Sunday, June 27, 2010

“Huntington mayor shares philosophy of life in Chamber speech” plus 2 more

“Huntington mayor shares philosophy of life in Chamber speech” plus 2 more

Huntington mayor shares philosophy of life in Chamber speech

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 11:52 PM PDT

By Benita Heath | The Tribune

Published Sunday, June 27, 2010

SOUTH POINT — The common bonds that those who live in the Tri-State hold were among the topics Huntington, W.Va. Mayor Kim Wolfe talked about in his address at the Greater Lawrence Chamber of Commerce's 4th Friday luncheon.

The mayor cited that area residents share a devotion to family and country.

"We are basically a religious stock and stubborn," he said. "You can't tell us we can't do something. Put those attitudes together, it puts us in a unique position."

He sees the Tri-State functioning in a reciprocal manner.

"Good things are happening in Lawrence County and that will affect us and vice versa," Wolfe said.

A former Cabell County sheriff, Wolfe took over the office of Huntington mayor in 2009.

"Our vision in Huntington is safer, cleaner and more responsible government," he told the audience at South Point High School. "The biggest challenge (when he took office) was the police and fire pensions. We were on the verge of receivership and bankruptcy. That was the big elephant on our backs."

Currently Huntington, like many other metropolitan areas, is facing an inequity between revenue and expenditure. One remedy has been shutting down city hall on Fridays as a cost-saving measure. This is expected to bring about a 10 percent cut in workers' pay or an annual savings of $425,000.

However, the city employee union filed a lawsuit recently claiming that violated the union's collective bargaining agreement.

"But I refuse to be negative," Wolfe said. "We have a challenge."

And meeting challenges in a positive fashion is what Wolfe says is his philosophy of life.

"Leadership is service to others," he said. "The most important thing in life is doing service to others."

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Substance comes before style in coach choice: Okon

Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:29 AM PDT

Paul Okon following his induction into the Hall of Champions in 2009.

Paul Okon following his induction into the Hall of Champions in 2009. Photo: Getty Images

THIS style, that philosophy, this approach. None of it matters, says former Socceroos captain Paul Okon. Australia simply need someone who can get us into the 2014 World Cup.

Okon, who played in Italy, England and Belgium and is being groomed as a future national mentor, said that debating what style should influence Australian football over the next four years was simplistic because in international coaching, all that mattered was winning. Besides, even hiring a coach who has won the World Cup, such as Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, came with serious risks. ''Parreira is coaching South Africa but I'd have to say that I didn't see any Brazilian-style football being played by them,'' Okon said yesterday.

''You could argue that he's taken the Africa out of South Africa. It's like so many coaches have done to African teams. They have lost some of their natural style. Maybe we should be thinking that we shouldn't take Australian style out of the Australian team. Yet so many people are saying we need to have a South American coach teach us how to play like South Americans.

''The South Americans have done well at this World Cup because their qualifying group was like a mini World Cup. It was very, very strong. That has had an influence on the whole group. Also, because the South American players are cheap to buy, they're all playing in Europe and have great experience. So does that mean we need a Brazilian coach? I'm not so sure.''

Parreira, coached Brazil to World Cup victory in 1994 but Cameroon's French coach Paul Le Guen is favourite for the Socceroos job. Parreira has coached five national teams to the World Cup and coached clubs in Turkey, the US and Brazil. Le Guen played for France in the mid-1990s and coached clubs in France and Scotland. Names previously linked to the job included Sven Goran Eriksson and Osvaldo Ardiles. Okon put the style debate into perspective yesterday.

''Style is definitely a component, but the aim is to get results,'' he said. ''There's no point playing great football but not qualifying or having success. To say we need a South American flavour, or a European or an Australian coach, the point that matters to me is that we get a coach who's going to qualify us for the next World Cup, wherever he's from. If the coach can get results playing great attacking football, that's great. But that's not what it's about at the top.

''I'm not sure what people's expectations are as far as what style we should be going with because, in the end, international managers are not judged on their style, they're judged on their results. The people who watch football from their lounges are not under the pressure that managers are to take their team to the World Cup.''

Former Socceroo and A-League-winning coach Gary van Egmond believes Parreira would be a good choice. ''Parreira would give a different perspective to our football after years of Dutch coaching and would help along our up-and-coming coaches and players,'' van Egmond said.

The Socceroos' all-time leading goalscorer Damian Mori said yesterday he'd like to see an Australian take over the national side. But van Egmond believes no one is ready.

''It's too early for an Aussie to take over that role,'' he said. ''There's no one in that position at the moment and I think it's going to be a while.''

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Morrell promises to take business philosophy to Sacramento

Posted: 27 Jun 2010 01:07 AM PDT

EDITOR'S NOTE: This profile is the second piece about the candidates vying for the seat vacated by now state Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet. A profile of Democratic candidate Renea Wickman ran June 20.

Mike Morrell is making a run for the California Assembly and his message is clear: business, not a politics.

Morrell, who has been a business owner for about 25 years, won the Republican nomination for the seat in the 63rd district in the June 8 primary and is now stretching his message to the general population.

The Rancho Cucamonga resident, and owner of Provident Home Loans and Provident Reality in Upland, said his experience as a businessman makes him right for the job.

"People are looking for legislators to represent them who have created jobs, balanced budgets and have had to make tough decisions in their career," Morrell said. "I've hired a lot of people, balanced a lot of payrolls. I don't want to be known as a politician. I want to be known as somebody who has got business experience and will represent the people."

Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, vacated the Assembly seat after being elected to represent the 37th Senate District on June 8, and said Morrell's business experience makes him the right replacement.

"I've worked with (Morrell) over the past six years on small business issues," Emmerson said. "(Morrell) is the type of small business owner to take his experience to Sacramento and work for the people."

Morrell said the legislature needs to treat its budget like any household or business and stop spending beyond its means. He said raising taxes is not the solution and not one he would support.

"I not only want to stop raising taxes, I want to reduce taxes," Morrell said. "We have taxes on top of taxes. We're taxed enough in California. The problem is spending, not revenue. We have billions of dollars coming into the state. We've got enough revenue."

Morrell said when taxes are lowered, businesses flourish and people have more money to spend. He said he would fight to reduce "costly regulations" on businesses so they stay in California.

Morrell said a lot of the state's money is going to fund programs and services for illegal immigrants and that needs to stop.

"That's a lot of money we could be using for our local municipalities," he said.

Morrell also said he believes the Legislature is often consumed with protecting the environment or animals before its own citizens and he would put his residents first if sent to Sacramento.

"I'm for green money more than I'm for green technology," Morrell said. "I think we should care more about our people more than we do fish."

In terms of education, Morrell said local districts need to have more control, and students need to see more of the money.

"I'd like to see 70 percent (of the money) in the classroom," Morrell said. "It's getting taken away in Sacramento by the bureaucracy up there."

Morrell, who has been married almost 33 years and has three children, said it is time to elect representatives who will bring character and morality to Sacramento.

"The majority of these problems in California could be resolved right away," Morrell said. "But the foundational problem is we have to elect good people who are going to represent the citizens. If we elect good people who will make the right decisions, we can resolve a lot of these issues."

Neal Waner, Redlands business owner, resident and Board of Education president, said his relationship with Morrell dates back to 1992 and it was a clear choice to support him in his second run for the office.

"Morrell called me in 2003 to enlist my support of his first campaign," Waner said. "When I asked why he wanted to run for any political office, his response then was the same as it is now. His message was about what our founding fathers intended for our government. It was a message of faith and family first, business development, and limited government."

"This time neither he nor his message changed, however the economic climate and political landscape are different," Waner said. "This time his message resonated with more voters. He did well because (Morrell) is the right man at the right place to bring much needed change to Sacramento."

E-mail Staff Writer Chantal M. Lovell at clovell@redlandsdailyfacts.com

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