufficient sounds pretty good to me. We don't have to worry about them taking a job from our locals nor do they increase our unemployment rate. They don't apply for food stamps or welfare or any other government assistance. Please, don't let the fact that our area appeals to retirees be a negative. Bring em on! Thank them for spending the money they earned elsewhere right here in our little town!
quote:
Originally posted by trouble63:
[quote]Posted 08 July 2008 10:02 AM Hide Post
I am not familar enough with either candidate to feel like I can make an informed choice so here is a chance to win a vote.
1. Tell me what are your candidate's long term plan for the city? Do they feel we can recruit more industry? Do they want Florence to become a retirement center? I just want to clarify this "retirement center" issue. I do not think that anyone in our area wants to become a retirement center. The idea behind attracting retirees to our area is a very good one. Retirees who are looking for a place to retire normally have a pretty good little bankroll somewhere. They normally bring that bankroll to town with them and generally deposit/invest it into our local banking institutions. They usually buy a home in the area and quite often rather than move a house full of furniture they buy at least a room or two of new furniture from our local furniture stores. They use our local medical resources, they shop in our local stores, eat out in our local restaurants, play golf at our local golf courses, join our local country clubs and quite often they bring families to our area from multiple states that also spend money in our area. Now I don't know about you but the idea of bringing retirees into our area who are completely self sufficient sounds pretty good to me. We don't have to worry about them taking a job from our locals nor do they increase our unemployment rate. They don't apply for food stamps or welfare or any other government assistance. Please, don't let the fact that our area appeals to retirees be a negative. Bring em on! Thank them for spending the money they earned elsewhere right here in our little town!


No, nothing at all against it becoming a retirement community, with the exception that those of us who have children, some of which would like to stay in the area, may not be able to find a suitable job if the only thing left to do in our town is to service the retired. That was the gist of my question. the illusion that a full retirement community is self sufficient is not a valid one. They may have a padded bank roll, however most are living on fixed income. Their insurance is Medicare, and if you are aware of the current Medicare crisis, you are aware that a large number of family practitioners and internists (primary care) are having to close their businesses because of Medicare cuts. The others in the community would also need a primary care physician, and it is almost impossible to recruit them in this situation. They do eat out and play golf, and they do bring in their families and that is a good thing. A lot of them are however of an advanced age and a majority are exempt from paying state taxes and real estate taxes. They do not draw from the welfare nor food stamps programs, so you are right that they require little government assistance, but at the same time they may not put a whole lot back in to it. My major concern is that there needs to be a fairly equal mix in order to balance out the requirements on society of a full retirement community. I am very thankful for retirees, but I also want there to be enough new industry in our town to keep my children interested in staying here, and so that the town does not die as the retirees pass away. That was the gist of my question. It was not meant to be offensive, sorry if you took it that way.
Didn't take it that way at all. I just wanted to make sure you understood that though we are making our area attractive to retirees, that doesn't mean we want to ONLY be a retirement community. Many have made it appear that way and it certainly is not the goal here. Most of the retirees I've worked with are not on a limited income. They have CD's, retirement benefits, investment accounts and many other resourses besides there social security check. Many of them have an RV that cost more than my home. They are not a liability, they are most definitely an asset. We do need to continue recruiting industry to keep jobs in the area. But each of these things are a piece of the puzzle. We need more than industry to keep this town afloat and to keep it a great place to live.
quote:
Originally posted by trouble63:
Didn't take it that way at all. I just wanted to make sure you understood that though we are making our area attractive to retirees, that doesn't mean we want to ONLY be a retirement community. Many have made it appear that way and it certainly is not the goal here. Most of the retirees I've worked with are not on a limited income. They have CD's, retirement benefits, investment accounts and many other resourses besides there social security check. Many of them have an RV that cost more than my home. They are not a liability, they are most definitely an asset. We do need to continue recruiting industry to keep jobs in the area. But each of these things are a piece of the puzzle. We need more than industry to keep this town afloat and to keep it a great place to live.

Absolutely trouble, I agree it needs to be a good mix. We need these people as well, I personally just do not want to see someone in office who has no desire to court addition industries or businesses to the area in order "keep it the way it is". There has to be some growth for the community to survive, I think we all can agree on that. Glad we are on the same page., and like you I know lots of retirees who are well off and have planned accordingly.

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