Monday, December 24, 2007

Why Exaggerate?

I was struck by two things occurring in the same day's paper today- in the letters to the editor, Steve Eldridge, president of the North Hills Area Association called candidate Bruce Wilson (2nd) out for claiming that he had met with the Association when (according to Eldridge) he hadn't.

In the West Shopper section, under paid advertising, the Richard "Cate Update" lists accomplishments under County Commission that Mr. Cate didn't have a chance to deliberate or vote on (Recall, God resolution, Halls TIF). The implication is that somehow Mr. Cate had a hand in these? Otherwise, why list them in your political ad?

He also mentions that he "is volunteering his time to attend Commission meetings." I assume that's going forward- I've been the last three meetings, and only saw Mr. Cate at the last one. You'd also have to call hanging out in the back yapping with Brian Hornback and Lee Tramel as "attending meetings." To me, that's a pretty loose resolution.

Why exaggerate? The voters want integrity. I happily admit that I didn't attend ALL of the marathon meeting last week- I had a family obligation and I had to leave at 8:40 (but I watched the rest online later, and nothing coming up would be anything I would speak to). I hope to go to all the upcoming meetings, but if I miss one, I'll sure tell you about it.

An old quote (I think it was J.C. Watts) says "Integrity means doing the right thing when nobody's looking." That starts with doing the right thing when people are looking, doesn't it? If you can't master the latter, you sure can't master the former, and clearly we have to have Commissioners who can do the right thing behind closed doors.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Upcoming Media Events

January 8th: WNOX Candidate Forum (100.3 FM, 7:30 - 9pm), Fourth District 4-B Candidates

January 13: Hubert Smith Radio Show (850 AM, 4pm - 6pm)

Coming Soon: Candidate profiles on WATE.COM

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Fourth District Zoning Board Issue

Tomorrow, one of the Zoning Board items is a item by Rocky Hill Storage for a waiver of the requirement of lighted signs to be at least 300 feet from residential property.

I drove by the site today and found no houses nearby, just an apartment complex across the street (and shielded by trees). Nearby property is probably still zoned RA or PR, but is extremely steep and unbuildable. It's more likely any adjacent property would end up rezoned as commercial.

But The Taxpayers Lost

County Commission has now set a dangerous precedent by giving $5M to support a commercial development. Now the developers will be lining up at the trough, and the citizens will find ourselves $30M in additional debt and without the room to maneuver to build other infrastructure like roads and schools. It's one thing to offer a TIF to compete with another city for a new business to locate in Knox County, but our retail needs only grow at a rate commensurate with population and economic growth (maybe 7% per year combined). Building beyond that rate (400,000 SF??) simply empties a store somewhere else.

What happened to the free market? And the Scott Moore connection is further evidence that our rules for disclosure of conflicts of interests must be extended to include family members.

I can't believe the "you did it too" attitude of travel allowances and KCSO bonuses. Clearly, we need more transparency in what is going on at all levels. I'm thinking now that travel, clothing, and all "fringe" benefits should be submitted to and approved by a citizen's review board or something along those lines.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Zoning- The Homeowners Win Twice (or at least 1.5 times)

Tonight, Commission denied rezoning for a development of 80 condos (LDR) to 250 apartments (MDR) in South Knoxville. The developer argued that the 3500 new employees in the area needed housing, so the development would be "traffic neutral." This statement, of course, was totally at odds with his stated plan that the apartments would be "luxury."

Anybody knows how to swing a $1600/month apartment on $6/hour?

With some 60+ homeowners in attendance, Commission voted down the rezoing. Earlier in the evening, West Knox homeowners negotiated a developer down from 5 unis/acre to 4.

In both cases, the issue of the Sector Plan were brought to light and debated. Is the sector plan just a "suggestion" document, to be amended whenever we wish? Or is it something we only need to amend in dire circumstances?

If the Sector Plan is amended willy-nilly, then it needs to be reviewed and revised much more often than 7 years. Knox County *must* be able to plan the schedule for building infrastructure (roads and schools especially) so we don't always have to operate in "crisis mode."

Amazingly, the school zone for the 250 proposed apartments is already overcrowded and adding portable buildings. That issue alone should have killed the rezoing proposal in under 10 seconds. You can't add potentially 300-500 kids into a school zone that can't seat all the kids they have today.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Angel Tree Needs Help

Normally, they are stripped clean this time of year and only the tougher ones are left ("I'd like a left-handed spaceship toy that's made of titanium").

I talked with the Angel Tree volunteers, and they agreed it seems to be a tougher year. Couple that with the low sales, and I'd say we're seeing the fallout of the home mortgage crisis. While Knoxville tends to be somewhat buffered from national trends (both good and bad), it's clear things are tougher out there for many.

If there's any year to remember the reason for the season and help, this would be one.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

The "Triple Pledge"

On the Knoxnews site, a spirited discussion on the proposed weakening of the Open Meetings Act.

Brian Paone, of the Recall Amendment movement, proposed three actions current and future commissioners could take.

* A pledge to disclose any and all contacts with any individuals on any matter on any Commission agenda.
* Complete and total disclosure of any political ties before Election Day.
* A commitment to disclose and recuse themselves from any vote or discussion in any matter that directly affects their business interests, or those of ANY relatives.

My response:

Brian- count me in as pledging to all three of your proposals. The first two are already on my web site. The declaration of conflicts in votes seems obvious to me, but I guess I should post it for good measure.

And if somehow I get on commission and violate any of those pledges, I'll be the first person to sign onto my own recall petition.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Live Blogging- Fourth District Representation Delayed Again

I'm thoroughly disgusted with the decision tonight by County Commission to put off the December forums and appointment process for another TWO MONTHS.

This idea that the primaries will give Commission some window into the hearts of voters is unfounded. Most primary candidates have already expressed that they will not seek appointment (and the winner would probably have to be crazy to accept appointment after winning the primary), so it would go to a 'second place' or 'third place' or... well, in some cases, to nobody who actually ran.

Ruthie Kuhlman made a great speech telling Commission that they need to "get on with it" and to do their jobs. Good try, but the Fourth will continue to live in darkness. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the Fourth doesn't file a new lawsuit over Commission failing to do what they are supposed to. It CAN be done in an open way, that's what the law allows (and requires).

To put it more plainly- if the Commission had its normal 19 members, and two representatives of the Fourth died/resigned and left vacancies, would we accept Commission leaving those seats open for over four months? Clearly not.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Knox News Sentinal Articles On County Expenses

An interesting article on Sheriff's Department clothing expenses can be found here.

A less interesting article on travel expenses can be found here.

Or you can just view the KnoxViews summary.

Interestingly, on the Knoxnews comments, I found these disturbing comments:

The clothing allowance IS a perk given to those “Haves” and not given to the “Have Nots” I was employed by the Sheriff’s Dept for over 10 years and sometimes I was given a clothing allowance and sometimes I didn’t. It depended on my “Good old boy” status.

My brother in law worked for the sheriff in a civilian capacity...Either you play the game and support the sheriff 100%, or you do not receive the bennies. And God help you if you should happen to say "Hi" to someone who is supporting an opponent!!!

Sounds like the perks are just used to cement political position. For that reason, the good members of the KSCO will end up being punished by losing needed allowances.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Bill Dunn Proposes Online Discussion for Open Meetings Law

See http://www.shoppernewsnow.com/aBean.aspx (link is time-limited).

Dunn thinks he may have a way to bring the state’s sunshine law into the 21st century, via the Internet. Dunn is working on a bill that would allow elected bodies to set up Web sites where they openly discuss issues. These sites would be open to the public and the media.

“Two elected officials could carry on a conversation at their convenience and at the spur of the moment if needed, knowing that the public will have full access to their discussion,” said Dunn.

It's a little different, but along the line of what I've proposed for an online diary of ALL meetings. Even this version would eliminate the complaint that "it's too hard" that seems to be behind the hamstringing of the Open Meetings law.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Eviscerating the Open Meetings Act

Looks like I'll be on the phone today. Read more here. Mike Hammond was on TV Sunday explaining that the Commission was looking at the quorum rule as a solution to their woes.

The last thing we need is 9 commissioners getting together in secret to trade votes, and then holding another meeting with ANOTHER 9 commissioners in secret to get the majority.

I like Mike's support of civil penalties. Perhaps we need to enact that reform, along with a clear definition of "deliberation." Allow multiple Commissioners to meet with constituents to gather information, but not to discuss between them. That seems pretty simple.

Mike had a good point about the fact that we have two commissioners from each district, and they may need to brief each other on a meeting or conversation with a constituent that one of them had. But can't they do that with a written public memo? That would fall under "information gathering" and not deliberation- a memo or e-mail being a "one way" conversation. As long as the other Commissioner didn't respond to that email/memo, the intent of the OMA would be met.

Thoughts? Comments?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Non-Election Stuff: I might be on TV tonight

The family will be watching Extreme Home Makeover closely tonight, since this was the house I got to work on out near Pinon, AZ this spring. It was one of EMHE's more difficult projects, since it was out in the middle of nowhere (4 hour drive from the closest airport... PHX or Sante Fe, take your pick), crazy weather (we had a heat wave, rain, a dust storm, and snow fall in the same day), and we built a pretty high-tech "green" house (solar collectors, wind generators... it will be a net zero electricity house).

Since I had some experience building furniture in the home shop, I got tapped to work in the art tent with the 'talent'. Lots of interesting stories there- but I did really enjoy working with Johnny Littlefield, he's an all-around good guy, along with Big D, the shop foreman. Who knows, I might be in shot somewhere tonight. Either way, it was a great experience, and the emotion on the crew is no less than that of the home audience- and you don't need the music soundtrack to help you along.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Just a slight correction to Georgiana's Column

In Georgiana Vines' column in the KNS, I am quoted as saying that Lee Tramel's letter "suggests Tramel would get the appointment."

It's a little misleading- what I said in my interview was that the letter suggests that Tramel thinks he would get the appointment. It's a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. I certainly would never "give up" on an issue so important.

(But, at least Tramel doesn't go as far as to say he's still serving office, unlike others... nod to nbt44)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Oct 22- Natural Resource Recovery

One of the more interesting issues that came up was a local homeowner stating that he had been fighting for over two years to deal with an odor issue at his home, which is located near Natural Resources Recovery in Solway (where 62 meets 162).

For two years, he has been plagued by sewage-like odors, but on-site inspections seemed to turn up nothing. The resident begged for action to be taken, but it was unclear how Commission would proceed without the backing of the Air Quality board or a corroborating inspection by someone with the County (even a Commissioner).

Working with air quality issues, I suspected a few things, did a little research today, and I have a likely cause and a proposed solution that would be a win-win for all parties. See the "Comments" section for details. Maybe we can solve this homeowner's problem quickly.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Toothless Appointment Resolution

(Blogging live): Commission just passed resolution stating that they would have a public hearing before making an appointment for a vacant elected office.

No other requirements, though- no advanced notice, no details about how they might find applicants, no teeth.

Mike Hammond opined that this was a way for Commission to show that they were listening to the voters. Excellent- but I don't buy that "better than nothing" is the best we can do.

But it provided a break from the painful hour where Commissioners were trying to figure out how the health insurance industry prices SI policies and what stop-loss insurance is. Wow. I vow that, if elected, I'll do a lot more homework on multi-million dollar purchases before meetings.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Lumpy Wants to Represent Us

"...Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert had said he was willing to represent residents of the 4th District along with his own 6th District."

Oh my. Methinks Lumpy doesn't quite understand the 14th Amendment. But thanks for the offer.

(/SARCASM OFF)

It's also interesting in the article that the commissioners still don't have a clear understanding of our Open Meetings Act and have to have it explained to them ever five minutes.


Heroes: Alice Bell/Spring Hill Neighborhood Association

They returned the money that Chuck Bolus gave from his discretionary fund before being ousted by Fansler.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Reference: Knox Co/City Stormwater Differences

This document lists the complaints the City has regarding the Knox County stormwater provisions. The first point seems like a pretty major hamstringing of the rule!

Herb Moncier- Fansler Can Legally Call Special Election!

Herb Moncier was on the Hallerin Hill show this morning at it was fascinating. Say what you want about Herb, he has a sharp legal mind and can put it in terms for the average Joe.

He brought up an interesting point- Brook Thompson of the state election commission really failed to do his job when asked to rule on term limits, forcing Knox County to hire an attorney at their own expense to decide the issue, starting the whole mess. It turns out Herb has a suit for the benefit of Knox County to recover the $$ ($300K?) Knox County expended to hire this consultant to do the state's job.

Herb also pointed out that Knox County should have not used the appointment provisions to fill a "vacancy," because we never truly had a "vacancy." The election of term-limited officials, he says, was illegal, and thus the election should have been voided. Under a voided election, a section of Tennessee law calls specifically for the ruling judge (Fansler in this case) to call for a special election, and in fact Moncier made this plea earlier this year, and that plea is still active- all it takes is for Fansler to review the earlier cases, declare the election voided, and call for the special election.

Fascinating!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

County Paperwork

Well, I turned in my treasurer's appointment and petition yesterday, but haven't seen it updated on the PDF yet. But, in case anybody's wondering, I am legal. Someone asked me if I was going to get a "big name" for my treasurer. Right now, I'm thinking no; it kind of misses the point of being an outsider candidate. If a big name wants to endorse me, that's cool, but my treasurer is a long-time friend who knows me well. He just moved back to Knoxville from New Orleans due to the Katrina fiasco, so he brings some good perspective of other governmental dysfunction and the importance of disaster preparedness.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Knox County Recall Petition Drive

Sign the petition here. The petition allows, in extreme circumstances (15% of the voters by petition) to call a recall election. That's a sufficient bar that it would only be called in under the most egregious circumstances.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Tramal Letter

Did you get one? Let's have a little fact checking, shall we?

"Record amount of funding for K-12 education without a property tax increase." Hmm... forgot to mention that god-awful wheel tax.

"Passed one of the strongest storm water ordinances..". Are you serious? We're about to be dragged into another lawsuit over this inept decision and inability to coordinate with the City.

"Implemented a program providing for a property tax freeze for senior citizens..." So, we passed a resolution to implement a Tennnesse state law. Wow. I'm actually amazed they didn't screw this up, so I guess some congratulations are in order.

This is a record to run on? Is the bar really that low these days? Knox County needs and deserves better.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

County Commission on YouTube

See Lumpy get pwned starting at 3:40 in this video. Video evidence that he doesn't get it. Also, see Pinkston at 7:15.

Phil Ballard discusses the Midway Business Park in this video.

Here's an Inside Tennessee episode after the January 31 meeting. "Was it fair?" "Oh, yes..." It's good comedy.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Action Item: MPC Reform

Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) makes NO EFFORT to figure out the costs of serving new residential development with basic services such as roads, sewer, schools, fire, police, etc. As a result development occurs in parts of Knox county that are very costly to serve. 500 million dollars a year more costly! A report put out by Rutgers estimated that Nashville would save almost a billion dollars a year by managing all its growth so as to minimize the "cost of community services". At half of Nashville’s size, Knoxville could probably realize half as much by doing the same.

read more>>

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Fred Sisk- Unethical Behavior

I was floored when I received my annual property tax assessment letter. Not by the assessment or the taxes- not at all. I was shocked to see that Fred Sisk used our tax dollars to create and insert campaign literature into the mailing. To me, that kind of behavior is criminal misuse of our tax dollars, and he should be immediately required to personally reimburse the County for every penny used to create, print, and insert those brochures. No less of a remedy should be required!!!

I'm probably going to say this 100 times in this blog before election day, but they just don't get it. The leadership in Knox County from top to bottom (OK, there are a few exceptions) don't understand the law, can't comprehend the basic concepts of ethical behavior, and they will never change. At best, they will appoint more cronies and friends who will behave the exact same way.

Knox County government needs new faces, unconnected to the political machines that have been running this county. Elaine and I are two of those faces, and we're stepping up to the plate to get involved. But we can't do it without YOUR help.