Local stuff

Brian Anderson and I have not always got along. I voted for him when he ran for commission chairman, in part because I thought he was a better candidate and in part because I resented that some people who opposed him did so loudly on the grounds that he wasn't born here.
At the time I wrote that I would prefer a good candidate from elsewhere to a local idiot.
That was not a shot at his opponent, who was homegrown, but not an idiot. It was a simple statement that where you are born does not necessarily make you a better elected official. That whole mindset is an insult to those of us who chose to live and work here, as opposed to some who just never made their way far from mama's table.
(I would also make the point that being from outside Dalton doesn't make you smarter than the local folk.)
Brian came on to a county commission that had been pretty much run by former chairman Mike Babb and then county administrator Bradley Arnold, both smart fellows and capable enough. The Babb commission was mostly harmonious and what the chairman wanted usually got pushed through the commission without much friction.
Brian had to think he was inheriting a similar sweet situation. He didn't. A new three-man majority coalesced and suddenly the chairman was holding on to the bull's tail.
It wasn't an easy situation for Brian but I was disappointed with what I considered a lack of determination on his part, a lack of grit. I wanted to see a little fire in the belly from the chairman and instead saw what I perceived to be as quiet surrender to the majority.
I hate quiet surrender.
Brian seemed to revive some last year when a more agreeable commission lineup was elected.
Brian thinks the media has been a big part of the problem in Whitfield County. And by media, I mean the newspaper. And by the newspaper, I mean me.
Let me assure you (and him), if I am one of his biggest problems, he's in good shape.
Anyhow, Brian got the chamber of commerce top job this week after a "nation wide" search that I suspect never seriously ventured far down I-75 in either direction. I question the wisdom of hiring someone with no chamber experience, with no track record in successful economic development. We could have had that.
But I'll be pulling for Brian in his new job.
It's not an easy job. Half the people in this town own a business and most of them think they know all there is to know about just about everything. Brian has to deal with them all.
Better him than me.
In the process he needs to make his own voice heard, not just be a conduit for a handful of people who want to call the shots behind the scenes. If the chamber is going to have a leadership role in the whole community, it needs to take the views of the whole community to heart, not just the views held in the offices of a dozen or so local businesses.
Brian could be a major player here. He could flop.
I hope he succeeds ... for all of us.