Knox Co. Clerk Arnett drops mold lawsuit against PBA, county

Foster Arnett Jr.

Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr has dropped his “toxic mold spores” lawsuit against the county and the Public Building Authority, he confirmed to WBIR 10News on Thursday.

The move comes after Knox County Circuit Court Judge Bill Ailor ruled that Arnett could not sue in his official capacity as an elected official, but could as an individual. That means Arnett – and not the taxpayers – would have to cover his attorney fees.

In his order, filed July 14, Ailor notes that neither the state nor the county charter gives the county clerk, or any elected officeholder, the authority to pursue such a lawsuit against the county.

“Thus, the Knox County Clerk may not sue the PBA because that would be Knox county suing Knox County,” Ailor wrote. “Moreover, if the claims by Foster D. Arnett Jr. in his official capacity were allowed to proceed, the court notes that no matter the outcome of the case, the Knox County taxpayer would be the loser. If the plaintiff won, defendant PBA would use Knox County taxpayer money to pay the judgment. Additionally, if the defendant won, Knox County taxpayer money would pay the Knox County Clerk’s attorneys’ fees.”

Ailor also ruled that Arnett – because he can’t sue in his official capacity – cannot use money from the county’s general fund or his own office to pay his attorney fees.

Arnett told 10News that he "respects the judge's opinion" and opted not to further pursue the matter.

Arnett in February 2015 filed the lawsuit after, he said, the PBA failed to remove “toxic mold spores” form the Old Courthouse where he works. Arnett said the mold cause his health to deteriorate.

The PBA argued that he didn’t lack the authority to sue the county in his official capacity as the clerk.

Ailor agreed.

Since filing the lawsuit, Arnett has worked out of his Cedar Bluff satellite office.

Commissioners, public: Some of Clerk's claims just not adding up

Clerk Foster Arnett Jr

Some thoughts on yesterday afternoon’s Knox County Commission meeting with Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. in regards to the roughly $476,000 in estimated deadbeat hotel-motel tax debt.

First, know that there’s way more than $476K out there. It’s probably closer to $800K (we’re talking a period that dates back to 2009 and the $476K only touches a couple of years.).

Commissioners are not happy. Not overall they’re not. Poll the majority and a lot of them were not pleased with Arnett’s presentation yesterday.

Some felt like the numbers they got were not on the up and up, others felt the clerk’s office has taken a lackadaisical – at best – approach to collections, and others wondered just what is really going on.

A lot of claims, they (and people in attendance) told me after the meeting, just were not adding up.

So . . . here ya go.

During the meeting Arnett blamed – in part – his office’s inability to collect the $476K in folding paper on a short-staffed office.

Huh?

It appears that the majority of the commission isn’t buying this excuse. Seriously, this is an answer someone gives when they’ve had weeks to think about it. This is now an issue? Short staffed office? 

And the office has been short staffed for how long?

Commissioner Sam McKenzie said (I’m paraphrasing here): Spend some money to make money.

Don’t brag that you cut staff and expenses only to find out you’re not bringing in the coin.

Contradictions.

How many people actually owe this money? Arnett said he sent out two letters last week and then six are going out this week to the scofflaws. That’s eight.

When asked how many are more than 30 days behind, he said 12.

In interviews after the meeting, he told the media that it was eight.

The audit report suggests somewhere in the low 20s.

Arnett has claimed there’s nothing he can do about the deadbeats. There is. He can padlock doors. He can sell property.

He says he doesn’t want to do this and put people out of jobs.

WHAT?????

What do you think Knox County Trustee Ed Shouse is gonna say when Joe Blow tells him that he can’t pay his taxes? Is Easy Ed gonna give ol’ Joe a pass?

No, he’s not.

There’s no free passes here. Collect the money and quit making excuses.

Now, Arnett told the commission that he actually went down to padlock a door back in 2009. He said he had “chains in hand.” I wasn’t there, so we’ll just take him at his word. He said the owner came out and he promised that he’d cut him and check. Arnett said he did and that he’s been up to date since.

So, if this worked, then why aren’t we doing this every time?

Why is there $476K in coin out there?

Oddly enough, after the meeting, Arnett told reporters that he actually padlocked the door.

So which is it? Did you or didn’t you padlock a door?

OK, the local paper quotes Arnett as telling the commissioners: “If I’m not doing what needs to be done, there’s an election in three years, and someone else can take this over. We’re going by the law, by the book.”

That got a chuckle out of the back standing room. Talk about a red herring. Someone else is gonna take over his job in three years because Arnett is term-limited. (Of course he might have been talking about that long rumored run at mayor.)

There’s more.

Arnett tried an old political trick to soften the blow. Bait and switch.

He pointed out that his office during the past three years has collected more than $18 million in hotel-motel taxes and bragged about a 94 percent collection rate.

Um, this is called “doing the job.”

You’re supposed to have a 94 percent collection rate. Actually, when it comes to property tax collections, 98 percent is the average, so maybe 94 percent is low.

I don’t know.

I do know that that the manager at Tyson McGhee doesn’t brag that the airplanes over there all land safely.

You know why?

Because they are supposed to!

Now, people are going to think I’m picking on Foster. Heck, Foster is going to think I’m picking on him, and that’s fine. Whatever.

The ol blog is an equal-opportunity picker-on.

Just ask Foster’s last political opponent. We did a whole newscast on some of his claims.

In the meantime, I hope the people who owe the money pay up. I hope Foster doesn’t have to padlock doors, but if he comes to it, then he needs to.

Call up the media, bring out the cameras and chain the business.

That should get the others to listen.

The hotels.

The commissioners.

And the public.

Hotel tax scofflaws owe city $200K

OK, so the county is due almost $476,000 in delinquent hotel motel taxes. The city is due about $200,000.

The county clerk - in charge of collecting the tax - says he can't do anything about it. (Yeah, right.)

The city finance department - in charge of collecting the city's portion - actually padlocked a scofflaw or two's door in its time.

Guess what happened?

Yeah, they paid up.

The city also regularly sends out delinquent notices and contacts the owners.

Guess what?

They tend to pay up, too.

Anyway, here's a look at local government trying to get it right:

Seven local hotel and motel owners owe the city of Knoxville a combined $200,000 in delinquent occupancy taxes that date back 2 1/2 years.

Several of those hotels, however, are no more than a month behind on payment, so the majority of the outstanding debt is due from only a handful of the businesses.

The tax – a 3 percent fee charged to lodging guests – is used to pay off debt tied to the Knoxville Convention Center. The tax will expire in June 2032 when the debt is cleared.

The city this year budgeted $3.1 million in expected revenues from the tax. Last year, the city budgeted $2.75 million, but ended up bringing in a little more than $3 million.

WBIR 10News met Thursday with city officials to talk about the tax and what they’re doing to collect it. The meeting with WBIR comes in the wake of a 10News investigation that looked into the more than $475,000 owed to the county by local hotels and motels dating back two years, and the county’s failure to go after the money.

County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr., whose office is tasked with collecting the county’s 5 percent occupancy tax, told 10News that his “hands are tied” and he can’t do anything about it.

But, that’s not true. State law says his office can seize property “by any means,” lock the doors and sell it. He just hasn’t ever taken those steps.

The city, however, has employed some of these methods.

“Whenever someone is late, we send out delinquent notices, and hopefully that’s successful and generally it is because we don’t have that many people who are delinquent,” said Knoxville Finance Director Jim York.

But, if officials reach a stalemate with a business, then they can move to shut it down.

York said his office “once or twice” in his 27 years with the city has padlocked a door.

“Our ultimate authority is we believe we can issue a distress warrant and either lock the business or lock the hotel,” York said. “That’s an unusual occurrence and it’s rarely done.”
When it happens, though, it works.

“That typically gets people to pay,” he said.

The Knoxville Finance Department issues letters to the 90-plus hotels and motels inside the city limits each month, and most pay right away. They reach delinquency status after 30 days.

York said officials estimate that the city is owed an estimated $200,000 from seven hotels, but they expect payment from a couple of them soon.

The others make up the bulk of that tab.

York said they’ve sent letters to them, but they’re not necessarily to the point yet where they want to shut them down.

He said officials are looking for “in between” solutions, but declined to provide more details, since they might not pan out.

“A couple of those will probably pay up. They’re only a few days late or maybe a month late, but those are the ones who typically catch up,” York said. “And again we’re looking at what we can do to force the others to pay.”

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Attorneys with Knox County Clerk, PBA argue over courthouse mold lawsuit

Old Courthouse

A legal battle to decide whether Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. can sue the Public Building Authority because it has allegedly failed to remove "toxic mold spores" from the Old Courthouse could come down to semantics.

Case law, according to the PBA, says Arnett can't file a lawsuit in his capacity as a public official without demonstrating that the spores have actually "impeded" his official duties as clerk. PBA attorney Morris Kizer said paperwork that Arnett filed with the courts notes that the mold merely "interfered" with his job.

Arnett, Kizer said, also currently and successfully continues to operate out of five other satellite offices, and has a crew of employees currently working out of the Old Courthouse in downtown that he claims is riddled with mold.

"Mr. Arnett is performing his statutory duties in other areas of the county and nothing about alleged mold is keeping him from doing those duties," Kizer told Judge William Ailor in Circuit Court on Monday. "I can walk over to the courthouse right now and get a car tag . . . but if for some reason that location is not available, there are (five) other locations in the county. So, while Mr. Arnett says this has been an interference, truly it is not an impediment."

Arnett's attorney, Darren Berg, said his client "needs to be at the courthouse to do his job."

"The PBA has failed to remediate the mold problem – just swept it under the rug and hopes it goes away."

He also accused Kizer of mincing words.

"I see no difference between the terms 'interfere' and 'impeded,'" he said. "I think if you look in the thesaurus you'd see the same thing."

But, the bottom line, Berg said, is that "there's toxic mold in a suite of offices that interferes with (Arnett's) duties."

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Another Knox Co. worker sues PBA

I'm seriously surprised that there haven't been more of these. Heh.

Another Knox County worker in the Old Courthouse downtown has sued the Public Building Authority, alleging mold in the building is causing health problems.

Deborah Scribner, an appraiser who works for the Property Assessor's Office, seeks in Knox County Circuit Court a to-be-determined amount of money, wants PBA to be required to fix a potential mold problem or move her to another county-owned building, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Court records state Scribner has worked in the Old Courthouse for two years and "at some point . . . began to experience unexplained breathing problems, fatigue and severe headaches."

Scribner has worked in the building's basement, according to the lawsuit.

Her lawsuit is similar to one filed in February by Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. The two are using the same attorney, Darren Berg, to represent them.

LAWSUIT: County employees allege mold problem in Old Courthouse

PBA, Knox County want circuit court to toss clerk's 'mold' lawsuit

Clerk Foster Arnett Jr

The Public Building Authority and Knox County have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit filed by Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. in which he alleges that "toxic mold spores" in the downtown Old Courthouse where he works have caused his health to deteriorate.

In part, Morris Kizer, who is representing the county and PBA, said Arnett not only lacks the authority to sue the county in his "official capacity" as the clerk, but that "Knox County cannot sue Knox County," according to records filed late Monday in Knox County Circuit Court.

Kizer noted that state law does not grant Arnett – if he's acting in his capacity as clerk – the "right, power or authority to retain counsel to file such a suit."

Response: Motion to Dismiss

Earlier this year, Arnett hired his own attorney, Darren Berg, to represent him in his lawsuit.

Kizer, in court documents, also noted that state law considers public building authorities, such as the one in Knox County, to be "governmental entities."

That means, according to case law, the county is essentially suing itself – something it cannot legally do, Kizer stated.

"The plaintiff has no implied power, in his official capacity as Knox County Clerk, to bring an action against an agency of Knox County. Accordingly, the action must be dismissed," Kizer wrote.

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Hammond revamping Criminal Court Clerk's Office, holding interviews

In just a couple of weeks, embattled Knox County criminal court clerk Joy McCroskey's term in office will expire. The man elected to replace her is already in the process of making changes.

Mike Hammond takes over as the new court clerk on September 2. Hammond made all of the 80 employees at the clerk's office reapply for their jobs.

"We did the interviews last week and it was great to get all of the employees' feedback and opinions on what problems exist at the office and hear their ideas on how to fix things," said Hammond. "Because they're the ones on the front lines. They've given me a lot of great suggestions on things they would like to see done to improve the office."

The clerk's office has been the focus of several problems in the last year. A WBIR 10News investigation revealed a myriad of mistakes and incorrect paperwork that led to the wrongful arrests of dozens of people.


McCroskey came under intense scrutiny and announced in February that she would not seek reelection. Hammond won the primary race in May and was uncontested in the August general election.

Shortly after Hammond was elected in the May primary, McCroskey gave more than $180,000 in raises to employees at the clerk's office. Hammond says those raises will end when he takes office.

"I have told them [the employees] that we'll have to rescind the raises. Right now, as of September 2, your salary is going to go back to where it was before the raise. They understand that. Everyone would like more money, but I showed them the budget and we simply do not have the money now to absorb $187,000 in raises with all of the other things that need to happen. There may be a time when we can give raises in the future, but not at this moment."

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Looking into the recent claims made by Knox County clerk candidates

Padgett

If you're going to spit out a bunch of BS, the smartest move isn't to then challenge a reporter to fact check it.

Anyhoo, Knox County Clerk candidate Mike Padgett issued 10News a challenge: Investigate the claims he and his opponent, incumbent Clerk Foster Arnett Jr, made during a recent edition of Inside Tennessee.

“We need to go to the finance department and find out those figures with the investigative reporter and find out how many millions of dollars Foster has turned over, and how many millions of dollars our administration turned over,” Padgett, who served as the clerk from 1986 to 2007, said during the June 1 program.

Well, we over here at WBIR did just that.

Padgett, though, might not be too happy about what we found.

Here’s a look:

1) STATEMENT: Padgett said that “we turned over millions of dollars . . . every year in fees to the county government.” Arnett said that his administration “turned over $6 million in the six years that I’ve been in office.”

BACKGROUND: The county clerk’s office collects various fees. The money first goes to paying the staff and covering a reserve tank that will keep the office running for three months. The rest is turned over to the county’s general fund. WBIR reviewed recent financial statements and the past 11 comprehensive annual financial reports that an external auditor puts together for the county each year.

Arnett

FINDING: Arnett’s claims were accurate, according to financial records. Padgett’s were not. From fiscal years 2009 to 2012, Arnett turned over a combined $5 million. His office has already turned in $1 million for the current fiscal year, which wraps up at the end of this month. From fiscal years 2002 to 2008, Padgett’s administration turned over a combined $3 million. His office didn’t turn over any money during fiscal years 2002-04.

2) STATEMENT: Padgett said his office printed “every (car) title in the state of Tennessee” and that the state “would send it to us. Nashville would send it to us,” referring to contract work that would allow the county to print the titles. He said Arnett “lost” the contracts. Padgett said if he was elected he would “go to Nashville and I will receive contracts from the state of Tennessee to make that a recurrence.” Arnett disagreed, and said that “things have changed since my opponent has been in office” and that the state has “changed the way the titles are done in all 95 counties.”

BACKGROUND: The county did not print titles for “every” county in the state. At one time, it printed titles for at least 10 East Tennessee counties, according to records. However, about the time Arnett took office, the state gave counties the go-ahead to print their own titles, something most counties wanted to do anyway because every title printed equals an extra $3 in fees for the county that prints it. State officials say Padgett could not just go to Nashville and sign contracts to get this work. Further, they said, at this point no county prints titles for any other county. They all print their own.

FINDING: Padgett could not carry out his proposal.

3) STATEMENT: Padgett took issue with the county using Business Information Systems, or BIS, as its third-party provider to help the office submit information to the Tennessee Department of Revenue. He said “Foster is using that service. There are other providers around Tennessee. The state has no direct influence on what the county does. They would love to have help in the state of Tennessee for counties that don’t have providers.”

FINDING: If Padgett won, he would more than likely be stuck with BIS. According to the Department of Revenue, that company provides services to 92 of the state’s 95 counties. Shelby County uses its own in-house IT shop, and Stewart County “processes only limited manual transaction.” Sevier County uses eGovernment Solutions as a third party provider. However, that company is run by Padgett’s son, Mark, which would more than likely create a conflict of interest if he brought the business onboard.

Padgett, a Democrat, and Arnett, a Republican who is in his first full term, will face off in August’s general election. The winner will take over on Sept. 2.

Arnett Jr. sets re-election kickoff

Foster Arnett Jr.

Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. will hold his re-election kickoff and first fundraiser on Thursday, Feb. 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The event, which is open to the public, will be held at the home of John Trotter, located at 3106 Kingston Pike. The house used to be the Dulin Art Gallery but has since been completely restored.

Arnett said he’s asking for $100 donations per person, but they are not required.

The clerk’s office is responsible for keeping the officials minutes and records of the Knox County Commission and its standing committees. It’s also the place where you go if you want to renew your car tag, get a drivers’ license renewed, pick up a passport or marriage license, etc. In other words, the office oversees a lot of stuff.

Foster, a Republican, so far has no competition in the May primary. The general election will be held in August. Former clerk, Mike Padgett, is running as a Democrat.

Arnett announces top winter worker

Figured I'd mention this:

Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr. named Julie Gass, a long-time worker in his office, as "employee of the quarter" for winter 2013.

Gass serves  as a drivers license and motor vehicle clerk in the Cedar Bluff satellite office. She is a native of the Carter community and earned a degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee where she graduated in 1992.

Foster praised her "upbeat attitud and her ability to help customers."

"There are not enough adjectives to describe her helpfulness and fotitude, and I wish there were ten more like her," he said.

She has worked at the clerk's office for 18 years.

Most county offices now closed today

Knox County Communications Manager Michael "Big Sexy" Grider just sent out a release, noting that Mayor Tim Burchett has closed down all county offices under his purview due to the hazardous road conditions. Those include, but aren't limited to, libraries, health department, parks and recreation, senior centers, solid waste. (That also means the Virtual Alzheimer's Tour set for this afternoon will be rescheduled.)

In addition, the Register of Deeds and the Law Director's Office also are closed today.

And, it's a safe bet, too, that the clerk's office is closed, but I'm not positive as no announcement has been made. You should probably call if you need to go down there (865-215-2385).