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.