Kudos for Market Square
I am a former Knoxville resident who keeps up with the Knoxville happenings thanks to your impressive web site. Last week I was thrilled to read about the future changes to Market Square Mall and applaud everyone who is involved in the transformation. Developing that part of town just seems like a given.
I lived in Knoxville for 20 years and frequented establishments in both the Old City (Planet Earth and the Underground) and Market Square Mall (the Snakesnatch and Mercury Theater), and not to disparage the Old City, which is great in its own right, I always felt safer going to Market Square Mall.
Hats off to the Wests; the Preservation Pub sounds like a great idea, and their determination is inspiring. Good luck to everyone involved!
Shannon (Rafferty) Carey
Cape Cod, Mass.
Yet More on Income Tax
I enjoyed the column by Joe Sullivan in your May 30 Metro Pulse. It made me sit up and think—thank you. A followup article on the "Death March" would be equally as enjoyable and thought provoking:
1. How can Naifeh uphold the state Constitution (as he as so sworn to do) and have a flagrant disregard for the same document by proposing an unconstitutional state income tax? Why does he not want to legally amend the Constitution? Is he afraid of a state vote that would fail?
2. Why did the State's budget increase at clip of $1 billion per year for the last 5 plus years?
3. What is the small variable cost associated with our state parks? Would charging an entrance fee keep our more popular parks open?
4. What percentage of every education dollar trickles down to the classroom/teacher? How much of it actually goes to cover administrative cost?
5. Why do we fund the health care of aliens (people who do not actually live in this state) through health care? How much of TennCare is in our annual budget?
6. What is the cost of attending the University of Tennessee relative to comparable institutions? Is what we pay at UT a fair cost for the education received?
7. What is the history of Connecticut's state income tax? Were they the last state to implement a state income tax and are currently the highest taxed state in the nation?
We don't need a new tax until we review the efficiency (and necessity) of our current services. We could roll these thoughts into CATS (Citizens Against Taxing and Spending) budget.
John Werner
Knoxville
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