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!