Op-Ed Columns

The timely development of McClellan is one of the most important issues facing Anniston today. I would suggest that our public school system and public safety take an even higher position on our list of priorities, but those are stories to be addressed at another time.

McClellan certainly has the opportunity to be Anniston’s “Golden Goose” with enough potential to produce “golden eggs” for the entire city. If we feed and properly care for the goose it will even lay “golden eggs” for Calhoun County and our extended community.

However, it appears that we are allowing individual agendas and personal greed to dictate the future of McClellan.

The day before a press release given by Mayor-elect Gene Robinson, Councilman-elect David Dawson and myself, The Star chided the newly elected council members to step forward and prevent a McClellan disaster. While we had been working on addressing the public for several days, last week we took the initiative to step forward and make our position known to the residents of Anniston.

It seems our spirit of negotiation, compromise and consensus has been overstated by Councilman Ben Little’s usual squeaky wheel tactics.

It is quite amazing that Little is not only demanding that the city be the sole proprietors of McClellan, a position supported by the current council, but he goes further to speak for God. He reveals that if the city does not run McClellan, God will turn his back on us and our efforts at the former fort will not prosper.

I hope the city will let Little know that he cannot speak for God on the issues at McClellan. Also, if we are forced to stop the ordnance cleanup at the former fort it will have a negative impact on our entire community, placing our “golden eggs” in serious jeopardy. I certainly believe that it is incumbent on every one of us to do the right thing, and if we do the right thing we can be confident that our actions will be blessed.

If we think little about McClellan we will have little return on our investment. Let’s think big and work with Calhoun County and the extended area to realize our vision for the future McClellan. Anniston is a hub city, geographically located near the center point between Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Chattanooga.

McClellan can prosper, and that prosperity will enrich our entire city as well as the wallets and purses of our residents through new jobs and other business opportunities. Our city has declined dramatically in the last few years — let’s make sure we don’t blow this opportunity to fully realize our potential. We cannot afford to kill the “Golden Goose” before it has the opportunity to lay its “golden eggs.”

John Spain is the city councilman-elect for Anniston’s Ward 1.