To the editor:
It seems we are beginning to notice that working to manage and build placements for outsiders is not easy. It is certainly costing more than our officials and various boards and committees anticipated. This is mostly due to the fact that they work with folk who, in their final analysis, will see only dollar signs and will proceed accordingly to their supposed right to make as much money as they can with as little risk to themselves as possible. This, of course, leaves out other considerations, such as the well-being of an already established community.
The argument that you help the people of Brown County by working with/lining the pockets of outside investors has yet to be fleshed out, and so far, we have seen no evidence for the validation of this argument. Not when entities, official or otherwise, squabble over rights to service establishments, or create new ones, for outsiders — establishments that will turn Nashville into a party town during a drug epidemic!
It should be remembered when considering economic “redevelopment” projects, that our probation department first started noticing signs of heroin users five or so years ago when Brown County received the attention of surrounding cities as a raw setting in which to invest.
Officials as well as the people of Brown County must work to invest in ourselves. (We do have the means, the manpower, as well as the materials.) This will allow for easy regulation of investments among people who have some sense of one another — thus minimizing risk by not having to deal with so many unknown or amoral elements.
But first, we should get rid of the rats who are attempting to flee the sinking ship of their cities to find respite in Brown County — people who expect us to help pay for their accommodation, diverting attention and resources away from the people who have the most rights to them.
John Douglas, Nashville
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