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County Commissioner Arlene Cooke doesn’t get her dander up very often but last Monday, near the end of the county governing board’s six-hour meeting during which it passed a $388 million budget, she couldn’t sit by and let one item go unchallenged.
After hours and hours of discussion and votes and more discussion and more votes, and after a vote to increase the county’s property tax rate for the first time in almost a decade, 4th District Commissioner Kathy Danner – who represents a small part of the city in addition to Cool Springs and the southeast portion of the county, made a request that the county discontinue its support of the Brentwood Library. That support is $71,000 for the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget.
The Brentwood library is independent of the county library system but the county supports it in lieu of having its own facility within the city.
Cooke wasted no time to make her sentiments known. First she noted that it would cost the county much more than $71,000 a year to operate a library in Brentwood. Then she reminded the commission that “Brentwood and Franklin are the biggest contributors to the county coffers."
“They go beyond what anyone else does. And then you’re going to take $71,000 away?" she asked. "I think that’s awful.”
There were some more choice sound bites, especially from another commissioner that supported Danner’s motion, but no need to get everyone else’s dander up too.
But I do want to offer up a shout out to Commissioner Cooke for standing up for her city and constituents – Williamson County taxpayers all.
No 'Ordinary' woman
Have you seen the August issue of Women’s Day magazine? I admit I hadn’t, but my mom in Richmond, Va. – who is doing all one woman possibly can to keep print publications in business – had. And in her most recent snail-mailed envelope filled with clippings and pictures (taken with film, mind you) was Page 18 from the magazine. She had highlighted some of the story's text in pink. The headline is “Mom on a mission.”
“In 2004, after dining with friends who had adopted a baby from China, Kelly Putty and her husband, Shane, decided they wanted to adopt too. That the Brentwood, Tennessee, couple already had five children…” it began.
My Kelly – BHP partner Kelly Gilfillan – has written about Kelly Putty and her organization, Ordinary Hero (ordinaryhero.org) in her Outside the Brentwood Bubble column several times. It’s great to see Kelly P. get national recognition as well.
Check it, on newsstands now, as they say in the commercials.
Susan Leathers is editor of Brentwood Home Page. Click here to read previous columns. Email her at susan@brentwoodhomepage.com |
