A Raise for Mayor Whoever

I had the pleasure of attending the Dec. 2 City Council meeting, and I was happy to see that the entire council unanimously voted to ignore the ordinance which Mayor Ashe brought before them. I am speaking of the hefty mayoral raise which has found so much media attention in recent weeks. The mayor did what he had to do, turn down the raise due to intense scrutiny by our local media. City Council did what they had to do, ignore the mayors request to turn down a raise. Of course I had no doubt that this would happen since the ordinance passed unanimously the first time it was read.

I find it ludicrous that local TV stations singled out this one emergency ordinance and had a field day with it. Victor Ashe might never see this pay raise. There is no guarantee that he will be reelected. The position of mayor of Knoxville is a high-pressure job and the holder of that office must make some very important decisions on a daily basis. I see no reason why the mayor of Knoxville should not be paid a rate that is comparable to other cities in the region.

The only person in the audience who agreed that the mayor decline a raise (and spoke publicly about it) was a man who has been seen talking at public forum spouting off racist remarks and insulting half of the community.

I read somewhere that Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves makes around $2,000 to $3,000 for every pitch he makes in a game. This is a man who makes millions of dollars every year for playing a game of catch. I think that the caretaker of our great city should be allowed a raise in his salary every few years, be it Mayor Ashe, Mayor Pavlis, or Mayor Whoever.

Joel Anderson
Knoxville

You Mean it Sinks?!

I know that not everyone has to be angry with you on how you feel about the movies you talk (about) in "Trailer Trash." But please do not spoil the movies by telling the (endings) to your readers. I say this because you told me the end of Titanic in your Metro Pulse of December 11-18, 1997, Volume 7, Number 48. This was my birthday gift from my friends, and I will like to thank you for spoiling Titanic for me. A movie that I was looking forward to watching.

Grecia M. Márquez
Knoxville

East Isn't West

I am writing to make a comment about East Towne Mall's new name, Knoxville Center. I think it's another slap in the face of East Knoxvillians. East Towne Mall is a fairly new mall and is well known as East Towne Mall, so what other reason could it be other than the management does not want to be identified with East?

I believe that they want to rid themselves of the East name. No matter how they try, the mall is still located in East Knoxville.

C. Wyrick
East Knoxville

P.S. The beavers even saw fit to live in East Knoxville, but the mall decided that they weren't good enough to stay.