Don't Dilly with Dowdy!

Anonymous offers rebuttal to "Delta Watcher's" views:

I want to address Delta Watcher's rant paragraph by paragraph and clear up the absolute pile of crap laid out before us! What may be considered "wrath" by Delta Watcher is just Yankee honesty. Dowdy speaks clearly and gets to the point. Maybe Delta Watcher doesn't understand what it means to be honest?

Hand select group for boards: Dowdy has been around Greenville for a long time and I think she probably knows by now who will pull their weight on a board and actually do what they are supposed to and not just take the position to fluff their resume. Delta Watcher did you get your feelings hurt perhaps you weren't asked to be on one of the boards you mentioned?

Chamber $5k membership drive: During Dowdy's reign as president was not the first time the chamber has done this. First of all, this was not a decision she could have made alone and second of all - it worked. Call the chamber at 378-3141 and ask for details after all it is your chamber of commerce.

Leadership Washington County class members as board members: Well duhhhhh! If you're trying to build and nurture the future leaders of Greenville then you're going to give them some responsibility and kick their tail and see what they're made of. I just keep getting a weird feeling that Delta Watcher may feel passed over....

Don't mess with Iris and Jewel: Anyone who has lived in Greenville for any length of time knows Jewel Lockhart and what an incredible man he is. Nuff said. Same goes for Iris Stacker except she is an incredible woman! Delta Watcher - you're just misinformed or just missing... I don't know yet which you are.

Dowdy's campaign team: Her choice and who cares what color they are. What matters is what they bring to her campaign: friendship, support, ideas, etc... I am comforted by the fact that Dowdy has friends because I am beginning to think our current mayor only hangs out with her boy toys. I never see her in what I would call a friendly moment. Friends keep people grounded, accountable and humble.

WCCCVB & Bill: Poor Bill, he just could not get out of Greenville quick enough and of course we all miss him, but Bill left on his own steam for many reasons besides a board and staff that he could never get to agree on anything. Bill did a wonderful job and Dowdy had nothing to do with his departure.

The Center: Don't know enough about this to really comment, so please someone else jump in here and help.

Betty Lynn Cameron: When Betty Lynn was out for her first surgery, Dick Clark, Chamber president at the time, basically worked at the Chamber every day. While there, Dick cleaned the books up and got the GACC back in the black. Dowdy followed Clark's lead and kept the place running for 18 months! No hit list, but the community does recognize it is time for new leadership in the area of economic development.

Clarke Reed is a Republican, Republican, Republican, Republican, Republican! Duhhhh - who do you think he will vote for???? His brain simply can't comprehend voting for a Democrat! But, he is also savvy enough to say what he needs to get what he wants - he ain't the grand daddy of the Southern Republican Party for nuthin'...

Chuck Jordan - just change his diaper and let's move on. He will do whatever Clarke tells him to.

If you really want to get the truth, call Dowdy yourself and ask her! Ask her what she believes in! Hell, call the mayor and ask her what she believes in, but I will guarantee you this - you'll get Dowdy on the phone faster than you will the mayor! You'll be the luckiest person in Washington County if the mayor even bothers to return your call.


"Tencent" adds the following:

I just came from a "meet and greet" with Kim Dowdy. I was fairly impressed with what she had to say. What I liked most is that she will not 'micro-manage' the city departments. Those managers must produce or get out.

And she feels no need for a staff of body guards who are getting more pay on overtime than the chief gets in regular salary. There is a big waste of tax money. Safety, jobs, education, city image.. these are things that are on her agenda. And they need to be on all of our agendas.

One person cannot turn this town around. It will take ALL of us. And it will not happen overnight. But, it must start with a spark. I met one man at the meeting tonight who has not voted in years. He is registering tomorrow because he now believes that his ONE vote can make a difference. The turnout I saw in the State/County elections looked like more people are getting involved.

Let's keep that enthusiasm going into the city elections. Greenville needs to get off of this grant system where we go begging for money to even improve our streets. If the tax revenue of the town can be built back up, we will not be looking for handouts anymore. Let's build our education system back up so we can show potential companies we have useful, educated people to hold jobs.

And I don't mean the department store types. We need more technical skills in this area. I can say first hand that we are poorly lacking in that area. Thank you, Kim, for coming by and talking with us. And, the skeeters were not all that bad. :)

Through all of our "rants and raves", we are at least speaking up about important issues in our community.

Only yesterday, I was speaking to couple from Virginia who were considering moving to the Delta. They noted that the people here were very friendly, but everyone seemed so negative about the community as a whole. They asked me if there were some "deep, dark secret" about the Delta that no one would tell them about.

I replied that Greenville could be likened to an Alzheimer's patient. Over time, we have forgotten our rich heritage steeped in the arts, music, literature and southern pride and have become engrossed with the maladies of the here and now. In essence, Greenville is a city which suffers from very poor self-esteem.

The "cure" for Greenville's depression is quite simple: open and honest discussion of real issues. Thank you to all of the Scoop readers and contributors who have an opinion and are willing to share it.

One voice...one vote...can make a difference!

Forthright