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CHRIS MASON IS THE MAN I'D VOTE FOR...IF I COULD!Submitted by mushy on May 11, 2011 - 9:32pm.
It's important to me, even though I live outside the city limits, what goes on in the city of Harriman. Because I also see a brighter future for Harriman, and because I want to see the Princess Project finished, I want Chris Mason to be elected to another term.  Why do I like Chris...well, I recently posted what I think of him on my personal blog. If you're interested, click HERE! By the way, drop by Riverfront Park this Thursday evening at 6PM and hear what he has to say for himself. Besides...there's free food!
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This is my second post on the subject, not sure where the first went.
The Princess project will continue with or without the re-election of the current Mayor as the funds have been dedicated to the project with no turning back. The Princess will enhance the downtown to some degree.
The City of Maryville has renovated theaters yet has much prosperity prior to the rennovation. And, the City of Maryville has a very large tax base with average income greater than Harriman. Did the City of Maryville's historic theaters change the future for Maryville? No. It was wise business planning, tax incentives for business, and many other factors which were in place prior to the rennovation of theaters.
Harriman will have the Princess project like it or not. And, the funds will be paid by TVA for completion. The concern for many include the long term and short term plans for the Princess? What additional funding plans are in place to functionally operate the theater? The basic theory of marketing clearaly state, and have been utilized for many years, have not been revealed thus without a true marketing plan using the proven market principles will not allow the growth as anticipated. What is the Plan? I don't care if one is starting a donut business, a McDonalds, a pharmacy, a dress shop, or whatever; without a marketing plan delivered success is difficult, at best.
The focus of tax revenue for the City of Harriman is where activity exists and that is the Midtown area. The Princess will be a bonus but without a well executed plan, there will not be expected success.
At this point, it doesn't matter who is elected or even if there is a Mayor, the TVA funds have been gifted to the Princess Foundation which has not revealed much detail of any consequence.
Roane State Community College cannot be left with the burden of figuring out from where funding will be generated to support the Princess.
The market plan should have been generated months ago and made public so that the community can hop on board with annual giving, additional funding, and get excited about programing.
Bottomline, the Princess will be completed. It gets turned over to someone (Roane State or the Foundation) and the City of Harriman just sits back and collects all the benefits of having the Princess. Come on magic dust and the magic plan.
Sarah McCoin
The City of Harriman has to ask itself why it exists?
Harriman, in spite of being on a ravenous annexation bings for the last twenty years, is still losing people. Why is that? What is it that would make someone from somewhere else move to Harriman? Start a business in Harriman? Create jobs in Harriman?
Harriman's downtown medical economy is headed to Midtown. I expect some more old office buildings to be on the market cheap fairly soon.
So along comes the vision and effort to revive an art center in downtown and some folks support it with all their hearts and others just want to tear it down. The folks who are lukewarm for or outright against the Princess renewal haven't come forward with any sort of alternative vision for Harriman that I can see. Status quo and naysayers are losers.
(Do I like the fact that the project was financed by TVA money? Yes I do, although it should have been money that TVA pays as a taxpayer in Roane County instead of payoff money for elected officials cutting TVA some slack and letting them skate on their real economic debts to Roane County citizens and businesses because of their incompetency caused disaster.)
Harriman is a beautiful city in a magnificent location. It will continue to decay unless it embraces a vision and becomes a place where people will want to stay in, move to, start businesses, and raise children. At the moment I see only one bright light in its future. Embrace it while forming the next vision. The Princess will not be a success by itself. It is only something to build on. What's next?
I would have to support candidates who can layout the next level for Harriman in a way that shows they know how to get it done.
In my opinion...
Question 1: Did the City of Harriman Council have much input on the Princess as the project for funding and is it a good idea? Who knows? Time will tell. Everyone I speak with says the same thing, "hope it works". The issue is not the Princess itself but rather, now what?
It is clear any business must have a plan for long term and short term goals. The Princess project has a short term (completion and some programming of some sort) and a vision yet no plan which has been made clear to the general public. If clear, where is it? I missed it.
Q. Is there an ongoing campaign development plan and if there is, where can one find it? The arts always struggle despite how wonderful the building is and, therefore, there must be pro-active and very ACTIVE ackwledgement of the future as it relates to annual planning, giving, promotion, packaging, programming, etc.
If someone would please share this information on the future of the Princess rather than it is here and we will have it completed sometime in the next year, the general public might find the Princess as the best thing since the time when the first Princess hit town.
Whites Creek, you are right, just this morning from Trenton Street I was admiring the view from the churches down toward the River. The architecture of the buildings on Roane Street can really been viewed from Trenton street yet most are empty.
What is the darn plan? It has been no big secret that the medical facilty is moving...what is the plan?
What is the programming plan for the Princess?
Channel 15 is clear as a bell and has some interesting programming yet who promotes it?
The City Of Harriman is not responsible for the Princess. It is the Princess Foundation which controls the $$$,the progress, and so on.
Is the Princess a good thing? It all depends in the plan...
Where can one find the plan for not only this year, but next year, and many years thereafter?
When will there be an annoucment of completion of the Princess? What is the first big event to be held at the Princess?
This stuff just cannot wait until later, it is an ever and ongoing progress plan which cannot be performed in a blink of an eye.
The City is simply the location of the Princess which has everything to gain and everything to lose...and oddity, to say the least.
Not negative on the Princess at all, I just like details and I cannot find the details anywhere. Ask the Council, they cannot even tell you what the plan is.
Don't want to comment on if it was the best choice of the use of the money or if the City of Harriman could have detailed better projects...I simply do not know exactly how the decision was made and quite frankly, it doesn't matter what I think.
All the funds TVA offered were generous yet we in Swan Pond cannot get diddly sqwat. It would have been nice to have a fire house and if the decision makers of the funds would have considered a mere amount for the Swan Pond area, perhaps we could have the firehouse yet all the $$$ has been earmarked and spent for dedicated projects.
As far as the firehouse, hoping a capital campaign can begin soon so that when TVA leases the land to the County, funds will be availble for such. A Capital Campaign needs to begin now.
Rambling...I know...
Come on magic dust...
Sarah McCoin
They don't just fall from the sky already in final shape. From what I understand, the folks involved ARE planning, and they don't have secret societies. I can contact any of them any time I need to (I haven't lately, but I can and have.). Find out when they are meeting and go find out, would be my suggestion.
The operation, as far as operations of this scope go, is stil very, very young. It needs the opportunity to grow and mature.
While I understand the need for planning, and your desire to know an ultimate plan, ultimate plans for such projects are a living organism rather than something cast in concrete before the seed ever is allowed to germinate.
Colin Powell, an unquestioned expert at leadership, has some pertinent quotes involving planning and such:
"Part I: Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Part II: Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut... Don't take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don't wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is almost always too late. Today, excessive delays in the name of information-gathering breeds 'analysis paralysis.' Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk."
and...
"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds."
Please don't interpret what I quoted here from General Powell as meaning I don't advocate planning. I simply warn against excessive expectations of it and making a fetish of it - again, not saying you are doing that, Sarah, just speaking in cautionary terms regarding what we can expect with planning.
As you say, however - this hasn't much to do do directly with Chris Mason - it has to do with the Princess and the future of Harriman.
RB
With regard to planning, it is imperative the Council know the plans and I'm not sure they do, let alone the majority of the taxpayers in Harriman or Roane County for that matter.
The Princess Foundation should provide periodic releases of information to alleviate the unknown as the general public needs to know. Just good PR common sense.
The City is not in control of this baby, the Princess Foundation is in total control. All we are asking is to let people know the plan.
And, there better be programming performed well in advance to openning, there needs to be an annual giving campaign, which I do not know if there is one, and there needs to be engage from the community whom may be more apt to engage if they know what the heck was going on.
The progress should be made avaialble without having to ask. Many large projects have a countdown to the opening date, heck, when it that? This year, next year?
At a Roane Alliance Meeting last year, it was announced the Princess would be open in time for 2010 Christmas programming. Are we on target for 2011 Christmas programming?
What are the entertainment plans?
What troups have been asked to perform and who has accepted?
What organizations are going to fill the 400 seat auditorium?
People want to know after all this is supposed the be the big whammie for Harriman.
Sarah McCoin
If I lived in the City of Harriman there would be NO way I would vote for Chris Mason...-Brian
Say why or don't say.