Political Cowardice?
To the Editor:
County Mayor Jim Rout's refusal to take a stand on the toy-town incorporation issue is one of the most blatant acts of political cowardice in recent memory. By keeping quiet, he is, in effect, saying that it is okay for 600,000 Memphians to face tax increases so that a few thousand suburbanites (likely including many Rout campaign contributors) can avoid paying their fair share of the tax burden.
In contrast, Mayor Herenton has shown exemplary leadership in fighting for our city. I don't always agree with the mayor, but he should be commended for standing up for average Memphians.
Rout says that he doesn't want to engage in divisive rhetoric. However, this is a critical issue that will affect our city and the entire metropolitan area for decades. This is the time for responsible leaders to make a stand.
H. D. Thompson
e-mail (Memphis)
The Oilers Debate Gushes On
To the Editor:
[Regarding Kenneth Neill's commentary, "Just Say No to the Oilers," September 18th issue]:
In sales for 24 years, I have learned some valuable lessons. (1) Believe in your product. Living in Memphis in the late '80s and early '90s, I supported the efforts for an NFL expansion team and was sincerely hurt when the rejection was announced. (2) Prove them wrong. When your efforts are rejected, you can pack your bags, criticize the decision-makers and move to the next buyer, or evaluate why you failed, make corrections, and prove yourself and your product superior.
I believe in Memphis and will continue to support it, although I now reside in Nashville. Mr. Neill, you and the other narrow-minded, self-centered, and egotistical people are the problem! Just think of the positive trends that could be established for your community. That you choose to attack, degrade, and denounce others is simply pathetic. Your negative attitude only proves one thing -- that the NFL decision-makers identified negative aspects of your product. All you are doing is proving them right.
Mr. Neill, you should grow up or get out, because it is you and others like you that are holding Memphis back! Do you think poor attendance at Oilers games hurts Bud Adams, the Tennessee (not Nashville) Oilers, or the NFL? Or does it show the nation that the NFL decision on expansion was sound and proper?
I say fix the problem. You should take your self-pity, your selfishness, and immature actions to some other place, because you are just in the way, holding back those who choose to prove the NFL wrong, not right!
Jere Caplenor
Lebanon, TN
To the Editor:
Thank you, Mr. Neill. I will take a bow for my NFL abstinence. Unfortunately, you have taken an excessive amount of criticism for stating the facts in such a straightforward manner.
The Oilers do not want to play in Memphis. It was simply a smart front-office move to try to addict the Memphis fans before the team heads east in two years. But, Bud, you should know you can't sell anything without marketing it. It's no different here in the deep South. You're beginning to figure it out, because you're now in deep sh--!
Derek Gunn
Memphis
To the Editor:
Mr. Ira Lipman's angry tirade against Kenneth Neill's viewpoint would have been as laughable as his arguments, had it not been so transparent. One wonders whether Mr. Lipman was protecting an existing contract or hoping to get a new one from the NFL cash cow?
Tom Rush
e-mail (Memphis)
A Home for the Belle?
To the Editor:
I just returned from my first visit to Washington, D.C., where the highlight of my trip was the Air & Space Museum. I finally got to realize a childhood dream, seeing and photographing the Spirit of St. Louis.
As I wandered around the museum, the thought hit me: Why isn't the third most famous American airplane on display here? This would be the perfect home. Then I came back to somber reality. For roughly half a century, the powers-that-be have treated the Memphis Belle shamelessly. Allowed to deteriorate for years, it's now stuck under a cheesy cover on a $60 million chunk of concrete in the backwater of the Mississippi River. Local and state governments have been more concerned with blowing taxpayer money on things like antiquated trolley systems and new football stadiums than properly preserving what is a most important piece of American history. Local churches should be chided also. Without the accomplishments of this airplane along with those of a whole lot of other B-17's, I doubt that they would be enjoying their current tax-exempt status. In the scheme of things, it would not cost very much to do right by the Memphis Belle. The sad part is that it probably won't happen.
David Sowell
e-mail (Memphis)
St. Louis Blues
To the Editor:
In response to the letter in the September 25th issue by Jonathan E. Turner regarding incorporation in Shelby County and the experience in other cities such as St. Louis, I wonder if Mr. Turner has actually been to St. Louis in the last 15 years. It's suffering from a shrinking tax base and rising expenses. In fact, for the first time in 30 years, last year St. Louis saw more businesses leave the city than enter the city.
Has Mr. Turner driven in St. Louis lately? If he had, he would notice that the city looks like a veritable ghost town. Rotting and dilapidated buildings line the streets of the areas lying immediately outside the downtown area. In fact, with the exception of the downtown business district and the Central West End area, much of St. Louis gives me the creeps. Suffice it to say that I prefer my native Orange Mound to the best inner-city neighborhood in St. Louis.
Has Mr. Turner driven on St. Louis roads lately? St. Louis cannot afford to maintain its streets and local highways. The expressways offer the only palatable respite from the pothole-laden streets of the city. Those are the the types of things that I would like to see my fair city avoid. It should be noted as well that the city of St. Louis came awfully close to losing the Blues until the county of St. Louis and the state of Missouri approved the funds to build the new Kiel Center. As for the new TWA dome, again, funds for the building came from the county and the state. In fact, as I write, the state legislature is drafting legislation to appropriate funds to build a new stadium for the Cardinals.
The city of St. Louis is almost always on the verge of insolvency and has been for the past seven years or so. However, if Mr. Turner is so eager to see Memphis follow in the footsteps of St. Louis, he need only pray for the successful incorporation of these toy towns and wait.
Daalon B. Echols
e-mail (St. Louis)
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