With the first city commission meeting of 2010 fast approaching, I thought I would suggest 10 New Year's Resolutions for Coffeyville City Commissioner Jim C. Taylor, Sr.
Here they are:
No. 10 ? Learn How to Construct a Sentence
An English teacher once told me "never write a sentence you cannot diagram." I challenge Taylor to diagram his one-sentence diatribes. I nearly passed out trying to read a recent letter written by Taylor. The number of words per sentence in that letter were: 49, 30, 28, 38, 20, 52, 43, 32, 27, 52, 84, 42, 45, 46, 45, 45, 59, 53, 27, 44, 65, 37, 62, 22 and 63. WHEW! How cluttered does one's mind have to be to write an 84-word sentence?
No. 9 ? Stop Attacking Walmart
Taylor never turns down an opportunity to rail against the expense the city government has incurred extending utilities and services to the new supercenter. Walmart accounts for a majority of the sales tax collected in Coffeyville. Walmart could have very easily built the supercenter south (around South Coffeyville) instead of east and taken our sales tax money with them to Oklahoma. If you think Walmart is so bad, Jimmie - stop shopping there! Stop cussing the retailer with your coffers full of tax money generated by their cash registers.
No. 8 ? Stop Acting a Clown in Commission Meetings
Taylor needs to stop acting like this.
No. 7 ? Clean Up Your Foul Language
Taylor responded to a critical email from a former resident by simply saying "F*** you!" Hardly a response worthy of an elected official. When CoffeyvilleBLOG.com posted the email, Taylor cried foul ... "That was a private email" he said. Surely his mother taught him the age-old rule that 'if you can't say something nice, then say nothing at all.' But then again, apparently not.
No. 6 ? Quit Hitting 'Below the Belt'
After the city commission asked the city manager to provide a phone log detailing the frequency Taylor was calling City Hall, Taylor retaliated. He called the employer of one of his fellow commissioners and demanded phone logs for that commissioner's work phone. It was not only a childish act, it was below the belt.
No. 5 ? Stop Attacking Local-Owned Businesses
Taylor went a step beyond simply voting against a tax-abatement request from 4-State Maintenance Supply recently. He called the jobs that business planned to create 'insignificant'. When the local unemployment rate is among the highest in the state, NO jobs are insignificant. Perhaps there are too many Silver Spoons in Taylor's kitchen?
No. 4 ? Enough of the Smoke and Mirrors
While pitching the recent sales tax increase to fix residential streets, Taylor proclaimed that voters actually had TWO decisions to make. First, they had to decide whether they wanted to increase the sales tax. Second, they had to decide whether they trusted the city commission and city manager to spend the money the way it was supposed to be spent. In saying this, Taylor set himself up for the classic 'win-win' situation. If the sales tax was approved, he had more money to spend. If the sales tax vote failed, he would have claimed voters didn't trust the commission and city manager.
No. 3 ? Backup Your Allegations
If you are going to accuse the city manager of dishonesty, prove it. If you are going to allege you are being kept in the dark, do us the courtesy of providing evidence. Your conspiracy theories make you look paranoid and in need of medication. Anyone can throw mud on the wall.
No. 2 ? Stop Threatening the City Manager's Job
You are one vote, Mr. Taylor. You cannot fire the city manager without two more votes. Your harassment of city staff is bordering on creating a hostile work environment at City Hall and that IS against the law.
No. 1 ? Accomplish Something Constructive
It takes no effort to be an obstructionist. It does, however, take effort to accomplish something. Voters expect the commissioners to get along with one another and work together to make Coffeyville better.
-Don Edwards