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October 7, 2009
The Annexation Gambit
It's very possible that someone, somewhere in Hamilton County is saying, "well played, Mayor Littlefield." There are other sentiments being expressed as well, like WGOW News Director Kevin West's rhetorical question: "'I'll stop the annexations IF you consolidate our [governments].' Political blackmail by Mayor Littlefield?"
If one looks at it the right way, it can seem that a strong arm is being flexed. Or, as one reader writes, "Mayor Littlefield has a gift for proposing things that I would normally support, but will most likely wind up opposing simply because of the tone he used in proposing it."
I don't happen to view this move as "blackmail." I tend to side with those who view it as more shrewd than blunt.
It's possible that there is another explanation. Maybe the mayor wasn't ready to go for metro government, but the City Council's refusal to authorize one of three proposed annexations sent him to a "plan B." But let's be realistic—by turning to a fairy tale.
I happen to have become familiar with the musical theater version of Disney's Beauty & the Beast. (Aside: I'm playing French horn for the current local production; the show continues through this weekend at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.) There is a parallel in that story to this one, in that the eccentric inventor, Maurice (played by Hamilton County Asst. District Attorney Rodney Strong), is threatened with commitment to an insane asylum. His daughter, Belle, is suddenly presented with a way out by a spurned suitor (Gaston): if she'll but marry Gaston, as he had asked previously, he'll step in and make sure the men in white coats go away without dear old Dad in tow. Spoiler alert: turns out Gaston put the whole plan together to begin with, after Belle turned away his advances.
Maybe one could say that this suspension of annexation proceedings in return for consolidation talks is a "tale as old as time."
References and further reading: Cliff Hightower, David Morton, John Wilson
Government | By joe lance | 11:32 AM
