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.
More 2010 Census statistics are available. The Census reveals that as Oak Ridge’s population grew 7.1% between 2000 and 2010, the increase in the city’s average age pretty much leveled off. Our median age in 2010 was 43.5 — well above the state average of 38.0, but (after years of continually increasing) just 0.1 year [...]
It wasn’t exactly crowded, but on Sunday afternoon Cedar Hill Park playground entertained several families visiting for the last time before it closed on Monday to be torn down and replaced.
It’s been a wonderful play space since 1988. My family is one of many that have fond memories of good times there.
However, it’s showing its [...]
Tonight City Council has the wonderful opportunity of choosing 9 fine citizens to serve on the new Parks & Rec Board, but we also will have to “not choose” 51 equally fine applicants. I can’t vote for nearly everyone I have a high opinion of — so I’m thinking about how to harness some of [...]
Monday night, April 4, at 6:30 pm (corrected) the City will conduct a public meeting for input on the use of traffic camera revenue. The meeting is at the Civic Center social room. I’ll be there, and I will be interested to hear what residents have to say. I’ve already shared some of my views [...]
The first 2010 Census data for Tennessee have been released — and they confirm that Oak Ridge is no longer “about 27,000 people.” The total population as of 2010 was 29,330 — an increase of nearly 2,000 people since the 2000 census count of 27,387. After decades of stability (the official population was 28,319 in [...]
The New Year is past, but Monday night’s Council meeting indicates that I need to make and follow a resolution for future meetings: Whenever I’m commenting on or asking questions about an agenda item, I should always mention (probably more than once) how I intend to vote on that item (unless, of course, I still [...]
Although I didn’t vote for the city’s Redflex contract that led to the installation of traffic cameras, one of these days the nastiness contained in the letters that City Council members receive regarding the cameras might just inspire me to head out on the streets carrying a sign in support of those cameras. Insulting remarks [...]
The Traffic Safety Advisory Board held a long and thoughtful discussion of the west Turnpike speed limits, deciding to recommend sticking with the TDOT limits, but continue to monitor the situation.
Based on the 85th percentile speeds, city engineer Steve Byrd opined that the 50 mph limit is appropriate for the section that has that limit, [...]
They’re back (west Oak Ridge Turnpike speed limits, that is)! The Traffic Safety Advisory Board (TSAB) discusses them at its meeting Tuesday evening at 7 pm. The city engineer has conducted motorist speed surveys and is recommending that the city not make any adjustments to the state’s speed limits.
How we got to this point
In [...]
Friday evening I attended a most interesting panel discussion program at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, on the topic of homelessness in Oak Ridge and Anderson County. Based on the size of the crowd (yes, there was a crowd — and this was on a Friday evening), it’s clear that is is a subject [...]