Trustee's chief of staff steps down

William "Bill" Curtis

William “Bill” Curtis' last day as chief of staff in the Knox County Trustee's Office was Wednesday. 

He is the third top ranking member of Trustee John Duncan III's team to leave in the past six months, although his exit is less controversial that the others.

“I'm almost 71 years old – that's the main reason,” he said laughing slightly Thursday. “I worked for 50 years. That's long enough.”

Curtis spent 40 years at Curtis Mortgage where he was president and CEO, and then sold it to BB&T Bank. He signed a no-compete contract, so he was essentially retired for a few years before joining Duncan's team when he took office in September of 2010. He was hired on as a stat programs administrator and later promoted to collections administrator.

When Duncan's then-chief of staff, Joshua Burnett, pleaded guilty to facilitation of official misconduct, the trustee appointed him to take over the position. 

Curtis, who earned $77,250, was generally well-respected in the office, although he was lumped in with a group of six others brought into the administration and who had close ties or made political donations to Duncan or his family. (He donated $1,000 to Duncan's campaign.)

However, Curtis was not connected to any of the employees who received education bonuses for classes that they never took, a scandal that has tarnished Duncan's time as trustee and led to the resignation of Burnett and office attorney Chad Tindell, who also pleaded guilty to the facilitation charge.

Curtis said he enjoyed his time working in the Trustee's Office, adding “we got some things accomplished.”

But, he said he also has five grandchildren he wants to “spend more time with and that's what I'll be doing.”

“I've been working all my life and there comes a time when you have to make a decision and make a change,” he said. “I enjoyed working up there but I have to make some time for myself.”

And in the meantime?

“Well, just today I've been mowing the law,” he said chuckling.

Duncan said Thursday that Kristin Phillips will take over the chief of staff gig on an interim basis. 

“She has worked in the office for twenty years and has proven to be hard working, extremely knowledgeable and capable of handling the additional responsibilities,” he said.

More on TBI, Trustee's Office and tests

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.

Duncan to Tindell: Keep collecting

Apparently Chad Tindell, left, is earning his keep.

Since coming on board with semi-new Trustee John Duncan III in early September, the office’s attorney and now No. 1 phone solicitor has collected $5,897,655 as of late February.

(No word yet on whether the former Knox County Republican Party chairman is going after fellow GOP-mates or just beating up on broke-a$$ Democrats.)

During the same time frame – from September 2009 through February 2010 – local law firm Hodges, Doughty & Carson brought in $3,195,257.

Now, I have to tell you, when Duncan and Tindell first met with me back in August to say that the office would no longer outsource this job, I was somewhat skeptical. (I still am by the way, because the glass is never half full.)

At the time, the dynamic duo said they’d save the county $250,000.

That’s because Albert Harb’s firm has overseen the process since 1994 and kept a percentage of the collections as a fee - about $300,000 a year.

And Harb was a good collector.

Duncan said he was hiring Tindell for $106,905 – a $1 less than what he earns (there’s no way King Trustee is letting one of his minions get more coin) – to call people, collect scratch and file lawsuits.

Under the past process, the county charged a delinquent taxpayer $10 for every $100 the person owed. That money - typically $300,000 a year, but as much as (well, I don’t know – a lot) went to the actual collector. Under the new/current plan, the county still charges the surplus fee, but the money now will go into the county's general fund.

Here’s some more information for the number nerds:

• From July 2009 through June 2010, the office collected $8,210,0001 in delinquent taxes.
• From July 2010 through February 2011 (which includes some months that Harb worked), the office has collected $8,009,329.
  

Duncan said that in addition to cracking the whip on Tindell, he expects the office to bring in even more money when it has the Big Auction - or as the money-grabbers like to call it, the "right of rescission"sale - sometime in the spring.

That's where the county sells property that has back-taxes owed on it, but still gives the original owner a year to buy it back for the sale price.

On a side note, local leaders actually debated for years whether using a collections attorney outside the trustee's office was the most efficient way to collect taxes. Duncan’s predecessor, Fred Sisk, long-defended Harb and the practice, saying no other lawyer had the expertise to collect delinquent taxes at the same rate.

Right now, it looks like Tindell is a bargain. But I suck at math, so who knows.

I was going to ask Tindell, who chaired the Knox County GOP in 2003-04, about it, but he’s on vacation, Duncan said.

Maybe he’s enjoying Spring Break with the judges.