The mayor has to pay for his expansion vision:

• Add 24 police officers in the next four years.
• Add six new paramedics in the next four years.
• Open three parks in the next four years.
• Pay for the fact that Bartlett assumed full costs of operating the Bartlett Branch Library.
• Increasing fuel and utility costs.
• Increasing personnel costs, including health and pension needs.
• Complete the extension of Kirby-Whitten to Old Brownsville Road.
• Increase wastewater treatment capacity by 1 million gallons a day.

With Memphis crime increasingly coming to Bartlett, the cops can’t come fast enough. Maybe the paramedics, given last year’s annexation.

The rest of it can wait while the city tries to cut spending.

On the other hand, car burgluraries jumped up 24 percent.

So at least they are leaving your car — it just has a smashed window, torn up dash where they ripped out the radio, and so on. But you can still drive home.

A sure way to stop car burglaries, [Memphis Police Lt. Joseph Scott] said, is to stop leaving valuables in cars where they can be seen. “A car is not secure,” Scott said. Leaving guns, cameras, laptops “entices them to break in to get their fix.”

Why would you leave your gun in the car? It should stay with you! How else are you going to stop the bad guys?

• Jan. 6: 2 black males armed with a silver handgun robbed the Tan-N-Go on Bartlett Blvd, reaping less than $100.
• Jan. 11, 1 black male robbed the Friendly Quick Stop on Stage Road at gunpoint. The owner gave the criminal about $3,000 but refused to hand over a laptop (?!). The lowlife then attempted to murder the store owner, attempting to fire the gun twice. The gun failed (criminals are idiots), the pair struggled, and the scum fled.
• Jan. 15, 1 black male who was holding something that may have been a weapon robbed the Geno’s Stop and Save on Stage Road. The amount gained was not reported.

The west end of Bartlett butts up against Memphis and the neighborhoods in that area are declining. In fact, I moved from that area just under a year ago just because of that very fact.

What is our elected leaders doing? Anyone? Ah yes, seven new officers. No reported change in tactics or policies.

I’m beginning to regret not moving out of the county. At $1.91 a gallon, who cares that the drive is a little longer?

Four of the five candidates for Bartlett alderman spoke at the Bartlett GOP meeting tonight.

Position 1

Mike Morris is the incumbent in Position 1, having served for four years.

He has 27 years project management experience, a position that has prepared him to help oversee the complexities and large budget associated with helping to run Bartlett.

He has served as the liason to the Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center Advisory Board, was a member of the Historic Preservation Commission in 2003 and has served as the liasison to the Animal Shelter Committee.

Morris said that he is a dedicated conservative and is proud of his work to keep the Bartlett Library in the Memphis and Shelby County library system, as well as being a strong proponent of Bartlett performing arts and the animal shelter.

William Clyde “Bubba” Pleasant retired from the Tennessee House of Representatives after ten years of service. Today he is running for  Bartlett Alderman, Position 1.

Pleasant talked of his experience working in the state house, saying that he didn’t do anything on his own. He learned that it takes working with people to make things happen.

Pleasant got started in politics when his brother got killed in an auto accident at a dangerous intersection. He worked to get red light installed and his political career grew from there.

He is retiring from the city of Memphis in October (he currently works for the Memphis Fire Department).

Pleasant said that basically he just wants to be a decent man. He admits that he has made mistakes in the past and hopefully has gotten wiser as he has gotten older.

Finally, Pleasant stated that he isn’t running against anybody, he’s just running for the position.

Position 2

Emily Elliot is the incumbent in Position 2, having served for eight years, and running unopposed.

She is currently the vice-mayor in addition to her full time position as the clinic supervisor and research coordinator for Mid-South Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, a unit located in Bartlett.

In the past Elliot has served on the Planning Commission and liason to the Bartlett Arts Council. She currently serves on the Parks and Recreation Committee, the Family Assistance Committee and Bartlett City Beautiful Committee.

Elliot also chaired the Landscape Ordinance Committee and was insrumental in efforts to preserve trees during development.

She spoke about the fact that the crime in Bartlett has been in the papers lately and there is no doubt that it is a growing problem. Crime across the nation is up 3% in 2006. She voted to increase the number of Bartlett police officers.

Position 3

David Parsons is the incumbent in Position 3.

He spoke about growing up in Bartlett, and reminisced about how much it has grown and changed. He said when you vote for an alderman you are voting for the man, not the position.

Parsons spoke rather passionately about how moving to Bartlett should be the choice of businesses and families.

He is a businessman and understands making hard spending decisions and the choices forced by having to fire people. Bartlett has 500 employees and a $53 million budget, and he has the experience to manage that.

Parsons read a long list of committees that he has worked on and also mentioned keeping Bartlett Library fully even though the county had been forced to reduce their library budget. Parsons went through a litany of projects that has come through the board in the last four years, from purchasing Bartlett Station Municipal Center to building new fire stations in annexed communities.

Burton Bridges is running for Position 3 but did not attend tonight’s meeting.

Bridges is a 19-year-old accounting student currently attending Christian Brothers University.

According to a recent Bartlett Express article, Bridges’ political experience includes serving as an intern for the Shelby County Board of Commissioners and U.S. Congressman Harold Ford Jr.