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She must have been a beautiful baby! ORBRC President-Elect Nancy Donsbach presided over last week's meeting without offering a clue as to her plans for AFTER the meeting -- which involved a serious wardrobe change! As part of a "cutest baby contest" held among staff at Enrichment Federal Credit Union, where Nancy holds a VERY responsible position, there was some silliness afoot that involved voting and money -- all for a very good cause. Says Nancy, "We collected over $686 for United Way with our contest! We are well on our way of our $12,000 goal. I came in second place -- the Gerber Baby was first -- but I was thrilled I still collected over $130 by myself." You can help sweeten the pot -- and pat the baby on the head for her good works (and for being such a good sport).
October 28, 2009 .... Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan
Editor's Note: Pat Powell, chair of our PR Committee, and several club volunteers are hoping to provide us with a snapshot of the previous week's meeting for each week's newsletter. Here's the first shot at it, provided by Pat.
Nancy Donsbach presided over the meeting on October 28, 2009, in the absence of Charles Crowe, our club president, who was on vacation.
David McCoy introduced the following visitors: Charlie Jergen (noon club); Paul Senghal (Pigeon Forge); Mary Lou Auxier introduced her husband, John, and told the club that he had brought her into Rotary in 1971. (There were a couple of funny comments about that, not the least of which was that someone said, "Some people will do anything to get a girl!") Jim Palmer introduced Pat Wurth, Roane State Community College professor and active participant in the Haitian Water Project. John Wheeler introduced John Ward, U.S. Justice Department.
Nancy introduced the new nominating committee made up of Bob Weir, Randy Shults, and Linda Brown. She also announced that Bob Poe will be leaving the club as he is moving to Kennesaw, Ga., to be closer to grandchildren, and she thanked him for his service as Sgt at Arms.
Nancy also announced on behalf of Jim Bradbury that people were invited to stay after the meeting next week (Nov. 4) to put labels on the dictionaries to be delivered to schools in the next few days/weeks. Pat Powell announced that next week Gene Caldwell had invited the basketball coaches from the high school and that a photographer from the Oak Ridger will be attending the meeting to do a story. She encouraged everyone to come in their best Oak Ridge colors.
Tom Lakers and Lou Rabinowitz were in their usual places at the front desk. No rooster was available, so Nancy asked everyone to donate a dollar on behalf of Tom Lakers.
Martha Hobson, Chair of the Foundation Committee, announced that Pat Powell had achieved +2 Paul Harris status and gave her a pin.
Ken Sommerfeld introduced Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan as the speaker.
Tom and his wife, Kaye Brookshire, arrived in Oak Ridge in 1987. He was elected to the City Council in 2001 and has served in positions as Mayor Pro Tem and (currently) Mayor.
He touched on the following as goals and efforts in which he has been most interested in this term:
One of the biggest challenges we face is our older housing. He cited concerns about Applewood, Highland View. He spoke of looking at HUD money for redevelopment of areas. He said he and others had spent lots of time on the Applewood area which is owned by the "classic slum lord." He considers housing as one of the biggest problems Oak Ridge faces. He said that, without big improvements in housing areas, we face great expense in such things as the need for more city police to monitor what goes on in those areas - just as an example.
He talked about the Hillside Apartments, which are a great example of what could be done - they are very affordable and well maintained. With some effort the other areas could become that as well. He further stated that, in order to attract and retain new, younger individuals and couples, we need better, affordable housing.
Beehan stated he is determined to address effectively the crime problems - He said that additional police have been hired in the past year and that city officials are going to make it so uncomfortable for drug dealers that they will be forced to leave this area.
With regard to the cameras and enforcement of that effort, he emphasized that the installation of the cameras was a means of eliminating problems, not an economic means for the city. He said it came, obviously, from the death of the child run over by the school bus last year, but that the problem had needed to be addressed prior to that. He point out that all cameras have been installed in school zones. Tom said that he wanted to use revenues generated from the traffic cameras for special projects, not operating money. He is suggesting possible uses for a Middle School community police officer and a possible low-interest revolving loan for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient.
Economic Development - he briefly discussed a number of topics including the 58/95 expansion; developments at ETTP; OR Chamber IDP Incentive Programs; fire service to the west end and others
Strategic Planning - City staff are working on future plans for Melton Lake Redevelopment and the Environmental Quality Advisory Board will be presenting a sustainability plan for the whole City.
Public Relations - They have done a lot of customer service training for city personnel; they have a user friendly website; the Secret City Festival has been a great pr tool as has Earth Day, Council night out where city staff attends and are mandated to do follow up on suggestions and needs identified.
Intergovernmental Relations - he indicated that relationships have been strengthened with DOE; National League of Cities; Energy Communities alliance; Tennessee Municipal Alliance.
Interesting fact to know: In interviews with young people that the city wants to entice to live where they work, they found that potential young home buyers were more interested in quality of life than the history of Oak Ridge.
Actor Alan Alda will introduce world-renowned violinist with the New York Philharmonic Rotary's $200 Million Polio Challenge.
You can buy tickets now for the concert and a private reception afterward with Perlman and Alda. Click here for more information. Click here to see a video about the event. Click hereto read an interview with Perlman in The Rotarian online.
Watch this space -- we'll catch up on birthdays and club anniversaries soon! |
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