I'm Ellen Smith, member of the Oak Ridge City Council. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my views on public and private life in and around Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This website is my own; content here does not represent the official policies or views of the City of Oak Ridge. To add your own comments, click on the topic title to open a comment box. To read posts about a particular topic, scroll down to "Categories" (in the sidebar) or use the "Search" box in the sidebar. Look under "Archives" to see collections of past posts organized by date.
The suspense has ended — the election results are in. That’s a relief. With the large field and low turnout, I didn’t know what to expect in the results, but I think the city made out OK in the end. My preferred Council candidates won, and I’m particularly pleased that Anne Garcia Garland will be [...]
Citizen Jeff Zink (jeff.zink@comcast.net) polled the City Council candidates on several topics. He got thoughtful answers from five of the candidates (Garland, McBride, Mosby, Tobler, and Turner) and a short reply from a sixth (Miller). He distributed the results this afternoon via e-mail. I received a forwarded copy of his message, which said “Please [...]
With early voting under way, it’s high time for me to share my recommendations for City Council. I support the re-election of David Mosby and Tom Beehan, and I strongly recommend electing the newcomer Anne Garcia Garland.
Although I don’t always like their opinions, both Mosby and Beehan are knowledgeable, hard-working (not always in the public [...]
Early voting for the June 2 City election started on Wednesday and continues through Thursday, May 28, 2009. Hours are 10 am to 6 pm weekdays (except Memorial Day, May 25) and from 9 am to 12 noon today (Saturday, May 16) at the Larry Dickens Office Building (aka Emory Valley Center [...]
The Oak Ridge Police and Fire Departments are holding a “Child Passenger Safety Checkpoint” Saturday, May 16, from 10 am to 1 pm at Fire Station 3 on Tuskegee Drive (behind KMart). There will be technicians on hand to educate and assist parents and grandparents on the proper installation and use of child [...]
There are two particularly big items on Monday evening’s City Council agenda.
One is first reading on the City budget for FY 2010. The draft budget is on the City website (there’s a prominent link on the main page), and paper copies are in the public library or available from staff at the municipal building. The [...]
Oak Ridge, we have some candidates this year — candidates for City Council and school board in the June 2, 2009 city election, and possibly even a local candidate for U.S. Congress in fall 2010.
Before talking about the candidates, I must stop and remember the two long-time public servants who decided not to stand for [...]
The City’s annual curbside brush pickup starts Monday, April 27, with the Burnham Woods and Scarboro neighborhoods scheduled for that first day. The schedule runs five full weeks, through the end of May. In addition to tree limbs, the crews will collect “yard clippings” and leaves if they are in plastic bags. Full details are [...]
Anderson County Solid Waste has announced the state-sponsored household hazardous waste collection event for 2009. Anyone interested in volunteering to take surveys or assist the State’s contractor in sorting materials should contact Geoff Trabalka by e-mail at gtrabalka@andersontn.org or phone at (865) 463-6845.
ANDERSON COUNTY
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
COLLECTION EVENT
Household Hazardous Waste is anything generated in the [...]
The City’s plans for a comprehensive “visioning” process got shelved, but thanks to the Environmental Quality Advisory Board “greening the city” effort, the community is soon getting a chance to engage in the kind of discussion that I was hoping that the visioning process would provide — and at next to no cost to the [...]