ANDREA HOPKINS: Welcome To Dysfunction Junction

Beneath the cheery veneer of small-town wholesomeness, serious political dysfunction lurks in Bluff City, Damascus and St. Paul.

Government in these three communities is a rocky affair – marked by fractious infighting, politically tinged firings and squabbles about everything from police forces to water lines. The political climate in Bluff City is so hostile that a former alderman is spearheading his second attempt this year to overturn the results of the last election.

This begs the question: Can anything be accomplished in towns where the political passions run this high and town leaders are so frequently at odds with each other? Seems unlikely.

TURNING TO Bluff City first, the town’s problems stem from a volatile stew that is equal parts personality clash and financial travails. There is no dispute that the 1,500-resident Tennessee town between Bristol and Johnson City faces a tough budget year.

The town finished 2007 with a relatively small cash cushion – $47,000 – and property and sales tax collections were down. Meanwhile, the town has spent an extra $50,000 in the past 12 months coping with leaky water mains that rupture on an all-too-frequent-basis. The town must make long-term fixes to its worn-out pipes, but that will likely mean other budget cuts or a tax increase – the third rail of local politics.

Next year’s financial blueprint is more than $100,000 out of whack, and town leaders have yet to arrive at a solution. Two mayors have quit, citing stress and conflict with other board members. And two recall petition drives have blossomed – an attempt by a former elected leader to oust those who took his place.

The recall-drive leader isn’t playing with a full deck. Changing the faces in town hall won’t make money magically appear in the bank, nor will it fix the pipes. It won’t change the economic pressures that are facing communities large and small as fuel prices climb and sales and property tax receipts sag. Better to support those who are in office as they struggle to balance the budget and repair the water lines rather than to undercut them at every turn.

IN DAMASCUS, a tiny 981-resident town tucked along the Appalachian Trail, budgetary pressures also seem to be stirring the pot of political discord. It’s easy to get along in good times; harder to cope in bad times.

Money woes and more than a smattering of politics led to the firing of Damascus Police Chief John Rouse last week. The firing came on a 3-3 vote, with Mayor Creed Jones breaking the tie.

Jones was merely making good on a campaign promise to get rid of Rouse, whom he accused of running a police department that was “sucking the town dry.” Jones also has alleged that town officers do nothing but circle the town in their cruisers wasting gasoline.

PERHAPS THE mayor hasn’t yet heard of the tried-and-true law enforcement concept known as patrolling. The mere presence of uniformed officers and marked cruisers in a community deters crime and bolsters feelings of security for merchants and visitors alike.

If the high price of gasoline is the concern, Jones could push to get officers out of their cars rather than to get rid of them entirely. Communities across the nation have opted to send officers out to walk a beat or to ride bicycles, motorcycles, golf carts, electric cars and even Segways in an effort to maintain a vigorous police presence while burning less gasoline.

These approaches would be particularly beneficial in Damascus since tourism is the town’s economic base.

Then, there is St. Paul, Va. (a town of 1,000 residents on the Russell/Wise County line). Control of the town seesaws between two well-defined leadership factions with every election. As a result, the town government isn’t particularly stable.

THE MOST recent election shifted the balance of power again; the ouster of the town’s police chief was the predictable result. Technically, the council didn’t renew Chief Scott Brooks’ contract rather than firing him, but Brooks is still looking for another job. It’s a difference of semantics only.

Brooks became chief after his predecessor was ousted by the previous controlling majority on the council – proving that those who live by politics can die by it, too. In both cases, the ousters happened without opportunity for public comment – a sure way to generate ill will in the community.

In Bluff City and Damascus, it is the size and cost of the police department that seem to be generating official angst. In St. Paul, the fight seems to be between those who want vigorous law enforcement that applies equally to the powerful and the common man, and those who do not.

Only those desperate for a job would apply to be chief, or even an officer, in any of these communities. The pay isn’t good, and the risks of law enforcement remain, even in a small town.

All this bickering isn’t moving these communities forward. Rather, it reinforces an unflattering sort of Boss Hogg image. It’s time to can the fighting and work together for the good of these towns and the region.

Andrea Hopkins is opinion editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. She may be reached at ahopkins@bristolnews.com or (276) 645-2534.