Citizens Oak Ridge

Letters to the Editor

Oak Ridge needs a broad industrial base

3/7/2007

To the Editor:

The city needs to be run like a business itself. The business is the governing of our community. One of the top priorities is planning that there will be a future. Unlike other cities that survive on their own merit, we rely far too much on the largess of the federal government. In fact Oak Ridge would wither away without it. We need to not have all of our eggs in one basket. The number one threat to our future is the lack of a large private industrial base. We need that at this time more than any other thing.

If our city is to thrive, it must change to be like every other city. We need to build it as you would the most stable structure that man can build, a pyramid. The first layer of the foundation would be broad and deep, private industry. The second layer would be the jobs and people that it would attract. The third layer would be the wages and benefits that said jobs would provide. The fourth layer would be the capstone, the retail and entertainment that would naturally follow the money.

This is why I have decided to run for City Council. Oak Ridge may survive as a city, but it will not thrive unless we change to compete with the rest of the U.S.

My want for Oak Ridge is to recruit thousands of private industrial jobs here. Whether it be 10 companies with 200 employees each or one company with thousands of jobs, I want to see Oak Ridge booming.

Chattanooga was on the short list for a new Toyota automobile plant. Why wasn't Oak Ridge on that list? Honda is going to build an aircraft manufacturing plant in North Carolina. Why wasn't Oak Ridge considered? Is your money being wasted on lobbying politicians when it should be going for jobs?

Industrial jobs will be around this generation and the next and the next. People with those types of jobs may be able to afford the quarter million dollar homes we were told that there is a shortage of. Only the managers of retail outlets could afford those now. Maybe.

Oak Ridge produces some of the best-educated graduates in the nation. When I graduated high school the choices were: go to work at the plant, go to school out of town or go to work out of town. Well the plant was downsizing and weren't hiring. There were no job options available so away I went to serve my country. I could go on through the years and the decades itemizing where our leaders failed us but I won't bore you with the details.

Our family and our community are one in the same. Do you want to see your children graduate and leave? Wouldn't it be better to have them close and employed so you can enjoy your grandchildren?

There is a group of people working for us now and they are building a structure for us. The problem is they are building the pyramid upside-down. They put the capstone (retail) on the bottom and expect it to support jobs and attract people to volunteer to come in from out of town to support it. Every mentioned store but one could be here right now in the mall, why are they not? I have seen hundreds of stores come and go and not a single one of them will tell you their reason for failure was lack of competition. It was a lack of customers. A large industrial base in this city will guarantee that our city will not just survive, but thrive.

If I am elected to the City Council I will apply scientific principals, engineering methods and sound, proven business practices to better this city. There are no shortcuts. It won't be the glitter and sparkle that attracts those with immature minds. We didn't get in this shape overnight. The solution being offered to you by others is the quick fix. This is the shallow and superficial correction. This is a Band-Aid approach where we need major surgery.

One thing you can be certain of if I am elected: your City Council won't be without a wealth of good ideas and common sense.

Jerry R. Marrow

Oak Ridge

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