Tuesday, August 5, 2008

I'm simply amazed...

... at how huge an issue this early swearing in has become. I suspect the average voter has more important concerns than this, but it's an interesting debate. The important thing is that whoever makes the decision makes it independent of what's on the August meeting agenda. It has to be made on principle alone.

Link: Herb Moncier's argument for early swearing in.
Link: My argument to leave decision up to the elected commissioners.

Bonus Link: PDF Copy of Moncier's motion.

More of my rationale is given here.

.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Vote! AUGUST 7th. Vote!

Early voting totals are abysmal. I know it's hot. I've been walking in it at night, sweating buckets, going door to door. If I can do that, surely you can get out election day and vote.

Low participation doesn't help any of us. Maybe you're waiting for the tradition of voting election day, the festive atmosphere. I hope so.

Maybe the drag of the poor economy, high gas prices, and high food prices has you down. It's got us all down. But in this year especially, you have a chance to have a real impact. The Commission we vote in will set the tone for the county for the next 6-10 years, and that will have a major impact on the economy and liveability of this community.

Don't say your vote doesn't count. Look at Florida in 2000- a national election decided by less than 200 votes. There will absolutely be several close races in Knox County this Thursday.

Vote. And when you go, take a friend or two with you.

County Car Policy

Larry Van Guilder of the Shopper runs the numbers for us. Well done.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

For those wanting to donate....

The UUA has started a web site for donations to help the victims.

Anyone reading who wants to help me do the weeding in front of the church this Saturday morning can shoot me an email as well.

Monday, July 28, 2008

An amazing vigil service tonight

The room was filled not just with members, but people from all over Knoxville. When the hands went up for who was from other congregations, the huge number of visitor's hands drew applause from the UUers.

The President of the UU Congregation from Boston spoke, the high points being:
  • We may feel anger, but we are also filled with understanding and compassion
  • This will not change who we are and what we believe
  • There is power in the community that has been forged out of this tragedy, and we should not let it go away
The surprise ending? The kids came out to sing "Tomorrow", the song they didn't get to finish in their production.

When you're faced with a day that's grey and lonely
I just stick out my chin and grin and say
The sun will come out tomorrow
...
Tomorrow... you're only a day away.

Thank you Chris, Mitra, Rosemary, and William for filling us with hope on this day.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Unspeakable Tragedy

How does this happen? Why? Will we ever know what motivated this individual?

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and thoughts for our injured members. I'm quite shocked and appalled at the early media reports of fatalities with no confirmation. I would ask all media to desist in those situations barring any official confirmation because we still have worried families in the hospital and nobody needs to make reports that (we pray) turn out to be false.

I would like to go on record regarding what I said to the media, which certainly did not include any conjecture regarding the condition of my fellow members (the people I helped were certainly not critical cases, and I'm hoping that the other cases were not much more serious than theirs).. My understanding is they are at UTMC, the best trauma center in the state, and being cared for, and I don't care for the 'we think' reporting.

If there's another source of information leading to these rumors of fatalities, I don't know what it is and I would hope that the media would be much more careful. Not just in this case, but any similar case. I know they are trying to get the news out, but please think of the people in the hospital waiting rooms. Please.

My goal (as I didn't have to await an interview) was to help people in the community to have friends or family members at the church to understand what happened, that the situation was being VERY well managed by KPD and emergency response, and that we are a very strong community already helping each other through this.

For future inquiries, please contact the church (who has not yet defined any official spokesperson, but it sure as hell isn't me) or the Knoxville Police Department.

And keep those prayers going. Again, my thanks out to KPD, KFD, the Red Cross, and my fellow members of the church, especially the brave men who stopped the assailant. And thanks to the outpouring of support from the community. I hope another situation never presents itself where we need to do the same, but be assured, if it does, we will be there standing with you.

Update- it's late evening. The news has already broken regarding our two losses, Linda and Gary. The media, in a vacuum, is making wild guesses regarding motive.

At the vigil tonight, it was clear that we aren't so focused on the 'why', but more on consoling each other, and helping those affected cope with the tragedy. One person commented that what "why" could there be that we would condemn? Mental illness? Hate? Neither of these would be a subject for rebuke by our congregation. So we will focus on the healing, especially the children who had to witness the tragic events. To labor on the question of whether the world is basically good or basically bad is a waste of time- the world is what WE all decide to make it.

And we thank the community (and other communities) for their outpouring of support. While we hope we never ever have to return the favor, we will of course stand with you in your time of need also. From the professional counselors that have offered their services to the person just making sandwiches for strung-out victims, we are grateful for everything.

You can read more about Gary at a site put up by his nephew.





Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DTV: Friday, 9:30 pm on CTV (Community Access)

Tune in, call in (215-2288)

Don't have Comcast. You can stream CTV now by clicking here!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Knoxville News-Sentinel Endorsements

Being an outside reform candidate, I never expected I would receive this. I toyed with the idea of not even going, but I thought to refuse the interview would send the wrong message.

For those who actually read the article, I should remind you that the News-Sentinel endorsed our current Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale and George W. Bush (twice). The KNS also endorsed many of the term-limited commissioners, leading to Black Wednesday.

Yep, those endorsements and $3.80 still won't get you a gallon of gas. Now go vote, vote what YOU want (not what the newspaper wants), vote for something other than politics as usual, and take a friend with you.

Undecided? The bottom of this page has two good links to help you compare/contrast, and don't forget politicalknoxville.com.
.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Some Budget Questions

I've been meaning to write this up for weeks, just a few questions I had as I read through the budget, I'd be curious to find out the answers to in the future... Not to say anything is out of line, but some changes bear some questioning:
  • Internal Audit funding down $150K, nearly 40% from their request. Will internal audits be hampered by lack of funding?
  • Codes administration cut 5% from current year, 15% from their request. Implications on codes enforcement?
  • I was surprised to hear that J.J. Jones Sunday stated on WBIR that KCSD funding has only gone up "one percent," yet the current year budget has large increases in Sheriff's Administration (5%), Patrol (9%), Warrants (30%!), Detectives (22%!), etc.
  • Vehicle services up 18%- I guess that's gas prices.
  • Building maintenance up 10%
  • Capital outlay for eight (8) vehicles outside of patrol cars and engineering/codes/etc vehicles- how many need to be trucks/SUVs, and how many can be defined so that more fuel-efficient (and less costly) vehicles can be purchased? Over their lifetime, a more efficient vehicle purchase could save taxpayers $160,000.

My Perspective: Open Records and Constituent Communications

See George Korda's column here.

My response:
The requirement to turn over records is not the same as a requirement for a constituent to identify themselves. Anyone can call, or even anonymously e-mail (via Yahoo, Gmail, etc) their Commissioner.

Commission could also respond by allowing for an anonymous e-mail form on the web site. I'd be in favor of that (and propose a resolution on that, if elected), especially if it means that the books are opened on the back-door lobbying already taking place.

Civil Service Hearing

Mayor's office: $1.8 million + costs of testing and renting testing facility (um... don't we have a room right next door we can use for testing?). Three months to fill positions instead of six weeks.

Sounds like lots of skewed data, given that the costs vastly exceed what the City pays. The teachers and law enforcement officers already have their own program, so the cost should be more like $500K.

FYI, to dispel some misconceptions:

"You can't fire someone once they get under civil service."
Civil service is not like tenure. CS only means that an employee must receive written warnings before termination and is allowed to appeal the decision. What this does is forces the supervisors in the county to document a bad employee. The benefit of such a structure is that it saves money by reducing lawsuit expenses. The City has not lost a single HR lawsuit since instituting their program. Saving ourselves losing two or three lawsuits would pay for the program.

Other benefits:
- Reduces nepotism and hiring of political associates unqualified to hold the position (through job requirements and associated testing).

In short, a well-crafted program is a good idea. It should include some excluded positions (mayor's office, probably most of the fee offices since they are elected), a grievance board, one year probationary period, and other items to make a program that will save us money and protect our career employees from political influence.

Pinkston is opposed, citing budget concerns. He said he believes it's impossible to fire a county employee right now, but he should read page 12 of the Knox County employee handbook and read the "Employment At Will" section. Unless a federal or state law is violated (e.g., discriminatory practices), there is no recourse for political firings. The only prohibition by the handbook is that supervisors cannot require (but may allow!) political campaigning by employees, and cannot coerce or compel (but may still solicit!) political contributions.

C'mon. If you're an at-will employee, and your boss asks you to put up some signs and/or contribute (and he/she just gave you a big raise), what are you going to do? If you see another employee contribute $1000 and they got a $5000/year permanent raise (taxpayer $$!), what are people going to do? Get real.

William Daniels just brought up this donation-raise issue. Larry Smith said, "if they don't like it, they can get another job." I guess we know where Larry's vote is going to fall on this issue.

Lynne Liddington (Air Quality)- arguing that we have a good set of policies, suggests perhaps enhancing the policies we have already.


Live Blogging, County Commission Committee Meeting

The expectation is that the Natural Resources Recovery issue will be the biggest thing on the agenda. There is one resolution to accept the mediation, the second is to accept the lease agreement contract. To say that this is a complex issue is an understatement.

We're already jumping to it, as we have a woman in the audience (Diana Pott) stating that the ruptured runoff ponds (collapsed and spilled into a sinkhole, a direct injection to groundwater...) contaminated her well and made her sick. My understanding is that no well testing was done after the rupture, but well testing is being done this week.

A little humor- Mr. Pott addressed Paul Pinkston as "Mr. Ragsdale." Paul was more than happy to correct him. DVD is already talking to them about the well testing schedule.

Mr. Mayes, a party to the lawsuit, is at the podium saying he had not agreed to the mediated settlement, and is arguing against acceptance of the settlement.

Points of contention:
- Was NRR left with no raw materials (as they/county claim) or did they have material that was sold off for cash (as Mr. Mayes claims, and indicates he has letters)?
- Is 'casual contact' with contaminated mulch hazardous to health or not?

There's little debate over the fact that the contract was poorly managed with little oversight, and that both parties in the contract (NRR/County) didn't do what the contract required. I'm a bit surprised that issues were not caught earlier when John Evans' budget didn't show income from the NRR contract. (update- Lewis Cosby just asked the same question!)

Mayes just said he bought some mulch from NRR last year for a job and ended up with a lung infection (Commissioner Briggs may offer some expertise on this issue with a little research).

Finance voted to Deny. Mediated agreement is in for rough waters next Monday. John Owings just agreed that an agenda item that fails in both committees is removed from the final Commission meeting agenda.


Other topics:
- Gay Street redevelopment TIF: general agreement, as long as the city participates as well.

-Mosquito spraying- to move from notifying neighborhood associations to notifying individual homes by postcard. Motion to recommend fails, I think partly because the costs to expand the notification was unknown (no fiscal note).

- A resolution to partner with the City's Energy & Sustainability Task Force, but Mike Hammond pulled it from the consent agenda, so apparently he has something to discuss there. Lynn Liddington has already indicated that some work has already started in the Health Department to curb energy usage, expand recycling, etc. This partnership resolution would include an overall audit. Hammond is opposed to spending more money for an audit. Mr. Hammond, I hope we also consider how much can be saved by improving efficiency in the millions of square feet of our county buildings, not even considering the air quality improvements gained from energy use reductions.

- Rushing through the rest, no recommendations. Daniels said he had questions for PBA, but they did not attend this morning.

- Midway Road: withdrawn.

- Civil Service: pass with no recommendation, public hearings coming up. It would be nice if public hearings were posted on the Commission web site!

- Charter Review Committee Change: voted to Approve.


... more to come....

Sunday, July 20, 2008

WNOX Interview MP3

WNOX doesn't have their new voter's guide yet, but if you want to review the interview Catherine Howell did with me and Ed Shouse, you can click here.

Good questions!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

1-minute Campaign Commercial

I made this for WBIR's web site. Serious video editing people, please don't laugh too hard. I had to throw this together, and I'm pretty new to iMovie....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVOF0258lTQ




Friday, July 18, 2008

Voting Today? Looking for Info?

Need a quick 5-minute rundown from the blog on "what I believe"?

Try these:

Clarifications to West Debate

June Committee Meeting

Budget Crisis Thoughts

Also, check out the extended interviews available at Knoxville Voice, extended questionnaires at Political Knoxville, and a video interview at News-Sentinel.

Public Trust Committee Endorsement

We were pleased today to be endorsed by the Public Trust PAC.

Of course, as part of our work to come onto Commission uninfluenced by any PAC or developer money, the funds would be allocated to a local charity instead. This is simply in observance of general principal, and should not be construed as any criticism of the PT-PAC.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Air Quality Alerts- did you know?

That you can receive text messages to your phone warning you about yellow (moderate), orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) and higher air quality days, and receive forecasts for future days?

Go to: http://www.enviroflash.info/signup.cfm

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Reminder- Happy Hour at Casa Don Gallo's

Come out at 6pm-8pm, we'll be on side patio! The weather should cooperate (it was quite nice for 'walking and knocking' last night). Remember to invite 2-3 friends and spread the word. See you there!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Some Clarifications (Shopper News Article)

Sandra Clark of the Shopper News invited me to clarify some of what she perceived as "vague" answers during the West High forum (see her article here). Actually, I got a mixed review from people after the forum- most thought that my answers were more complete and reflected more thought than others, but I can see how they could be perceived as rambling, as I tend to search for a little more nuance, rather than offering the quick/easy answer. Call it the "Al Gore Syndrome" if you will, but most citizens say they appreciate it.

So let's get to it, shall we?

Do you favor or oppose reducing the size of Commission?
That's a decision that should be put to the voters, not decided by commission. As an individual voter, I would oppose it and recommend against it because the job is too much work for one person.

Under what circumstances would you vote against an MPC staff recommendation to amend the sector plan?
(being the first responder to this question, I spent some of my answer explaining this issue to the audience, which I think threw Sandra off. I had two people from the audience thank me later for doing this...)
- Commission is far too eager to amend the sector plan. In cases where there is no local opposition or potential harm, Commission should use this opportunity to require the developer to take steps that will reduce future County obligations (low energy development, additional stormwater improvements, sidewalks, etc), in exchange for amending the sector plan.

Given that the question was "under what circumstances," a "yes" or "no" was insufficient.

Should small branch libraries be closed?
I took the opportunity here to discuss how our budgeting process should be fixed (see web site, blog, etc)- in brief, we should only cut the "fatter" departments and leave "lean" departments alone. If the library system is fat, they get cut and it's up to the director Larry Frank to determine how to deal with those cuts- Commission shouldn't micromanage. If the library system is lean, then no cuts, the branches stay open.

Thanks again to all of the journalists that covered the Forum, in particular the in-depth question by question coverage provided by the Shopper and the Focus. And thanks to all of the citizens who attended!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Fourth District Forum Recap

Did you miss it? The Focus newspaper has a great detailed recap- click here.

Coverage starts on page 6.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Knox County Cars

Remember when I said it would be really powerful if the County Car lists and such were available for EVERYONE to review?

Car List 1.pdf (most of the executive branch)

Car List 2.pdf
(CAC, KCSD)

Just as a note- you'll find that the KCSD has 1.5x to 2x the cars they have for each car-related position (more patrol cars than patrol positions, more detective cars than positions, etc). But many of these cars have high mileage- municipalities generally replace patrol cars in the 65,000 to 80,000 mile range.

It would seem that the KCSD simply doesn't dispose of its old cars, but why keep them? If those are assigned as take-home cars as perks, are they being filled up with Knox County gas? 150 surplus cars x $4000/year in fuel = $600,000.

I don't know if that's the case, but if it is... well, there's some savings to be found. And, of course, in other officials that have both cars and car allowances. That can't be allowed in these tight times.

(Interesting....I saw one detective's Crown Vic had 70,000 miles a year put on it. That's some serious driving, like 7 hours a day continuous!)

So, enjoy.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Some interesting little threads regarding this election

Apparently, there's a debate as to whether new Commissioners elected in August must/should take office immediately, or wait until the traditional September swearing-in.

see the latter part of the comments at: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/09/public-hears-from-hopefuls/

My particular response on the site:

I'm going to go against my better judgment and go out on a limb here (as a candidate).

Yes, in normal election cycles, the swearing in is September. Why? That allows for a normal transition of an Agenda/Committee/General Meeting cycle, as well as some time for some transition for the new Commissioners. It makes sense.

Yes, since this is an election to fill in an unexpired term, it's a slightly different animal. I can see the case being made for immediately taking office...

BUT....

Given the former rationale, I don't think it's a good idea. Politics aside, I think it would be good to 'follow transition' in order to allow for a more reasonable transition time and not to disrupt the August meeting cycle. Heck, what would it mean to sit in a meeting voting on a bill that no longer has a sponsor sitting on Commission?

If the law director (current? former?) tells me waiting until September is illegal, obviously I have no choice. But I would want the law director to say without reservation that's the case before accepting an August swear-in. It's just too disruptive to the process. That 'tradition' is there for a good reason.

Inside TN - If you missed it

You can watch it here (9 minutes). I wish WBIR would offer these on their web site....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmx9UioH6fk

Interestingly, if you search YouTube for "Drevik", it suggests film clips of "Dr Evil" from Austin Powers...... :)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Fourth District Forum Complete

The LWV had some very good & very interesting/tough questions. I'm hoping that PoliticalKnoxville.com puts a video up for people to review.

Coverage on KNS here. Additional coverage based on KNS editorial interviews can be found here.

We went to the new Mexican restaurant near the old Bi-Lo in Bearden (El Mezcal). Very good, great service.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Bearden Area to Get Knoxville's Second Earth Fare?

Next spring. And they're not even asking for a TIF to do it. :)

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/04/bearden-earth-fare-in-works/

Sam's Club / WalMart Could Get Some Competition

Could Knoxville get a Costco?

http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/flory/2008/07/who_wants_costco.html


Costco, for those who aren't familiar, is like Sam's Club, but they tend to be more popular in some markets because they pay/benefit their employees much better (reducing turnover), doesn't squash unionization attempts (although most stores are not unionized... the benefits are good enough that there's often not a desire to unionize), and still manages to offer the same prices (for arguably better goods). A cashier starts at $9.50 and can be making $40k in four years.

I got turned off from Wal-Mart when they built themselves on "Made in the USA" goods and in the blink of an eye turned into a giant pipeline for Chinese-made goods. That's not to say Costco doesn't sell overseas manufactured goods (it's hard for buyers to find U.S.-based suppliers now for shoes, textiles, etc), but Costco didn't hoodwink the country and didn't actively seek to shift its suppliers away from the United States.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Budget Shortfall Fallout - Teaching Positions Cut

Proposal: 52 positions cut... click here for more details.

The School Board has yet to vote on the cuts. Note also that some of the positions are already vacant and/or existing teachers reassigned to other spots.

The only cuts specific to the Fourth District were two Driver's Ed teachers at West (I assume killing the whole program).

Lots of cuts at Farragut High, but presumably that's related to the opening of Hardin Valley, I suspect.

I had also heard that the school board is moving towards a budgeting program that starts with the principals (bottom-up rather than top-down). It will be a tough transition for principals not used to doing this, but probably a good move in the long run for the principals to have input in defining what they need (and don't need).

Hospitality Account Audit

It may finally yield something- even Commissioner Hammond is calling for a special prosecutor.

(Link...)

The call for an outside investigator is badly needed. Attorney General Nichols has had a conflict of interest over this administration through the whole process. This is one of the downsides of appointed positions. I wonder if Commission had the authority to remove the Attorney General (as per the proposed Charter Amendments for the proposed fee office appointments), would they have been able to muster the votes to do it? I tend to doubt it. If the AG office were elected, would the situation be different?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Two Air Quality Alerts in a Row...

I've heard from a lot of people lately about the air quality issues. Fortunately, this is a topic I am well-versed in (for the last 20 years) and I'd like to bring my expertise to this important issue on Commission.

The EPA determines the relative health hazard by looking at two pollutants- ozone and find particulate matter (PM). The data is available in near real-time on the EPA's web site (http://airnow.gov/), and some links on there explain in detail what the different alert levels mean and how they are computed. An orange day ("Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups") mean that people with asthma, COPD, etc should stay indoors, and everyone should limit strenuous outdoor activity.

Knox County also has a phone number you can call and get the latest AQI without a computer. I believe it is 215-5925 (but it doesn't seem to be working this AM).

Two things that aren't on the EPA site, though:
  1. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is calculated by looking at the risk of the two pollutants independently, and taking the highest of the two (and discarding the lower entirely). Thus, not all "yellow" or "orange" days are really the same. There's a big difference between a day with "orange" ozone / "orange" particulate and a day with "orange" ozone and "green" particulate. There are studies that show synergistic effects, so my advice to anyone with breathing disorders or heart disease should try to find the concentration levels of ozone and PM and look at them both during yellow or orange alert days.
  2. The ozone standard for compliance was lowered from 80 parts per billion to 75, but it was noted at the EPA conference that the science pointed them to lowering the standard all the way down to 60. Of course, this was politically untenable, so the EPA compromised with 75. But it was interesting to note that the studies showed, for the first time, damage to the respiratory system of healthy adults at levels over 60 ppb. Thus, this is no longer an issue just for people with asthma, COPD, etc.
What can we do? Other areas have programs that click into place on ozone action days encouraging carpooling, lowering highway speed limits in down, anti-idling regulations, dropping the bus fare (or making rides free). There's a lot of good programs in other counties we can examine and consider adopting. As an individual, it's quite astounding what changing your house lights over to compact fluorescents (CFL) will do (less power generation = less ozone). Reduce unnecessary car trips on hot summer days (not a problem with gas prices).

Be safe.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Rate of posting?

Posting has been a little slow lately, as we've been cranking up the door to door meetings and having to support meetings, etc. Mark your calendars for two events though:
  • July 8, 7pm, West High School- Fourth District Candidate Forum
  • July 15, 6pm, Casa Don Gallo (Rocky Hill)- Meet the Candidate 'happy hour'
  • July 18 - August 2 : Early Voting!
Remember Black Wednesday. In less than 4 weeks, it's time to finish the job.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Budget Hearings

Been watching the stream (http://www.ctvknox.org/stream.htm). Wow.

The commission can't bring themselves to cut anything at all. I see another $40M of debt being added to Knox County's debt load at the next meeting.

Remember- early voting starts July 18th.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

June 16 Committee Meeting- Key Items

  • Approval of $40M in additional bonded debt
  • Approval of sale of South High School
  • Contract with Tourism & Sports (divvying up the hotel/motel tax)
  • Library / PBA contract break
  • New financial controls (auditable expense accounts, eliminate p-cards, no more interest-only payments on bonds, quarterly statements from Finance)
  • Civil Service proposal (ahem, see below)
  • Establish new tax rates (or leave them as is)

See you there!

Live update- apparently it's not a joint Finance/IG meeting today. Finance is passing lots of things through without recommendation so far.

Some discussion about the County Travel policy- trying to keep the big boys on a per diem, without strangling rank-and-file employees who might get sent to San Francisco and could lose out on a per diem approach. Owings notes there is an exception to handle these cases, but there doesn't seem to be a copy of the travel policy on the County web site. Making these policies available to the voters would be a good step!

Pinkston just proposed, amongst a number of other changes (some very good ideas, too) to eliminate the wheel tax and replace it with a $0.15 property tax hike (about 6%). His argument is that the burden actually goes down for working class people, while raising more funds (and thus less borrowing).

Update:
'Across the board' cuts are stupid and show a lack of leadership. It penalizes parts of the organizations that operate at higher efficiency than those 'fatter' part of the organizations.

What's really interesting about Pinkston's proposal is that it's a progressive tax hike. The average working Joe/Jane gets a small cut or it has no effect, while those with higher $$ properties and business properties get soaked by the tax increases. Yes, the supply-siders will way that the increase on businesses will be eventually paid by everyone, but any business is going to be hard pressed to raise prices (other than to cover their rising fuel and materials costs!) in this environment.

I'll go on record as saying I'd rather have a progressive tax hike than more debt. I'd modify Pinkston's raise proposal to something like $50K or $60K.

If I were up there, I'd post all the county vehicles on the Web (including make/model) and let the power of crowds audit the necessity of our vehicle fleet.

Civil Service Proposal (more detail)

So, although our opportunity to have anti-nepotism and conflict-of-interest in our County Charter was voted down by Commission, we have a new proposal (a substitute to make us feel better?) to bring City-like civil service protection to our County offices.

If you're not familiar, the city system allows an employee that has passed a probationary period (typically one year) protection against being removed for other than proven cause, and that their advancement be based on 'merit' (although their merit is still measured by the elected office holder).

This works in the city because the directors are appointed, not elected. There are a number of problems applying this policy to Knox County where the office holders are elected. When an office turns over, the new officeholder faces a staff that can't be removed that is arguably politically loyal to his/her opponent. No manager wants to be in that situation, where undermining activities and leaks will affect the function of the office.

Consider the case of our new County Law Director, who wants to bring in a trusted right-hand assistant. To be effective, the new Law Director needs to have someone who knows how he works, and someone he can trust. Being forced to keep the existing chief admin would make a very important office much less effective. It's one of the impacts of elected offices.

This proposal would do nothing to eliminate the propensity for employees to work for their director's campaign (who measures 'merit' for raises, after all??). Existing employees in political machines would be 'grandfathered', and it would create more problems down the road for all of us.

If we apply this proposal to other than fee offices (e.g., Engineering, Health, Libraries, etc)- that's a reasonable consideration. I would still argue that we are putting the cart before the horse- that anti-nepotism and conflict of interest policies are MUCH more important. Let's not imagine this proposal is the cure-all.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

News-Sentinel Starts General Campaign Coverage

... not really. The only attention so far has been delving into the personal tragedy of one candidate. Otherwise, the KNS has ignored the general election.

(I'm not even linking to their garbage article).

For shame, KNS, for shame.

Until KNS starts covering the election, there's no point in having their link on the left. Sorry if I wasted anyone's time with that link.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Civil Service Protection? Let's not put the cart before the horse here...

(see original KNS article...)

We need to put in the anti-nepotism and conflict of interest policies FIRST (by ordinance, now that certain commissioners took away to opportunity for the Charter amendments). This would be my very first proposal as County Commissioner.

What I can't figure out is why commissioners who opposed the anti-nepotism and conflict of interest proposals a few months ago now think civil service protection is the solution to the problem. It's certainly not the best solution to the problem we face right now. It may be a good idea (it may not, it has its pros and cons), but to consider this first, before passing anti-nepotism and COI policies is *ludicrous*.


Thursday, June 5, 2008

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Our County Budget Crisis

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- took a little more downtime with the family.

So, I mentioned to someone today that I would be posting my perspective on the Knox County budget on my blog. "That's suicidal," he said. "Your opponent isn't hanging himself out there on this or any other issue- why would you go out on a limb on an issue like the budget?"

That's exactly the problem. If someone is unwilling to stick their neck out as a candidate, how do you think they're going to behave as a Commissioner? Part of the problem we're in is the unwillingness of elected (and even appointed) officials to look at 'sacred cows' in our budget and do what is necessary to bring back fiscal responsibility.

In the business world, when times are lean, you can't raise taxes, and your ability to borrow in tough times is limited. So what do you do? You learn to do more with less. But the stupidest thing I've seen companies do is a flat X% "across the board" cut of the entire organization. Divisions that are highly productive are penalized equal with lower-performing groups.

It's too late for this year, but if elected, I would start in the fall of 2008 to lay the groundwork for the 2009-2010 budget. The process would involve defining metrics for each office, measuring that office against other peer counties, and identifying which offices can absorb bigger cuts.

We also have to look at the effect of salary on our overall costs. Another truth from the business world is that if your workers are underpaid and have other opportunities they can move to, your personnel costs will rise and effectiveness falls because your best people leave, and you are stuck with the costs of having to rehire and retrain replacements. This is particularly a problem with our teachers. In some cases, a salary increase can save you money in the long run. In the more brutal approaches, you would look at what positions you are losing good people and direct resources there, away from positions that aren't seeing high turnover.

Other points:
  • I can see that some of our fees that haven't been increased over 5-10 years can be increased to obtain more revenue without hitting those on limited incomes.
  • Duplicate car allowances and county vehicles should be eliminated
  • The list of county vehicles provided should be reviewed and each vehicle must be fully justified as an necessity for the position. For positions with occasional vehicle use, the County could offer mileage reimbursement rather than provide a full time vehicle, insurance, maintenance, etc. Perhaps even excess vehicles could be sold.
Will that get us all the way there? Probably not. But we need to get a lot further down the road of fiscal discipline than we're going right now. Whether we borrow or raise taxes for the rest, we need to minimize those options (and, in the case of a tax increase, minimize the effect on those who can least afford it).

Monday, May 19, 2008

Issues At County Commission Committee Meeting this AM

The budget, of course....

Also:
  • Liquor by the drink in the unincorporated areas of Knox County? [This would require a referendum, can't be done by ordinance, withdrawn]
  • Do we need to create rules for electronic billboards in Knox County?
  • Gallegher Drive/Gleason Improvement Project (affecting many in the Fourth District)
  • Was Rutherford Moss' contribution to the Hospitality Fund a sufficient conflict of interest to prevent renewal of his contract for the annual financial audit? Committees voted to recommend renewal of his countract, with a few (4?) objections.
  • Commission wants more control of the School Board superintendent and control of their budget. Given the previous lack of interest by Commission in budget summits with the school board, this seems very misplaced.
  • Proposed cutting % of hotel/motel tax reinvested in the Tourism board (from 45% to 40%, most other counties reinvest 52%).

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Thanks, guys!

A quick "thanks" to the County Engineering crew that came to remove the tree blocking our road after Friday's storm. We had a nice little chat as we worked together to remove the limbs to the side of the road. They had been working straight since 11pm the previous night, clearing over 50 trees up to that point, and still had more to do. After we finished that job, I had to run out and clear the tree blocking my Mother's driveway (happy early Mother's day!).

So, when you write that check for your property taxes, remember there's more than just schools to pay for. Think of all the hidden and emergency services that are available for us all.

Great job guys.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Stories from the Campaign Trail

I spent two hours going door to door last night, but I only managed to get to two houses.

At the second house I went to, an older gentleman and his wife were out in the carport, enjoying the weather. So, I walked up and made my typical introduction (hi, I'm running for County Commission here in the Fourth District, etc). He immediately asked me who I was going to vote for in the presidential election. I got to talking about my whole voting history, which led into us talking about work (he drove a tractor-trailer for 50 years), retirement, health, work ethics, hobbies (he gleams up tractors for tractor pulls), crime, education, immigration, children, and (I swear I'm not exaggerating) the meaning of life.

By the time it was dark, we both knew each other as well as most relatives. It was a great way to spend an evening. Not as productive as I'm used to from a campaign perspective, but it was a moment to stop and recognize how much you miss in the quick door-to-door process. Lives are complicated. Goodness knows mine is, too. The capacity of people to live with their daily challenges (say, battling with the contractor that messed up paving your driveway) and still be active and involved in community issues is a great testament to the endless energy some people have for making where they live a better place for all.

So, to my new friend, this post is for you.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Silence is on YOUR SIDE, media folks....

I was watching Tennessee This Week and almost hit the floor with Gene Patterson and Frank Cagle commented that "you have a lot of people running in the August election, and you haven't heard a peep out of them [about the charter petition amendments]."

Hmmm. I guess you didn't get the press releases and you forgot the conversations we've had in the back of the City County meeting room or the call-ins to your shows.

I commented to Georgiana Vines that the Charter Petition discussion was "sucking the oxygen out of the room" with regards to the election. We have a boatload of other issues that need to be brought out and discussed before the election- growth issues, the coming changes related to air quality non-compliance, the budget crisis, ethics issues, etc., and time is running short. Us candidates are happy to discuss these things (and I routinely comment on these issues on my blog), but please don't pin the blame on us and call is silent on the issues.

Give us a call. We'd be happy to discuss these things with you. My phone # is 228-2263, and it's on 24/7. Early voting starts in about 10 weeks. For those of you with Sunday talk shows, think about how many candidate appearances you need to fit in that time frame.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Live- April 28th Commission Meeting

  • 35 minutes just to make modifications to the agenda...

  • Noise over approval of the contract for the new school superintendent. Even though CC approves the contract and provides an overall school budget, it really doesn't have the authority to set the salary or tell the schools how to spend their budget. Clearly this contract will make it difficult for the school board to get a budget increase in this tight year, in the eyes of some commissioners.

  • South Knox school will go out for open bid, with right to reject the results if they are not deemed satisfactory. I have heard of at least one developer that is interested.

  • Libraries will take over maintenance and operations from PBA, in hopes of saving about $1M.

  • Passed resolution to ignore unfunded mandates from the State Legislature. Also voted to urge State officials to comply with same standards (e.g., Open Meetings Act) as those affecting Knox County.

  • Resolution opposing toll roads in Knox County. Some noise that the State wanted to come down and explain why they wanted to do their study. Too bad, CC sez, we don't want a bloody toll road. Motion passes to light applause.

  • Motion to ask Fansler for an advisory opinion on the Open Meetings Act. John Owings, as in the Committee meetings, continues to warn that this is a bad idea. Resolution withdrawn.

  • John Owings noted that the law office has spent 10 hours on an issue Moore brings up about someone who was turned down for a $730 business tax license (apparently hung up due to a successorship issue and unpaid back taxes from the previous owner). Moore is mad because the clerk's office won't return his calls. Apparently the new business owner is using the same address, business name (Knoxville Pre-Owned Center), and phone number. Apparently the Clerk's office feels this is an attempt to avoid due taxes and is denying the license.

  • Audit meeting set for May 19th.

  • Ordinance to amend Charter Committee process to allow CC to be part of appointment process (rather than just the Mayor) passes first reading. Ordinance to change timeline for Charter Amendments also passes first reading.

  • Charter Petition Committee proposals:
  1. Reducing number of signatures- passes second reading
  2. Reducing size of commission, adding two at-large positions- Scott Moore moves to withdraw, with considerable support from other commissioners. Hammond says one person can't do the job, but he's not against people voting on it. Trouble with school board alignment issue, as some school board members would have to move to stay within their elected districts. Stackhouse is raising lots of reapportionment issues (2010), as well as future civil rights lawsuits. The school board provision is problematic. KCP is offering to drop the school board alignment provision (Don Parnell). Current motion is to withdraw (after Moore calls the question cut off Larry Smith's input!). Motion to withdraw passes, so no action on this.
  3. Conflict of Interest- attempt to withdraw fails, motion to approve fails 12-6-1 (Lambert passes). THIS WAS A NO-BRAINER.
  4. Inspector General- Fails, Pinkston, VDF, Wright, Ballard, Lambert, Leuthold, Davis, Ivan Harmon, Strickland + 1 other voting against.
  5. Anti-Nepotism- Fails. Against: Ivan Harmon, Davis, Leuthold, Lambert, Moore, VDF, Pinkston. THAT ONE WAS A NO-BRAINER.
  6. Qualifications (No County Employees on Commission)- Against: Pinkston, Moore, Davis, Ivan Harmon +1 other i didn't catch, Lambert passes. Leuthold recuses. FAILS.
  7. Conflict of Interest for County Commission. Against: I Harmon, Davis, Leuthold, Lambert ,Moore, VDF. Pinkston recuses. FAILS.
How does anyone square voting against anti-nepotism and against conflicts of interest????

Tonight left me totally speechless.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Live Blogging- Intergovernmental Committee Meeting April 21

I had commented before the Committee meeting this AM that things would be going smoother and faster, with some of the more contentious things out of the way. Of course, I jinxed the whole thing. Less than 10 minutes in, Lumpy Lambert proposed a resolution in memorium of Charlton Heston, a "strong defender of the Second Amendment." Were Charlton Heston a Knoxvillian, I could see this, but I have to agree with Davis that this opens the door to all kind of non-Knoxvillian memorium resolutions. The other commissioners apparently wanted to pick their battles with Lumpy, and it was let to pass. Fortunately, not too much time was wasted.

South Knox High School site- vote to maintain status quo (no demolition).

Motion to ban cellphones from meetings- voted to deny recommendation. Particular opposition from Hammond (business) and Davis/Defreese (child care issues).

Motion to require Fansler to appear before Commission and "explain" deemed an inappropriate bad idea and withdrawn. Still, lots of discussion and complaints about the inability for commissioners to contact each other outside of announced meeting.

(As unfair or unreasonable as it seems... we have to live with it. It's like when your boss gives you unreasonable demands, you can complain all you want, but at the end of the day, you have to find a way to work within the parameters you are given. Announce a meeting with your co-district-commissioner every two weeks at Long's Drugstore or the equivalent if that's what it takes to have enough time to collaborate on district issues.).

Mayor Ragsdale will have an address at Hardin Valley High School no May 14th, 8:00 am.

Resolution opposing toll roads- easily passed, MacKenzie made a point that while we all oppose the Orange Route as a toll road, a resolution that bans them forever may be too strong.

Modify Process for Charter Review Committee (Davis/Daniels)- Basically, allow the Commission to vote to approve the list of names from the mayor's office to the Charter Review Committee, and to give Commission the right to approve (or turn down) the CRC's final recommendation. Lambert proposes more Commission involvement in actually picking the names (based on the process used for the temporary appointees, taking resumes, interviews, etc). MacKenzie says he opposes changing a process he doesn't see as broken. Passed with recommendation 6-2 for the 4/28 meeting.

Resolution to reduce time frame for putting petitions on ballot- passed w/recommendation.

Charter petition amendments- sent on without recommendation. Amended versions handled by separate vote?

Audit Review Meeting discussion.... motion to postpone to a later date, assuming Finance committee agrees to postpone as well.

DeFreese added a motion to only name buildings and roads after deceased individuals. I agree with this totally, I have seen this kind of thing abused over the last several years (as a political favor).

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

April 15 Revisions to Charter Petition

The KCP Committee has submitted some improvements to some of the petition documents, summarized here. Attached are links to the new proposals and some comments of mine.

Consistency Amendment- DROPPED.

Executive Branch Streamlining- no proposed changes yet, but the letter refers to keeping the Property Assessor as elected. I support letting either form go to the people for a vote.

Reducing Size of Commission- I don't agree with it, but again, I'm all for letting it come up for healthy debate and a vote. I'd prefer this to be delayed to allow for more debate, but as long as people know what they would be giving up (2 commissioners down to 1.22, and less choice/variety among candidates, in my opinion).

Conflict of Interest Amendments 1 and 2
Amended to define conflict as employee/official, their spouse, and their children living in the same household. Children out of the house (e.g, old enough to enter into contracts), brothers, sisters, etc- No conflict at all! Hogwash. This thing doesn't go far enough for my tastes, but it's a start- let the people vote. Even if it passes, I would bring up a stronger version to close the giant loopholes.

Nepotism
Much better. Includes in-laws, step-relatives, and grand-relatives, and "parent substitutes" (e.g., foster relationships). I'm all for this one now.

Qualifications
The overly broad "compensation...directly or indirectly" has been changed to direct employment, which solves a lot of problems caused by the "indirectly" clause. This one is good to go, and I support it.

Inspector General
Resolution of salary questions.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Don't Forget- Charter Meeting Tonight, West High School

6:30 pm. Unfortunately, I can't be there as I'm at an EPA conference. I'll have some people from my campaign there to gather notes & meet anyone who wants to chat. I'll be curious to see what our temporary commissioners see as the next step.

Interesting note from the EPA conference- I met with a representative of Washington Dept of Ecology that said they are transitioning their car testing program to a car maintenance program, because late model cars are so much cleaner. They feel they are going to get a better bang per buck by ensuring people have proper tire inflation, oil change frequency, tune-ups, etc. It could be that if TDEC looks at the current EPA template air improvement plan (SIP), it may be based on an outdated model. I'll be following up.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Knox County Privacy Policy Needs To Be Amended IMMEDIATELY.

If you've read the news today, you're familiar with the story about the County Mayor requesting e-mail correspondence to Commissioner DeFreese regarding audits.    Clearly, it's a move to intimidate those who would send DeFreese or any other commissioner information, supportive comments, or even tips as to where to find more wrongdoing.

So, we've been having a lively discussion about the Tennessee Open Records Act and its application to this case.   I argued that e-mails from constituents would be private under the TN-ORA:

My quick read of the OMA refers repeatedly to "official correspondence." Correspondence generated BY the elected official is OC. Correspondence TO the elected official is not. If I as a commissioner write notes about a constituent's letter, that's my work product, and would be covered.

This point is easily reinforced by the e-mail section which reads "[email] correspondence OF the employee" and not TO the employee.

Also: 10-7-403. “Public records” defined.
“Public records” within the county shall be construed to mean:
(1) All documents, papers, records, books, and books OF ACCOUNT in all county offices, including..."

No mention of correspondence, which is clearly missing if that was the intent of the original author. Constituent letters are not "documents of account" as they are not documents of policy.

VDF has solid ground to stand and say "make me." I sure as heck would. And I'd say "if you take me to court, I hope you have the good graces WHEN you lose to pay all parties legal fees out of your campaign account instead of wasting more taxpayer money."


Well, I later found this under the Knox County Privacy Policy:

"Any personal information submitted through forms or email from the user is considered public information and may be subject to inspection upon request as governed by the Tennessee Open Records Act."

That's not good.  I'm not sure yet what the history of how this policy was formed, but it needs to be amended IMMEDIATELY.      We must also add specific wording in an ordinance for protection of whistleblowers, protection of private information (SSNs, medical information) that may come in an email to a commissioner, and close the loophole that would allow Commissioners to use private e-mail accounts to send county-related work product that would normally be covered by the Open Records Act.   

Right now, the ORA and the Knox County Policy only work to encourage County Officials to use Yahoo, Gmail, or other personal accounts that provide no accountability.

One could argue that a First Amendment challenge (to be free from retaliation) would sink the policy, but (a) I'm not willing to wait and (b) recent court decisions at the federal level against whistleblowers have weakened the 'free from retaliation' argument enough that we can't bank on it anymore.     

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Kickoff Party - Woo hoo!

Thanks again to everyone who came and especially those who helped put this on (Erin, Tanya, Betty, Lisa, Mark, Wilma, etc). The music was great (Jazz Liberation Quartet- if you have a function, these guys are awsome!), and we even had a few brave people dancing. Good conversation, and a good time had by all.

As we mop up and gnaw on the leftovers, we ponder the coming work in the campaign ahead. Those leftover chicken salad croissants will energize us for more door to door meetings ahead.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Notes from EPA conference regarding new ozone standard

  • The old (1997) standard not adequate to protect public health, based on > 1700 studies. Clinical studies show evidence of adverse respiratory response in HEALTHY adults at old standard (80 ppb). Yes, even the healthiest adults can suffer health effects at the old standard, so those who argue that the EPA is ramping standards down even though "the air is cleaner than it's ever been" aren't taking into account healthy adults coming down with asthma or other respiratory disorders.
  • Studies provide the first evidence linking high ozone to mortality (deaths) in sensitive populations. Previous standard was based just on damaging or debilitating health effects. We can say now that people die due to ground level ozone at the old standard.
  • High ozone also reduces crop yields and increases susceptibility to disease and insects (e.g., threatens our food production)
  • EPA is considering expanding monitoring in areas between 50,000 and 350,000 that do not currently have monitoring. For us, that would include getting some data from the seven neighboring counties that will also be in violation of the new standard (some are in violation already, I suspect, we just don't know it due to lack of monitoring). These include Sevier, Anderson, Blount counties. I've had a number of questions before about the air quality in these counties, and all I could say before is "we don't know, there are no monitors." That could change, but wouldn't happen until after the final rule is promulgated in 2009.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Commission Update / News

Committee meetings ran until about 2:30 yesterday. The two biggest items are:

(1) Intergovernmental voted to create a Charter Review Committee. If you're not familiar, this is the other way to amend the charter. The Committee would be formed by one commissioner in each district, and 10 to 18 citizens from the various districts, all selected by the County Mayor. This committee's amendments would be voted on in the November (Presidential) ballot. Confused yet? This throws a major wrench in Knox Charter Petition, which will have to regroup in light of this move. It may be a move to stop KCP, but putting the committee selection in the hands of the Mayor may be the proverbial cutting your nose off to spite your face.

(2) More discussions and charges in the Natural Resources Recovery dispute. The contract will be re-bid, resolving future concerns. But a big lawsuit is looming for the past actions by both NRR and the County. Both sides may be considered in violation of the contract. No matter what, the attorneys involved will do OK. But don't be surprised if Knox County's legal fees become a major budget item. This is clearly a case for simple mediation.

The first two TIFs (Halls Willow Creek for $5M, and Campbell Station Extension for $1M) are coming up for final vote, now that the IDB has finished reports on the applications. If Commission votes yes for these commercial, not-"but-for" TIFs, we have opened up Pandora's box, and our existing budget woes will become much, much worse.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

EPA Tightens Limits for Ozone

(Link to Knoxnews Article...)

TVA's an easy target, but TVA has been installing major NOx controls for the last 10 years, doing more than other 'upwind' utilities in the Midwest. More blame lies on other utilities than TVA. But local consumption reduction programs can still help our air quality.

Mobile sources produce 50% more ozone-forming NOx than power plants in our area. Our issues are miles per driver has shot up nationwide, increasing population and sprawl. Our bad air pollution year was summer 2006, but I recall we had heavy interstate construction then, so it was a parking lot. If the summers don't get to hot, we might get back into attainment (climate change is working against us here, too).

IF we have to have a car testing program, we must take the time to research it and do it RIGHT. Washington has one of the best programs I've seen (no, they're not a client of mine):

Specific ideas they have incorporated:
  • Testing only every 2 years
  • Late model cars (1996+) tested by computer diagnostics, optionally through an ATM-like kiosk
  • Exception for hybrids
  • Testing is only $15, first retest is free
  • Efficiently designed testing stations
Knox County needs to have a seat at the table for this, and not leave it up to TDEC alone.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Fourth District May Have Charter Petition Meeting...

.. rumored to be planned for April 7th, at Bearden High School, pending availability. More to follow.

Correction- April 7th at West High School, 6:30pm.

Tedford Fire / Seminar

The fire is an on again / off again event at this point. We don't have the same kind of combustion as we did earlier (with open flame, requiring dousing), just the very hot / smoldering / incomplete combustion stage. Monitoring of the excavation still indicates that the material is still tree trimming waste.

The forecast was that the site had been fully excavated "down to natural grade" approx a month ago. Apparently, the excavation just covered the two known fire/sinkhole areas and the new fire is in an area between the two holes. The true extent of the dumping area isn't well known to the County.

That may necessitate the removal of some of the material (AFTER soil testing) to allow full excavation of the side areas, which may still have wood waste. The SE side, to the right side from Tedford, is suspect IMHO, I've seen small plumes from the soil on the right side of the ridge.

The neighborhood association president (Jamey Dobbs) and I discussed pros/cons of moving at least some of the material off-site to allow full excavation and prevent re-ignition from compression of still unlocated seams of material. However, even partial material removal would be the the $300K to $500K range. We should be having a meeting with the county next Wednesday, and I understand they have done some work already on a plan for final disposition of the site. Soil samples should be back in the next day or two as well.

If you received a letter about the presentation on the Tedford Road Fire, Monday, March 24, at the West Knoxville Library (on Golfclub Rd), the time is 6:00 pm, not 7:00 pm.

Friday, March 7, 2008

I'm sorry, I have to...

.. I don't normally post the weird news and go off-topic on my blog, but with the recent proposal in the TN legislature to ban texting & driving (which I support), this story of padding lampposts in the UK to protect people who walk and text was just too much for my funny bone. Enjoy.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Mark Your Calendars!

March 29th, 6pm at Concord Marina Clubhouse, we will be hosting a Campaign Kickoff Reception. Live music planned. RSVP to 584-7703 or by email to rsvp@reform4.com

Tedford Fire- burning again?

Smoke from the site, going to check it out later today... sigh....

Monday, March 3, 2008

KUB Tree Trimming- March 17th Meeting

KUB is sponsoring a community forum related to its tree trimmin policy on March 17, 6:00 pm at the Knoxville Convention Center. A panel including representatives from KUB, Cortese Tree Specialists, UT Ag Extension, and the City of Knoxville will speak, and then answer questions from the audience.

If you've had a problem with tree trimming, now is the time to be heard!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

P-card Audit Out

Just in case you've been living under a rock... (Link)

Treat this just like private business- fire and prosecute, recover funds if possible, all without consideration of party, faction, or ties- if laws and procedures have been broken. But we also have to observe due process and wait for the response from the Mayor's office. It's a little troublesome this audit was leaked before its completion.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Recycling Fluorescent Bulbs / Mercury

Our meeting last night included a discussion on recycling of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and the issue of the small amount of mercury in each bulb.

First, it should be noted that the amount of mercury in each bulb is less than the amount of additional mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants to support a regular incandescent (filament) bulb, so even if you throw the CFL in the trash, you're still emitting less mercury.

But that's not ideal. You can, however, buy a $15 box (click here) with prepaid shipping back to Sylvania, who will recover the mercury. Each box holds 12 bulbs, so the cost to recycle is $1.25 per bulb. Commercial companies can buy boxes to recycle long tube fluorescent bulbs, too.

Knoxville Concerned About Ozone Non-Attainment

See KNS article here.

Knoxville in 2007 had 16 days over the standard, but we're currently just in basic non-attainment, not the more extreme forms. See report.

Standard implementation plans in response can be found here (see "moderate areas" for the 'next steps' if the ozone standard changes):

Knox County's attainment status is VERY weather dependent. We had a consistently hot summer last year. TVA controls coming on-line this year may be of great help, as ozone formation is mostly related to NOx formation, which is primarily stationary sources (TVA) and cars coming through the area.

If we end up having a car inspection program, let's do it the RIGHT way and not waste our money. I recommend looking at the program in Washington State. Mike Reagan at WA Dept of Ecology would be a great resource, he has a lot of experience.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Tedford Road Update: Fire Out, Soil and Water Testing

It's been a week now with no flare-ups, so I think it's safe to say we're past the fire stage. County engineering continues daily inspections to confirm.

Soil tests (10 samples) should be back soon. We met today with Knox Co epidemiologist (Al Iannocone), and TDEC geologists. We discussed the possible strategy for the second round of well testing. At this time, we are awaiting the soil tests (to see if there are contaminants in the soil that would make water testing more urgent), and to find out the costs of dye testing (which would allow us to identify the specific underground water flow, rather than "guessing" at which wells and springs are connected to the sinkhole). I would suspect these details should be nailed down in about two weeks. I will be assisting the geologists with a backup plan by going door-to-door to identify which wells we can measure depths on.

Monday, February 25, 2008

County Commission Meeting 2/25

Zoning: Butler Homes condo development in Gleason/Ebenezer area cut back to 4 & 5 units/acre (2 proposals). The dangerous gulley issue still needs to be addressed.

We spent over an hour and a half debating a potential change to the Concord Marina contract that Owings already said wasn't a legal proposal (county can't approve contracts > 25 years). How it even got onto the meeting agenda (and wasn't pulled in committee by the law director) is the question.....

Open forum is going to include more on MulchGate, where Natural Resources Recovery is accused of witholding payments to the county, on top of their odor complaints. Now, it appears that lab tests results show fecal coliform levels 120x to 260x allowed limits. This is the exact same problem the City had 10-15 years ago that shut down their mulching facility (Compost Corporation of America, I think).

Right now they are debating the Charter Petition amendments, which (I believe) have to be approved on first reading to be on schedule to get on the August ballot, otherwise they have to go to petition drive. Craig Leuthold asked how one amendment works with the term limit provision (are we undoing it? If the language reads "two consecutive four year terms", it's possible that some districts would allow a commissioner elected in 2010 to serve for fourteen years!!!).

I would guess that most commissioners would vote to put all 9 on the ballot (Hammond), some will block some from being put on the ballot (such as appointed fee office managers), and some will work to amend them (Lambert is speaking to this) and dare KCOQ to go to petition drive to get the version they want.

Leuthold is criticizing KCOQ for "inflexibility in [their] proposals." Victoria DeFreese is recalling how confusing the Sheriff's pension was written, and suggests that the wording of the referendums be clear to the voters (yes!!!). Moore wants a list of all attendees to ensure the groups were representative of the various districts, and not the same people showing up at each meeting. Moore also asks if the voters will know before August what the new appointees salaries will be (KCOQ: yes). Hammond calls for a forum March 12 at 8am, Moore suggests that we need an evening forum more accessible to citizens.

7 lights still on, going to be a long night. Davis suggests splitting 902 to divide issue of 9 commissioners with issue of aligning school districts (the latter being more popular). Ballard echoing sentiment that the committee was too small, and this is a very quick process to make "radical changes."

How awful would it be to plan to delay some of these items to the 2010 ballot, to take effect in 2014? We could salvage anti-nepotism, conflict of interest policies (I want to see a stronger proposal here!), returning the petition to earlier rules, Board of Education alignment, and even getting an Inspector General. Likely the 2008 petition drive for the others would fail, but we'd get a break-out vote of the most urgent reforms.

Daniels: Why/how are you grouping them together?

Harmon: Put them all on the ballot individually, let voters decide. Don't amend, one person's improvement is another person's poison pill (ahem, Greg).

Pinkston: what's difference between auditor and inspector General? Leuthold: What' s the point if the mayor appoints the IG (where's the independence?)

DeFreese blows a big hole when she points out she was at the South-Doyle meeting, but many of the proposals weren't discussed in her group (executive branch restructuring, IG). She points out that some ideas may have only been discussed by 50 to 100 people.

Briggs: Did some ideas come from "best practices" Baker study and not from the forum? Daytime March 12 meeting isn't a good forum, we need an evening forum.

It is pointed out that it is very difficult to align districts since we allow School Board to define their own districts? Are they now in control of commission districts? It turns out our charter provision to let the School Board write districts is wrong, so apparently we have to fix that.

Pinkston points out that more commissioners mean more access by common citizens, 9 commissioners would mean just th e"rich and powerful" would get the seats, with the at large dominated by the West.

Smith: Too much work for 1 commissioner per district.

Scooby: Let's vote! Just up or down, no more modifications! But we should really discuss before we take a single vote! It's 11:00 for crying out loud!

Amendments by Lambert/Smith fail, but unmodified motion 102 (reducing size of commission, align with school board) passes (barely) 13-6. Voting no: DeFreese, McKenzie, Moore, Pinkston, Strickland.

103 (conflict of interest provision) passes unanimously, as it mirrors current ethics policy (which is too weak!!!)

104 (consistency provision).

Leuthold- we can't set our voters up to vote on something and then leave it in legal limbo or possibly overturned.

Moore- we debated a boat dock for 3 hours, but we're changing our government in less than an hour.

12-7 Nos: McKenzie, Pinkston, I Harmon, Defreese, Davis, Moore, Lambert. 104 FAILS.

105 (Exec Branch Restructuring) FAILS 11-7-1
No: Strickland, I Harmon, Davis, Lambert, Moore, Defreese, Pinkston

106 (Inspector General): Two attempts to amend, the first to make the person elected (8 year terms, 16 max, partisan elections) and keep the auditor (this fails 10-9), the last to keep the existing auditor (also fails).

Unamended 106 passes barely 13-6. Nos: Pinkston, Defreese, Moore, Lambert, I Harmon, Strickland.

107 (Nepotism): Passes 19-0

108 (County Employees on Commission): Rules suspended since this was discussed earlier. Lumpy tries to add poison pill, and Pinkston has to have the concept of a poison pill explained to him. Amendment fails. Unamended proposal amazingly passes 14-4 (Pinkston, Moore, Lambert, Harmon)

109 (Legislative Conflict of Interest): 14-4-1
Nos: Pinkston, Moore, Lambert, I Harmon,

It's 12:30. I've been here NINE hours.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Forum: City's Energy & Sustainability Initiative (Tues night)

Madeline Weil will speak to the 4th Tuesday Democratic Club this Tuesday, February 26 about the City of Knoxville's Energy and Sustainability Initiative. Since she is the chairperson of this committee , and also Deputy Director, Policy and Communications of the City of Knoxville ,she will be able to inform us about our city's effort to sustain our resources and make us less energy dependent.
The City of Knoxville's Energy and Sustainability Task Force will analyze the city's energy use and develop a strategic plan to make changes needed to lower consumption, costs and emissions. Numerous city departments will be involved in gathering data, analyzing ideas and implementing changes.
The program begins at 6 P.M. at the West Knox County Library , l00 Golf Club Road (Kingston Pike and Papermill, across from P.F. Chang's). See you there!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Schools: Grant-Writing

Did you know the Knox County Schools only has one person working about half of their time working on grant proposals? A grant writer can generally bring in 15 to 20 times their salary. If our 19 Commissioners were to surrender 50% of their Discretionary Fund, we could fund another full-time grant writer, probably bringing in another $1 million in for school programs.

Or maybe we could just add it to this round of the budget?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Live Blogging: Temporary Appointments Meeting

District 6: Smooth process, Roundtree appointed

District 2: A few rounds of voting to eliminate Williams, then Campen edges out Wolfenbarger. Moore votes repeatedly for Wolfenbarger to show good faith.

District 9: 10-1 for Victoria DeFreese, with only Norman voting for Pleasant

District 1: First fireworks. McKenzie, Cox, Boyd,and Baah nominated. Baah says nominating candidates going to the general is wrong and withdraws himself, asking the Commissioners not to nominate McKenzie as well. Jimmy Golden self-nominates, but only to make a speech about problems he sees in the district and wants to draw attention to. Pete Drew speaking to Commission now, berating them over the process (appointing those involved in the general election). Perhaps this will set the tone for the Fifth district debate?

First round of voting McKenzie 10-1. That sets the tone for Briggs to be elected in the Fifth.

Doing #8: Wright and Boyer nominated. Short speeches by the candidates.
Ivan Harmon, Norman- Boyer
rest - Wright

Finally, 4-B!!!! Nominations:
MarkH - Davis
Norman- Daniels
IvanH - Wojnar
Leuthold- Brummitt
Lumpy- Alford

Mostly short speeches saying thanks. Let's vote!

Harmon speaks in favor of both Davis and Daniels, pushing the highest vote-getters. Other commissioners speak about how good the slate is.

Vote#1:
Strickland-Davis
MH-Davis
Norman- Daniels
IH-Wojnar
Hammond- Daniels
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Daniels
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Daniels
Pinkston-Alford

Tone set for Daniels and Alford to win the two seats? The pro-development crowd will fight hard to get Alford on, which means Elaine is probably out.

Vote#2 (can't drop of since there is no one "loser" to drop off):
Strickland-Davis
MH-Davis
Norman- Daniels
IH-Wojnar
Hammond- Daniels
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Daniels
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Daniels
Pinkston-Brummit**

Wojnar drops off, vote#3:
Strickland-Davis
MH-Davis
Norman- Daniels
IH-Brummitt
Hammond- Daniels
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Daniels
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Daniels
Pinkston-Alford

Davis and Brummitt now on the cutting block.
Strickland-Davis
MH-(PASS), than changes to Daniels
Norman- Daniels
IH-Brummitt
Hammond- Daniels
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Daniels
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Daniels
Pinkston-Alford?

Davis cut, but that's a strategic move to put her in round two. Very smart!!!!

Strickland-Daniels
MH-Daniels
Norman- Daniels
IH-Brummitt
Hammond- Daniels
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Daniels
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Daniels
Pinkston-Alford

Daniels is in with 6. Second round for Fourth will be more interesting.

District 5 now...
MH/Norman nominate Tracey
IH/Hammond/Leuthold/Lambert/ nominates Briggs.

Tracey gives a good speech about voters wanting a fair election. But the vote in First says to me that Briggs is going to get it. Will there be backlash in August? We'll see.

Vote:
Strickland-Briggs
MH-Tracey
Norman-Tracey
IH-Briggs
Hammond-Briggs
Leuthold-Briggs
Lambert-Briggs
RLSmith-Briggs
Moore-Briggs
Ballard-Briggs
Pinkston-Briggs

So much for caretakers.

On to 4-A. Same nominations. Mike Hammond speaks in favor of Davis. Looks like a Davis-Alford fight.

Strickland-Davis
MH-Davis
Norman-Davis
IH-Wojnar
Hammond- Davis
Leuthold- Brummit
Lambert-Alford
RLSmith-Davis
Moore-Alford
Ballard-Davis
Pinkston-Alford

Elaine wins first round!!!

Wow. Commission did a great job overall. You can argue voting in people that are in the August election, but time will tell if that is the "kiss of death" for the candidates.

Kudos to 'Tank' Strickland for running a tight ship today. He's a great chairman.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Committee Meeting Summary

  • TIF requested for road work near Campbell Station Road related to development already in progress. Developer agreed area not blighted and development would go forward without the TIF. Other commissioners seem to be pushing in favor based on the traffic improvements, because we don't have enough money in our capital budget, even though the County admitted that we can do it cheaper. So because we're poor planners, we have to violate TIF guidelines and sign away our financial future? More evidence that our poor long-term planning is costing us dearly. Bruce Wuethrich (Director, Engineering) admitted that he's just dealing with overloaded roads based on existing traffic counts.
  • Grant management software needs updating, but clearly the Commission could use someone on board who understands software procurement
  • (More, but had to leave to meet a future constituent)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

TIF News, Tedford Fire Update

The Industrial Development Board (IDB) is requesting developers seeking TIFs to apply to the IDB first, before Commission takes up the issue.

Link...

This is a good thing, as Commission could then vote with some data in hand about the economic benefit and a review of the "but for" standard. And they should SLAP the crap outa IDB if they send something up that doesn't meet that standard.


With respect to the Tedford Road Dump Fire, we held our second interdepartmental meeting with the Knox County agencies. High points:
  • Soil samples are being taken from various locations (disturbed soil, undisturbed, controls) to determine if there are any contaminants that can't be seen visually (fuel oil, chemicals, etc).
  • Final disposition of the site (capping, truck off or re-bury, etc) is still under discussion and partly tied up with the legal proceedings against the landowner.
  • Still doing excavation and extinguishing work. Air quality has been good for about a week, but had smoke and odor evening of 2/11
  • Health Dept looking at putting contracts into place for future air sampling, particulate monitoring (next incident, or if this drags on).
  • Solid Waste will share their documentation of excavation
  • Second round of well testing will occur, we have pushed for samples in previously unsampled locations. County is consulting outside geologists for recommendations.
Update (2/14): More smoldering today from the "lower" hole, but not burning like 2-3 weeks ago. Renfro is excavating (stumps and logs) and Rural Metro will put water on. Upper hole is being left exposed to see if there is anything left that might start smoldering.

Update (2/15): Rural Metro reports yesterday's burning material/hotspots indicate that considerably more excavation will need to be done on the lower section and eastern flank to dig down to natural grade, to make a complete search for possible pockets of material. Rural Metro expects that it could take "the next couple of weeks." Yesterday we requested Air Quality to accelerate putting in place contracts for additional air monitoring, to include possible second round of toxics, as well as initial formaldehyde and particulate testing.

Thanks again to Rural Metro & the Knox Co agencies for their hard work resolving this difficult issue.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

No Appointment

I've had a few people ask me why I didn't seek appointment for one of the Fourth District commission seats. For many, it seems to be obvious- but is it?

The people who ask usually phrase it this way- if you're willing to serve and you think you're the best candidate, why not start now?

When the primary was over, and the question turned to the appointments, the first thing I did was to recruit and push many of those who did not win their primary to seek appointment. To be honest, some really didn't want to and had to be talked into it. Why did I do this? It's a question of fairness. While Ed Shouse has more name recognition in the city areas of the Fourth District (and appointment would balance that), would it be fair to 'wrestle' some incumbent advantage I didn't have before? I've certainly heard some arguments made to me that seeking incumbent advantage would 'balance the field,' many pointing out that major media is likely to give more coverage to Shouse.

And to be clear, it's not because I think it's the "kiss of death" either to be appointed by the current commission. The sole things I had to balance in my decision were the issues of what the Fourth District needs versus fairness. We have several good appointee candidates now. If there had only been one or two names thrown out, I probably would have faxed a tentative resume in Friday (qualifying the request for appointment with an agreement to step aside if other good candidates came forward). But the voters need a fair, straight-up election. I have five months to overcome the name recognition issue, and I'm confident the voters will choose someone who stands for real change.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

A Great Day For Voting

Thanks to everyone who helped me at the polls yesterday. The weather couldn't have been better, and turnout was good. I met a lot of great people going in and out of the polls (and got some good questions as well). I missed the lunch crowd because of issues related to the Tedford Fire, but otherwise, I saw the polls being steady and busy.

Now what? Commission will be considering appointments. My preference is for Commission to appoint caretakers, and I understand that my August opponent, Ed Shouse, told the News-Sentinel he won't be seeking the appointment either. I'm a little anxious as to who they might select (we want good representation for the Fourth- we've waited too long!!), but going outside of me and Ed is probably best for everyone in the long run.

I've been impressed by Logan Brummitt and his attention to detail in the issues. Lee Tramel, although controversial, brings experience during the coming budgeting process. Being a lame duck and a KCSO employee would be considered a major conflict of interest in the budgeting process, though. Jim Smeltcher was the #2 vote in the GOP primary, and is well-respected.

The same issues for the Fourth exist in the 4-A appointment. Finbarr said he won't seek the appointment. I don't know about Ruthie. But Commission may be stuck with a lot of top choices taking themselves out of consideration, the exact point I made in November when they voted (wrongly, I argued then) to delay the appointments until February.

My top picks as a Fourth District resident? Elaine (who polled 46%+ in the 2006 general) and Jim or Logan. But hey, I'm just one resident.

Update- Walt Woljnar has put his resume in, and Logan should be putting his in as well. I didn't mention Walt because I thought he wasn't interested, but I think we have two excellent caretakers for the Fourth District.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

If I had $40,000 of developer money....

... you might see this on TV.

Public Trust PAC Questionnaire Available

I stated on Knoxviews that I would post my responses to the major questions on the Public Trust PAC questionnaire, so here's the PDF. I have nothing to hold back from anyone who is interested.

Note that it is not the complete questionnaire, I can't find my master copy to scan, but this is the "meat" of the questionnaire. Much of the rest of the questions were just routine things (name, rank, serial number, web site).

Monday, January 28, 2008

Tedford Road Fire



For those who aren't aware, there is an underground fire at an illegal dump (sinkhole) off Tedford Road (Keller Bend area). I met Saturday with a representative of the affected neighbors to discuss the air quality issues and offer whatever help I could. I also spoke with Knox County's air quality group and EPA Region IV. So far, this is what we know:
- Well water testing results should be back around 2/1.
- Initial samples at the fire site had CO levels of up to 3000 ppm by the fire, and 300 ppm at the houses. That has since subsided to safe levels, and some nearby residents have purchased home CO monitors to check indoor levels, where CO can concentrate.
- Debris from the fire is mostly wood, although some PVC and nylon has been seen being pulled from the dump. At low temperatures, this material would create some fairly nasty organic pollutants
- EPA and Knox County have worked together to take 6 grab samples (4 at the site, 2 near houses) for detailed analysis by gas chromatigraph. That data will probably not come back until about 2/8. If those samples show significant organic pollutants / PICs, some decisions would be made about additional sampling.
- I have asked EPA for details on the sampling protocol, and will forward to the neighbors and interested parties, but the protocol is a broad spectrum look at dozens of possible pollutants using a gas chromatograph
- I received an opinion from EPA that continuous particulate monitoring would be advisable as well, and I passed this on to Knox County APCD. They indicated they would be looking to see if they could get a continuous particulate monitor out to the site.

Things to take forward from this:
- These illegal dumps are another massive liability. Cleanup of the Tedford site is estimated at $300,000 or more, and there may be a dozen or so similar sites in Knox County right now.
- We need to do a better job inspecting sinkholes for illegal dumping. There are only three permitted construction waste dumps in Knox County, so if you see dumping of construction waste into a sinkhole, it's almost assuredly illegal! Call Knox County Solid Waste and TDEC.
- We should consider adding capability and equipment for Knox County air quality to be able to do immediate toxics sampling.
- Future response protocols should include immediate deployment of particulate monitoring equipment, ideally a speciation monitor that can help identify levels of organic pollutants.


Update (Jan 29th): Agilaire purchased two CO monitors for inside monitoring of the two closest neighbors. While not as accurate as a regular monitor, they provide rough readings and should provide notification of dangerous levels at night and over the weekend. Jamie Dobbs has requested that the Mayor's office arrange an inter-agency meeting to improve communication. Results of the five well tests show no dangerous levels of pollutants (verbal info, waiting to receive written details). More plastics and rubber being dug out, as well as what appears to have been a railroad tie in the fire zone. Some rough calculations as to % of the debris that appears to have been in the fire zone, and % of plastics stream indicates total plastics burned could range anywhere from 0.1 to 2 cubic yards. Rural Metro reported that their multi-gas monitor showed no dangerous levels of H2S, so the nuisance odor appears to be formaldehyde. We should know more when the air tests come back (Friday?).

Update (1/30): Received well test data. Still working on finding a particulate monitor. Health department arranging meeting Friday with Health, KEMA, neighborhood reps, and other agencies. One of the neighbors, Carlene Steenkamp, has fired up a website www.illegallandfill.com to document the Tedford Road fire and I hope later can be used for public education of illegal landfills.

Update (1/30, 5pm): Fire appears to be out! Digging will continue tomorrow to confirm there are no more hot spots, but things look good. Meeting is likely to be postponed next week until after air sample data is back. Meeting will be a good opportunity to do a 'postmortem' and develop approaches for future public health emergencies.


Update (1/31, 1pm): Hot spot uncovered this morning, Rural Metro on the job. Checked again at about noon, no visible smoke or odor. It may take a few more days to dig down far enough to ensure it's out. Jamey is checking about work continuing through the weekend.

Much thanks to Tom Salter, Steve McDaniel, Jerry Harnish, Jamey Dobbs, Bruce Weuthrich, Al Ianncone, and the folks at EPA Region IV for their hard work on the issue.