Village divided over finances
My concern for Tellico Village at this time is that we are a “house divided.”
We are basically divided over financial issues. This can be clearly demonstrated by merely reading the president’s message in the third quarter report where Bruce Johnson states, “There are various philosophies floating around the Village regarding our finances. Some want us to focus on our infrastructure, while others want us to focus on growth and the need for new and improved amenities.”
In the same issue, Bart Margoshes, the Long Range Strategic Planning Committee chairman, reported on the results of a recent survey where 40 percent of Tellico Village property owners responded. One of the bullets noted that “Finance was the No. 1 priority.”
The Financial Advisory Committee would not comment on nor approve the 2019 budget and five-year plan this month.
The thing we don’t need in Tellico Village is to agitate with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, for this kindles the animosity of one part against the other. What we need at this juncture is to step back and take a close look at our financial situation for there are many unknowns. Let us promote unity over tribalism.
Many residents can probably paraphrase from Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 “house divided” speech but may not know about this sentence: “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are trending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.”
The circumstances were different, but the message is still appropriate.
Edward Hofer
Tellico Village
