Screams from the Porch

Knox County to go after unclaimed money

2012-02-17T07:55:00.001-08:00

Local leaders are touting a popular adage: Every little bit helps.

Or in this case, according to county finance minister John Troyer: “Every $9,000 matters.”

OK, here's the deal:

Each year the county writes a lot of checks. About $650 million worth, I suppose. But not everyone cashes the thing. So, after a year, the unclaimed money goes into a state account where it sits for another year.

Then Knox County can go after it. It's all pretty much a rubber stamp deal, but – hey – I promised ya some boring inside baseball every now and then.

This year, the county's finance department will ask the County Commission to give it permission to claim $8,810.31.

As Mayor Tim “Cheapskate” Burchett says: “I'd rather us get it than have it go to the state or federal government for them to waste.”

Heh.

Last year the county got back $8,910. 31 (this was monies from fiscal year 2009); and in 2010 it got back $10,120.72.

In 2009, the county nabbed $10,155.83 and in 2008 it collected $13,108.99.

In 2007 – the last numbers I have – the county collected $18,584.24 in monies from fiscal year 2005.

Please donate to help Children's Hospital

2012-02-16T09:46:00.005-08:00

KNS courts Reporter Jamie Satterfield is participating in the local dancing with the stars thing-a-ma-jig. You can read the story right smack here about why she was picked, etc.

Anyhoo, the event raises money for the East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Sooooo, I'm hoping you'll click right smack here and sponsor Jamie, and help the children. I believe the event is tonight. Thanks.

Please note that if you work for the county, feel free to use your P-card. Heh.

Charter review committee picks, thoughts

2012-02-15T16:56:00.001-08:00

OK, so the Knox County Charter Review Committee, which will look into possibly amending the county’s governing documents, met for the first time tonight. I’ll have a story about it in tomorrow’s paper.

Here’s some quick thoughts.

As you may (or may not or don’t care to) know, the committee is comprised of nine commissioners (only Chairman Mike Hammond and Jeff Ownby aren’t on it), and nine of their appointees and nine picks from county Mayor Tim “Sasquatch” Burchett.

Soooo, the members had to select a chairman tonight. They chose former commissioner, former Trustee’s Office worker and current Property Assessor’s Office worker Craig Leuthold.

Here’s what happened:

Commissioner Amy Broyles nominated fellow Commissioner Sam KmcKenzie. Commissioner, Colonel, Doctor Richard Briggs – who actually appointed Leuthold to the committee – nominated Arghhh Larry Smith. Commissioner Mike Brown nominated Leuthold.

In the first round of voting, Sam and RRRRRRR Larry each nabbed six votes and Craig got nine. In the do-over, Sam got five, R. Larry got one and Craig got 15.

There were some top county leaders who were secretly hoping Sam would get the nod.

Just saying.

The committee ended up picking Ann Acuff as vice chair. Acuff recently retired from the county after serving mucho decades as the county’s deputy financial minister(ess).

Sam was selected as the committee’s secretary. Whatever that is.

Couple of other things. Commissioners initially thought they would have to sign off on any recommendations that the committee made. In other words, to get it to the ballot where the people get to make a decision, the commission would have to approve that.

Nope.

Apparently, the charter – that document that could get amended – says it goes to the election commission. So, that eliminates a layer of BS.

You know, provided it doesn’t get too political on that committee.

And it will. I feel sorry for some of the newcomers. They have no clue. Heh.

Now, in the meantime, a few folks have commented on the so-called oddity of some of the mayor’s picks. You see, a few of the people he selected don’t always see eye-to-eye with him. Don’t kid yourself. He’s got the support he needs.

Recent cash mob hits MSNBC, Facebook

2012-02-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett's cash mob has garnered a little bit of national attention. MSNBC picked up the story. You can find that by clicking right smack here.

Also, note, however, that it appears the county didn't oblige by the suggested rules of the cash-mob society, or whatever.

Rule No. 8 states: The business (in the case Emery's 5 & 10 on Chapman Highway) must be within one block of a locally-owned watering hole.

Rule No. 9 states: Cash Mobbers must join us for celebratory drinks after the successful mob.

(Starting to wonder if soccer hooligans came up with this whole cash mob thing.)

Anyhoo, the local cash mob Facebook page has also garnered a little bit of activity after Burchett revealed that his chief of staff, Potentate Rice, thought the event was a bad idea.

Course, as one commenter said: Rice rarely agrees with anything on MSNCB

Heh.

Cash mob brings out hundreds of buyers

2012-02-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Apparently that cash-mob thing county Mayor Tim Buchett concocted over late night television not too long ago turned out to be quite the success.

According to Big “Michael Grider” Sexy, somewhere between 700 and 800 people participated in the event Friday at Emery's 5 & 10 on Chapman Highway, and the store reported more than 520 sales that day and evening. On Saturday, sales were around 120.

BS says there will be more of these events and “details will be released in the next few weeks.”

Well, what did you really expect? Heh.

2012-02-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

HR's Fogerson reflects on past decade

2012-02-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

L to R: Debbie Dew, Lisa Jarrell, Frances Fogerson, Pat Carson, Glenda Irwin, Diana Sweet, and Anthony Smith. Back: Brian Barnard

Here's an interview I conducted with Knox County Human Resources Director Frances Fogerson, who retires on Friday. She's worked for the county 12 years, spending almost a decade as a department head.

Deputy Veteran Services Officer Colonel Richard Julian will take over.

In the following interview, Fogerson looks back on her time with the county, touching on her best hire, worst hire and the nickname she doesn’t recall getting.

(On a side note, I wish her well.)

What was the most difficult firing you had to be a part of?
Firings that involve a threat of violence always got my attention. You just have to be really cautious in those cases. Several times I was definitely glad we had law enforcement close at hand.

The really difficult task is to tell someone about a layoff. In that case, the employee is usually a skilled person doing the job we hired them to do. I go into that meeting with three goals – brevity, respect and information. I speak softly and really try to emphasize that it was the circumstance and not their performance. Then, I make sure they know about their options in terms of insurance, retirement, unemployment claims, etc. And, of course, I always offer to serve as a reference when they’re looking for a new job.

What was the most unusual firing?
I once fired an intern who just couldn’t seem to be successful at several placements we tried. When I asked him what he had expected when he took a job with the county, he said he thought it would be champagne receptions and brunch with the mayor. Clearly, we were a disappointment for him.

Did you ever face political pressure?
I’m about the most non-political person you could meet. I don’t participate in any political activities and I cross party lines constantly when voting. Really, no mayor ever put any political pressure on me. I tried to keep my advice absolutely professional and I just didn’t participate in the political component.

How has the office changed over the years?
Every mayor has been different and had different styles. You just have to understand that when the administration changes, everything else will, too.

Thoughts on a civil service system.
There was an effort in 2008 to consider civil service for the county, but it didn’t succeed. Civil service is an employment system that predates professional human resources.

I like the merit-based hiring aspect of it, but I don’t like the slowness of filling vacancies or the almost ‘ownership’ status that employees have with their jobs. I definitely prefer a professional HR system. I’m not even sure if there’s a county in Tennessee that uses a civil service, especially one that doesn’t include law enforcement or fire services.

What’s the best part of the job?
Hand down, it’s doing letters and forms to help an employee with an adoption. It only happens about once a year, but I get real pleasure from playing a small role in the process. And, I always want to see the baby!

Worst part of the job.
My ‘Summer of Hell.’ That’s what I call the time in 2007 when we were trying to get a contract with a medical insurance provider. We read through boxes of notebooks to evaluate the companies that bid and then the County Commission wouldn’t approve the contract with the winner. We expanded the evaluation group and did the process three times, each with the same winner, before the commission finally accepted the results. My office was absolutely filled with notebooks and I read each one, taking them home on nights, weekends and holidays. It was the most frustrating task I’ve ever had to do.

Didn’t you get a few nicknames over the years (like ‘The Terminator’)?
You’re the only person who has ever suggested a nickname. I know the one you mean, but I never heard it personally. Really, I’m just an ordinary person who learned all I could about my job and then tried to do that job with fairness and consistency.

Was there a hire you regret making?
Yes. One official asked me to find a job for the relative of an acquaintance. I interviewed the person to determine her experience and skills, and then tried to find a position for which she was both qualified and could be successful. I wasn’t having much luck when a director jumped in and hired the woman. It was a poor fit and caused a lot of turmoil within that department. It simply didn’t last long.

What was your best hire?
I interviewed (current senior director of finance) John Troyer, although I didn’t make the hiring decision. I think that turned out pretty well.

What do potential employees see as attractive reasons to work for Knox County and what do they see as turnoffs?
I think our benefits are superb. We have a decent amount of vacation and holidays, and the insurance is excellent. Our retirement plan — not a pension plan — is very responsible and requires everyone to contribute 6 percent with a matching 6 percent added. It teaches you to save for retirement and that’s a very good thing.

On the downside, there’s variability among offices. Elected officials don’t share the same policies and employees don’t always have the same support. One thing I don’t like is the lack of an appeal system in many offices. I really wish that all Knox County offices would share the same policies, but state law permits them to each have their own.

Emery's 5 & 10 store gets first 'cash mob'

2012-02-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

Ron Emery, owner of Emery’s 5 & 10 at Chapman Highway and Moody, should benefit from county's first 'cash mob'

To the surprise of no one, the first location to receive a visit from the “Knox Cash Mob” is Emery's 5 & 10 on Chapman Highway.

This is according to the latest Big “Michael Grider” Sexy spin release which touts the announcement as “after more than a week of anticipation . . . .”

Burchett is urging residents to show their support by spending a few dollars at a yet-to-be named business via a cash mob, a concept that encourages people to show up at the same time at a small business and attack it with commerce.

The idea, according to county Mayor Tim Burchett, is to hold these so-called cash mobs at various small businesses all over the county, with the first few in South Knoxville, which the rest of the city generally treats like an ugly stepchild. Burchett was inspired to organize a cash mob to help boost sales after seeing a news report of a successful one held at a hardware store in Ohio.

Business has been slow for some south side operations ever since construction started on the Henley Street Bridge.

According to Grider's big spin:

“Emery’s is a local institution, and this business represents so much of what is good about our local entrepreneurs,” Burchett said. “I hope everyone will come to South Knoxville tomorrow and spend $5 or $10 at Emery’s, or any other South Knoxville business.”

Cash mob participants are asked to visit the store sometime between 5 and 7 p.m.

Emery’s 5 & 10 opened in 1927 and is a third-generation business. According to the store’s website, it is the oldest family-owned 5 & 10 store in the United States. Owner Ron Emery is a former U.S. Marine. He was wounded in Vietnam and received the Purple Heart. His father also served in U.S. Military and was a bomber pilot during World War II.

County to merge HR, risk management

2012-02-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

Next Monday – with Knox County HR Director Frances Fogerson retiring – the county will combine its human resource and risk management departments. Deputy Veteran Services Officer Colonel Richard Julian will take over as HR manager and risk management director Mark Jones will oversee the whole shebang.

According to a county spin release sent out by the woefully underpaid Big “Michael Sexy” Grider (if you compare his coin to that of his counterparts in the city):

Jones has nearly 17 years of management experiences in Knox County alone, and he holds degrees in law, business and public health. His qualifications make him uniquely suited to head a combined HR-Risk Management department.

Col. Julian retired from the U.S. Military in 1998 after serving more than 30 years as a human resource professional, first as a Military Personnel Specialist. He later spent 17 years as a Military Personnel Officer and Human Resource Director with the 134th Air Refueling Wing.

Come back later for an interview with Fogerson. We'll run part of it in tomorrow's News Sentinel, but I'll post all of it here. It's a good read.

County worker salaries database updated

2012-02-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

So, ah, if you're interested in knowing just how much coin Knox County employees make, you can click right smack here for our new updated database.

It's put together every year or so by KNS editor Steve Ahillen who uses records supplied to him by the county. The new numbers also reflect the 3 percent raises county employees received, beginning Jan. 1.

County refinances bonds, saves some coin

2012-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

In an effort to prove that he really does earn his paycheck and outdoes his colleagues on the city side of the Deathstar, Big “Michael Grider” Sexy this afternoon issued what might be his fifth spin release in as many days. (Or it might not be.)

According to the release, the county will save $1.43 million in interest payments during the next two years after refinancing some bonds this week. The savings beat expectations by more than $400,000.

Half the savings is supposed to benefit Knox County Schools, the spin job states.

I assume that's a message to the school administration, which is more than likely going to ask the county for millions more in folding paper this year.

Attorneys show up to endorse Jarret

2012-02-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

OK, here's the deal: If you're a candidate in an upcoming Knox County political race, feel free to send me your spin release and I'll post it.

So far, only county Law Director Joe Jarret has taken me up on the offer. I'm sure there will be more. Joe takes on former county Commissioner Richard "Bud" Armstrong. This is going to be a good race.

Anyhoo, I know there's a good lawyer joke in here somewhere - but more than 200 local attorneys have officially endorsed Jarret. You can read the release and check out the names by clicking right smack here.

Please note that I see a lot of folks on the KNS message board (man, there are some numbskull comments that get posted over there) say the paper has already endorsed Jarret. I have no opinion in the election. As always, I'll be voting for myself.

HR director, law director and those files

2012-02-08T12:11:00.001-08:00

Apparently local TV has just wet itself over the county's HR director downloading her personal - not personnel - files. (Actually, she didn't even download them.) I'm not going to link it. I'm sure they'll update soon. Anyhoo, here's the real story so far:

Knox County Law Director Joe Jarret today took a disc full of information that county Human Resources Director Frances Fogerson had asked to be downloaded from her personal files.

Fogerson, who has served as the HR director for almost a decade and who will retire Friday, told the News Sentinel today that the disc contained “dozens of files” but they were all “frivolous.”

“There are some recipes on there and a set of menus from when we had a weight loss challenge,” she said.

Fogerson said that on Tuesday she asked county IT Director Dick Moran about what she should do with some of her personal files. Fogerson said she had some instructions that she put together for her successors and wanted to keep the information handy in case they needed help once she left.

Moran, she said, downloaded the files for her.

Jarret said Moran told him about the disc, so later Tuesday the law director called Fogerson to let her know that he needed the disc back.

“I need to see what’s on there,” he said. “(If she’s telling the truth), then it’s innocuous. But I want to make sure there is no sensitive information on there, or information that is not public record. When I called her, she immediately agreed to return the disc. She didn’t put up a fight. She said ‘OK,’ and I’ve got it now.”

Jarret said he would look over the information today.

Fogerson, whose last day is Friday, said no personnel files were on the disc.

“The way personnel files are stored, I couldn’t remove them anyway,” she said, adding that she didn’t do anything wrong.

MP's 'mean one' says KTSC is full of it

2012-02-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

Cari “Mean” Gervin over at da Pulse is calling out the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp., saying it took credit for events that the non-profit had nothing to do with, like the Big Ears Festival and the Furrow Auction Company’s Great Smokey Auction, among others.

Now why doesn't that surprise me? 'Course, you can probably find bogus claims made my these types of groups throughout the state. Not that they're bogus, you know. Heh.

Anyhoo, the mean one writes:

There is no question that KTSC has brought events to town, and there is no question that those events have had an economic impact. However, there are questions over whether all the events that KTSC claims as examples of its success at driving economic impact are ones that it actually had anything to do with. Despite just picking a sampling of events at random from KTSC’s list, we found a number of organizers who say they had no assistance at all from KTSC.

Click right smack here for the story.

Knox County bond rating toes the line

2012-02-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

(Earlier, I posted some more about the KTSC mess.)

In the latest spin job released by Big “Michael Grider” Sexy, the administration says Standard & Poor has recently affirmed the county's AA+ bond rating. Click right smack here for the deep spin.

County Mayor Tim Burchett in a quote no doubt written by his chief of staff, Potentate Rice, says: “S&P offered proof of the success of our efforts when they affirmed our AA+/stable long-term bond rating. We are doing the right things: reducing the amount of money government spends, increasing efficiencies, paying down our debt and shrinking the size of local government in general.”

Don't get me wrong, a strong bond rating is a good thing. But, the county earned it because of our low tax rate. Not because of “increasing efficiencies” or “shrinking . . . local government.” In fact, look at the past administration. I think it's safe to say that efficiencies weren't increased and government wasn't shrunk. Yet, that's when the bond rating got to where it is now.

But, fist-bumps to everyone, I suppose. It could have been lowered.

Still, local government as always is mostly ridiculous. The glass is half full. And all that.

UPDATE: Big Sexy, or BS for short, sent me a quote from S&P's report: “We consider Knox County's financial position very strong due to tight expenditure controls and conservative revenue estimates.” He also sent me the original report, which is right smack here.

A little inside baseball on the KTSC mess

2012-02-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

So, at this point is there anything left to say about the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp. mess that hasn’t already been reported in the paper, on TV and over at the blogs? Ha ha. Of course there is.

I wrote this entry on Sunday while watching the Stupor Bowl and the suck commercials that accompanied the game. But then I got caught up and didn't get a chance to post it.

Wow, rambling already and only a few sentences in. OK, I suppose there are a few things worth mentioning that haven’t been touched on yet. Note, that most of this is inside baseball.

First off, I posted a few days back about the KTSC hiring local spin team Moxley Carmichael. I called KTSC a public relations group. Cynthia over at the real PR firm pointed out that they’re actually a “marketing” group. At this point I don’t think it really matters. But, in the interest of fair play . . .

Anyhoo, Moxley Carmichael is charging KTSC $200 and hour. That’s a discount from the usual $250 an hour. Cynthia told me that in 10 years I’ll probably be in public relations myself. After seeing those numbers I don’t disagree.

But, first I want a job running KTSC. Heh.

(Oh yeah, for disclosure’s sake, The Knoxville News Sentinel has Moxley Carmichael on retainer. Or under contract. Or however all that works. Regardless, the company handles spin for us.)

Next up: Ward Phillips.

Ward is the attorney KTSC hired when the media started looking into how the non-profit spends money. I’m super impressed with Ward. You know, typically when a group hires an attorney, the lawyer represents the members of that group. Reality check: The attorney is supposed to represent the operation as a whole – not just the director, the chairman, the whoever.

Ward hasn’t pulled any punches in the last week or so. He – it appears at least – is acting in the best interest of KTSC and not one individual. Case in point: He pretty much said CEO Gloria Ray’s contract was illegal. (Heck, he practically begged the board to fire her during last Friday’s meeting.) And, he also noted that board members probably violated a few rules.

It’s always a relief to see an attorney do what they’re supposed to do. Cheers to him.

(I hope all this makes sense.)

Moving on . . . .

Ray’s future: Well, she’s a local icon and institution, and despite what you might think about her, no one at this point has proved that she’s broken the law. Yeah, she probably did draft her own contract and fax it down to Florida to board chairman David Duncan to sign (all this under the radar of the other members of the executive committee), but . . . well, whatever. Unless, it's proven he got kickbacks from this – and I mean proven – then . . . .

Maybe if the board members were actually paying attention. But, again, whatever.

And no, I don’t buy the argument that Ward made (I believe it was him) about how they’re all volunteers, so they can’t be expected to know everything. You know what? Quit then. Get off the board. I mean, come on. Don’t you want to know what your boss makes? And if given the chance, wouldn’t you take a peek? They should have looked. They didn't. End of discussion.

Sooooo, The board says Gloria owes KTSC $96K in folding paper. If it lets her go without cause, then it owes her about $55K in coin and some incidentals, like expenses, travel, whatever. I’m sure all of it will add up to be a lot. Like a lot, lot.

I’m guessing – that because of the work Gloria has done in the past – the board calls it a wash and lets her go “without cause,” and wipes the slate (any payments) clean. Now, whether she’ll stay on as a consultant is another story. Personally, she probably should, at least for a year to head up a transition. Of course that would mean paying her $150K. Unless that can be worked out.

One a side note, firing Gloria with cause might not be the smartest thing. If KTSC really wants to take the focus off the recent problems and get on with doing whatever it’s supposed to do, then it needs to work out something. If it doesn’t, Gloria will take them to court. I guarantee it. She didn’t get to where she is by lying down and taking it.

(On a side note, we’ve reported that Gloria makes more than many of her counterparts in other major Tennessee cities, but did you know she also make more than Susan Walker, the state commissioner of tourist development? Yup. Walker makes $152,400 per year. Thanks to ass-kicking KNS state reporter Tom Humphrey for pointing that out to me.)

OK, let’s get to some good stuff.

County Mayor Tim Burchett. A lot of folks think he and the good Emperor, Dean Rice, were behind this mess, that they were the two trying to get out the information to the media, since Burchett wants to sell the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Nope. (I’ve taken my shots at both of them, but neither was behind this.) Don’t get me wrong, they’re not upset about what’s going on and I imagine there was some fist-bumping going on, but they weren’t behind the information drive.

You see, Burchett announced a long time ago that he wanted to sell the Hall of Fame. That was no secret. And if he knew about Gloria’s salary at that time, then it would have gone public then. It didn’t Also, Burchett wants KTSC – if the hall of fame is put on the market – to buy it and run the operation. Heck, I’m pretty sure that when the purchasing department got done with the bid it would have been written in such a way that KTSC would be the only logical buyer. And really, at this point they might be. So, the mayor doesn’t need this outrage. And yes, I know, that sounds funny. Because sometimes I think Burchett wakes up in the morning, looking for controversy.

With that said Burchett’s call for Gloria’s resignation on Thursday was straight spontaneity. Here’s what happened. As KTSC announced that David Duncan had resigned the previous evening, KNS reporter Josh Flory received some records that he had asked for wile back. He wrote the story and, using the documents, was the first to report the retention bonuses Gloria is/was set to receive. Burchett read the story Thursday morning and was none too happy. The same morning, WBIR, which also received the records, showed them to the county mayor.

And that was it.

Ticked off about the situation – and because he had asked Gloria about her total compensation weeks prior and wasn't told about these incentive bonuses - Burchett immediately called for her resignation.

No one on the city’s side of the Deathstar had a clue about this. So, when they heard that Burchett made the announcement, some on that side – I won’t say who – at first resisted. There was also talk about forming a committee to look into the KTSC issue. (Like this county/city needs another committee.) But, the writing was on the wall.

Then they opted for a spin conference. My understanding is that Burchett's people reached out to the Rogero camp and asked if they wanted to hold a joint press conference. At least one of Madeline's top adviser's was on board, but Madeline wanted to go solo. So, last Thursday’s spin conference was Madeline’s first as mayor.

I wasn’t there, but I heard Madeline did a pretty good job and made it clear that she wasn’t standing for Gloria to make some $600K in coin in her final year of her contract. (Now, if the city's mayor will just look at her own spin team, which makes more than a combined $200k salaries while the county's spin doctor makes about $54,000 . . . but I digress.)

So, who did leak the information (yeah, I know it was public but no one bothered to look) that got the media looking into this whole mess? Well, there could be some truth to the email that the KTSC Chairman David Duncan sent and which I wrote about (click right smack here for that bad boy). Or maybe not.

David Duncan – no relation to Trustee John Duncan III or his family – blames former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, Liza Zenni, executive director of the Arts and Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville, and Caesar Stair, a local attorney who serves on the alliance board.

Well, Victor certainly wrote about the issue – although he didn’t name names – before anyone else. And yes that includes WBIR, which continues to erroneously note that it reported about Gloria’s salary first (more on that later). I don’t know anything about Caesar’s role. I do know that he knows Liza. And I know that Liza and Victor don’t hang out.

But, here’s what else I know.

Back around November, Gloria and Liza got into a spat about the 5 percent of hotel/motel tax that is typically allocated to the smaller non-profits (think Beck Center, Ramsey House, symphony, blah, blah. Blah).

Some members of the Arts Alliance (Liza’s group) felt Gloria wanted the money to run the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame – if KTSC ever bought it. (Gloria denies her organization needed this money.)

There was plenty of internal bickering and the Arts Alliance board told Liza to step down from the KTSC board (yes, she was on both boards). The arts folks felt it was a conflict. They also saw the potential for a feud. So, did Liza leak the information out of spite?

Well, a lot of people think so. I will say that she did not give me the information. I heard about this elsewhere, and at this point I don't remember who first told me.

And: Does it really freakin’ matter who leaked what? No, it doesn’t!

(Also, the feud is now moot as county Mayor Tim Burchett decided late last year that he was going to make organizations bid on that 5 percent. They'll now have to submit “requests for information” and then a team will figure out who gets the money. At this point, the Arts Alliance has put together a group and will go after the money. KTSC isn't expected to.)

Now, let’s get down to who first broke this story. I get kind of annoyed with the whole “you heard it here first” or “as we first reported” or whatever. Hey, I get it. The media – KNS included – likes to toot its horn. Fine. Just make sure you know what you’re talking about.

So, I know a lot of people aren’t going to like this and I’ll probably catch some heat for it. But I got news for you: I don't care.

Rogue blogger Brian Hornback was actually the first to write about Gloria's salary with any detail and name names. You can find if by clicking right smack here.

Again, that’s also probably going to tick off some people over at the local TV channel that’s been bragging about this, but . . . whatever.

Finally, what does the future hold?

I don’t know. I think more crap will come out about the contracts and how they were hammered out in the middle of the night. Or not. Maybe the new executive committee will keep a better eye on things.

I hope.

Anyway, I’m out.

KTSC hires spin team, board chair quits

2012-02-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

OK, so let me get this straight. The Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation has hired Moxley Carmichael, a PR firm. In other words, tax payer money is now paying a company whose business is public relations to hire a public relations business????

This makes as much sense as the News Sentinel, which puts out an advertisement every day, paying a PR firm. Oh wait, crap, we already do that.

Anyhoo, Cynthia Moxley sent the media a note, letting us know that KTSC board chairman David Duncan resigned (more on that in a moment). She said: Your next question will be, "Where are the documents?"

No, actually (and I emailed this to her), my next question was: How much are they paying you?

Seriously.

OK, with that said, here's some excerpts from the KTSC spin release:

David Duncan has resigned as chair of the board of KTSC. “I have been very concerned over the past few weeks about how we can be responsive to the concerns that have been raised and to restore the reputation of KTSC as an organization and confidence in its leadership,” Duncan said in a letter of resignation. “I believe that KTSC would be better served by different leadership of the board.”

Susan Brown, the vice chair of the board, is now the interim chair, in accordance with the organization’s by-laws.

“The KTSC has received dozens of requests for information and documents regarding this issue over the past few weeks and we have been trying to respond to those requests with sensitivity to both the legalities and certain privacy issues,” Brown said. “Upon the advice of legal counsel, we have determined that all the documents are, in fact, public records. Rather than release the documents in a piecemeal fashion, we have decided it is more efficient to release them all at one time to anyone who has asked for them.”

The board also plans to meet Friday to discuss “this and related matters.

Voting locations, sample ballot released

2012-02-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

The county's top election head honcho Cliff Rodgers just released a list of the early voting locations and the schedule for the March 6 elections. You can click right smack here for it.

He also shipped over a sample ballot for the election. Click right smack here for it.

And, for a closer look at some of the county candidates' campaign disclosure forms, just scroll down the post just below this one.

Closer look at current candidates' finances

2012-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a closer look at the campaign financial disclosure statements that cover July 1, 2010 to Jan. 15 for the three county races. (Well, two races, since Judge Steven Sword doesn't have an opponent.)

Note, that I just took a quick glance at these and I encourage you to do your own research by clicking right smack here for the complete reports. These quick hits, focus mostly on how much the candidates raised and whether other former or current elected folks chipped in. I also didn't include school board candidates because . . . well, we have a school reporter. Call her up and bug her for the information. Heh.

Presumably, whoever wins the March 6 Republican primary, wins the whole deal, barring a write-in candidate pulling off a miracle.

Soooooo, here ya go:

Criminal Court Judge Steven Sword: The good judge doesn't have any competition, but it didn't stop him from pulling in more than $18,000 during the six month reporting period. He also spent about $2,200 on T-shirts, printing, postage and a website. As expected, he received a a lot of support from local attorneys. In addition, current and former elected officials Foster Arnett (county clerk); Richard “Bud” Armstrong (county commission) and Marilyn Roddy (city council) each threw a couple hundred bucks his way.
Balance on hand: $16,062.01

Law Director Joe Jarret: Jarret might not be from around here, but he's getting plenty of support so far, collecting more than $13,700 during the filing period. He's also spent almost $4,000 during that same time period on advertising, a website, printing, postage and fees charged by Pay Pal (which is a crappy company that I hope one days goes out of business because it sucks, but I digress.) A great deal of Jarret's contributions come from the the legal field, including a few folks from the district attorney general, Knoxville office, but he's also received some support from insurance agents, professors, a fire inspector, a nurse and some people from his old stomping grounds in Florida, including a few Polk County commissioners. Elected officials Foster Arnett (county clerk) and Richard Briggs (county commissioner) also kicked in a few coins.
Balance on hand: $9,855.42
Total loans outstanding: $1,1452.84

Law Director candidate Richard “Bud” Armstrong: the former county commissioner is from around here, and he's starting to amass quite a pot of paper. During the filing period, Armstrong raised almost $30,000 and spent more than $13,300 on printing, advertisements, a golf tournament (hey, I didn't get invited to this!) and his Crown Plaza kick off fund raiser. Like Jarret, Armstrong's supporters aren't pigeon holed to just attorneys. They also include folks from the schools, real estate, banks and an auto parts business. Former county Mayor Mike Ragsdale and his chief of staff and former county Commissioner Mike Arms also kicked in, as did former Law Director Richard Beeler. Additionally, county Commissioner Jeff Ownby, school board member Mike McMillian, state Rep. Frank Nicely, former Commissioner Jack Huddleston, state Rep. Harry Brooks chipped in, as did former Commissioner Diane Jordan and the Committee to Elect Ivan Harmon, and the Committee to Elect Steve Hall.
Balance on hand: $16,879.95
Total loans outstanding (transfer from county commission campaign): $17.829.03

Property Assessor Phil Ballard: The former county commissioner and incumbent assessor raised $23,100 this filing period and spent more than $24,700 on advertisements and donations to a number of organizations including the Boys and Girls Club and the Alzheimer's Association. He got a little bit of coin from the Craig Leuthold campaign, as well as some scratch from bankers, and members of his own office and the county Trustee's Office. (I'd include more but he didn't note the occupations for his contributors.)
Balance on hand: $52,693.40
Total outstanding loans: $5,850

Property Assessor candidate John Whitehead: Whitehead, the former property assessor who also worked in the office for about 30 years, raised raised almost $14,600 this filing period and spent more than $15,900 on printing, advertisements and donations to a number of political and charitable organizations. Most of Whitehead's supporters were either retired, in the real estate business or didn't list an occupation. He did receive some scratch from former Law Director John Ownings.
Balance on hand: $27,104.63

Some haven't filed campaign forms

2012-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: I've slightly tweaked this blog since it was posted yesterday.

Apparently in all the confusion a few elected officials forgot to file their campaign financial disclosure statements that were due today. Yes, due at 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2012. And yes, I was kidding about the confusion thing. Whatever.

Here's the apparent list of slackers:

County Clerk Foster Arnett
County Commission Chairman Mike Hammond
County Commissioner Vice Chairman Brad Anders
County Commissioner Amy Broyles

Note, that I said the “apparent list.” That's because officials also had the chance to mail in their forms. So, if one arrives at the Election Commission and it's certified and postmarked by Jan. 31, then it's still considered timely, according to head election honcho Cliff Rodgers.

County Trustee John Duncan III sent me a note, letting me know that he mailed his in.

Still, it really doesn't matter that some folks were late. All it does is create fodder for political opponents and Screams from da Porch.

The rest of the world, including the state lawmakers who could actually implement strict punishments, doesn't care.

Anyhoo, these latest disclosures cover July 1, 2011 through Jan. 15.

Here's a list of other top county officials and how much cash they have on hand:

(If you want more – like school people, judges, whoever, then click right smack here and start searching.)

County Mayor Tim Burchett: $12,587
Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones: $10,457
Register of Deeds Sherry Witt: $6,838
Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey: $8,724
Circuit Court Clerk Cathy Quist: $4,451
Property Assessor Phil Ballard: $53,693
Law Director Joe Jarret: $9,855
County Commissioner Dave Wright: $1,065
County Commissioner R. Larry Smith: $7,223
County Commissioner Jeff Ownby: $91.69 (big spender)
County Commissioner Ed Shouse: $6,206
County Commissioner Tony Norman: $2,149

On a side note, here's some county race candidates:

Property Assessor John Whitehead: $27,104
Law Director: Richard “Bud” Armstrong: $16,879

On an additional side note, the following elected officials didn't file Tuesday, but didn't have to because they have closed their campaign accounts:

County Commissioner Sam McKenzie
County Commissioner Mike Brown
County Commissioner (and good doctor) Richard Briggs

Carl Cowan Park to get new playground

2012-01-31T07:46:00.000-08:00

In light of the recent lunacy, how 'bout something a little softer?

The county's parks and recreation department is building a new playground at Carl Cowan Park off S. Northshore Drive in west Knox County. It will replace some old crap that dates back to the 1980s. (Wow, that doesn't seem so old now that I think about it. But I digress.)

“The playground at Carl Cowan was the oldest in our system,” parks and recreation director Doug Bataille, Senior Director said in the latest spin release. “With the number of visitors the park gets, especially during the summer months when the splashpad is open, an upgrade was needed for safety reasons.”

The playground is for children up to age 12. It has some swings, slides, a climbing wall, a climbing web, some agility stations and activity panels, and it sounds way, way, freakin' cooler than anything I got to play on when I was little.

Hubert Smith discusses Stacey incident

2012-01-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

So, this whole Stacey Campfield thing has really taken off, huh? (Click right smack here for an earlier post on the incident.)

Heh. Funny stuff.

Anyhoo as you may or may not know, the good state senator was a guest on Hubert Smith’s talk show before he headed over to the Bistro for what wasn’t lunch. Hubert along with local comedian Spanky Brown and Dan “The Man” Andrews went with him.

Here’s part of Hubert’s take on what happened:

Brown and I rode together for the five minute ride and park. Andrews and Campfield drove separately. We all met at the entrance of The Bistro. Campfield and Andrews went inside to get a table and I waited outside and talked with Spanky while he finished his cigarette.

It took two minutes or less for Spanky to finish his smoke and we walked in to join the others. When we walked through the door the exchange between Campfield and the owner of The Bistro, Martha Boggs was in progress. I didn’t hear it all obviously, but less than 30 seconds later I knew brunch wasn’t going to happen here, and Spanky and I turned around and walked out. We waited outside for Dan Andrews and Stacey. Stacey didn’t need me to defend him and there was nothing I could say to Martha to change her opinions either.

An owner of a business has the right to serve whomever they please and far be it from me to tell them otherwise, but Campfield was there on my invitation as an extension from being a guest on my radio show and to support a sponsor. I regret the whole ordeal. Considering the online buzz this has generated seemingly around the world, I felt compelled to offer this background information to those concerned and interested.

To read his entire post, click right smack here.

Hubert says he’ll probably have more to discuss during next week’s show.

Bistro at the Bijou boots Sen. Campfield

2012-01-30T05:51:00.000-08:00

I see there’s been somewhat of a fallout for Stacey Campfield over those comments about gays, bullies and AIDS. (You know, because they were so brilliant and insightful.)

Apparently, the owner of Bistro at the Bijou gave the good state senator the boot yesterday afternoon.

Campfield, local comedian Spanky Brown, reporter Dan “The Man” Andrews and radio talk show host Hubert Smith went to the restaurant to eat, when owner Martha Boggs pretty much told Campfield to get the $&%* out.

(From what I understand she called him a homophobe, but there was also a choice word that preceded it. Heh.)

Anyhoo, Dan told me that as they were exiting, Brown said: “Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen two black guys walk into a restaurant and a white guy gets thrown out.”

(What’s that expression? You shouldn’t crap where you eat?)

For his part, Stacey was “very calm, very professional and very understanding,” Dan said.

They ended up having lunch at Latitude 35 on Market Square.

UPDATE: The Metro Pulse talked to Martha this morning: Click right smack here for it it.

Stacey defends comments on Huffington

2012-01-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

Ah, nothing like a good ol' dose a Stacey Campfield. I know a lot of people – even some of my peers in the media – don't like the guy. I, however, do. He makes me laugh.

Anyhoo, the good state senator gave an interview to the Huffington Post about bullies, AIDS, and gay people, and whatever. (Click right smack here for the link.)

Here's just one classic Campfield:

"Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community -- it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall."

"My understanding is that it is virtually -- not completely, but virtually -- impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex...very rarely [transmitted]."

Now, he's busy responding on the message board, defending his facts.

And he should. Anyone who know anything about AIDS will tell ya, Stacey, that it wasn't a pilot who spread the disease, it was a steward.

Crazy.

On a side note, I kind of chuckled today when I saw that a story (as of this posting) about a guy who fell asleep while guarding key ingredients to a nuclear bomb now has about six comment under it while a story about the KTSC chairman and his email has more than 50.

Priorities.

Larry Smith, Sherry Witt bonus battle

2012-01-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

Commissioner Rrrrr. Larry Smith (left) has been somewhat on a roll lately, calling out the county's trustee and his father, the good local Congressman.

Now, he's got his sites set on Register of Deeds Sherry Witt. In fact, the good commissioner sent Sherry a note, taking her to task for accepting some incentive payments, yet wanting to meet with her to discuss the issue.

Witt's response?

“The letter is at the bottom of my bird cage,” she told me.

Heh. Now, that's funny.

Soooo, what's going on?

If you haven't been living in a cave lately (or a jerk like someone who would post comments under a stupid name like “YankeeinDixie”), then you know that county Trustee John Duncan III is under fire right now because he paid himself and some staffers a bunch of coin for doing work they didn't really do.

At the same time, Witt and a number of other elected fee officers also accepted such payments, but they actually did do the work.

(Now, to get the payments you have to get designated as a “certified public administrator.” I've written about this; no point rehashing it. To keep your certification, you have to do 16 hours of coursework, or whatever each year. Then you're allowed up to $3,000 in coin.)

Argghh Larry, however, questions whether local officials should take the money, even if they've done the work.

So, he's been checking around the state, asking other folks whether they participate in the education program and collect the coin. He apparently talked to the Hamblen County trustee, yet thought he talked to the Hamilton County trustee.

So, he goes around telling people he talked to someone from Hamilton County and says that they receive only $200 in bonuses.

Now, Sherry (right) did some checking on her own.

She called Hamilton and learned that Our Larry never talked to anyone from the Chattanooga area. So, she called out the commissioner during Monday's work session, pretty much insinuating that he was full of crap.

Then, Larry did some checking and realized his mistake. (He had actually talked to Hamblen and they get $200 in bonuses.)

So, he then gets in touch with Hamilton County (for real this time) and the trustee there tells him that he gets $0 in bonuses.

Larry, then calls out Sherry and accuses her of telling half-truths.

Good stuff.

He then pens her a note – click right smack here for that bad boy – and says that her “personal attack on my character (was) absolutely uncalled for, discourteous, and beneath your position as an elected official.”

He also says that accepting the incentive payments “is an affront to the taxpayers we serve.”

(I'm not sure if other fee officers who also get the incentive payments got a similar letter. Probably not.)

Sherry, though, isn't having any of this. And she probably won't be meeting any time soon with R. Larry.

“It's all about media attention for him,” she said, noting that the reason the Hamilton County trustee doesn't take the money is because he isn't certified. “I'm sorry he's offended but he should check out the validity of his statements.”

Heh.

Like I said: good stuff.

Audit finds 'deficiency' in Trustee's Office

2012-01-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

As expected, Knox County’s external auditor KPMG identified a “significant deficiency” in the financial reporting of the Trustee’s Office.

It’s not the end of the world, but it just doesn’t look good. Of course, if you ask the good folks in the tax collector’s office, they’ll tell you it was no big deal and that it was all the computer’s fault.

Dog ate my homework. That kind of stuff.

Click right smack here for KPMG's management letter, which talks about the issue and read what Trustee John Duncan III’s office had to say about it.

As I said, KPMG said this would probably happen. You might recall that back in October I wrote about a $6 million mistake that the auditors discovered in the some of the numbers the office provided them.

(Oddly enough, the good Trustee folks didn’t really seem to care all that much about the screw up when I asked them about it – they were more interested in who provided me the information. Strange. But I digress.)

Anyhoo, there was some back and forth and kicking and screaming, but they finally got the math right. In between that time, however, some stories changed.

Heh.

That sounds familiar.

Pension plans to cost Knox more this year

2012-01-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

Knox County will probably have to contribute between $5 million and $5.3 million to the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan, or UOPP, this upcoming fiscal year in order to keep it healthy, according to projections released this morning to the pension board.

That’s as much as $1.3 million more than the $4.1 million the county put in last summer. And that doesn’t include the $4.1 million in bond coin the county will also have to pay.

The Sheriff’s Office pension plan, however, isn’t the county’s only problem. Two closed plans – one for county officials and the old teacher’s plan – also need a cash injection. The county plan is expected to cost taxpayers another $600,000 to $800,000 and the Board of Education plan will cost an extra $150,000 to $250,000.

Last year the county plan cost about $1.5 million and the school plan cost $1.046 million.

The pension board plans to meet later in February to discuss the UOPP. At that time, members will talk about the plan’s liabilities, assumed rate of returns on investments and possible changes.

“We want to focus on the magnitude of the problem and what can get changed and what can’t,” said county Commissioner Richard Briggs, who also serves on the pension board.

Zoinks! It's old man Baumgartner!!

2012-01-23T03:53:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how pictures can jog old memories, oddities of the past, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Anyhoo, not too long ago I stumbled across this photo of former Judge Richard Baumgartner (on the KNS website taken by Michael Patrick).

It reminded me of something. Then I remembered: Scooby-Doo. Or a Scooby-Doo bad guy. So, I Googled it. And up pops “The Creeper.” And he’s exactly who was stuck in my head. Cause, you know, you might look like the creeper after eating 30 pain killers a day, having sex in your judge chambers with your pill supplier and then taking the bench while pilled out of your mind and screwing up (potentially) thousands of cases.

Remember how whenever Scooby and the gang would unmask the villain? They’d be like: “Zoinks, it’s old man Jenkins.”

Heh.

Well, apparently, the Creeper was old man Baumgartner.

Yeah, I couldn’t resist.

Trustee hires attorney amid investigation

2012-01-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

Knox County Trustee John Duncan III finally lawyered up.

On Friday Jeff "Hollywood" Hagood confirmed to me that JD3 hired him to represent him in the latest mess associated with those who think it's a great idea to serve as county trustee. (Remember there's already an investigation going on into the Mike Lowe administration from some years back.)

Anyhoo, Hagood is well-known for repping some high-profile University of Tennessee athletes as well as former UT football coach Phillip Fulmer. He's also done work for the Duncan family in the past.

Duncan has declined to comment.

Commish, BOE retreat agenda released

2012-01-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Remember that whole retreat thing that the County Commission and the School Board wanted to do, so they could all hold hands and sing and stuff?

(Click right smack here for the story.)

Well, it's still on – next weekend in Maryville. Here's a draft version of the agenda – right smack here.

If you can find anywhere on the draft where it says the two governing bodies will talk about the county and school system's financial straits, then let me know. It must be buried on all the legal talk.

More on TBI, Trustee's Office and tests

2012-01-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

For more on the continuing meltdown in the Knox County Trustee's Office click right smack here.

And no, I am not enjoying this despite what anyone thinks. It does not please me to have to write stories that the county's tax collector (the person who is supposed to deposit a billion in coin each year so we actually have a county) is now under investigation by the TBI.

Huh? What's that you say? The TBI?

Yeah, read between the lines in today's story – again, click right smack here.

The law director's office can't do it (since it's criminal in nature), the sheriff's office won't do it (because they don't want people screaming “conflict of interest”) and the district attorney general won't do it (because they're tired of Trustee John Duncan III and his office attorney Chad Tindell coming to their office nine times a day begging them to drop it).

So, where does that leave us? Yup. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

It's funny, how early yesterday, they hadn't been contacted by the local peeps. Yet later in the day – when I got it on background and able to use for the Screams from da Porch blog – I start hearing that they've been contacted, it's then that the spokesperson freezes up and says “no comment.”

I don't think I need to tell you what “no comment” means.

OK, with that said, a buddy of mine was lamenting for Zach Brezina today. Brezina is the guy who works in the Trustee's Office and is accused of taking tests for some of the employees.

My question for him is whether he's been taking tests for the trustee all his life? Did he take his SAT test for him, too? Heh.

Anyhoo, my buddy is like: "I feel bad for that guy."

And I'm thinking: "Why? He's the freakin' hero of this story?"

My buddy: "Huh?"

Me: "Yeah, he's obviously the only one smart enough to pass a test in that office."

With that said, Brezina this morning stroked a check to the county for $6,000, reimbursing tax payers for his interest free loan – I mean bonus – the Trustee's Office gave him.

And speaking of that. Funny how all of a sudden everyone is cutting checks so quickly. I'm guessing that the money is coming from the trustee's campaign money. It more than likely would not be illegal.

But it would show the absurdity of how politicians use campaign coin.

At this point, though, I think we've moved beyond absurdity.

Commish Smith and the Duncans. Heh.

2012-01-19T16:06:00.000-08:00

Commissioner Arrghhhhh Larry Smith must have heard about my blog post regarding our brief discussion about whether the good Congressman called him, regarding the good Trustee.

(I know Channel 6 did. They turned it into an entire story the other night. Heh.)

Here's the initial post right smack here. In it, I make note that it appeared that Rrrrr. Larry was ducking me. He called me a few hours after I posted the blog and he told me what U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. said to him. I wrote it down, then forgot to blog it cause all heck broke loose in the Trustee's Office.

Sooooo, here's what we talked about late Wednesday morning:

Smith: “They called me to his office and he told me to stay away from his son and that he had done nothing wrong?”

Me: “Who told you?”

Smith: “The Congressman, Jimmy Duncan.”

Me: “Why?”

Smith: “I don't know, but I was in there for about 15 minutes and he said it three different times: Stay away from my son. So, I'm thinking in the back of my mind: Does that mean I don't have to pay taxes anymore?”

Me: “Hahahahahahahaha. Good one. Good one.”

Smith: “He also said I'm the one who leaked it (the story about Trustee John Duncan III offering to pay back bonuses he and his staff collected tied to coursework they didn't complete). I didn't leak it to the press. You called me.”

Me: “Yeah, that's true, they've been throwing out names to who leaked what, trying to figure out what sticks. Not sure what difference it makes. They must not support the whistle blower law or something.”

Smith: “Well, I'm wondering why they're mad at me. I'm trying to help his son. He (the good Congressman) couldn't relate to that. It wouldn't sink in.”

On Thursday (that's today), the good Commissioner called me to add one more thing: “(The good Congressman) told me three different times that I should stay away. Another time he phrased it by saying it would be a personal favor (if he stayed away).”

Now, from what I understand, the Congressman has called all of this hogwash.

I'm sure there's a little truth on both sides.

Heh.

Officials to cut local state legislative office

2012-01-18T08:40:00.000-08:00

Awhile back Knox County Mayor Tim “Cheapskate” Burchett cut a number of jobs, including one he really didn't have authority over. That was the $50,000 spot in the Legislative Office held by Patsy Miller. (She has since retired. And Burchett did actually broach the idea with members of the local Legislative delegation. But I digress.)

Anyhoo, state Rep. Ryan, Haynes, R-Knoxville, and state Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, are sponsoring legislation that wipes out the entire department. Not that there was really anything left to wipe out, but it now means another governing body or official later on can't just fill the job.

Click right smack here for the state House version of the bill.

I'm not positive about what the office actually did, but from what I understand it was more an answering service for the local state senators and representatives.

Hillside amendment to be revisited?

2012-01-18T07:12:00.000-08:00

Now did anyone really believe the hillside issue would go away once the county commission approved the plan? Yeah, didn't think so.

During Monday's meeting, Commissioner Tony Norman noted that he's “trying to get a reconsideration of that amendment,” referring to a change initiated by Commissioner Richard Briggs and signed off by the board in November.

Briggs on Monday said “there's been a lot of misunderstanding about the intentions of the amendment" and again noted that he asked for it so that developers and the public would be guaranteed an appeals process.

Some, however, say the wording is superfluous.

I don't know. I quit caring in November when they supposedly passed this thing for the last time.
It's like a bad movie villain.

And it returns next Monday.

Trustee's workers to pay back half - not all

2012-01-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Please note that the following entry is based off the recommendations of the finance department. After it was posted, The good Trustee John Duncan III sent me a message, noting as such. He said the office has yet to discuss it with him. "I am writing a check for $6,000. Everyone is expected to return both payments," Duncan said.

Although pay day for county employees is this Friday, the folks over in the Trustee's Office won't begin paying back their interest free loans (I mean, bonuses they received two years in a row for not completing a government-related course) until early February.

In the meantime, there is one dude who got “only” $3,000 in coin in 2010 (and who also didn't complete the class)who is no longer working in the office so he won’t be paying back jack. I mean John. Blood from a turnip and all that.

As for the rest who are still employed? All but one of them cashed $6,000 in “incentive” checks (that's two checks each). So, according to the good Trustee, they’ll pay all that back. Right?

No. They won’t. Not really.

Most will pay back half, or $3,000 in which the county’s payroll department will take a little from each check.

Then, the employees will complete the course work this spring and forgo their next $3,000 payment that they are allowed to get next fiscal year. (Please note that this free money is not mandated.)

This proposal – pay back half and not get a bonus next year – sort of makes sense and it doesn’t, I suppose. Because, let’s face it – once they complete the coursework – they’re going to keep getting those checks forever.

So, there’s no point in making the workers pay back $6,000, just to hand them back another $3,000.

Of course it would have made a whole heck of a lot more sense to have the employees graduate from the program first and then pay them. But, the Trustee’s Office feels that state guidelines only “recommend” that the employees finish first before getting paid.

“A misconception that has arisen since this issue was brought to the public's attention is the scope of the State statute, which is nothing more than a recommendation,” Trustee John Duncan III wrote to the News Sentinel.

(Please note also that the Knox County Trustee’s Office appears to be the only governmental entity in the entire state that actually believes this.)

I suppose the next time I get clocked doing 90 miles per hour in a school zone, I’m going to tell the cop that the speed limit is nothing more than a recommendation.

Commissioner Smith vs. Trustee's Office

In other related Trustee Office news, the whole interest free loan/bonus/incentive issue was moot on Monday during the County Commission’s work session.

Commissioner Rrrrrr. Larry Smith (inside joke – thanks Scott McNutt) asked the commission to hold off discussion until next Monday.

In a move often imitated by the county’s Trustee, Smith gave conflicting reasons for the delay. On the dais, he told fellow commissioners that he wanted the finance department or human resources (I don’t remember which one at this point) to provide him with a list of everyone who received a check and for how much.

We actually reported that a few days before Christmas: Click right smack here.

After the meeting, Smith told Channel 10 reporter Hillary I don’t remember her last name that he held off because next Monday the good folks from CTAS will talk to commissioners about the education program. (CTAS administers the program that officials are supposed to complete in order to get that good money.)

And that’s about the time I said: “Hey Larry, got a question.”

Smith: “Yeah, buddy?”

Me: “Can you talk about the conversation you had with Congressman Duncan. I heard John Duncan’s (as in Trustee John Duncan III) dad called you and a few commissioners. He didn’t put the fear of God in you, now did he?

Smith: (Big smile)

He then looks at Hillary and says: “Do you play softball?”

I’m not kidding.

Strange.

Thanks to Dan Andrews for reminding me that this even happened.

Charter review, commish, term limits

2012-01-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

I was out a few days, so I'm catching up on returning calls, emails, etc. To the person who called once and then the next day told an editor that I haven't returned your calls, you are last on my list.

Anyhoo, we ran a story Monday about county officials prepping to appoint a charter review committee. It didn't get much reaction. (Click right smack here for the story.)

Lot of rumors going around about what could happen. I doubt any of it will, but a few folks are talking about increasing the county commission and doing something to term limits – either eliminating them or clarifying them. (Different suggestions depending on who wants to weigh in.)

So, I got a couple documents if you're interested. The first – click right smack here – is the resolution that the commission will vote on when it appoints members.

The second – click right smack here – is a (at this point) primer on term limits. You see, there's been some debate about whether someone who was appointed and then won the office can run again. Right now, the answer is “yes.”

Mayor sharpening 2013 budget pencil

2012-01-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

Fresh off electric shock treatment and because he has absolutely nothing to do, county spin-kid Michael “Big Sexy” Grider just let me know that the “FY 2013 budget season (is) officially underway.”

According to BS and the spin release, county Mayor Tim Burchett:

“ . . . kicked-off the formal budget season during a meeting with departments’ budget staff Tuesday. 'We have done a lot of good work for the citizens of Knox County in the past year-and-a-half, putting together a fiscally responsible budget last year, increasing transparency in government and ensuring that services are provided efficiently and at a savings to taxpayers,' Mayor Burchett said. 'But our work is not finished. Now we must stay the course and continue to find the savings and efficiencies that our citizens expect.'”

When reached for comment, the mayor said it's “just another release that you can put on your blog and make fun of us.”

OK, fair deal.

(In their defense, it will be a tough budget season and I imagine Mayor Cheapskate will upset quite a few people. And while Grider probably has nothing to do, it could be worse. The city has three Griders with nothing to do. Heh.)

Ethics Committee sub-panel to disband?

2012-01-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

You know how local officials like to appoint sub-committees and then you never hear back from them? Yeah, started thinking about that the other day.

Anyhoo, the Ethics Committee meets tomorrow. (There's not a whole lot going on.) But chairwoman Elaine Davis said she might ask for an update from a sub-panel or committee or whatever that the board put together a long time back to look into possible changes to its makeup. (Long sentence, I know.)

You see, Knox County Commissioner Richard Briggs wanted to the committee to consist solely of county residents to avoid conflicts of interest among elected leaders. He also wanted to more clearly define just what the panel is supposed to preside over. And, he wanted the group to serve as a tool for elected officials who want to implement something but want to make sure it's not unethical first - for example, creating an unofficial office account or taking a trip paid for by the private sector.

Right now, the nine-member committee, which includes one commissioner and a Knox County Sheriff's Office representative, investigates ethics complaints regarding county business and employees. If it finds something amiss, it can refer the issue to the district attorney general for a further probe or to the county law director for a legal opinion or recommendation.

To make a long story short, I wrote a story in December 2010 about this issue – find it by clicking right smack here.

The committee formed a committee to look into these suggestions, blah, blah, blah and I don't think it ever met.

And now it looks like the board will disband it.

“We had too many other things going on,” Briggs told me the other day. “With the change in government about a year and a half ago (when the commission dropped from 19 to 11 members and a new county mayor took office), I don't think there has been a single incident that's come up.”

Briggs said he'd still like to see an all-resident board, but he'll hold off at this point, since there hasn't been too many referrals to the committee.

(All that's coming to my mind was that mess about whether a developer got some inside info on the Midway Business Park land, and he didn't bother showing up to the inquiry, which was kind of funny. In a way. But I digress.)

Speaking of which, what ever happened to that committee that was supposed to look into other ways to use the Midway land?

Teachers can still get gifts here. I think.

2012-01-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

I was talking to Elaine Davis, the chair of the county's ethics committee, this morning, just checking to see if the board's got anything going on for Wednesday's meeting.

They don't.

Anyhoo, she said she was visiting some folks in Alabama over the holidays and was reading a local paper that talked about state problems about teachers accepting gifts. Apparently, the governor over there in that godforsaken state (yeah – I said it and I don't really care what you think about me saying it) had to come up with a plan, so that teachers could accept gifts and it wouldn't be an ethics violation.

Not sure what article Davis saw, but a Google search popped up this one from the Montgomery Advertiser – click right smack here for it.

Yeah, Alabama. Yee-freakin'-haw. I like your football team. I hope you crush LSU tonight in the Big Game. But your state makes no sense.

By the way, Elaine says she doesn't think it's an ethics violation in Tennessee for teachers to accept gifts, particularly in Knox County.

Because, you know, we don't pay them anything, anyway.

LWV to host shindig for commish, BOE

2012-01-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

OK, I got an email that was forwarded to me from the League of Women Voters Knoxville-Knox County. It's a little fuzzy, but I think I understand it. Apparently the organization is holding a meeting tomorrow (actually two meetings) to congratulate the county commission and the school board because the two governing bodies are getting together to hang out and talk shop at the end of the month.

“We've heard others applaud the goals of this retreat and we sense growing grassroots support of education in Knox County,” the email states. “We'd like to bring people together to talk about communicating to our elected officials that we have high expectations for their success, and we also need your ideas and community connections to encourage our officials to keep their collaboration intact in the coming months.”

The group will hold two meetings tomorrow. The first from noon to 1 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center on South Gay Street; the second from 6-7 p.m. at the West High School Library off Sutherland Avenue.

The email also notes that “we have four specific suggestions to inspire our local officials, all easy and engaging . . .” but never says just what those suggestions are.

Oh well.

Hirings continue under Knoxville mayor

2012-01-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted about county Mayor Tim Burchett meeting with some local businesses about creating jobs.

Apparently, they met with the wrong mayor.

According to R. Neal, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero has named a new redevelopment deputy. (You ever notice how there's never any mention in the spin releases about how much coin these folks earn? I mean, come on, that's all anyone really cares about anyway.)

Anyhoo, at this point I think she's hired a new person each day since taking office last month.

Heh.

Have a good weekend.

I'm outta here!

Yeah, about that $7 million for the schools

2012-01-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

I don't think it's a major secret that one of this year's big issues will be figuring out how and where local government will find the coin to make up the school system's $7 million shortfall, stemming from the end of the federal stimulus dollars.

That amount doesn't take into consideration another couple of million (I'm guessing about $4 million) in natural growth that the school budget also will need.

And, I'm not going to mention the county's financial increases – pension contributions, employee raises, etc.

Just here to talk about the school system and where they can find $7 million.

Because I found $7 million. Yup. Sure did.

I'm not sure if it's good or not, but it certainly hasn't been discussed yet. Strange really. Because it's right there in the budget. But, if the school system is like me, then it would rather spend someone that isn't their own.

Heh.

Anyhoo, let me explain where I found the scratch.

If you click right smack here and jump to page 27 you'll see that in the school system's adopted Fiscal Year 2011 budget, officials planned to use $2.9 million from the “fund balance.” That's fancy talk for rainy day reserve tank by the way.

You'll note also on that same page, officials expected the balance on June 30, 2011 to have a little more than $17.1 million in it.

Heh.

Guess what? Yup. It's got more than $17.1 million in it.

So, click right smack here on the recently released County Annual Financial Report, or CAFR.

It takes a second to load, but scroll on down to page 202 of the document where you'll find the balance sheet for general purpose school spending. Or whatever.

Anyhoo, check out that “unassigned fund balance” as of the end of this most recent fiscal year (June 30, 2011).

It's a cool $27.1 million.

You see, it started at about $20 million and should have dropped to about $17.1 million. (Remember the first thing I had you click on?) Instead it jumped.

How?

Well, check out the next page (203 for those not keeping up) and you'll see that revenues from 2010 to 2011 rose from around $368.7 million to about $380.3 million.

Meanwhile, expenditures only slightly increased from 2010 to 2011 ($367.2 million to $370 million).

Keep in mind that the schools were budgeted at $378.7 million, so, overall, officials spent $11 million less than budgeted.

Not bad. The school system now has some flexibility. Credit goes to them for holding down costs or whatever.

But, there's the $7 million. Now granted, it's a recurring cost, so they'd have to figure out something for 2013-2014.

But, this certainly looks like it could be a start.

Walls is finalist for university audit gig

2012-01-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

Remember awhile back when some county folks were talking about outsourcing the internal auditor's office? Whatever happened to that, anyway? I sure don't remember.

Hmmm. I should probably look that one up, huh?

Anyhoo, Richard Walls, at left, the county's internal auditor, sure didn't forget. Cause apparently he's been out looking for a new job.

You know, just in case.

According to a University of Tennessee spin release, the school's Audit Committee will meet next Monday to interview candidates for the executive director's gig for “audit and consulting services.”

They'll be held from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on the 8th floor conference room of Andy Holt Tower.

According to the fancy note: “Audit and Consulting Services provides objective, independent appraisals of accounting, financial and other operational systems in University departments and units and oversees institutional compliance.

Other candidates include Betsy Bowers, Associate Vice President for Internal Auditing and Management Consulting, University of West Florida; Judith Burns, Interim Executive Director, Audit and Consulting, University of Tennessee System; and Sandy Jansen, Assistant Chief Audit Executive, Texas Tech University System.

Mayor Burchett to meet with 'job creators'

2012-01-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow afternoon, a number of “job creators” and county Mayor Tim Burchett will hold a round table discussion to determine how the county can help businesses create new jobs.

That's all according to some release that wasn't sent to me by county spinster Michael “Big Sexy” Grider.

Funny stuff. Cause – other than hooking up a few pals here and there (kidding. Sort of.) - Burchett has long said that the “role of county government isn't to create job.”

In all seriousness, a number of businesses plan to meet with the mayor at the Knoxville Chamber's Market Square office from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tomorrow. There's not a whole lot more to the release.

The mayor again stressed that “our job is on infrastructure – sewers, sidewalks and roads” - so he doesn't expect Knox County government to post many “Help Wanted” signs on the Deathstar windows.

He added: “A lot of times government just gets in the way of building jobs. But, I want to make sure that whatever we're doing and the decisions we make are not putting (businesses and potential jobs) in peril. We just need to get out of their way and facilitate a business friendly environment.”

Election commission recruiting right now

2012-01-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Knox County Election Commission is recruiting people to help with the March 6 Presidential Preference and County Primary elections.

In a note by Cliff Rodgers, the administrator of voting says “it takes hundreds of folks to run an election in nearly one-hundred polling places across Knox County. Election officials are paid - both for working on Election Day and for training classes.”

Not everyone, however, can apply.

You have to be registered to vote in the county; able to life 50 pounds and be able to understand and follow written instructions (that immediately rules me out) and willing to work 14 hours on election day and attend training classes before each election.

Also, government employees – other than school teachers and “employees of higher education” (whatever that means) - can't serve.

The commission plans to host five orientation session for new election officials in the coming weeks.

To sign up, click right smack here.

Welcome back; it's cold; Knox newsletter

2012-01-03T06:43:00.001-08:00

Mornin' ladies and germs. I'm back. New year. All that.

I took some time off, got a little electric shock treatment; I should be better. Not really.

Anyhoo, I was cleaning out my emails, so I figure I'll share a little bit of info with you.

First, the weather sucks today. Freakin' cold. Michael "Big Sexy" Grider sent out a notification that the county's highway maintenance crews are working to treat some secondary roads in the Halls and Carter communities with salt and bring. Hmmm. Tasty.

No Knox County-owned roads are closed at this point and "all trouble spots are expected to be treated by noon," Big Sexy says.

BS also recently started a newsletter for county employees. No, it doesn't cost anything other than Grider's time and we know that ain't worth a whole lot. Heh. Kidding.

Here's the most recent newsletter right smack here.

OK, I've got some more stuff, but I better get back to doing some real work.

Hey, Happy New Year and many more

2012-01-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hmmm. Apparently, I'm in one piece after last night. Heh. Good show, they V-Roys were. Good show.

I tried to con Michael "Big Sexy" Grider into going, but he chickened out as his wife laid down the law and said they weren't going anywhere. Bawk, bawk, bawk, chicken.

Instead, I settled for Benedict Mayoral-Shark over on the city's side of the Deathstar. Heh. Actually, we just ran into each other.

But enough about me. How was your night?

Good.

Anyhoo, I didn't think 2011 was that bad of a year, all things considered. But, I hope 2012 - barring the morons who actually think the world will end - will be better.

Anyway, Happy New Year, people!

Chamber to host reception for Rogero

2011-12-28T14:02:00.001-08:00

In their never ending effort to con, I mean, convince public officials that whatever they do is a good thing (and I’m not even sure just what the heck they do but I'm sure it is a good thing), Mike Edwards and the boys and girls at the Knoxville Chamber are hosting a reception for new city Mayor Madeline “You Can Never Have Too Many Flacks” Rogero.

Hey, better late than never. Right? Right?

The chamber plans to host the shindig on Jan. 11 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its office in Market Square.

Click right smack here for the details, including something about free parking.

No word yet on just what the chamber is after. Heh.

Meeting notices to look a little longer

2011-12-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

So, awhile back the Knox County Commission agreed that whenever two (or more) members planned to be at the same location then they’d notice the meeting at least 48 hours in advance.

There was quite a bit of debate about whether they should notice meeting for various clubs (i.e. West Knox Republican Club, Democrats R Us Group, the Whatever Shin Dig Meeting, you get the point).

But, the board finally agreed that those meetings, too, should be noticed.

So, here’s what an old notice looked like.

Here’s what the news ones will start looking like.

UPDATE: Here is Commissioner Jeff Ownby's schedule right smack here.

Merry Christmas, best wishes and all that

2011-12-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

Good morning, folks, and Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then "happy holidays" and all that.

I was going to go for something witty today, maybe invent a Christmas wish list for all those public figures out there.

(You know, Superintendent Jim McIntyre wishes for $7 million, county Mayor Tim Burchett and Chief of Staff Dean Rice wish for a third man - or woman - Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero wishes for a new flak - because she doesn't have enough - etc., etc.)

But, I'll play it straight (other than that funny picture someone sent me this morning). So, I hope everyone enjoys the day, stays safe and (fill in the blank cause I ran out of thoughts).

Take care.

Property assessor gives different bonuses

2011-12-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

I’ve got a story in today’s paper that you can read online by clicking right smack here about county officeholders giving themselves and some of their employees some nice coin. Most of scratch is tied to a program administered by CTAS (too tired to spell out the acronym) and it is supposed to go to those who earn the designation “certified public administrator.”

Anyhoo, that’s not what this blog entry is about. I pulled a lot of information while researching the story that I didn’t use, either because of space issues or because it wasn’t quite relevant.

One example is that I didn't report about the bonuses that the county property assessor’s office gives workers.

Now, keep in mind the Knox County Commission approved these bonuses years ago, so that means it’s OK to get FREE MONEY.

Oh yeah!

But, also keep in mind that the bonuses are for $650 – not up to $3,000 like the other sports were getting.

“It’s a different program,” county Property Assessor Phil Ballard told me. “We went in front of commission in 2008 or 2009 and told them we had to fill some spots and we had to hire some certified people and have some people certified.”

Ballard said the state gives officials who achieve a “Level 5” certification in property assessing a 4.5 percent incentive (whatever that means). He said something about it taking a while to move up in steps and that he wanted to reward and encourage employees who do. So, the assessor’s office gives employees a $650 reward for reaching Level 1 and Level 2. After that the state takes over.

Last year, 14 of his workers got the extra coin, which amounted to a combined $9,100. This year, only one worker got the extra $650.

That kind of makes sense, since his employees are moving up and the state is now providing the money.

When I asked Phil about whether he participates in the “certified public administrator” program, he said that he didn’t. He added that if he did, he would not take the bonus.(Of course that's easy to say when you don't participate. Heh.)

Two of his employees are in the program and they did get some extra coin this year.

Again, you can read about all that by clicking right smack here.

School board candidate Oster is eligible

2011-12-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

Knox County school board candidate Gina Oster, who is running for the 3rd District seat to replace Cindy Buttry (who decided not to run again), is in fact allowed to run.

According to a long-winded letter written in fancy lawyer talk, she is eligible.

Click right smack here for the letter.

Apparently, there was a issue about this because Oster works for the school system. (Click right smack here for the story.) I'm not up-to-date on it because I don't follow all this school stuff (hey, I got enough keeping up with the county), but the rogue blogger pretty much called this last week.

Trustee, fee offices give sweet bonuses

2011-12-22T10:38:00.001-08:00

I don't normally like to scoop myself, but what the heck. I've spent the past few days working on a story about some bonuses that county officials get, in particular the Trustee's Office. So, I'll throw a little out there right now.

If only because there's so much conflicting information about this mess and TV will probably get it wrong. Heh.

Yes, Knox County Trustee John Duncan III gave himself and 7 other workers who are not "certified public administrators" each a $3,000 bonus. Call it an early Christmas present.

Four other people who have achieved the designation also got the extra coin.

Duncan, who already makes some pretty good coin, is not the only office holder to hand out the "free money" in 2011. He is, however, the only one giving it to those who don't complete the CTAS course.

Is it legal? Go buy a freakin' newspaper ya cheapskate and find out. Or check online later.

Or maybe come back here for a possible update.

On a side note, the Register of Deeds Office paid out $12,138 to six workers; the Circuit Court Clerk paid out $1,632 to one employee, the Criminal Court Clerk paid six a combined $9,138; and the Property Assessor's Office paid two employees a combined $5,600.

Rep. Haynes looking into tattletale line

2011-12-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on the county's tattletale line.

Talked to state Rep. Ryan Haynes, R-Knoxville, last week about it. You might recall that he was asked by county officials and members of the audit committee to look into whether anything can be done about so-called frivolous calls made to the hot line.

Here's the original story right smack here.

Anyhoo, Ryan (at left in a picture I clearly lifted off the state's website) said he talked to the state comptroller's office and he's now working on legislation that he'll possibly introduce by mid-January.

One of the possibilities, he said, was looking into whether something deemed frivolous (or if there are no findings against the complaint) should become public.

Right now it is, so if you want to call up the hot line and make up all sorts of crap about someone . . . .

In the meantime, I'm hoping Ryan will introduce legislation that would require the state to have a hot line system that I can prank call on a regular basis.

Van Guilder to work for Trustee's Office

2011-12-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

My boy Larry Van Guilder has taken a job with the Knox County Trustee's Office, continuing a recent trend of local reporters jumping paper ships to join the Deathstar.

Most recently, Angela Starke from some TV channel and Benedict Mayoral-Shark from the Metro Pulse joined Mayor Madeline Rogero's staff.

Anyhoo, Larry signed the papers today and starts work Jan. 16, according to his new boss John Duncan III. He fills a vacant staff accountant position. (He swears it was advertised.)

In a spin release, Duncan said: “We’ve carefully evaluated our needs over the past year. I believe Larry’s training and experience will prove a valuable addition to this office.”

He also said this is “another step forward in enhancing the services we provide” and blah, blah, blah.

Heh.

Now, don't get me wrong, Larry can actually do this job. It's just fun to make fun of spin releases.

Here's the rest:

Van Guilder is currently editor of the Shopper-News. In addition to the institutional knowledge acquired during his years of reporting on Knox County government, Van Guilder has extensive accounting experience in the private sector working with Fortune 100 companies as well as smaller organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, a United States Air Force veteran and a Knoxville native. He and his wife, Becki, reside in the Farragut community.

Larry told me his first full-time job was with Union Camp Corporation in Morristown (it's since been bought out by International Paper). He started off as a bean counter and then somehow took a job in the sales department because it paid more. He transferred to Decatur, Ala. but left cause his boss sucked. He worked for a few local companies, got burned out and went back to UT to study history.

He thought about teaching but realized that teaching 17-year-old kids sucks, too.

Larry, however, always dabbled in writing and by late 2005 he was penning columns for the Shopper-News. He later wrote features and was covering Knox County government by the time Black Wednesday hit.

That's the abbreviated story of his life. So far.

He'll be 62 in March and hopes to retire in three years, and then – if there still is a Scripps newspaper company – freelance for us in some capacity.

“Government isn't going to go away, but newspapers? We just don't know,” he said when asked about the new job.

In addition, Larry will also oversee some public relations for the Trustee's Office.

On a personal note, I wish him well. I like the guy and I will miss his sharp wit and good-natured humor. Good luck, buddy.

2 judicial commish candidates don't vote

2011-12-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Just got off the horn with Knox County Commissioner “Our” Larry Smith who isn't too happy with some of the candidates seeking that sweet judicial commissioner job.

Apparently, some of them want to serve the county, but they don't like to hit the ballot boxes.

“Taxpayers are paying for this judicial position and it's almost $65,000 (a year in salary), so I was wondering if they were doing their civic duty themselves,” Smith told me. “I found out that five of them aren't, yet they want taxpayers to pay their (salary).”

OK, according to Smith, Alex Brown and Scott Tsakeres are not registered to vote.

He said Charity Miles and Arun Rattan are registered but don't vote.

He added that “there was not sufficient information on Marks Woods to determine whether he was registered.”

Fifteen folks applied for the spot and the commission will make a decision on Monday. But, earlier this week, the county sessions court judges narrowed down the list, so the commission is really faced with just eight candidates.

Brown and Miles are on the list of eight.

The county overall has five magistrates. They are charged with reviewing applications for warrants and summonses and conduct the initial court appearances of prisoners via closed-circuit television.

'Like' law firm, help the Salvation Army

2011-12-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

Local law firm Ralph Brown and Associates will donate $1 to the Salvation Army (up to $5,000) for every "like" the firm receives on its Facebook page.

Yeah, it's corny. But what the heck. Once they get 5,000 likes and donate the coin, you can always "unlike" them. Heh.

So, check it out at facebook.com/rbrownlawyers

Right now, the firm has about 580 hits, so that's $580 in coin.

Think of it as your good deed for the day. And go "like" a lawyer.

Duncan takes credit for Carter, raises

2011-12-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

In his never-ending quest to collect and deposit every check the county has, Knox County Trustee John “Triple 3” Duncan has outdone himself.

Cause now he is taking credit for the administration's plan to build the Carter community a new elementary school and give employees raises beginning on Jan. 1.

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, who spearheaded both moves, called the Carter claim “ridiculous”. Then he chuckled in disbelief.

Here's the deal and how all this started:

Earlier this month, Duncan posted the following on Facebook:

"I'm so proud of the work of my staff! We have operated at 49% under last year's budget, yet revenues are at an all time high. I was pleased to hear State Officials remark that the Knox County Trustee's Office is the model for all others in the State to follow."

Now, I'm reading this and scratching my head. Cause this sounds a little misleading. (The 49 percent part – I just figure his aunt is the “state officials” he refers to. Heh.)

So, I sent him an email, asking what's up.

Here's his response:

Last year, the office had spent $235,744 in operating costs at this point. This year, we have spent $121,151.

For the whole year, we are now working with a $272,354 budget, as opposed to $387,735 last year.

We're trying to run everything as lean as possible and have tried to cut everything from contracted services to supplies and materials. So far, we've been very successful.

Despite the cuts, collections are higher than they've ever been. Last year, we set a new record for revenues, which allowed the Mayor and Commission to give employee raises and build Carter a new elementary school. This year, we have outpaced that number by over $1.8 million at this point.

Couple things here. Apparently, the salary suit the Trustee Office files each year – you know that lawsuit that is the budget for salaries – doesn't count as a “budget” budget. So, yes, I suppose the Trustee's Office is operating “at 49 percent under last year's budget” if all you're talking about is the money used to buy office supplies. Because that's pretty much the budget Duncan refers to.

The salaries are something else.

The other thing: You'll note the trustee says his office “set a new record for revenues” that “allowed” the county to build the Carter community a new elementary school.

Uh, that's not exactly how some other folks who work over there in the Deathstar see it.

The county could have collected $5 this year, and it was still going to build a new school.

As it stands, the administration has designated $11 million of the $13.9 million it needs to build the school.

Here's how county is paying for the new school (information courtesy of the finance department):

School Board contribution: $2.5 million
E-911 District early repayment for the center facility: $3.4 million
Solway land sale: $2 million
City repayment for Young-Williams Animal Center: $943,819
SEC settlement: $892,551
Marble Alley – initial four parcels: $771,000
Bond refinancing 2011-12 – county's share of savings: $511,685

The bill comes due in late spring 2013.

As for whether Duncan played a role in county employee raises? He could make a case for that. So, too, could the economy. And Burchett. And all the people who paid their bills on time.

Burchett, state to meet about Lakeshore

2011-12-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and Tennessee Department of Mental Health Commissioner Douglas Varney plan to meet tomorrow afternoon to talk about the state's proposal to close Lakeshore Mental Health Institute.

The meeting, which was confirmed earlier this morning will be the first time the mayor and the County Commission – which also was invited – have a chance to ask questions about future plans.

“I wanted to get him in here as soon as possible,” the mayor said. “The commissioners have a lot of questions and the sooner we can get him in, the quicker we can find solutions.”

The mayor said officials will not vote during the 4 p.m. Meeting, but rather Varney will be asked “to give us the plan on how the closure will take place as they see it.”

Varney in mid-November announced that the state plans to close the facility by the end of the fiscal year, as part of a plan to outsource mental-health care to private inpatient facilities and community-based programs.

County commissioners say they were blindsided by the proposal and want answers. A number of them said during Monday's work session that they tried to reach Varney and have not heard back.

Now, they're asking the local legislative delegation to step in and see what it can do.

"I've talked with some people involved in mental health in Knox County and the question I've asked is: 'What's the plan?' and no one seems to know," Commission Chairman Mike Hammond said. "That isn't to criticize anyone, but if Lakeshore closes, we don't know the plan."

The commission, at the request of Commissioner Jeff Ownby, agreed to ask a number of state leaders, including Gov. Bill Haslam, to delay closing the facility for at least two years. Officials said they are concerned the community doesn't have enough programs to serve many of the patients who end up at Lakeshore. They also said they expect a rise of mentally ill in the homeless and jailed populations if Lakeshore closes.

Former official Bill Tallent passes away

2011-12-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

Fred Brown of the News Sentinel reports that former county official Bill Tallent passed away on Sunday.

Here's the story:

A former Knox County official and World War II veteran whose wartime experience included an escape from a German prisoner of war camp has died.

William C. “Bill” Tallent, left, was 88.

He died Sunday at the Ben Atchley State Veterans Home.

Mr. Tallent was with the 28th Infantry Division serving with an intelligence unit when he was captured near Hosigen, Luxembourg, in December 1944.

His eventual escape from his German captors was the stuff of movies. He won the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Last year, Mr. Tallent was honored for his life of service to the community and veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Knoxville was renamed the William C. Tallent Veterans Outpatient Clinic in his honor.

Mr. Tallent was a former county commissioner of finance and also had worked as a court officer in Knox County Criminal Court.He was bailiff in Knox County Criminal Court, Division II, from 8-16-93 until Feb. 29, 2008.

More details as they develop online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.

Commission against Sunshine changes

2011-12-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Tom Humphrey – Tennessee's most ass kicking state government reporter – wrote a story the other day about a plan by some county commission somewhere that would screw with the Sunshine laws.

However, Gov. Wild Bill Haslam, according to Tom, is against it and “sees no need for changes . . . .”

You can read that bad boy by clicking right smack here.

In the story, you'll note a comment by Knox County Commission Chairman Mike Hammond (I actually fetched this quote for Tom) and his thoughts.

“Are you kidding me,” Hammond practically screamed.

Heh.

Anyhoo, the commission is now set to take it another step. During today's work session, members will talk about writing a letter to the county's Legislative delegation, asking that members oppose any changes to the law.

(The proposed changes by the way would let members of a commission – so long as it was less than a quorum – meet without notifying the public.)

Here's a rough draft of the resolution right smack here. It's sponsored by Commissioner Ed Shouse.

Enjoy.